A/N: I AM SO SORRY Y'ALL. Summer School and work sucks for writing and availability. So so sorry. I hope this makes up for it and I'm working on the next now and should have it up within a week or two, then a normal schedule after that. Scout's honor.

McCoy stood on his mother's porch on the third day of Jim's visit, watching Jim play with Joanna. They were playing tag. His daughter hid behind the tree and waited for Jim to walk by, then jumped, tagged her and screamed "Gotcha!" while running away. Jim groaned good naturedly, and ran after the girl. A chuckle sounded behind him.

Ellen McCoy stood at the sink, looking at the girls in the yard. "She's really good with kids. Joanna wouldn't stop talking about her when we went to the store yesterday."

"Yeah, it helps that Jim's really just a big kid."

Ellen wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to her son. "I have to say, you surprised me a little when you said you might be bringing a friend with you, but I was stunned when you showed up with a woman in tow. A beautiful woman at that."

He put an arm around her and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "It's not what you think, Ma. She's just a friend. I met her on the shuttle to the Academy, and I have to say she was probably in a worse spot than me at the time." He laughed when Ellen raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious! She literally had nothing but the clothes on her back and actually seemed happy to be spending most of her time with a grumpy divorced man."

They walked to the kitchen table and sat down, Ellen pouring them each a cup of coffee. McCoy took the cup with a nod of thanks and took a sip. "God, I forgot how good real coffee tastes. If I don't want replicated crap, I have to pay a ridiculous amount at a barista shop on the opposite side of campus. Jim's a handful though, don't get me wrong. She's come home from bar hopping a few times after having been in bad fights. I've had to reset her nose three times this semester alone."

Ellen shook her head. She got up as a timer went off and pulled a roast out of the oven. She asked McCoy to call the "children" in.

He stuck his head out the door and yelled "Dinner's ready! Get your lazy bums in here!"

"Thank you, Leonard. I could have done that myself."

Bones just grinned in response and Jim and Joanna raced in the door. Joanna ran and sat down at the table. "Beat ya!" she exclaimed.

Jim walked to the sink and began to wash her hands. "Nuh uh! Someone didn't wash their hands!" she sang and received a tongue stuck out in response.

"Joanna McCoy, get over there and wash your hands," Ellen said sternly. Jim sat in her seat and placed a napkin in her lap as the McCoys finished washing up and sat down. The four joined hands and McCoy said grace. As they released hands, he caught Jim's eye across the table and smiled. She gave him a big grin in response.

"Leonard, she's really not as uncivilized as you paint her to be," Ellen said, eyes sparkling with humor.

Jim's jaw dropped and she turned slowly to look at McCoy. "Really, now? Uncivilized?"

Bones looked her in the eye and said, "Ma, you just haven't seen her dive into a pizza yet. Sauce everywhere. Almost as bad as Joanna."

"Am not!" Jim exclaimed as Joanna said "I'm not that messy!"

"Are too."

Jim shook her head and stuck a hand up at McCoy. "I'm through with you." They both laughed and Jim turned to Ellen. "Mrs. McCoy, this is the best roast I've ever had."

After dinner, McCoy and Jim washed dishes while Ellen and Joanna played cards at the table. McCoy couldn't help but notice that Jim seemed much more open and natural in Georgia than she was at the Academy. And his mother was right, she did seem to have a way with Joanna.

"Penny for your thoughts, Bones."

McCoy rinsed off a plate. "Nothing. When's your shuttle tomorrow?"

Jim took the plate he handed her and began to dry it. "Pretty early. I have to be there at eleven to board." She put the dry plate on the rack and took another from him. Their fingers brushed.

"Oh."

They finished the plates and glasses in relative silence. McCoy drained the sink and wiped down the counter as Jim joined his mother and daughter in their card game. Jim lifted Joanna out of her seat and sat her on her lap. He grabbed his PADD and sat down in an arm chair near enough to hear their conversation but far enough away that he could simply observe.

Jim stuck her head around Joanna's left shoulder. "What game are we playing?"

"Go Fish! It's my favorite. Gramma always loses," the six year old giggled.

"Never heard of it. Will you teach me?"

Joanna nodded and began to explain the objective of the game. Jim focused fully on the girl, with a look of pure joy on her face. This continued for another hour, until McCoy closed down his PADD and cleared his voice. "Joanna, it's time for bed."

Joanna threw her head back and groaned. "But Dad! We're in the middle of the game!"

"I'm sure Jim can finish it for you."

"Nooo! I want Jim to tell me a story! Please can we finish?" She pushed out her bottom lip and opened her eyes wide.

"No, Joanna. It's bedtime. Your mother would have my hide if she knew we went for ice cream today, let alone staying up past your bedtime. Come on, teeth and PJs."

"Jim, will you pretty please come read me a story? I promise I'll brush my teeth really good!"

Jim was helpless to the big eyes and pout. She ran a hand over Joanna's head and said, "Of course. Go get ready and I'll be up in a bit."

Joanna squealed with delight and ran up the stairs. Bones tilted his head, listening for the sink upstairs. When he heard it, he turned to Jim. "One story. Don't let her beg you for more or she'll never get to sleep."

Jim patted Bones on the chest and winked at him. "Trust me, I got it." She went upstairs.

Bones huffed out a sigh and sat next to his mother at the table. When she chuckled he glared at her. "What?"

"She's a handful, alright."

"Well, she's a six year old and she's spending a week away from her mother. What'd you expect?"

"Not her. Jim." McCoy raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. She's got you wrapped around her finger, and the way she looks at you?"

"Ma, it really isn't what you think. I see what she's like around men she's interested in. When she wants you, it's blatant. There's none of that with me. She doesn't see me like I see her."

"Oh, Leonard. You may not see it, but it's there. Give it time."

He shrugged. "It's scary, Ma. I haven't felt like this about anybody. There are times when I absolutely can't stand her. She's reckless with her life; you should see her after some of her training exercises and it's only the first year. She has no filter. And then there are times where she seems so absolutely lost and childlike. She calls and I jump."

He stopped talking when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Jim came bounding down from Joanna's bedroom. "She wants to say goodnight to you, Bones."

McCoy pushed up from the table with a huff. He walked up to his daughter's room and opened the door. Joanna looked at him patiently. He sat down on the side of her bed and brushed some hair out of her face. "Did you brush your teeth?" A nod. "Say your prayers?" Another nod. "Get a good story out of Jim?" An enthusiastic nod. "Good. What's the word, hummingbird?"

"I like Jim a lot, Daddy. Can we keep her?"

Bones chuckled. "Honey, I don't think anyone could ever 'keep' Jim. But that's a matter for another day." He leaned down and kissed his daughter's forehead. "Go to sleep," he said sternly. He got up and turned off the light. As he shut the door, he looked at his daughter's face and uttered a whispered "I love you."

Early the next morning, the small kitchen of the McCoy home was a frenzy of breakfast and goodbyes. The female McCoys bid their houseguest farewell, with the elder opening her home for further visits and the younger bravely holding back tears. Jim, herself, was not far from tears, and told Bones on the drive to the shuttle as much.

"It's been a long time since I've felt this at home, Bones," she said as she grabbed his hand. Bones stiffened for a second, and then relaxed as she squeezed it. "Thank you, Bones. Thank you." He nodded and squeezed her hand back.

The rest of the short drive passed in a comfortable silence, and nothing was said as they parked and walked towards the shuttle. Bones insisted on carrying Jim's small knapsack, despite her protests, handing it to the baggage handler. They exchanged a hug and McCoy patted Jim on the back as she stepped into the shuttle.