"I hate weddings," he groaned. Jamie laughed and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Should I be offended by that? I mean, we are engaged."

He looked at her and smiled, "I don't hate all weddings, just these big weddings with a ton of people. I didn't know that Gaila knew so many people. Jocelyn had the whole town and then some at our wedding. I just think it should be about the couple, not about all the extra stuff." Jamie understood that, it was part of the reason she didn't plan theirs yet, she considered eloping but their families would kill them.

They were dancing –yes, dancing- at Gary and Gaila's wedding reception in New York City. Jamie was happy that the medical summit continued without any more attacks and she seemed to have left a good impression about the Federation with Lartal, who had a lot of pull with his people. Mitchell's family welcomed the group with open arms and Jamie was sure that most of the people at the wedding were with Gary. Gaila didn't have any family except their little group.

The Orion's past was about as bad as Jamie's, the slave trade was no joke and the only ways out are death, escape or to buy out your contract at thirty-fice, if you can. Jamie and Nyota stood with Gaila as bridesmaids. She explained that on Orion, the task is called 'standing with your sister' and she was glad that she still got to have that with her human sisters.

"What would your dream wedding be, Bones?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow, "I'm supposed to be asking you that."

Jamie shook her head, "Never was one of those girls that dreamed about their wedding, never thought I'd live long enough or find someone who would want to put up with me for that long."

He smirked, "Guess it's a good thing we found each other when we did." Before she could say anything, Uhura was pulling Jamie away from him.

"We'll give her back in a few minutes, Leonard," the young woman from Kenya told him. Jamie and Nyota joined the growing group of unwed women as they got ready for Gaila to throw the bouquet.

"Are we really doing this?" she asked. Some of the other women laughed and one of them nudged her.

"Not ready to get married, huh?" the girl asked.

Jamie held up her hand, "Already engaged, actually."

Jamie couldn't believe that Gaila and Gary went this old school/traditional for their wedding. Jamie was glad that Gaila didn't bother with the whole 'ugly bridesmaid dress' thing that a lot of brides still do; the sparkly pale-silver worked on her, Uhura and Gary's sister, Gina. The guys were either in suits or uniforms. She also took joy in the fact that Gaila and Gary decided not to get married on Christmas, they changed the date to December nineteenth.

"Okay ladies and gents, here goes." Gaila turned and tossed the flowers over her shoulder. Uhura caught them and Jamie burst into laughter when Kelso told Spock that the tradition meant that she was supposed to be the next one to get married. Jamie smiled at them; most people can't read Spock but she could tell that the half-Vulcan was smitten. Who knows, maybe they will get married first. There was no way that Jamie was doing all of this for her wedding, it just wasn't her style or Bones'.

"You didn't catch it on purpose," Bones said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I can't confirm or deny that, sweetheart. I don't think elbowing Gary's cousins would've been very nice."

He chuckled, "I saw that, she got you pretty good. I guess it's a good thing that you have a doctor wrapped around your finger."

Jamie smirked, "This is true."

"Jamie, Jamie," Chekov came barreling up to them.

She loved this kid, "Yea, Pasha?"

He looked at her, then Bones, "Can I… May I have zhis dance?"

Jamie smiled and nodded, "Sure." She gave Bones a quick kiss and left to dance with her young friend.

Chekov was the beginning of a chain reaction; she managed to dance with all of Blue Squad –including Gaila and Uhura- and with Kevin, Scotty and even Spock. The science officer found the whole thing to 'interesting' as he'd never been to a human wedding before. When the night finally ended, the group split up. Jamie knew that most of them would stay in New York for a few days but she and Bones changed their clothes and went home to Georgia. Hmm, home.

Surprisingly, Mama Ella was awake when they walked into the house. It was really early in the morning and Jamie didn't need to be a genius to know that something was up. Ella was sitting in the kitchen with Fred, sipping a cup of tea.

"Mama, what's wrong?" Bones asked. The older woman looked up at them but didn't say anything, she just nodded towards the stairs.

Fred looked at Bones, "He wants to see you. Don's already up there." Jamie realized that Joanna was sleeping on the couch next to Bones' Uncle Jackson.

"He's dying, isn't he?" Jamie asked.

Fred nodded and pulled out a chair for her, "Yea." Jamie sat down and didn't say anything. Fred reached over and took her hand, he'd been holding Mama Ella up but he's known David his whole life and Jamie could only imagine what he was feeling.

What was she supposed to do, to say? She knew what they felt but at the same time, she didn't. Her whole life was defined by her father's death. She was compared to him, blamed for what happened to him and told she wasn't good enough to carry his name. There are so many things that would've been different in her life if George had lived. Jamie could count on her hands the number of people who offered her condolences, even less who told her that she wasn't to blame. Jamie doesn't know how long they all sat there when Bones and Donna came downstairs. Her fiancé's sister looked at her and Fred.

"He wants to see you two, Fred first." They looked at each other before the pair walked up the stairs.

"Hey old man," she heard Fred greet him and then nothing for a few minutes. When Fred came out of the room, he had tears in his eyes. Jamie gave him a hug before she entered the room. She smiled, sat down next to David McCoy and took his hand.

"Hey doc, looking good," she told him.

He smiled at her, "Liar. That looks good on you." He touched her ring with his finger, "Always knew you were just what Leo needed. He was convinced that he'd be alone for the rest of his life but I knew from the moment I met you that he was never gonna be the same. You're something special, Jim, don't ever forget that. That son of mine is stubborn, don't let him push you away, he'll try to."

Jamie nodded, "He can't get rid of me that easy,"

David smiled at her, "Take care of him for me."

"I will, David, I promise," she told him. David closed his eyes and smiled, then his equipment started beeping, "BONES!" The whole family swarmed.

"What happened?" someone asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing. He told me to take care of you and when I said I would, he closed his eyes then it all went crazy." Bones was doing anything he could think of to fix it, his mom, sister and brother-in-law standing next to Jamie. Jackson touched Bones' shoulder.

"Leo, stop. Stop," his uncle told him. Jamie wrapped her arms around him while his Jackson pulled David to his chest and kissed his head.

On December twentieth, 2257 at zero-five-seventeen, David Andrew McCoy died in his younger brother's arms.

AN: It had to be done, even though it broke my heart.