Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter 19: That's What Family is.

Jim was now sitting in the main living room of Admiral Lume's summerhouse, only Chris knew where, drinking a glass of tea with one of Amanda's signature cookies. Did he mention that his tea was of the Long Island variety? Chamomile just doesn't cut it when your husband's ex-girlfriend's crazy father uses his bimbo wife, Mercedes, to try to kidnap your kid.

They were on the Admiral's private property because the woman did not trust anybody right now. "They" included Jim, Spock, David, Chris, Amanda, Bones, Nyota and their lawyer. Amanda decided that it would be best for the sister-in-laws to stay with the parents of T'Pay's BFF Georgia River, whose mom just happens to be her preschool teacher. The rest were essentially in hiding because the good admiral is convinced that this morning's debriefing from hell was a set up to allow Marcus's 'allies' easy access to baby David. Jim was inclined to agree with her and he was glad they were somewhere very few people would know to look.

From what they could piece together Alexander Marcus' flaky wife Mercedes Marcus, decided it would be a really good idea to take Baby David from the restaurant. How they knew where Amanda would be still remains a mystery, but Jim wouldn't be surprised if their calls and emails were being monitored. According to information provided earlier, Marcus had very little respect for the privacy of Starfleet personnel when he was in charge. Leaving in place a mechanism to check up on the guy who got his daughter pregnant seems like something he would've done. The guy was just that evil.

"I thought Alexander Marcus was supposed to be some great tactical mind. Did he really think country club Barbie would successfully make it out of the restaurant with David?" Jim asked his lawyer, slightly annoyed. Honestly, Jim is not surprised that Marcus tried to kidnap his son. He's just shocked that it was done in a way that was so obvious and destined to fail from the beginning.

"Especially in an establishment where guests under the age of 18 are required to wear a tracking bracelet and they have an entire kidnap prevention protocol. That's probably the main reason why Jim suggested that place for lunch in the first place." Nyota said from beside him.

"Actually, I just like to play whack-a-mole, but that's good to know." Jim quipped.

"Marcus is a tactical genius and that was just a test." The lawyer sighed. "According to evil lawyer number two, the guy is not even on earth right now. I'm expecting his publicist and legal team to release a statement any minute now disavowing any knowledge of what Mercedes was planning to do and blame the entire thing on a messy divorce and the woman going off her medication. If they do something like that, it will be difficult to bring up Spock's history of mental illness later on, so it will still be a win for us."

"I'm not surprised. While country club Barbie was trying to steal David away, idiotic lawyer number three was sent to intimidate Christine. It's interesting that they knew exactly where to find her." Nyota explained to the group.

"Very interesting," Alexis said darkly.

"By the way, I think we owe her an apology." Nyota said turning to him. "She didn't sell us out even though we've been…"

"Unbelievably horrible to her," Jim supplied for her. "I find it more remarkable considering that she absolutely hates me."

"She doesn't hate you. She's just…" Nyota was unable to finish that sentence.

"Completely in love with me," Jim supplied for her. "Christine rather risk being a sitting target in Starfleet housing then come here to talk to me about what happened. I think if she hated me, it would be better for her in the long run."

"That's not love. That's obsession or maybe infatuation, which can be a lot more dangerous. I've seen what it could do firsthand." His lawyer Alexis said from the sidelines. "Are you sure she's not going to…"

"Switch sides?" Nyota supplied for the mother of her sister. "I don't think so, especially after what happened to David. He's her godson. She would do a lot for him."

"The woman is as stubborn as a mule." Bones supplied. His friend has been extremely quiet this during whole thing.

"Which is probably the other reason why Marcus would want to make her disappear." Jim mumbled to himself. "Chris is there any way…" Jim started to ask, but Chris cut him off.

"I've already arranged for her to have a security detail, but short of ordering her to do it, I can't make her go into a safe house." Chris explained.

"That would probably be best. She's probably one of the few people alive that can authenticate most of the things that Carol left behind." The lawyer explained.

