Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last set of letters. You are all fabulous. So, here is what happened in Georgia.
Day 194: Greetings from the suburbs
From: Elizabeth_Chen
To: SulxuHG2260
Time arrived: 9/3/2260 00:00:01
Subject: Greetings from the pretentious suburbs of Atlanta
Hey, greetings from the overly pretentious suburbs of Atlanta. Your kid is having the time of her life. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to the minute we get back to San Francisco. This morning's country club brunch with the various moms of girls that did Jo Jo dirty went ridiculously badly. However, I did not pour my mimosa on anyone. It's a miracle.
Of course, they knew all about the drinking and the abuse. The country club moms didn't shut up about it. They didn't do shit to stop it, but they have no trouble telling me, someone they barely know all about it. I am so happy that baby D did toss grape jelly on their beautiful white jackets. So well deserved. She's my favorite.
I was chided for bringing a one-year-old to brunch. Seriously, the country club moms of Sandy Springs can all get fucked. This is why I'm writing this letter to you and not Jo Jo. I must come up with a cleaner version of what happened, or maybe I'll just send her pictures of everybody covered in blueberry preserve. Yeah, I think that's the best course of action. Perhaps I'll have Kevin write the next letter. We must make sure our space kids are doing well.
So, we are in the ridiculously wealthy part of Atlanta because the custody chaos has taken a turn for the better. I'm sure Ben has told you that Zach's mom defected to the other side. Of course, he probably doesn't know that she did defect because Ms. Lee told her all about her ridiculously abusive childhood with her homophobic father and her mother that turned a blind eye so often that she swallowed a bottle of pills. Survived, but was left for next year's model. Then it just gets worse from there from what I understand. Lee won't give any additional details, and I get that, but it was a wake-up call for Mrs. Johnson.
Unfortunately, Zach's father won't settle. So, trial here we come. But hey, it won't happen for a while, so at least it gave us time for this trip . It's nice to have a break after finals. Although, I wish it were more of a break. The new semester is just around the corner.
I have to go. Some asshole is banging against the door. Fuck, I think that it is Jo Jo's grandfather. This is going to be ugly.
XXXX
From: Legal Queen
To: kitten_loverJJMU
Subject: guess what? I have a new job
Time arrived: 9/3/2260 00:00:01
Hey, I am so sorry for not writing sooner. I am sure you're aware that I have a brand-new job in a brand-new city. My client had a teleconference with your favorite fencing instructor last week, so obviously, word of what happened has traveled fast. I just wanted to keep it to myself for a few days, in case the judge tried to sabotage it, which he did.
Thankfully, the judge didn't stand a chance against Shawn. I love my new boss. I now have a video of Shawn telling Judge Lee to go fuck himself, literally. Shawn is awesome. He truly understands what I'm going through, considering he comes from his own family of overly controlling lawyers.
His husband Cory is also fabulous. He makes the best scones. It feels like I can be myself at this firm. So, I'm looking forward to the new job despite the complexity of what I'm working on. You'll have to get details from your fencing instructor since attorney-client privilege is a thing.
I'm back in Georgia now packing up my condo. Liz and Kevin came with me, which turned out to be a good thing. I think they mostly came to tell some of your former social circle to fuck off, but it's been good to have someone else here, mainly because Judge Lee stopped by.
So obviously your grandpa is very unhappy about me leaving, but Kevin and Liz took care of it. Tell your uncle Jim thank you for putting Kevin in Junior Brazilian jujitsu classes. Or maybe that was Liz's mom who was responsible for that. Regardless, it was useful.
I think the judge is just shocked that I'm leaving. What did he expect after getting me fired from my firm? That I would just go join him at the family practice? That's not going to happen. The judge can drop dead for all I care. I am so done with him. I'm going to put my life together in San Francisco with my new job and brand-new apartment. After I sell my condo, I'm not coming back. I'm done.
So how is your life? I have heard that the evil Jeremy is long gone, and you have a new friend Peter? How is that going? I've also heard lots about your teacher Gina. Apparently, she's friends with Liz's sister. Hey, did you get your birthday present? Did this email get to you before or after your birthday? Happy b-day anyway. I hope you had a good time.
Write to me when you get a chance. I know you're far out, but I would love to hear from you.
PS. Send me pictures. I want to personalize my office, and since I'm probably not going to have a girlfriend anytime soon, pictures of my favorite niece are a must. I bet you look adorable in your Starfleet student uniform.
XXXX
From: kitten_loverJJMU
To: Legal Queen
Subject: Re: Guess what? I have a new job
Time arrived: 9/3/2260 17:32:23
Three days late. We had cake, and the Ashleys gave me a makeover. Lots of glitter and lipgloss were involved. It made dad cry because the thought of me becoming a teenager scares him. He does that some days. I sent the pictures as a separate upload because apparently, that works faster than regular email. I think it's because images don't have to go through the same censorship/ security screening protocols as a traditional email. Which is ridiculous because you can transmit a lot of classified material in an image or at least that's what Uncle Jim says. He probably would know.
