AN: This comes from a prompt by my lovely enabler friend who also enables me to write when I need a nudge. LOL

I own nothing from Star Trek.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!

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The village had a small school where all the kids attended. The village was small enough that the school—though nice, clean, well-staffed, and amply large enough to suit its population—was a single school that served every grade, with the different "schools" being separated into three different buildings.

Beverly didn't worry about their children's education. She was confident taking Jack to school there for his kindergarten classes, and they would take their other children when the time came.

The village was one of those small places where everyone knew everyone else, and they prided themselves on a sense of community and connectivity.

As an outsider of sorts, however, Beverly could see things just a bit differently than the people who had called the village home for the majority of their lives, perhaps.

The people in the village knew Jean-Luc. He was a famed Starfleet captain in many ways, and that fame stretched far beyond Starfleet. His family had been there for ages, and the vineyard brought in money to the village that it wouldn't have otherwise seen. His family had been respected members of the community, too, for generations. In addition, Jean-Luc's fame added a certain something to the village, and Beverly knew that it brought in some revenue, because some of the local shop owners had found ways to incorporate small "tourist attractions" into everything they did.

When Beverly came, she found that she was welcomed in the village without much question. She was questioned about her work in Starfleet—her name not being nearly as widely recognizable as Jean-Luc's—and, then, people had almost immediately warmed to her, especially thanks to the fact that they wanted her to consider setting up a practice in the village, either with Starfleet's blessing or as a private practice. The one doctor that was practicing was, after all, quite old, and might not live to practice much longer.

The villagers, however, had been, and still were, a little less than enthusiastic about their Romulan neighbor than they were about the rest of the Picard household, despite the fact she'd been in the village longer than Beverly.

Whether or not there was any reason for their feelings, many were still wary of Romulans. Beverly couldn't say that they treated Laris badly, exactly—nobody refused to serve her, closed their doors to her, or openly turned their backs on her—but there were things that were noticeable.

And it broke Beverly's heart. She could openly admit that she, too, had spent most of her life disliking Romulans for the things that they'd done—and that meant clumping the entirety of the species together—but Laris had taught her a lesson, one that she'd believed she already knew, on a truly profound level.

Beverly had learned the importance of meeting each individual, where they are at, in a given moment in their lives.

It wasn't fair to judge the entirety of a species on the behaviors of any of its people. It was important to realize that circumstances shaped the behavior of everyone in every situation, and that she wasn't always privy to those circumstances. It was important to realize that people, even, could change, and sometimes it was necessary to allow them to show you that they'd changed. They key to that, though, was that you had to accept the change when they showed it to you.

Beverly could tease Laris about her past, and Laris was good natured about it. She didn't deny what she'd done. She didn't deny who she was, or even who she'd been. Like all of them, she had a past, and she wasn't always proud of every moment of that past.

But who she was now was a beautiful, wonderful person. She was a loving, gentle, dedicated partner. She was fiercely loyal, and fiercely protective of her loved ones, but that was where most of her ferociousness seemed to end. She was warm, and affectionate, and a truly wonderful mother to their children. And even when the characteristics of her species showed themselves, because she couldn't change who she was entirely, Beverly found everything to be endearing in its own way.

And all of her family agreed.

Still, the villagers, were they confronted about their prejudices in any way, would deny them entirely. They wouldn't see them, and Beverly doubted they would change—at least the older ones wouldn't. She had a lot of hope for the younger ones, especially as they came to know Jack and Elnor, and the little ones to come—the majority of which, Beverly predicted, would sport at least some features that would make them identifiably part-Romulan.

When it was time for Jack to go to his first day of kindergarten—which, unfortunately, was not the first day for other children, given that it had taken them a little time to get settled and decide to enroll him there instead of teaching him from home—Beverly had packed his little backpack for him, oversized for his little body. Laris had fixed his breakfast, exactly to his specifications, and while he'd eaten it with his Papa, she'd packed his little lunch box with the food that he'd requested and a special little surprise for him to open up at lunch. Jean-Luc had helped him finish getting dressed, and he'd walked him to school.

