Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek
Stardate: March 30th, 2252 (Julia's POV)
As I stepped out the bathroom door and into the hallway, a hand grasped my arm. Eyes widening, I turned to face the person who grabbed me. With a start, I faced my mom, who was smiling widely. Tugging my arm, she pulled me towards the stairs.
"Come on honey," She said, now pulling me down the stairs. I had to move my feet twice as fast as her own to keep up with her. "Everyone else is waiting for you."
"I'm going as fast as I can," I said, concentrating on not tripping on the nightgown I wore. It was a little long for me, and I was struggling not to step on the hem. As I stepped down the last step, my foot did land on the hem of my nightgown, and I went tumbling into my mom.
She wasn't prepared to catch my weight, and went falling to the floor, the both of us getting tangled up in eachothers arms. With a groan, I tried to distangle myself from mom, but her shirt button was caught with my own nightgown button. This made it very hard to seperate.
"Hold on, Julia," Mom said, looking up from the ground. She was lying down my right arm, and my left one was trying to undo the buttons along. Mom's right hand, which was her free one, came to help me undo the tangled buttons. "There, that takes care of that."
"Thanks," I said, sliding off of mom. She stood, being careful not to put pressure on my arm. When she was up, she offered me a hand, and I accepted, letting her pull me up. "But, seriously mom, you don't need to go so fast. I mean, aren't you supposed to be old?"
"Old - me?" Mom laughed, patting me on the back as she led me into the living room. "I've been in space so much, I've probably lost only 10 years or so."
"Perfect." I said, rolling my eyes. "You're going to look like my sister when I reach your age." Chuckling, mom reached over and ruffled my wet hair. I tried to pull away from her hand, but she held me there. I guess I know where Jim got that trait.
"You know, I've always wanted a sister," She said, brushing my hair down, and planting a kiss on my head. "But enough about me - it's time to get to the videos about you and Jimmy."
"Mom." Jim said from the couch to our left. "Jim. My name is Jim."
"From what I knew, your name was James," Spock said from several seats away from Jim. My brother sent him a little glare. I smiled to myself, knowing that Spock was teasing him. Maybe they'd get along after all. So long as Spock didn't push Jim too hard. Or vice versa.
"Hey," I said, going to plop down beside Spock. I looked between my two favorite men. "No fighting while I'm here. There'll be plenty of time for that at The Rusty Nail."
"Fine." Jim said with a pout. Mom sat down between him and me, and I smiled to myself. Now I didn't have to worry about Jim poking me if Spock and I started cuddling. Then again, mom might interfere if Spock and I started cuddling. Eh, I guess life can't be perfect.
"You all ready?" Mom asked, and I looked at her and gave her a weak smile. Jim nodded hi head enthusiastically, and Spock gave small nod.
"I am curious to see how Julia behaved as a child," Spock said, and turned to him with a blush on my face.
"Spock! You make it sound like we're watching a documentary or something." I said, wishing that I could slap him. But he didn't like showing public affection. On the other side of the couch, I heard Jim laugh. I peeked around mom to look at my twin brother. "What's so funny?"
"Julia - the documentary." Jim said, spreading his hands out. "See her as she grows through life, from diapers to bras -"
"Shut up," I said, tossing a pillow at his face. I was still pretty weak, so my pillow didn't make much of a noise. It hit Jim in the face with a quiet 'pff', and fell onto his lap. He glanced at me with a smirk, and picked up the pillow to toss it back at me. Thankfully, mom intervened, taking the pillow from Jim, and handing it over to Spock.
"I see I have to lay down some ground rules," Mom said, and I stuck my tongue out at Jim. He made a frog face back at me. With a smug grin on my face, I leaned back in my seat. "First off, no coarse language. Second, no pillow fighting, or tossing of anything physical at one another." I could hear Jim sigh in protest at that. With a little smile, I reached over and took Spock's hand. He glanced at me, and did not pull his hand away from mine. "And, the most important rule of all - no kissing, vulcan or otherwise." I felt myself blush as I looked at mom.
"Mom!" I exclaimed, and I felt Spock pull his hand away from my own. Did I know what holding hands on vulcan meant? Yes, yes I did (or, at least I did after our first year of dating). But, did she have to make that rule? We were going to be married, after all.
Mom looked at me with cold determination in her eyes. If I argued more now, then she might trade spots with me. I didn't want to lose sitting next to Spock, so I closed my mouth right up, and turned to look out in front of us. "Never mind." I said, hoping that she wouldn't make me switch seats with her.
"Okay. The rules have been set," Mom said, putting an arm around me, and I'm guessing an arm around Jim. "So, lets enjoy the show!" With a snap of her fingers, the lights went down, and with a click of a button (probably Jim had the remote for the projector), the family film was cast onto the barren wall in front of us.