"Have you already met with her?" Jim asked.

"Why do you think my associate was the one who met you at the police station?" Alexis said effortlessly.

"Good point."

"I am going to speak with her again tomorrow," Alexis said before she looked at the time. "Okay, I'm going to speak to her again later today." Alexis said, getting up from the couch. "I think it's time for me to go home. There's nothing else we can do now and I need to be rested enough to deal with Marcus' annoying lawyers in the morning."

"You don't have to leave. It's already 2 in the morning and this house has a dozen bedrooms." Nyota suggested. "Did anybody know our big boss came from money?"

"Tempting, but I cannot leave your sister alone for so long and thankfully, because your big boss has all the latest toys, I will not have to drive." Alexis yawned.

"Ivy is a big girl. She'll be fine for a couple of hours." Nyota suggested.

"But she can't deal with A…" Alexis was cut off mid-word by Nyota.

"Dad is living with you again? I can't believe you would fall for his shit." Nyota said angrily. Jim probably knows more about her daddy issues than anyone else in Starfleet. This is not going to be good.

"Yes, your father is living with me, but not in that way. No, we are not sleeping together again." Alexis told her quickly. "Trust me; we don't have that type of relationship, not anymore."

"Then why is your baby's daddy living with you and why can't my sister take care of him overnight?" Nyota yelled at her sister's mother. "Actually, why can't he take care of himself? What are you not telling me?"

"He's sick." Alexis said simply and Bones quickly wrapped an arm around a shaking Nyota.

"How sick?" There was a hint of panic in Nyota's words. "Because it has to be bad if you're letting him back in your life after what he did."

"Cancer of the esophagus most likely triggered by OPV," Alexis responded without inflection.

"Cancer caused by a STI. Why am I not surprised?" Nyota scoffed.

"It doesn't matter how he ended up where he is right now. He is still your father. He's also the father of my daughter. He's always been there for Ivy and therefore it's only right that I be there for him." Alexis explained and Nyota continues to give her a dark look. "He may have completely fucked me over, but he's always going to be in my life no matter what. That's what family does."

"It's just great for her to have the good father and to know what's going on. Why didn't you tell me?" Nyota's voice was cold, masking the fact that she was seconds from breaking apart.

"Nyota, you're the one who hasn't accepted a single one of his calls in almost 3 years!" Alexis said defensively.

"Because I don't want to talk to him, but I still have a right to know!" She yelled. "Is he dying?

Given the completely stricken look on his lawyer face, Jim thought it was best for him to get the hell out of that living room right now. This was going to get dangerous. Chris was right behind him, but being the brave man that he was Bones stayed behind with his arms still wrapped around Nyota. It occurred to Jim that Bones must be completely lovesick if he was willing to brave this family moment. Yes, he decided, this was definitely love.

The Admiral's kitchen was spectacular and designed for someone who actually likes to cook. However, Jim liked it because it was far away from the dysfunctional family chaos unfolding in the main living room.

"I'm going to go check on Spock." He tells Chris because he is not exactly sure he wants to be in a room alone with Chris right now. Otherwise he would be making himself another "iced tea".

"I just saw Amanda leaving the kitchen with hot chocolate right when we came in here." How did he not notice that? Then again, Jim is pretty sure that Chris has Amanda radar.

"Okay, now I'm definitely not going in there. I'd rather walk unarmed into a room with Klingons." Jim said with a shiver as he went for the admiral's large liquor collection. A major part of diplomacy is alcohol and this woman had a nice selection. Actually, he's pretty sure half of the things in her 'hostess collection' are not exactly legal. Jim was planning on having a fun night or a semi-fun night. He can get tipsy but not drunk, because Marcus and his goons could show up at any moment. Lunch was testament to that. He feels really guilty about what almost happened in the car while that woman was trying to take David.

"It's not going to be that bad. They just need some time to talk things out. Amanda feels guilty for what happened." Chris said motioning for Jim to pour him a shot as well.