Now, however, Beverly was waiting outside the Château for Jean-Luc to get back with Jack in tow. Their son, it seemed, hadn't quite lasted the entire first day before he was being sent home for something that Beverly would have never imagined—fighting.

Beverly stood, her arms crossed across her chest, and watched as Jean-Luc and Jack approached the house. Jack looked so small with his oversized backpack and his lunchbox, which also seemed dramatically large. His Papa's hand on his shoulder made him look even smaller. The frown on his face, though, was large enough to have been seen from almost anywhere.

Jean-Luc was frowning, too, and he walked Jack right past Beverly and into the house, catching Beverly's eyes and communicating his sadness and disappointment to her with his eyes. Beverly followed them into their home.

"What happened?" Laris asked, meeting them in the hallway. Elnor toddled behind her.

"Ja Ja!" He called out, pleased to see his brother.

"Let's all go to the table," Jean-Luc said. "There will be plenty of time to find out what happened."

Beverly took Jack's bookbag off for him. She took his lunchbox. She helped him off with the light sweater that he hadn't needed, really, being quite hot-natured, as much as he'd simply insisted that he should have it because, like his Mama, he ought to wear a little sweater.

The whole time she helped him, he didn't say anything.

She quietly searched him for signs of the fight, not pushing him to speak just yet.

"I can heal those," she said, referring to a few scrapes and forming bruises. "We can heal those with the dermal regenerator."

"Here you are," Laris said, putting down a plate with a few cookies and a glass of milk in front of Jack. She sat down next to him at the table, and offered Elnor a cookie to carry with him as he went off chasing Number One, his interest in his brother lost now.

"I hardly think that cookies and milk is a proper response to being sent home, his first day of school, for fighting," Jean-Luc said, his tone sharp.

Jack, who had looked pleased over his mama's offering of milk and cookies, looked immediately deflated again and pushed the plate away.

"Fighting or not, Jean-Luc, he needs to eat," Laris said. She ruffled Jack's hair. Beverly sat across from him.

"Jack—why don't you tell us what happened?" Beverly asked.

"The head master said that he was in an altercation with three other boys," Jean-Luc said. "Two of them seemed to have left the scuffle early, but they pulled Jack off of the third boy. It seems he bloodied the boy's nose and, in what must have been the throes of victory declared that the boy had red blood, before they pulled them apart."

"Jack! Is that true?" Beverly asked.

Jack frowned at her.

"They have asked us to keep him home, as punishment, for three days," Jean-Luc said. "Upon his return, we're being asked to escort him to school, so that we may meet the other boy's parents and allow Jack to apologize for his actions toward their son."

Beverly sighed and frowned at her husband. She couldn't imagine her sweet little baby boy fighting. That wasn't Jack.

Of course, there were a few scuffles around the house with Elnor, but that was to be expected. They were brothers, and Elnor was small enough that he and Jack didn't always communicate well. They were working out social rules and norms together, really, in a lot of ways. Besides that, suddenly having a Romulan toddler as a baby brother after spending so many years without a sibling was a bit of an adjustment on Jack's part.

But Beverly felt sure that he wasn't the kind of child that would just enjoy fighting—and certainly not in drawing blood from his opponent.

She leaned and reached her hand across the table, patting Jack's hand.

"Sweetheart—tell Mommy what happened," Beverly said.

Jack looked around at each of his parents, his gaze settling last on Laris.

"Go ahead, Jack," she coaxed.

"I did hit him," Jack said. "I did."

"We know you hit him," Jean-Luc said. Beverly reached her hand over and patted his arm. He looked at her and she shook her head at him gently to keep him from interrupting Jack. Jack watched his father for a moment and then started again.

"But he hit me, too. And they pulled my backpack, and they pushed me down. And they hit me, too."

"Why would they do that? No wonder you hit him!" Laris said.

Beverly extended the other hand in her direction and patted her arm. Laris settled, where she'd shifted somewhat in her seat. Jack looked at Laris with a furrowed brown and nodded his head in understanding.