Winona Kirk, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and with a camera in her hands, was standing in front of the mirror. Her reflection was smiling out at the camera, and whoever would be watching it. With one hand, she held the camera, and with the other she waved.
"Hello!" She said, sounding like she was both happy and sad. "This is Winona, and I wanted to show you all the two new additions to the family." Moving the camera, the view panned to a room a few feet away. The door was open, and a pair of cribs sat on opposite sides of the room. Between them was a window.
Walking to the bed to her left, the camera came upon a baby with bright blue eyes. She was dressed in a onesie that said: 'Daddy's little girl' in pink.
"This is Julliana Valerie Kirk," Winona said, her voice sounding just a little sad. "She's a few weeks old now, and already she reminds me of George. Hi there, Julie!"
"Auh," Julia responded, reaching up a hand at her mother. Winona's hand could be seen going down and softly brushing Julia's face. "Mmmmba!"
"I love you too," Winona said, pulling her hand back and moving towards the other crib. This baby looked just like the other one, if not for the onesie that he wore. It read: 'Mommy's boy' in blue. "This is James Tiberius Kirk. He reminds me a lot of myself. Especially when he smiles. Hey there, Jimmy!"
"Wa na na!" Jim said, moving his arms up and down quickly. He was smiling widely as he did so. Winona's hand came on screen again, and she went and put her hand on Jim's cheek. He stopped moving a moment, and his eyes looked up at his mother. "Na na," He said quietly, putting his arms down on the bed.
"You're so cute, you know that?" Winona asked, taking her hand back. Suddenly the camera moved back to the mirror. "All right, those are the twins, Julliana and James."
"I'm glad I had that on camera," mom said, and I gave glance at her. I had to admit, this was a cute video. I'd thought maybe she was going to show embarrassing videos of me running up the stairs naked or something.
"Julia," Spock said, leaning down to speak near my ear. "I do not see why you were upset over me viewing these videos,"
"I wasn't worried about this," I said, gesturing to the video before us. "I was worried about the embarrassing videos…"
"Such as?" Spock asked, and I looked over at him with a red blush on my face. His eyebrow went up.
"You don't want to know," I said, turning back to the video screen. It had switched to Jim and I's first birthday party. "Hey, I think you're in this one."
One year old Jim and Julia were sitting in high chairs next to a table. The camera was held up by something sturdy, possibly set up on a wall. Winona was singing 'Happy Birthday' with 3 year old Sam, Amanda Grayson, Sarek, and a 3 year old Spock.
Sarek was singing, though very quietly and not without a green blush, and Spock was mouthing the words. Amanda was singing her heart out, as were Sam and Winona.
"...Happy Birthday to you!" They finished the song with enthusiasm.
"Okay, who wants to blow out the candles?" Winona asked, looking at the pair of twins with excitement in her eyes.
"It is highly unlikely that they will be able to respond," Spock said, his voice sounding much higher than it did now. "As they are only 1 year old."
"I know, Spock," Winona said, smiling at him. "I'm just practicing talking to them like they're adults. It's never too late for a parent to start doing that, you know."
"I see…" Spock said, though he obviously didn't. He glanced up at his father. Sarek raised an eyebrow at Winona and nodded slightly.
"That is a logical explanation, Ms. Kirk." Sarek said, seating himself down at the table. Amanda joined him, rolling her eyes at his response.
"That means he agrees with you," Amanda told Winona. Winona nodded, smiling at the two of them.
"You know, Sarek," Winona said, pausing a moment to blow out her children's birthday candles. "You can call me Winona. Or Winnie, whichever you prefer."
"I would prefer to call you Ms. Kirk," Sarek replied, holding a hand up to decline the offer of cake. "However, if it offends you for me to do this, I will call you Winona."
Winona, who was slicing the cake and passing pieces out, glanced up at Sarek. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she raised an eyebrow right back.
"It would displease me if you don't call me Winona," Winnie said, doing her best to keep her emotions in check. Every since George had died, that had become a lot easier. "But it will not offend me."
Sarek nodded once, and then turned to look at Amanda. She was stifling her laughter as she took a piece of cake. When Sarek looked up at her, she couldn't help but let slip a little laugh.
"Sarek," She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "When Win says she wants you to call her by her name, doing otherwise offends her. Calling others by their names in our human culture is symbolistic of becoming friends. When you don't call her by her name...it's like you're saying you're not her friend."
"Ah," Sarek said, blinking and turning to look back at Winnie. The mother of three was trying to hide her smirk as she glanced up at him. "I would like to express my apologies, Winona. I did not mean to offend you. And, I would be honored to call you by your name to symbolize friendship."
