Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are also Absolutely Fabulous.

Fair warning, it might be a month or longer until I update the next chapter. My beta is recovering from being sick, so it might be a while. I thought about holding this chapter for another week but decided to post it now.

Day 280: You have been busy

From: MomOU
To: NyotaUM
Time arrived: 11/28/2260 00:00:01
Subject: I heard that you have been terribly busy.

I think I know what important thing you were being called into. A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from Ming letting me know that Sue was missing. She was a mess. Which makes sense because if either of your captains called me and told me that you were missing, I would be an absolute mess. It's been a hard few weeks for her.

She kept it together publicly while Sue was missing, but barely. I considered it a small miracle that she didn't break into tears at the Starfleet toddler's Halloween party when her granddaughter was there. Ming was so worried about Demora becoming an orphan. I can understand her being so scared because you don't want to leave your kids out there alone. There are not many people you can trust with your children. Your grandmother and Sarah were some of the few. I think that's part of the reason why we opted for boarding school after your grandmother died instead of sending you to live with your father's brother. Considering he's currently incarcerated, we made the correct choice.

I tried to tell Ming that she needed to tell Liz what was going on, but she was afraid to. I think Ming believed that if she told Liz, that would make the whole kidnapping too real. Again, I know I would be entirely beside myself if it had been you, but she had faith that Enterprise would find Susan. I think that is the only thing that got her through that horrible week of not knowing.

I now know her faith in Enterprise wasn't misplaced and that you and your team really did save Susan. Ming told me she was in rough shape but alive and now able to start healing. This is good because I don't know what would have happened if Ming lost her daughter. It would have destroyed her. Losing her husband practically did. Then Tarsus happened. Sometimes I think adopting Liz was the only thing that kept her with us.

Loss breaks you sometimes. If it happens too many times, we become afraid to care about new people because we don't want to lose them too. However, if I could choose between never knowing Sarah and knowing her to lose her, I would still choose the latter. I think the old saying is, "it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Even if things go badly, it's still better.

I don't regret my marriage to your father, even though it was toxic and harmful, especially towards the end. Because if I weren't with him, I wouldn't have you. I love you. You are the most essential thing in my life. I think the grandbaby might be #2. It doesn't matter that she's not biologically related to us. Love isn't about biological family. Family is love and acceptance. It took me a long time to realize that, but I'm starting to get it now.

I hope that you will forgive me for it taking so long.

In other ways, I'm sorry I stayed with your father for as long as I did because I set a bad example for you. You didn't get to see what a healthy marriage looked like. You didn't get to see what mutual love and respect looks like nor what commitment really means. Marriage vows mean nothing if you don't mean them and you don't exercise them at every opportunity. If you don't put them into action, they're just empty words. Actions are more important.

You and Leonard are committed to each other, marriage license or no. Children are a long-term commitment. I didn't get it right the first time around, but I'm hoping to do better with the grandkids. One can hope.

I'm sorry about you losing your friendship with Christine, but unfortunately, these things happen. I'm proud of you for getting someone toxic out of your life so quickly. Unfortunately, I procrastinated too long when it came to leaving your father. I only realized now in hindsight how much damage that decision did to you.

Your real friends are going to stand by you no matter where you go in the galaxy. You will bridge the differences in distance by whatever electronic means necessary. You will make time for one another. You may not believe me right now, but you'll see the truth eventually. Ming is another one of my long time Starfleet friends. We've been through everything together, from widowhood to divorce.

Even though Sue is home metaphorically speaking, there's a lot of stuff to work through. Like figuring out how the Fuck did this happen? Starfleet is a shit show. I'm sure you're aware of that. I'm also sure that you have the answers to those questions, and I am no longer on the list of people who needs to know. That is one of the downsides of being the head of the Academy. You don't get to sit on the juicy briefings anymore.

Another downside is having to take over the Kobayashi Maru. I think it was a great idea to make an actual class. I just wish we would've got a professor that I didn't have to fire. Now I'm in charge, and I already have a headache forming at the thought of reading 20 reports on various Starfleet fuck ups. I'm getting a TA. I really hope I don't have to teach this class next semester. Although I do have your friend Carol's cousin. Nice girl. She is nothing like her uncle.