"I knew you would understand," Jack said. "I knew you would. Because…I didn't do it because I wanted to do it. I did it because I had to do it. And I knew you would understand, because Romulans do what they have to do, sometimes."

"You are not Romulan at all," Jean-Luc said. Beverly squeezed his arm.

"Jack—what happened?" Beverly asked again. "Just—start at the beginning, and tell us what happened. And everyone else will be quiet and give you a chance to speak." She looked at each of her partners in turn, and both of them settled back into their chairs as a declaration that they would follow her lead.

"Francois said that it was weird that I have three parents. He said that normal people don't have three parents. And I told him that it was because we're Romulan, and my parents are bonded, so I have three parents because that's how you get bonded. And they all love each other, so they're bonded, and I have all three of them. And then Louis said…he said that you can't have more than two parents, and everybody knows that. And he said that…he said that…that I wasn't Romulan and so that I didn't have Romulan parents. And so…so I said that yes huh my Mama was Romulan and my brother is Romulan…and so Olivier said that…he said that his papa told him that Romulans bleed green and so if I was a Romulan…I would too. I would bleed…I would have blood…well…it would be green blood. And he pulled my backpack and they shoved me and hit me…and I hit 'em back, and Olivier said my blood was red so I wasn't a Romulan. And I got on top of Olivier and then he said bad things that weren't true about Romulans, and I got mad at him again and I hit him in the face…and I did say that he was bleeding red. I did say that, but…well…and I did mean it, but…"

He stopped.

He stopped talking and he looked at Beverly with an expression that nearly ripped her heart out of her chest. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. She got up, crossed over to him, and took him up in her arms. He protested, muttering something about not wanting to squash the baby she was carrying, and she sat down with him in her lap so that he could feel more secure about his position and the safety of his unborn sibling.

"I'm not sorry," Jack said. "I'm sorry, Mommy…I'm not. I'm not sorry. I'm sorry I hit him, but I'm not sorry I hit him…"

Beverly hugged him and kissed the top of his head.

"We have to talk about this, Jack," she said. "You can't go around just hitting people."

"He has to stand up for himself," Laris said.

"I agree that he has to stand up for himself," Jean-Luc said. "But you mustn't ever be the one to start a fight, Jack. You mustn't be the one to hit someone first. Self-defense is one thing, but…starting a fight is entirely another."

"I didn't hit first," Jack offered.

"And you can't fight on my behalf," Laris said.

"Jack—you are not a Romulan," Jean-Luc said. "No more than Elnor is a human."

"But I am," Jack said. "Kinda. I kinda am…just a little bit."

"You most certainly are not," Jean-Luc said. "It's one thing to love Romulans and to sympathize with their plight, Jack, but it's another, entirely, to actually be a Romulan. We cannot change who or what we are, and we love you very much for being exactly who you are, and what you are…which is very much not a Romulan."

Beverly never expected to feel so sorry for her son that he was not a Romulan.

"Oh—you are…an honorary Romulan," Laris said. She held her hand up at Jean-Luc, pointing her finger in warning that was also clear on her face. "In a house that I call home, and with my loved ones that I call family, Jack is an honorary Romulan."

Jack beamed at her, and she pushed the plate of cookies and milk back in his direction. He seemed to sense he had permission to take it, and Beverly loosened her hold on him enough to allow him to take the glass of milk, which was what he most wanted first.

"Now—you have to listen to me, Jack," Laris said. "If you're going to be an honorary Romulan, there are some rules you must follow."

"Absolute honesty," Jack said.

"In our home, yes," Laris said. Jean-Luc made a noise. "Yes," Laris amended. "Absolute honesty. But that's not all. It's one thing to look out for yourself, but…if you can, always avoid a fight. It is smarter to avoid fights, than it is to be a part of them. You show your strength as a warrior."

"By not fighting?" Jack asked.

"Because you show that you won't be moved by the unimportant words of small people," Laris said. "You have to save your energy for bigger, more important things like learning and growing, so you can be a great man."

"Like Papa?"

"Just like your papa," Laris agreed.