"It's all right, Sarek," Winona said, placing a plate of cake in front of each of the twins. Jim slapped the cake with both his fists, and the treat splattered all over his mother, sister, Spock, and onto the table. "Jim!"
"Jim!" Jim said, copying what his mom said. He smiled at her reaction, and slapped the table again, repeating his name over and over again. "Jim! Jim! Jim!"
"May I have a napkin, please?" Spock asked, wiping a piece of cake off of his face. Amanda was smiling wide as she went to get one.
"Mandi, you don't have to," Winnie said, starting for the same spot as her friend. Unfortunately, she slipped on a piece of cake, and fell to the floor. "Crap!"
"Cwap!" Jim shouted, bouncing in his seat. Spock's eyes widened slightly, as he was unused to even mild swear words. Jim saw his reaction, and started repeating the word. "Cwap! Cwap! Cwap!"
"Me and my big mouth." Winona said, pulling herself up off the floor. Her back was covered with streaks of cake and frosting. Sarek raised an eyebrow, and a hint of a smile crossed his face. Spock didn't see this, however, he was staring at Jim.
"Please desist your swearing," He told Jim. Jim glanced at him and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"CWAP!" With that exclamation, Jim pounded his high chair table so hard that it broke. With a crack, it swung to the side. Silenced by this revelation, Jim looked at the table, and then at his mom. Winona was looking at him with a stern look in her eyes. "Cwap."
"You got that right, kid." Winona said, picking him up out of his chair. "Let's get you cleaned up, and then you can come back out to open presents."
"Bath?" Jim asked skeptically, as Winona picked him up. She shook her head.
"I was thinking more of a shower - Sarek," Sarek glanced up at Winona. "Can you watch Julia, please?"
"Yes," Sarek said, giving her a nod. Amanda entered the screen again, carrying with her a wet rag and several napkins. With the rag, she proceeded to wipe off the table and floor. Spock had the napkins, and was wiping off his face.
"Spuck," Julia said, speaking for the first time ever. Spock glanced over at her, obviously a little annoyed that she'd pronounced his name wrong.
"Spock." Spock said, being sure to pronounce his name clearly. Julia smiled and tried to repeat his name.
"Spuck!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her chair. Spock shook his head and got up to go to his mother.
"I will help you clean up, mother." Spock said, and left to get a wet rag. Sam sat at the table, eating his cake quietly. Sarek kept his eyes on Julia. She had stopped bouncing when Spock had left, and was staring after him.
"Spuck?" She said, pointing towards the half-vulcan. Sarek glanced back at his son, and looked back at Julia.
"Spock does not wish to speak with you," Sarek said. Julia looked at him and reached her arms towards Spock. Sarek shook his head. "No. My son does not wish to hold you."
"SPUCK!" Julia exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes. Amanda sat up on the floor and looked between Sarek and Julia.
"Sarek," Amanda said, rising from the floor. "If you're not going to hold her, I will."
"That is not necessary," Sarek said, standing and reaching for Julia. She tried to slap his hands away, and reached for where Spock was. "I can handle her."
"NO!" Julia wailed, pounding her little fists on Sarek's arms as he picked her up. She was crying now, and kicking and trying to get to Spock.
"I do not understand your infatuation with Spock," Sarek said to Julia. Glancing at Amanda, who was back down on the floor cleaning, Sarek reached up and touched Julia's cheek. He was not doing a mind-meld, but he was looking into her mind to see what she was thinking.
"Father…?" Spock said, coming to stand by the table. He had observed his father placing a hand on Julia's face, and was slightly confused. Sarek raised an eyebrow, and took his hand away from Julia's head.
"Spuck!" Julia shouted, reaching out again for Spock. "Spuck, Spuck, SPUUUUCK!"
"I believe she wants you to sit by her," Sarek said, sitting down with Julia standing on his lap. She blinked a moment and stopped crying when she realized she was standing. Looking down, she saw her feet on the dark robes of a Vulcan Ambassador. (Of course, in her mind, she just saw pretty cloth).
"Ooooo," She said, moving her feet around on Sarek's robes. Squiggling around, she lifted her feet up in an attempt to sit down. Sarek was still holding her up though, and she looked over at him and tried bouncing. "Down."
Sarek lowered her onto his lap, and Julia's face broke into a smile. She leaned into him, feeling the silky robe material against her skin.
"It seems Julia's taken a liking to those robes," Winona said, coming back into the video frame. Jim was in her arms, wrapped up in a towel. Julia looked over at her mom and smiled. Winona smiled back at her, and placed Jim in Julia's high chair. Since he was wrapped up, he couldn't play with the cake. Instead, he stared at the people in the room, watching them as they moved around.