"She was in the bathroom and the other adults who were there were supposed to be paying attention. Honestly, I'm more pissed off that none of the parents that were right there didn't even think to alert security. Spock is definitely not going to be upset with Amanda. Honestly, I think he would be more upset about the wedding." Jim explained taking a drink. The Admiral definitely has the good stuff.

"There's something you need to know," Chris started to explain, but Jim cut him off.

"Look, it's fine. I expected this for a while. I think Spock did as well. It's just there are a lot of things he has to deal with right now. We were talking about it earlier before the pizza kidnapping attempt. Nobody's completely comfortable with their mom remarrying, even if you're not a bastard like Frank. I think it's just -are you aware that Spock had a crush on you?" Jim decided it was best just blurt this out.

"Extremely aware of," Chris said downing his shot in one go. "But not only was he my subordinate, he was too young and…"

"You were in love with someone else." Jim finished for him as he went to pour Chris another drink. Although Jim thinks the subordinate thing probably played more of a role than anything else.

"Essentially."

"Which is why you let my husband believe that you were completely straight, as not to hurt his feelings." Judging by the look he was getting, Jim called that one correctly.

"It seemed like the best strategy at the time," Chris mumbled.

"Especially because you're now fucking his mom." That just got Jim a very dark look. "And don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that you 2 are together, even if it took you guys forever because you were both in denial. I just can't believe that you're already engaged."

"Actually," Chris tried to interrupt.

"Don't tell me you guys already got married. If Spock missed his mom's wedding, I'm not going to be able to save you." Jim said in all seriousness. "There aren't enough blow jobs in the world for me to calm him down from that."

"No, we're not really engaged." Okay, considering how enamored the two were earlier, Jim doesn't believe that for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Jim questioned.

"Although the judge that has been assigned to David's case is perfectly fine with same-sex multi-species couples, he has a problem with single-parent families."

And thus began an absolutely convoluted story of how Amanda and Chris not only confess their feelings for one another, but agreed to fake an engagement for the sake of keeping David out of the slimy hands of Alexander Marcus or the normal child welfare system. By the end of it, James was laughing so hard he was in tears. This was definitely a story for the great grandkids.

"So, you and Amanda went from pure denial to engaged in about 5 minutes?" Jim asked still laughing. "I hope there is security footage of that."

"We're not really engaged we're just dating." His former boss said giving him a dark look.

"Yes, you are." Jim shot right back. "Whatever you do, do not tell Spock this real story of what happened.

"I think he would be happier if he knew the truth." Chris suggested, but Jim knew better. There was no real way to make Spock happy right now.

"No, especially because you're not even aware of the actual truth. He's going to be upset that you and Amanda rushed into a relationship just to save David or he's going to be upset that—just trust me, Spock is going to be upset. Think about it, either way, you're still sleeping with his mom."

"Good point."

"Can we talk about something else, like how my favorite 4-year-old is doing in preschool?" Jim suggested.

"I'm not sure that would be a happier subject. Her classroom is populated with nasty spoiled brats, few of which are Xenophobic. I mean, not everybody is horrible, but if it wasn't for Wi-Whitney it would be a lot worse." Jim catches the last minute name change but doesn't think anything of it.

"Should I be worried that you're on a first name basis with my sister-in-law's preschool teacher? Isn't that where the girls are right now? Considering how protective Amanda is, I'm surprised about that even if she is the mom of T'Pay's best friend."

"Wi-Whitney is an old friend of mine." Jim found that hard to believe.

"Yet you keep mispronouncing her first name. Is there something that I'm not getting?"

"Yes," Chris said putting his head in his hands for a moment. "Since this place has already been swept for listening devices, I might as well tell you now. You may want another shot first." Chris suggested.

"It can't be that bad." Jim declined the offer drink.

