I do not own Star Trek, or any of its characters or story lines.
March 30th, 2252 (Jim's POV)
I led the way downstairs to the living room from Julia's room, with Mr. Spock trailing close behind me. I had a feeling about him - whether it was a good one or not - I didn't quite know yet. Julia said he was her fiance, and I didn't know how I felt about that either.
My thoughts about Spock, however, were interrupted my mother. She was standing at the foot of the stairs, glaring up at me.
"James T. Kirk - why did you just dump the groceries on the counter?" She said, hands on her hips. I blushed a little, feeling embarrassed to be chastised by my mom in front of someone I barely knew.
"Mom," I said, my feet quickening their pace down the stairs. "Now is not the best time -"
"Oh, no you don't!" She said, grabbing my ear and pulling me towards the kitchen. "I don't care if you have another date - you are going to put away the groceries!"
"Winona," Uncle Frank's quiet voice stopped Winona in her tracks. She looked at my Uncle/Stepdad with confusion. He had never really said anything to stop her dealing with her kids before. Frank nodded towards the staircase, where Spock stood uncomfortably.
"Oh…" Mom trailed off and let go of my ear. She gave Spock a smile and walked over to get a better look at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
"It is all right," Spock replied blushing in the ears. I smirked at his discomfort, but at my mother's sidelong glance, I put on an innocent face and started putting away the groceries. I could still hear their conversation from where I was, thankfully.
"No, it's not alright," Mom replied, and I heard her walk towards the stairs. "I should have seen you."
"I came without invitation, thus it should be I who is apologizing."
"Oh?" Mom asked, "So you just came into this house alone?"
"Not quite," Spock said, and I heard his voice get just the teansy bit higher. "I came here with Julliana Kirk."
I glanced behind me as I stacked some cans in the cupboard. Mom was staring at the Spock guy, and Uncle Frank was leaning on the wall, watching the encounter. I had to say, I was intrigued as well.
"Spock?" Mom asked, and I nearly choked when she said his name. "Is that really you? Oh my word, its been what 9 - 10 years?"
"You know him?" I blurted, unable to contain my astonishment. How on Earth could she know him? I certainly didn't, though the way he cocked his head at my response did seem a little familiar.
"Of course I do -" mom said, turning and looking at me with wide, happy eyes. "Jim, he went to your and Julia's 4th birthday party!"
"Wait - what?" I asked, surprised. "4th...birthday party?"
"Yes," Mom turned back to Spock and gave him a hug. Spock didn't move, and allowed her to hug him tightly. "His mom and I are friends, and I still visit them when I'm assigned to Vulcan."
"Great," I said, leaning on the counter. I really couldn't remember who he was, and the fact that mom knew him and liked him - well, that meant Julia had made the right choice in picking him as her husband to be.
That should have made me happy, but instead it made me want to puke. How could my sister pick the right guy? I mean, the last time she was with someone, he tried to rape her. With a huff, I decided I wasn't going to get anywhere pouting, so I put my pride and worry away and continued to go about putting things away.
Later that day, at the dinner table. (Julia's POV)
When I woke up, it was with a splitting headache. Probably from all the stress I'd had to feel when I saw Devon. Ugh, even his name made me shiver.
"Julia, honey," Mom's voice called from my doorway, and I turned to see her smiling face. "Dinner's ready." I rubbed my head and nodded to show her that I'd heard.
"Okay," I said, wincing at the sound of my voice. It was extremely loud in my ears. Clinching my eyes shut, I forced myself up and out of bed. My whole body ached now, and all I wanted to do was sleep - but I needed to eat to keep up my strength.
Shuffling over to my old closet, I dug out a fluffy robe to cover up my dirty clothing. I was not in the mood for changing clothes right now, and besides, food was waiting down stairs.
Turning to the door, I realized my mom was still there. I gave her a weak smile, and started over to her. Her arms opened and she hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, happy to see her again.
"I missed you," Mom said, and I smiled to myself. I'd missed her too. "It's so good to have you home. And you brought Spock along too!" I blinked, and instantly remembered all that had happened before the Devon incident.
"Um," I said, pulling back and starting for the stairs, "Maybe we should go eat." Mom just nodded and followed me.
When I got to the dinner table, I found Uncle Frank, Jim, and Spock seated around the rectangular table. Uncle Frank was seated at one end, and Winona was across from him. I was set to sit next to Spock, and Jim across from both Spock and I, facing me.
A little nervously, I went to sit beside Spock. He pulled the chair out for me, and pushed it back in when I sat down. Jim glanced at me, giving me a look that said 'have you told her yet?'. I gave him one back that said 'No. But don't you say a word.'.
With smile of amusement, he leaned back in his chair and waited for mom to sit down. When she did, he glanced at me, but I didn't say a word.
"Before we eat," Mom said, looking around the table, "Lets say grace."
"Grace," Jim quipped, and I kicked him under the table. "Ow." he said, putting his foot down on mine so I couldn't move them. I glared at him and he stuck his tongue out.
"Ahem," Mom cleared her throat, and both Jim and I turned to see her giving us both stern looks. With a resigned sigh, I stopped glaring, and he took his feet off of mine. "Jim, why don't you say grace?"
"Sure," Jim said, folding his hands together and looking at the ceiling. I did the same. Mom and Uncle Frank, however, closed their eyes and bent their heads down, as did Spock (he was very into following customs). "Dear Lord, thanks for the food that you've given us. It looks pretty good, and I know that my mom worked pretty hard to make it. Also, thanks for the surprise visit from my sis and her special friend, Spock. Amen."