I heard about San Francisco and the new job from Mr. Sulu and Uncle Jim. I'm glad you got out of there. You need to be away from the judge. He was always awful to mom. I saw him hit her a couple of times. She told me not to say anything about that, but it doesn't matter now, does it? Ashley two says that it's more important to save yourself sometimes. Jay said something similar. Considering his dad killed himself, he understands. Too much, really. Sometimes, I think that mom's death was just suicide by alcohol.
No, I haven't got your presents yet. Unfortunately, because our Star Base visit was not planned out way in advance, the packages weren't waiting for us. I'm sure we'll get everything in October when we get new team members. We might get a few more kids. Fingers crossed nobody is as evil as Jeremy. The crew switch out was supposed to happen in September, but Deva (I probably misspelled that) happened. So now it's October.
Peter is wonderful. Sad, but wonderful. He's Uncle Jim's nephew that none of us knew about until last month. If we did know about Peter, I feel like we would've had some playdates before. Uncle Jim now has custody because Peter's mom died recently, and Jim's brother Sam was gone long before that. He died on Tarsus keeping my friends Kevin and Liz alive, apparently. That's also where both of my friends became orphans, but their adopted families have been great. Blood and family are two different things. We know that better than a lot of people. Too much, really.
Jay and Ashley 2 are great, but they're older than me, and it's nice to be able to hang out with someone my own age or close to it anyway. We talk about comic books a lot and movies. Okay, there may even be some fanfiction. You know that there are Enterprise RPF stories. I can't read any because Uncle Jim has a nanny filter on my PADD that block such things. What's wrong about me reading a story about lemons? It is less restricted than what mom had monitoring me, but still there. I'm 12 now. They should trust me more, but they told me what really happened to Peter's mom, so I guess that's a start.
I also know some of what's going on with your client. Apparently, baby K's grandfather is evil. Not entirely on the level of the judge, but very close. Of course, the judge was a special type of evil.
In addition to the pictures I sent earlier, I also plan to send you some more artwork as soon as we hit the Star Base. I'm planning to have a whole box of stuff ready for you. I uploaded some images in the meantime. One is from Peter. I think he's getting the handle of the art therapy thing. Maybe I'll work on the journal next. We'll figure it out as we go.
Anyway, good luck in San Francisco. Also, I hope you sell the house fast.
XXXX
From: SulxuHG2260
To: Elizabeth_Chen
Time sent: 9/3/2260 22:14:01
Subject: Re: Greetings from the pretentious suburbs of Atlanta
I had a fencing lesson with Jo Jo earlier, and she told me about the letter she received from her aunt from later in the day, so I kind of know how the visit with the judge turned out. I am so glad Sue talked your mom into taking those self-defense classes. Obviously, you went with the pictures because I've seen them, and they are adorable. I'm neither shocked nor surprised my kid is covered in jelly or covering other people in jam and apparently, they deserved it.
Don't tell Jo Jo that other people knew what was going on and did nothing. I think that would set back the progress that she's been making. She's doing a lot better than she was back in February. She has friends. They have inside jokes,, and I occasionally see smiles. She's almost like a typical 12-year-old.
I'm not surprised that family is fucked up. Jo Jo has said some things, and so have Nyota and Leonard. We are all friends up here, and I need to spend more time with actual grown-ups. Pav is still rebound hooking up with like half the ship. He's too young to really know how to deal with a broken heart. Nyota is grateful that I am getting Josephine out of her shell and giving her another way to channel her anger. She has a lot of it, but so does Peter.
Your nephew is doing good by the way. Well, as good as can be expected given the circumstances. It's been almost a month, and he's coping. He may have stabbed the practice dummy a little hard, but that's understandable.
Yes, I did hear from Ben about the custody situation, but he sent his letter just a few days after we talked so obviously this is a more recent update. Yeah, I'm not surprised it's going to go to trial. If I need to do video testimony, let me know. I know there are provisions for that.
I'm kind of surprised that the lawyers haven't been in contact with me directly. Although maybe that's because I'm far away and not living with Ben right now. If I wasn't doing this assignment, I think we would be living together. I think we would be engaged. I think we're already engaged to be engaged. It's weird. I think I see this going that way. Your sister has this fantasy that we will all end up on Yorktown together. It's a good fantasy. I really don't like being away from everybody so much.
Anyway, this next part is for the baby.
PS: Keep an eye on baby D if she's around K's grandmother. I'm not entirely sure if I trust the woman yet. I know she went through a lot, but I'm still upset on Zack's behalf that he had to deal with her apathy at the very least.
Dear Demora:
I saw your pictures. Aren't you just precious? You knew those women deserved to be covered in jam. Remember that if you see something terrible happening, act. Just don't stand by and gossip about it. You can change things.
Give extra hugs to Ben. He's going to need them. Also, your cousins. I'm worried about them because they lost their other mommy. I sent your aunt a video file because well, that stuff gets there sooner. I should send you something too. Maybe fencing practice? Would you like that? I know you have your daddy bear reading to you. This would be more of that.
Work has been good. Quiet really. Lots of research. Daddy helped catalog 20 new plant species this week. Only one crew member was stupid enough to eat one of these plants, and thankfully, the only consequence was they watched their hand move for two hours. A few members on the botany team think it's Quaaludes.
Okay, maybe you're too young for that story.
Anyway, hugs and kisses. I'll see if we can videoconference again in October.
To be continued