"This is your baby sister-in-law's class picture." Chris said grabbing his PADD and passing it over to Jim. Under other circumstances, Jim would question why Chris had a copy of T'Pay's class picture. Now he understood why he was being offered alcohol. Her hair color was different, along with some of her features, but he knew those eyes, even though it had been seven years.

"She's dead. Frank killed her." James repeated over and over again as he looked at the picture in front of him. There's no way Winona could still be alive. It's just not possible.

XXXX

"I brought you some hot chocolate. The good stuff made with French truffles."

Amanda walked into the room where her oldest child laid beside his son, stroking his hair gently. She brought chocolate because she felt like she needed to come into the room with a peace offering and Spock would need something to calm him. The first time this happens is always the hardest. Although, the 15th time isn't much easier either. She was really tired of idiots trying to kidnap her children and she hates the fact that this tradition is continuing to her grandson.

"I thought you prefer Riso chocolate." Spock said, taking the offered mug from his mother's hand.

"But you prefer French," Amanda said sitting beside him.

"You were 3 years old the first time it happened. We were at the market just down the street from our old house. I turned around for just a second to grab a few things and someone took you out of your stroller." It has been 25 years and she still found this memory painful. There's nothing worse than discovering that your child is missing. "It turns out he was some Vulcan supremacist who had a problem with interspecies children and I really don't want to think about what would have happened if your grandmother wasn't with me."

"I assume that she did something similar to what T'Pen did this afternoon." He said taking a very large drink a chocolate. She purposely made this batch triple strength. It was probably closer to ganache then actual hot chocolate.

"Yes, but only slightly more deadly. I don't think I left your bed for a week afterwards. I would barely let you out of my sight to go to the bathroom. I was a mess." Amanda said running her fingers through Spock's hair. The fact that he was letting her do this spoke volumes about his mental state. The last time she was allowed to do this was after Sarek's death.

"I do not recall this incident. I thought the first time was when I was 5 and the Vulcan embassy was attacked by militants." That was another unfortunate incident.

"Spock, you have been kidnapped at least six times and I'm not counting anything that has happened during your time as First Officer on Enterprise."

"There have been 4 attempted abductions during the last 3 years and only one was somewhat successful." Her son was completely nonplussed as he spoke. "However, James was able to find me using our telepathic bond." But she was pissed.

"This is the type of thing you tell your mother." She nearly yelled at him before remembering that there was a sleeping child in the room.

"It is illogical for you to be upset about something like this considering you have been involved in a clandestine romantic relationship with Christopher for some time, to the point where marriage is a possibility." She should tell him that the engagement wasn't real and that she and Christopher just began their relationship. Yet, something about the way Spock phrased his objection upset her greatly.

"Technically, you and James were married within 3 days of acknowledging that you were together." She said pointing out his hypocrisy.

"Yet, we were friends for 7.4 months by that point." Spock said in his defense.

"Technically, Christopher and I have known each other for 14 years." Amanda responded in kind. "I knew him before you even started at the Academy, even if at that time he was just a casual acquaintance. We have been close friends for 3 years."

"I am aware." Spock said indifferently. "When did your relationship shift from platonic to one of a romantic nature?"

"I don't know." Amanda answered honestly. "I can't even tell you when I fell in love with him. I was fighting it so hard and then I realized that there was no point anymore." She didn't want to talk to Spock about still wishing his father was alive. She did not want to burden her oldest child with such a revelation.

"When did your and James' relationship go beyond mere friendship?" She asked, purposely knowing that such a question would distract Spock.

"From my perspective, our relationship has always been of a romantic nature. However, from James' perspective it began the first time we engaged in sexual intercourse." The odd thing was even though Spock said the term so effortlessly his cheeks still became green. She couldn't help but laugh.

"There's no need for shyness and/or modesty that you claim not to have. You have a child and I found you and your husband's sex toys before on more than one occasion. I am well aware that you had sex at some point in the past. What were you thinking sleeping with her? She was practically a baby. She was only a couple years older than your sister at the time." Amanda promised herself that she would at least wait a day or 2 before the Carol discussion, but she's not entirely happy with Spock questioning her relationship with Chris.

