Chapter Two
The next day, McCoy pushed aside his lunch of spaghetti and meatballs and looked at Joanna, who sat opposite around him at the kitchen table. His mom sat beside him while Donna and her family also sat around the table.
"Joanna, let's go to the botanical gardens in Athens Georgia this afternoon." McCoy suggested. Joanna looked up at him.
"Why?" she wondered. He frowned.
"Because I want to spend time with you Joanna." he told her.
"Well, I have better things to do then walk around and look at plants with you. There's a book my friend recommended that I wanted to read on my PADD. Excuse me." Joanna replied then stood from the table. She turned to go but was stopped by his mom's voice.
"Joanna, please give your father a chance. He just wants to get to know you again." his mom stated.
"If that's the case, then he should have made more of an effort since the divorce." Joanna replied.
"Joanna, I fought hard for joint custody. But the judge decided otherwise." McCoy explained. Joanna turned around to face him and then folded her arms over her torso.
"For God's sake dad! I'm not a bone to be fought over between two dogs but you and mom sure acted like it during the divorce. I was just a kid at the time but I can still remember the fighting." she snapped.
"I'm sorry you had to overhear that sweetheart. Look, if you don't want to go to the gardens then you don't have to. But if you do want to talk or do anything else, then I'll be here." McCoy said.
"Yeah, until you fly away into space again. So why bother?" Joanna asked. Before he could reply she turned and left the room.
"Dammit." McCoy swore.
"Mom, I'm going for a walk. I'll be back soon." he continued as he stood up.
"Do you still know your way around the neighbourhood?" Eleanora wondered.
"Well enough." McCoy stated. Then he quickly left the room.
"Wait Leonard. I'll come with you." his sister said as she walked alongside him. He turned his head to look at her.
"Donna, I'm not really in the mood for company." he informed her.
"I know, which is why I'll be quiet. But I would like to stretch my legs too." she replied.
"Fine." he allowed. The two of them got on shoes and coats then headed out the door. True to her word his sister remained quiet on the walk. The neighbourhood looked quite a bit different then he remembered, but there was the odd house or other building he recognized from before he had started at the Academy. I suppose everything changes over time, he thought. Sometimes for the better and other times for the worse. Once McCoy felt he'd calmed down enough, he headed back to the house. The two of them removed their shoes and jackets then rejoined the others in the living room.
"Did the two of you have a good walk?" asked his brother in law Fred.
"It was fine. So where's Joanna?" McCoy wanted to know as he looked around the room and didn't see his daughter there.
"Joanna is still in her room. You know what you need Leonard?" his mom said.
"What?" he asked her.
"One of my friends at the quilting group I attend every week has a lovely daughter about your age who is single…" she began. His raised hand stopped her from finishing that sentence.
"Mom, I don't need you to set me up with anyone." he insisted.
"Why not? You've got a lot to offer a woman Leonard." Donna stated.
"I'm already married." McCoy admitted. Donna blinked and his mother raised both eyebrows.
"Well this is the first I've heard of it. So who is your wife and why didn't you bring her to meet us?" Eleanora demanded.
"I didn't bring Natira to meet you because she's busy with her work. She's the Fabrini high priestess, which is what they call their leader. She has a duty to serve her people just like I have a duty to Starfleet as a doctor." McCoy explained.
"So I take it this Natira is still drifting through space while you remain on Earth for now?" Donna asked.
"Natira lives with the other Fabrini on Daran Four. But we've arranged to meet in person once I return to San Francisco. She's coming to open the Fabrini Embassy in that city. Natira said she'll try to visit me as much as possible though it probably won't be that often." McCoy told them.
"So you're in a long distance marriage?" his mom clarified.
"Yes I am. It's not ideal but we both understand that our work comes first." McCoy replied.
"Yes, anyone who has met you quickly finds that out." Donna remarked.
"Donna!" his mom protested. Donna folded her arms over her chest.
"I'm not apologizing because what I said is true. Leonard, even if this is the longest romantic relationship you've had since the divorce I don't want to see you hurt again. Sooner or later this Natira will do that." his sister claimed.
"Donna, Natira is not the type to have an affair like Pamela." he firmly declared.
"Let's hope not. Speaking of your ex wife, were you aware that Pamela is engaged now?" Eleanora replied. He raised an eyebrow at that news.
