Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. You're all wonderful. I'm going to be extremely busy this weekend, so you are this update today.
Now we are finally getting a letter from Jim's perspective.
Day 3: Herding cats aboard the USS Enterprise
From: Jim_Spock-Kirk
To: Number_one_Pike
Time sent: 2/20/2260 00:04:01
Subject: Being the first officer is like herding cats.
Hello to my favorite Admiral. I like you more than Rodriguez who is sending us to negotiate a peace treaty for our first real mission. God, I hope I don't go into anaphylaxis again this time. Technically, Spock would probably be the lead negotiator, but I should go down as the Captain's spouse. That's going to be so much fun. (Insert sarcasm here.) Maybe I'll wish for anaphylaxis.
I got the present and your card. Thank you for that. I'm a little sad that you got me and Spock the exact same present. Although he swears that it was useful. I'm 99% positive he's referring to the how not to kill your Captain section. But it was a thoughtful gift, so thank you.
Hey, how are you? Do you miss us? I'm sure you are because I heard that they're grooming you to take over for Barnett. I personally think you would make a great head of Starfleet Academy, mostly because you would give Kevin hell.
So, the reason why I'm writing you after midnight is this job is ridiculously time-consuming. I'm starting to learn that the first officer does all the real work and I don't even get to see my husband as much as I thought I would. I've spent the last two days working through about 50 requests to change roommates, half of which are from Pavel. Like it's my fault his BFF knocked up an Admiral's daughter and got a private room.
Seriously, some of the newbies think they're still in college. That's on top of all the normal work I'm supposed to be doing and we haven't even started doing the real mission yet. I wonder if Spock is expecting me to write annotated versions of his pre-mission briefs. He was so good at that.
Seriously, how did Spock balance first officer work, senior science officer work, and having to do half of my captain work because I didn't know what I was doing for the first six months? I think it may be the fact he barely sleeps. He is in the lab right now. He was supposed to check on one of Carol's special projects after dinner. That was three hours ago.
Fuck!
I need go because it looks like one of our minor dependents just tried to sneak into engineering because you know Scotty did you know what in the you know where and now I should deal with it. Do they not realize that we have sensors and cameras all over the ship and it's even worse now after the attempted murder of myself and drugging my chief communication officer with fertility drugs? It was so much easier when it was a Spock problem.
I'll talk to you later.
From: Ling-ChenSX
To: SuluHG
Subject: Re: Daddy misses you. (This was your mom's idea)
Time sent: 2/20/2260 04:31:26
Play dates have been scheduled for later today and baby D misses you too. Okay, I miss you, because it was so much easier to do this parenting thing when we could tag team. I mean Liz is here and giving the baby an early breakfast while I write this. Of course, she is here because that means she doesn't have to live in the dorms and therefore her boyfriend can sleep over without mom knowing the truth. Okay. She's mostly here because they are being assholes to her in the dorms.
So, in the last three days you've missed three major crying fits and multiple attempts at scooting across the carpet. I attached a video file or six. I think our baby girl is going to be a crawler any day now. I swear I'm going to make Kevin baby proof the apartment. He's here so much that he might as well earn his keep. Also, maybe if I make them spend enough time with Demora, I won't become an aunt until they're both out of the Academy. They're both on the contraceptive hypo, but well, if that was 100% fool proof, she wouldn't be here.
From: SuluHG
To: Ling-ChenSX
Subject: Re: Daddy misses you. (This was your mom's idea)
Time sent: 2/20/2260 20:30:26
And if nothing else, your ex was a fool.
Yes, make your sister and her boyfriend spend as much time playing and taking care of Demora as possible. Your mom will kill us all if Kevin Kirk gets your sister pregnant. I kind of like my command team and if she kills Jim, you know Spock will just go off the deep end and it will be ugly for all involved. Jim agrees with me. I told him about his brother's cohabitation at lunch.
Make sure you get video of the crawling for me. I've watched the scooting videos like six times. Has she said anything that sounded like an actual word yet? Before leaving, she was making a su sound. She's either trying for my last name or your first name. I'm not sure which I prefer.
Tell the babies that I miss them and I hope things go well for you and Ben. I think I've mentioned this before, but he really needs more friends. After his first husband died, a lot of his old friends either left him behind or were also killed. He was sad when we first met. I just don't want him to go back to that. You lost a lot of friends, especially during the Vulcan incident as well. You could use another friend, especially one with kids.
From: Simmons-ChanEX
To: Uhura-McCoyJJ
Subject: Re: Thank you for the survival kit.
Time sent: 2/20/2260 21:30:26
No, you don't want to know what grown-up fun time is. At least not for five more years, at a minimum.
New schools are always scary. But you are sweet and kind and mostly outgoing, so I think it will be okay. I know sometimes you get sad, but it's okay. Nobody is 100% on all the time. I think a lot of your new classmates will like you. Some may not. But that's their problem, not yours.
Okay, some of them could be spoiled Starfleet brats, but I think the probability is low because your classes won't be filled with all the children of the Admiralty. Mommy Chen just became a baby Admiral when I started high school, which meant lots of fun. I think it will be better for you.
Anyway, have a good day at school tomorrow. Learn new things. Have fun. Write me again when you have a chance.
To be continued.