"According to our legal counsel, if Jonathan Jackson was still alive, he would be charged with facilitation of sexual assault among other charges." Spock responded nonplussed.

"I'm aware of that as well, but that doesn't absolve you of everything." Amanda said, realizing she was losing this argument. Spock would blame the drug that he was given to push him to be with Carol, but they both knew it was more than that.

"You're in love with Christopher." Spock said returning to the subject she was trying to avoid.

"I was really hoping an awkward conversation about your sex life would help us avoid that particular question." Amanda sighed.

"It was not a question, but a statement of fact. I am already aware of the answer."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I don't still love your father. It's just that I love Chris too. But that doesn't diminish- did you or do you still love Carol?" This is a question that she never thought she would ask. After the break up, her son assured her that it was merely infatuation, hormones, and that emotions were not involved in any capacity. However, Amanda knew her son better than that.

"Not in the way I feel about James," Spock answered after a moment as he ran his fingers through David's hair.

"But that doesn't make what you feel any less important. It also doesn't make the pain of her death hurt any less." Amanda said just as Spock suddenly got up from the bed. "Where are you going?"

"James needs me," and with that her son was gone.

Chris and Amanda had everything planned. It was going to be a nice family dinner tomorrow with lots of alcohol and things that they could throw at each other without causing property damage. He was even considering having Dr. Margarita Cruz be there to play family therapist. However, when Jim started asking questions Chris realized they couldn't wait that long. All it would take would be for Jim to walk in on a video call between Winona and Amanda or his baby sister in law bringing out a picture of her best friends mom. Both scenarios were highly likely, especially considering the children were staying with "Whitney" and her wife right now.

Amanda and Chris felt it was best for the girls to be somewhere else considering Andrew Marcus would be perfectly willing to kill all of them to get to David. In Chris's mind, he is positive that Marcus killed his own daughter for that reason. Winona was an obvious choice because Marcus did not know of her connection to Jim and she already has a security detail due to being in witness protection. Also, he knows what Winona can do with a phaser. The girls were better off there.

"That's what I thought until about 2 weeks ago, when I went along with Amanda to convince T'Pay to leave the bathroom. The moment "Whitney" turned around, I knew it was her." Chris explained.

"But she's dead. I identified her body." Jim said on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Via video screen. She's in witness protection." Chris explained and Jim started breathing normally again.

"Okay, that's plausible. Frank was a bastard and doing all sorts of illegal things. I think mom always knew that the asshole had an extensive reach. That obviously explains why she took so many off planet assignments during my teenage years. I'm assuming it got to that point again." Jim said darkly.

"Worse than that, actually. I'm fairly certain that those bruises you saw when you identified her body were not fake." Chris can see Jim become visibly sick at those words.

"Why didn't she just leave?"

"It wasn't that simple, Jim. She knew too much. Besides, at that point, I don't think she cared that much about her own life, but she did care about you and Georgia. Frank threatened to kill both of you if she ever left him and she already knew that he had no trouble whatsoever killing her children. She knew she would be next regardless and did what she had to do to protect both of you." Chris tried to explain, when he himself was not completely satisfied with the explanation.

"So she left the only way she knew she could in a body bag." Jim supplied and by that point, Spock was in the room with his arms wrapped around Jim.

"Essentially, yes."

"Just one question, who is Georgia? I know she is T'Pay's best friend but…"

"Georgia is your sister or rather half-sister. Frank got Winona pregnant and she…" Chris stopped talking at that moment because Jim was now lying in his husband's arms, completely unconscious.

To be continued.

As I post this, I'm working on new chapters for various stories. Your reviews keep me focused and prolific. Also, I'm starting to branch out again and I am working on stories for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you like Tony/Steve stories, check out my one-shot Complicated Love Stories from the District of Insanity. I'm currently writing a sequel.