"So who is Pamela's fiancé then?" McCoy snapped bitterly.
"Matthew works for some pharmaceutical firm on the board of directors. He offered to tour me around his house once, and the only thing I recognized was that piece of Vulcan art that Pamela took in the divorce that your father never liked. That's how I knew they were living together you know. Pamela didn't tell me directly." Eleanora explained.
"Of course not. So when is this Matthew fellow planning to show up next?" he wondered.
"If you're so interested Leonard, both Pamela and Matthew are planning to come to dinner tomorrow. Donna and her family will be staying for that as well." his mom informed him.
"Then maybe I'll go out for dinner on my own." McCoy suggested. He really didn't want to meet either Pamela or this Matthew man.
"Please don't. I'd prefer not to spend another meal alone with Matthew, because I can't stand him. I suspect that the only reason Joanna likes him is because he gives her nice things while all she gets from you are video calls and letters." Eleanora said.
"I'm Joanna's father dammit! I won't be usurped by Pamela's fiancé." McCoy declared firmly. Matthew was welcome to Pamela as far as he was concerned, but not Joanna.
"I don't want you to be Leonard. So while you are here, spend as much time as you can with Joanna. Tomorrow night, you can demonstrate to Matthew that you'll always know Joanna better then he could ever hope to. Speaking of dinner, I should get started on some." his mom stated.
"Can I help?" he offered. Before she could reply Linda walked up to Donna and held up a piece of paper.
"Mom, look at what I drew while you were out walking with uncle Leonard." she said. Donna looked at the picture then smiled at her daughter.
"That's very nice. Is this a gift for your uncle Leonard?" Donna asked.
"Yes. He gave me a gift so I wanted to get him something too. Here." Linda stated then thrust the paper toward him. McCoy took the paper and then looked at it. On the paper was a drawing of a green and blue circle that was labelled Earth with stick figures of Eleanora and Joanna. Beside that was another circle that was brown and green labelled Cerberus with stick figures of her family. In the sky above both Earth and Cerberus, there was an outline of the Enterprise with three stick figures of Jim, Spock, and himself on what he could only assume was meant to be a bridge. All in all it wasn't a bad drawing for a child, McCoy thought.
"Well, thank you very much Linda. I'll put this up in my quarters on the ship so that anyone who visits will see it." he promised her. She smiled at him as did Donna.
"Thanks. Now come on mom, Thomas wanted you to see the model of the starship that uncle Leonard gave him. He's been working on it since you left for that walk." Linda said.
"If you'll excuse me…" Donna declared, then left the two of them alone as she followed Linda.
"So Leonard I hope you haven't lost your touch for setting a table? I'll synthesize us some beans with chicken and dumplings." Eleanora replied as they walked towards the kitchen.
"That sounds good." McCoy responded as he placed Linda's picture on the board above the matter recycler. He'd make sure to take that with him before he left but he didn't want to lose it. He had just finished doing so when Joanna entered the kitchen.
"Is dinner ready yet?" Joanna wanted to know.
"In about twenty minutes Joanna. Why don't you put that PADD away and go wash your hands?" Eleanora said.
"All right grandma." Joanna replied. Perhaps it was because he hadn't heard his mom being referred to by that name before, but McCoy suddenly realized how much older his mom seemed since he had left on the five year mission. Eleanora still had a full head of grey hair and she seemed unchanged in her personality. But McCoy now noticed that she moved slower and had a lot more lines and wrinkles on her face and hands. She'd also gained about ten pounds from what he could recall of the last time he'd seen her right before the five year mission started.
"I'm fine Doctor McCoy. Save your medical scanner for those who need it." Eleanora responded to his silent scrutiny.
"How did you know I was thinking of your health just now?" McCoy wondered.
"Because you had a certain look about you that told me you were checking for injury or change since you've seen me last. It's the same look your father had when he was assessing patients." his mom explained.
"Really? I never realized that. The only time he ever healed me directly was when I broke my arm as a kid falling out of that peach tree in the front yard." McCoy responded.
"I did warn you that you shouldn't climb that high, but you wanted to see how the world looked like from higher up." she recalled.
"It was about the same, at least until I fell. But other then that one time I avoided dad's med kit." he said. She nodded and they fell into silence until dinner was served.