My eyes widened, and I thought for a moment that he'd tell my mom outright that Spock and I were engaged. But when he didn't, I knew what he'd done was much worse - she aroused her curiosity.
Spock leaned down close to my ear a moment, whispering something into my ear.
"Did you tell them of our engagement?" Instead of responding, I shook my head slightly, and I could hear Spock's intake of breath. A sign that he was kind of annoyed at that.
"Special friend?" Mom asked, looking at Spock and I. I smiled brightly and, and before she could ask me, I grabbed a piece of bread off of a plate and took a bite. "What did you mean by that?"
Jim was drinking a large glass of water, however, and pointed to it and shrugged. Frowning, she glanced at Frank, but he just shook his head, not knowing anything about Spock and I. So she turned to Spock, the only person here who could not lie.
"What did he mean, special friend," She raised her eyebrows, looking into Spock's eyes. Vulcans couldn't lie. "Spock?"
"I believe what James was referring to the upcoming nuptials of Julliana and I." Spock said, and I sighed. The secret was out. And now she knew.
"What?" Mom asked, looking at me. I swallowed my bread and gave her another weak smile. "Julliana?"
"Um...surprise?" I said, holding my hands up in mock celebration. Spock glanced at me, and I could tell his ears were blushing green. I should have told her earlier, but with everything going on - I just put it off. And kind of forgot about it.
"You two are getting married," She stated, and I nodded. "And I take it Jim knew about it."
"Yeah…" I said, knowing where she was going with this. Her eyes met mine and they were icy cold.
"Well, in light of the circumstances, I think we'll have to watch some home-made movies." I groaned, and put a hand to my head.
"Not the home-made movies!" This was mom's version of punishment, showing my fiance all the embarrassing photos and videos from when I was younger. From a baby, until I left for the Academy.
"I would enjoy seeing these," Spock said. I punched him in the ribs, lightly. He glanced down at me, and I gave him a glare.
"No you don't." I stated. He raised an eyebrow.
"Quite the contrary," he argued, "I would quite enjoy watching videos of you as a young child."
"Then its settled!" Mom exclaimed, closing off all other discussion of not doing so. With a sigh, I decided that it might not be so bad. So I ate my mom's pasta and bread calmly, and when it was time to watch the movies, I excused myself to go change clothes.
Upstairs, alone, I screamed out a bunch of nonsense and kicked a bag of clothes. This outburst lasted only a few minutes, but it succeeded in fulfilling my purposes. I had let out all my rage at Spock having to sit through videos of me as a child, adolescent, and teenager. Sighing, I leaned back against the wall and wondered how I was going to get out of this one. Maybe I could pretend I was still sick, or say that Spock and I had reservations at a hotel...
My thoughts were interrupted when Spock entered the room. Glancing at him, I pulled my robe tightly around me. I didn't want him to see me in such dirty clothes. True, I knew he didn't much care for clothing - but it still bothered me.
"I wanted to be sure you were well," He said, standing in my doorway. I blinked and looked up at him, wondering if I should do or say anything. "Are you well?"
"That depends on how you look at things." I said, brushing back a bit of hair. Turning, I went to root through a box of clothing and started my search for a semi-formal outfit. In my search, I found the dress I'd worn when I'd attended Prom at 14 years of age. Holding the dress up, I could feel the tension returning. My breath quickened, and I had the urge to run far away as quickly as possible.
That urge was stopped when Spock's hand touched my neck. Slowly, the hand moved to my shoulder, and then onto my arm - until it finally came to rest on my hand. Looking at his large hand upon mine, I was distracted from the dress in front of me.
"I do not think it would be wise to experience another anxiety episode." His voice was comfortingly close to me. Leaning back, I found his sturdy body waiting to hold me up. He wouldn't let me fall, he wouldn't let me be hurt. He probably wouldn't even be scared off by the videos my mom had stored up. With effort, I made my fingers release the dress, and watched as it fell onto the floor.
"I think you're right," I said, turning to look at Spock. His brown eyes looked down into mine, and I felt like I was safe. Like nothing on Earth could ever hurt me. And then I realized I was still in some dirt covered clothing. With a shy smile, I pulled my hand out of his, and went to my closet. There were still a few things hanging up. One of them in particular, a flannel night gown, had caught my interest. And there was a bag by the door that looked like it had some under garments. Turning to look at my husband-to-be, I smiled. "I should really get showered up."
"That is...logical." Spock responded, nodding his head almost hesitantly. "However, I ask that you make your shower quick. I do not wish to have you out of my sight for very long periods of time."
"Worried?" I asked, coming over to give him a peck on the cheek. He blinked, and then gave another nod.
"Indeed." I put my hand to his face, and let my thumb brush along his cheekbone.
"I'll be fine, Spock."
"Can you promise me you will not experience another anxiety attack?" One his hands came to press my own close to his face.
"I can't promise that, exactly," I said, looking back into his eyes. "But I can promise you that I won't try to experience another episodic attack, nor will I put myself into a position where that becomes highly probable. Is that a satisfactory promise?"
"I suppose it will have to do." He sighed, letting go of my hand and allowing me free passage from my room. I smiled at him as I stopped by a small bag to search for some undies. Hopefully it would all still fit, and if it didn't...Well, I was sure Spock would be happy to grab my bag and bring up to the bathroom. With that thought in my mind, I left for the bathroom down the hall.
Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is pretty tension filled, but next chapter I'll have a more humorous and romantic type of theme. Get ready to have a few laughs and read about Julia and Jim Kirk when they're kids.