"If you wish, I could bring some of this cloth with me on my next visit," Sarek offered, gently removing his hands from Julia. She didn't slip and fall, but instead grabbed his robe and started wrapping herself in it. Sarek pretended not to notice. "It would be no trouble at all."
"That...would be great." Winona said, smiling as she brushed a hair through her hair. "Well, I'd better be getting to the dishes."
"Mommy," Sam said, speaking for the first time since the birthday song, "Don't forget about the camera."
Looking up, Winnie reached for the device, and the video went black.
"Oooo," Jim said from across the couch, and I put my hands to my face, already knowing what he was going to say. "Looks like someone had a crush on Spock!"
"Shut up," I said between my hands. With my face hidden, no one could see how red my face was. This was the kind of video footage that I didn't want Spock to see. It was embarrassing.
"Julliana," Spock said, and I peeked at him through my hands. He was looking at me with a bit of sheepish expression on his face. "I wish to apologize for my actions when I was 3 years old."
"You don't have to, Spock," I said, wanting to put my hand on his. But, remembering mom's rules, I put a hand on his shoulder instead. "We were only little then."
"However, it was rude of me not to be more friendly to my hosts." Spock said. I smiled at him, and leaned down so my head was on his shoulder.
"Okay - apology accepted - but on one condition." I said, snuggling into his side. Mom hadn't said anything against snuggling. "No more apologizing for when you were a little kid."
"...Agreed." Spock said, sounding just a bit resigned. I turned my head to look up at him, and I smiled a little.
"Do you understand why I didn't want to watch these, now?" I asked. Spock looked down at me, and I could just barely see a green blush on his cheeks.
"Indeed," He said. "Watching events from long ago...I see how rudely I acted as a child…"
"Just imagine how I feel." I said, looking back to the screen.
"Hi mommy!" George Samuel Kirk (who went by Sam) said into the camera. His face, with bushy brown eyebrows, and large, brown eyes. He looked a lot like his mother, actually, if it wasn't for that brown hair. "I want to show you what Jimmy and Juju are doing."
The camera panned around clumsily as Sam pointed the frame outward. In front of him, Amanda was sitting on the couch, with a twin in each arm. Sitting across from her was Spock, who was reading a book on Algebra.
Amanda turned and smiled at Sam as he came forward with the camera. Spock barely looked up from his book.
"Hey there, Winnie!" Amanda said, smiling into the camera. "Sam, Julia, and Jim are all doing well here on Vulcan. Same and I thought you'd enjoy a video of them, just so you know there're in good health."
The screen went to the twins in her lap. Both of them were cuddling up next to her, one cuddled in the long sleeves of traditional vuclan wear for a woman. Julia (or Juju, as Sam called her) was fast asleep, curling up in a ball, with her head on Amanda's leg. Jim was also asleep, only he was stretched out half way on her lap. His head was down on the couch, his legs on her lap.
"If they were not in good health," Spock said from off screen, "Then we would have taken them to the hospital."
"Exactly," Amanda said, blatantly ignoring the jealousy that threaded through Spock's voice. He was very used to having her all to himself. But when she babysat the Kirk kids...he didn't get as much attention as before. "That's why we're filming this, so Winnie can be sure that her twins are safe."
Then the camera went black again.
"I was so cute when I was little," I said, smiling to myself.
"Me too," Jim said, and I scoffed. "What's so funny?"
"You were like a little monkey," I said, sitting up. "You smashed your slice of cake shamelessly."
"At least I did something with my cake," Jim shot back, and I stuck my tongue out at him. As I did, my stomach growled, and Jim started laughing. "Sounds like you may want some cake too!"
"Considering you did not eat much at dinner," Spock said, as I put my hands to my stomach. I could feel an empty sort of feeling that came with a hungry stomach. "I would conclude that your brother is partly correct."
"Partly correct?" Jim asked, and I stifled a laugh. "How am I partly correct?"
"You are correct in your assumption that Julia is hungry," Spock said, leaning out so he could see Jim properly. "However, I do not think she desires birthday cake."
"Well," Mom said, getting up from the couch and walking towards the kitchen. "If she doesn't my feelings might be hurt." Jim and I looked at each other, and then looked over at her.
"I don't understand," I said. Spock looked at mom and raised an eyebrow. Jim just stared at her with his arms crossed.
"Oh, for goodness sake," Mom said, peeking her head out from behind the corner. "I got you two a birthday cake!"
Hi guys! Sorry that it's taken so long to put up this chapter, but I've been busy fixing up the other chapters, and finding inspiration. Btw, I rewrote the ending of Chapter 13, so if you haven't reread it already, I highly suggest doing so now, because then this chapter will make a little more sense. Anyways, next chapter will contain more videos of Julia, Jim, Spock, and Sam as kids...but it will also start to lead into some drama that happened in the Kirk family. Chow for now!