Disclaimer – If I could claim Star Trek as my own I would

Mr and Mrs K'ril es chan – McCoy of the K'st Kau –K'ril es chan clan

aka Dr Leonard H. McCoy and Cmdr T'Shira

Earth date 24th December 2273, Caribbean island of St Marguerite

The temperature outside was a warm and dry 86F/30C, for T'Shira it would be considered a cool, spring day on her homeworld. Here in this part of the Earth people wore light, cotton clothing and sandals on their feet. If it was not for the fact that the island was used to seeing offworlders she would stand out in her long pants, sweater, woollen jacket and ankle boots.

She had completed the last of the shopping for the winter festival. As a communication and cultural expert she was familiar with most of Earth's customs including Christmas, although she still could not see the logic in spending lots of money on items people did not need; overeating and over drinking all to honour the birth of a religious leader. However she found the cultural influence on Earth's history fascinating. Plus it was a festival that seemed to bring out the best in her adun. Even on the Enterprise he was more relaxed when this time of the year came around, as long as no one was taking what he called 'pot shots' at the ship.

So T'Shira took part in the rituals for his sake, after all it was logical, she lived on Earth, was married to a human, so when in Rome do what the residents of Rome traditionally participate in. She felt her communicator ring as she approached her ground transport. She knew it was her husband, he had set the tone for his number to an old song. **"Sweet home Alabama," the region of the USA where he was born.

"Hey darlin, you almost done?" McCoy was on his way home from Starfleet General Hospital where he worked as Chief of Staff.

"I have completed my tasks, you have ended work early today." T'Shira stated.

"Yeah honey, it's Christmas Eve, and thankfully things are quiet at the office, so wanted to get home ASAP to have dinner with my favourite girls."

"Joanna has arranged to spend the evening with Zyeo, she has requested that I inform you of the change in her schedule."

"I can't believe my daughter is dating a cat."

"He is not a Terran cat, he is Caitian. They have felinoid ancestry and.."

"Still looks too close to a damn large lion in my book."

"Adun we will discuss your speciest views when we return to our domicile."

"I'm not speciest, just concerned about those claws and teeth of his."

"You do not share such concerns when my teeth is in contact with your body."

"That's different, you're my wife… you.."

"Exactly."

The banter continued all the way to the McCoy residence. He seemed to have an irresistible urge for 'debating' with Vulcans. On the Enterprise it was the 'Spock and Bones' show as the crew called it. After she joined the crew it was the 'Bones and T'Shira' show although in this case their debates had an undercurrent of sexual tension added to it. T'Shira calculated there was a 95.7% probability that her husband initiated such discussions as a prelude to sexual congress. Well she hoped that this time was not the case, his illogical, terrancentric views were not physically stimulating. She had hoped for a more rewarding end to the evening, especially since she had a special gift to deliver.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You are correct adun, human fathers can be irrational when it comes to their daughters."

McCoy and his wife had just ended dinner, as they cleared the dining area they continued their earlier conversation.

"It's a caveman instinct, I don't want to see her get hurt. Caitian culture is polyamorous, its normal for the males to have more than one girlfriend."

"I am sure Joanna is aware of this, interspecies cultural ethics is a compulsory course at Starfleet Academy."

"Yeah, well. I still feel guilty for not being there for her as a child. Running off to space cos of a shitty divorce and dealing with a drinking problem at the same time. Did not make me dad of the year for a long time."

T'Shira stood in front of her husband and stroked his face, "Joanna understands kid'wa. You both made your peace with each other on this matter."

McCoy learned forward and nuzzled her neck, "You're right, just help me tone down the Papa Bear act if she brings Aslan…"

"His name is Zyeo, Leonard."

"…Zyeo round for dinner. Ok enough about him, time for the ole McCoy tradition, where mom and pops open their gifts to each other on Christmas Eve."

McCoy took his wife's hand and led her to the Christmas tree in the lounge area, artfully decorated by his girls and surrounded by presents.

"You first darling," McCoy excitedly rubbed his hands in anticipation. It was their third Christmas as a married couple, the ladies on the Enterprise had taught T'Shira what gifts were the way to a man's heart, she had learned well. Her first Christmas gift to him was a red, ultra sheer negligee from 'The Orion lady's secret' – he appreciated it often.

However this time was different, "No my adun, you may unwrap your present before me. I insist."

T'Shira handed him a small package, it was the size of the palm of her hand. He held it to his nose and jokingly sniffed it, he rattled it but could not hear anything.

"I suggest removing the outer wrapping, it is the logical option," T'Shira looked at her husband used to his unusual Terran ways.

"You're no fun," McCoy sulked, as he tore off the wrapping.

"That was not your assessment last night or this morning."

He smiled at her joke, who said Vulcans had no sense of humour, well he used to think so until he got involved with one.

He removed the paper and handed it to his wife, who neatly folded it as was her custom. He still found that amusing, he suspected he always would.

He looked at the box, made from some type of woodlike material that he did not recognise, it had Vulcan script on it. He had become fairly proficient in Vulcan standard since his bonding to T'Shira. Was that the figure 1 on the box? He opened it and almost dropped it when he saw its contents. It was an old type pregnancy test with the markings 'a'rak' (positive) in Vulcan script.

"You mean, we're"… McCoy could barely speak.

"Yes kid'wa, we are preg.."

McCoy did not even let his wife finish the sentence, he lifted her up and whooped with joy, before he kissed her passionately.

"I love you so much, you know that right. I may screw up and say stupid things sometimes, I'm working on that. But I love you so much Shira, you're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I am the second best thing that ever happened ashau, I believe the birth of Joanna would be the first, as it should be."

McCoy laughed as he embraced her comments, he was about to ask her all sorts of medical questions but he paused.

"What time did you say Jo was coming?" He stepped back and started to remove his shirt.

"I speculate that she will return in the morning Leonard, since her companion travelled from his home planet to see her. Why do you ask?"

"Well darlin, you gave me one of your gifts, it's time for me to give you one of mine," McCoy stood bare chested as he removed the belt from this trousers (pants).

T'Shira quirked her lips as she watched her husband remove his clothing, perhaps now was a good time to tell him she wore no undergarments or let him find out for himself.

Author's notes: I hope this chapter is as light hearted as planned. I received distressing news this week regarding someone I grew up with who took his own life. It is extremely upsetting. I will not finish this story before Christmas but I will complete it.

**Memory Alpha states McCoy was born in the 'Old South' region of North America.

I think TOS McCoy, Kirk and Spock took all those long, deep space missions because they were confirmed die hard bachelors, remember in Star Trek V where Kirk mentioned they had no family? I consider that a sad scene. It's interesting that after the first five year mission McCoy left the service and would have stayed left if he was not reactivated.

I find it strange that a well-liked, popular character like McCoy canon portrays him as a father who left his daughter on earth and pursued a career that took him into deep space on five year missions and he did it more than once. According to Memory Alpha Joanna was born in 2249 so would be nine years old when he joined Starfleet if she exists in the reboot universe. At first I thought he put his career before his child but this chapter explains my take on why such a seemingly decent man did what he did.

St Marguerite is my creation.