"They'll know I'm a Romulan then?" Jack asked.

Laris laughed quietly.

"Maybe, by then, it won't matter," she said. "But—if it does matter…when you're a great man with a strong voice and important, smart things to say that everyone wants to hear, I think you'll make sure they know you're an honorary Romulan, and they'll believe you."

Jack seemed pleased by his new status as honorary Romulan.

"You're not going to fight anymore, are you?" Beverly asked him. "We're going to the school, and we're going to talk to the boys' parents about this, but…you won't be starting any fights, will you?"

"Mommy, I didn't hit them first," he insisted.

"Just make sure you don't," Beverly said. "And—if you can, Jack, always walk away before something escalates into a fight like that, OK? Look for an adult to help."

"Are you still mad at me, Papa?" Jack asked.

Beverly saw Jean-Luc soften.

"I am not angry with you, Jack," Jean-Luc said. "I simply don't want to see you become a ruffian and a bully. I would be most disappointed if I thought you were seeking to start fights with others, or that you were tormenting others in any way. However, I think I have a better understanding of what happened. I am not angry with you, Jack."

"I don't wanna tell Olivier I'm sorry," Jack said. "I'm not sorry. I'm just not."

"Yes, well, I feel certain that we'll handle that," Jean-Luc said. "You will apologize for hitting Olivier, because we should always seek first to settle our differences without violence. However, we will speak to his parents. I think an apology is owed to you, too, and I'm going to see that you get it. You do understand, though, Jack, that you're not a Romulan—not an actual Romulan by blood."

"I'm an ornenary Romulan," Jack said around a mouthful of cookie.

"Honorary," Jean-Luc corrected. "That means—given the honor of being something, but it does not change your genetics."

"I think we're not so concerned with genetics," Laris said. "Besides—there are a great deal of genetic differences in this household, wouldn't you say? What is it? Infinite diversity in infinite combinations and all that."

"Spoken more like a Vulcan than a Romulan," Jean-Luc teased.

Laris laughed quietly.

"We all know, I believe, that our son would be much less likely to come home with scrapes and bruises if I were a Vulcan," Laris said. "It might be better for all of us."

"Just as we wouldn't change anything about what Jack is, we wouldn't change a thing about you," Beverly said. "Would we Jack? Would we change anything about Mama?"

Jack smiled at Laris with a chocolate covered smile and hummed in the negative as he shook his head.

"Nah ah!" He declared.

"Very good, my sweet boy," Laris said. "Then, Jack will stay home for a few days, and we'll see to his lessons here. Then, Jean-Luc, you will arrange it with the head-master that we'll all be going in to meet the parents of all these boys. It seems to me that there might be things that need to be discussed, and it will be much more effective if we're all there to answer their concerns and put them to rest."

"I will call now," Jean-Luc said. "That should leave time to arrange everything."

"Can I help make lunch since I didn't get to eat out my box?" Jack asked.

"I think that's only reasonable," Laris said.

"What about your lessons?" Beverly asked.

"We'll get to those later," Laris said, winking at Beverly before she smoothed Jack's hair. "I think it's best if…Jack spends a little time under Romulan tutelage, don't you think? Learning his place as a proper honorary Romulan. We'll clean up these scratches and cuts, and then we'll arrange lunch for the family. Once we've had lunch and cleaned up…I'll help him with his lessons while you take a nap with Elnor."

Beverly smiled at Laris.

"You won't hear any argument from me," she said. "I'll go check on Elnor and Number One while Papa is making his call."

"And I'll go help Mama and be a good onrenary Romulan," Jack said, happily hopping off her lap, offering her a chocolatey kiss, and taking his plate in a half-run for the sink.

"He still doesn't know it's honorary," Jean-Luc mused.

"We'll work on that," Laris said. "He has a lot to learn, but he's a very willing student."

"The Empire would be proud," Jean-Luc teased, knowing that wasn't really the case at all.

"Regardless of what the Empire may think about anything—quite in spite of it, really—his Mama is very proud," Laris said. "And so are his other parents. That's all that really matters in the end, isn't it?"