"You sure he ain't your kid?" Bones asked her. Jamie had a kindred spirit in her nephew. Sam was right in calling him a mini version of her. The pair built a blanket fort in her brother's living room and after a kid movie marathon –because even adults love Frozen- they passed out. Jamie woke up to find that Bones was watching them; she processed his question before answering.

"I'm not, not entirely," she muttered.

They were heading back to earth the next day and Peter was not happy about it. For the last two weeks, he was with them almost everywhere they went; Jamie and Bones even woke up with Peter in bed with them a few times. Bones actually smiled when Peter started calling him 'Uncle Bones,' Jamie laughed when he grumbled that it was okay. She ran her fingers through the little boy's hair as he slept curled up next to her.

"Leaving him is gonna suck, isn't it?" Bones nodded. Jamie looked up from Peter to him, "How do you do this? I mean, you're a dad and you leave Joanna with your family all the time. I'm just his aunt and I don't think I can do it." Bones sat down on the floor near her head, which she rested on his leg.

"It's not easy but I know my daughter is safe and she's loved and that helps. Just because you aren't one of his parents doesn't mean that your love for him isn't just as real, look at Pike, or Joanna and Donna. Pike's not even related to you but that man would go to the ends of the universe for you. And my sister has always cared more for Jo than Jocelyn ever did, you saw that at Christmas. That's why she's in Georgia with her." Donna and Joanna were more like mom and daughter then aunt and niece. At first, Jamie thought that it was because they lived together but the more she considered it, the more she realized that Donna would do anything for that kid.

"You ever think about having more kids?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

Bones shook his head, "If I'm being honest, not really. Joanna was Jocelyn's way of keeping me happy. She practically begged me for a baby, I didn't realize until she was pregnant that she thought it would help our marriage but it only made things worse. Jocelyn wasn't the center of my world anymore because I love Joanna more than anything. If I wasn't at work, I was with my daughter and it drove her crazy."

Jamie could understand that, Bones loved his little girl like crazy. He hit workaholic status a month after classes started; she had to drag him places most of the time. She liked that she wasn't his center of attention, she worked almost as much as he did and she was used to being by herself a lot. They hadn't talked about children, yet. Their line of work made it difficult and she didn't what any child to go through what she did. If she really thought about it, she could see herself having children, but only with Bones.

Jamie took a deep breath, "I just want him to know that I love him, you know." Bones was about to respond but a voice entering the room stopped him.

"He knows that his aunt loves him," Aurelan said as she sat down in the spot on the couch that Bones vacated. "George told him about you, even before he knew where you were. Peter would always ask if you loved him, George would tell him that you love him as much as we do and he was right." Jamie smiled at the knowledge that even separated by a decade and a few light years, her brother still knew her well enough to know that she'd love his son.

"Are you guys getting sappy in here?" Sam had the baby in his arms, little Alexander was sucking on his hand.

"He looks like you do after a few too many," she hit Bones' leg at his statement.

Sam laughed, "That sounds like a story."

Jamie glanced at her brother as best as she could from her fort, "It's not."

She looked at Bones, "Don't even think about it." They both laughed at her. "Great, they've teamed up on me, Aury." Aurelan looked at her brother and he stopped laughing.

"Leonard." Bones looked at her and he stopped laughing too, "And I thought that my mama and Donna were scary together." Jamie was worried that she and Aurelan wouldn't get along but they took to each other almost instantly.

"That's Kirk women for you, Leonard." They all laughed at that.

"Aunt Jimmy."

Jamie looked at Peter, "yea, sweetie?"

"What's so funny?" All the adults chuckled.

"Your dad and Uncle are scared that mama and Aunt Jimmy are going to take over the universe… it's a Kirk thing," she told him.

He smiled, "You might, but they shouldn't be scared because you're all on the same side. The bad guys should be scared, though."

Jamie sent her brother a smug look and then laughed, "That's right, Pete. I thought I was the genius around here. You sure you aren't hiding a brilliant brain in there?" He laughed as she started to tickle him, "Wanna gimme a hand, Doctor Bones?" He jumped right in and eventually, so did Sam after he handed Alex to Aurelan; they –and the fort- ended up in a pile on the floor.

"Hey, what's with the tears, darlin'?" Jamie didn't even realize she was crying until Bones wiped them from her face and Sam pulled her into his arms.

"Hey, sis. It's ok. It's ok." The last time she cried was at Pike's cabin.

Jamie didn't like to let people see the soft underbelly that truly made her who she is. She was a fighter by circumstance, not by choice. Jamie was never given the option to be anything other than what she was because she was left to figure out her own survival when she was a child. By the time she joined Starfleet, fighting to keep herself and others alive was where she excelled because she lived it. If only those idiots knew just what she's been though.

Jamie thought that if she'd been able to leave with Sam, maybe she would've been a scientist. Maybe if she grew up with Pike, she would've joined Starfleet sooner with a different focus. She never felt like she belonged anywhere because she never did, at least, not until this moment. She felt like she belonged here, she felt safe and loved and at home. She didn't need to say it but she knew that Sam, Bones and Aurelan understood; they were her family.