Anyway, send more pictures. I need more for the office.

Xxxxx

From: NyotaUM
To: MomOU
Time sent: 11/28/2260 06:45:01
Subject: Busy is an understatement.

I'm delighted you could be there for Sue's mom. I know this has been hard for her. I tried to be there as much as I could for Sulu, but I wasn't there as much as I wish I could've been. Unfortunately, translation work was extremely critical to the rescue mission, and Spock only trusted me to translate.

With good reason, as it turns out. I'm furious at my colleagues for what they did. How dare they manipulate the universal translator algorithm for nefarious purposes and the possible escalation of conflict. I am still furious about it. It's been a few weeks since we discovered the corruption, and I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around what happened. It was the antithesis of what a good communications officer should do.

The whole communications team of the Hamilton is gone. Almost all of them are going to be facing a court-martial. The one person who wasn't actively involved still allowed things to happen because of their apathy. I can't give you specifics, but let's just say their actions got their captain killed and resulted in Sue being missing for two weeks. Yes, the captain killed was a dirty coward who tried to trade his life for Sue's. But they wouldn't have ended up in that situation if it weren't for the universal translator sabotage. I can't say too much more. I shouldn't even have said that much. Let's just say I agree with several of your Starfleet statements in your last letter. It is a mess, but we're rebuilding.

Half of my communications team has been moved to the Hamilton. The people I trusted the most and the most skilled will be there. I'm going to be rebuilding the Enterprise team mostly from scratch. A diplomatic ship needs a good communications team. Enterprise, in turn, can go through a rebuilding phase. Communications is the cornerstone of diplomacy. As this whole incident has taught us, good communications officers can save lives. Bad ones can end them.

I've been hanging out a lot with Sue and her best friend. I'm playing mediator, but that's neither here nor there. I'm starting to get a better idea of what it means to be a Starfleet parent that can't bring their child with them. Sue was offered the Hamilton's captaincy. She turned it down because she would rather be at Yorktown with the babies than a Starfleet Captain. Sulu is staying here with us, and it's hard. I wouldn't say that he's a horrible person for staying here. I wouldn't say that at all, so I can't say that about you either.

I also did a search on that uncle that I barely remember. Now that I know what he was arrested for, I am a lot less angry about boarding school. Now that I'm a parent, I realized how rare easy choices are when it comes to your children.

Leonard and I are both scared of what will happen if we were to die on a mission together. Who would take JoJo if that happened? Jim and Spock are at the top of the list, mostly because they've stepped up to take care of Peter and are doing well, but you are also on the list. I hope we never actually have to activate that list, but you're there. I know you care. Maybe it took a little longer for you to show it, but I know you do. That's what's important now.

I think you're right about real friendships lasting, no matter where you end up stationed in the galaxy. Yes, I have received an email from Rebecca and Carol. She's settling in well in London. Apparently, Carol is a lot happier being out of the more militaristic part of Starfleet. I don't think she ever wanted to join in the first place, and she's only staying in now to be with her wife. So, London is better for both. I also heard from them about Kristin taking the Kobayashi Maru this semester. I'm glad you're their new instructor. The other guy seemed like a piece of shit. Although most of that I got from Liz.

Rebecca and Carol, along with Jim and Spock, are my exposure to non-toxic marriage. They have been with each other through good and bad and everything in between. They always have each other's back. Maybe after a few more years of watching them together, I'll be ok for the M-word.

In the meantime, I get to help with the Sulu wedding. It's going to be in June or maybe July on Yorktown. Sulu and Sue are like team bridezilla together, and it's not even her wedding. I don't think it's going to be her wedding unless they're doing a poly marriage. I love them, but I'm not asking too many questions. It is none of my business. Gina doesn't quite get the relationship, but she's working on it.

I've attached a bunch of pictures of Josephine's artwork and her recent sleepover with Peter. Spock decided that Jim needed a grown-up night. There's also a bunch of photos from the kids during the fencing class. I think there's also some of the Enterprise kids' science fair stuff in there. She got an A-plus, but I expect nothing less. She's such a bright young girl. I adore her, and I'm glad she's your number two person. She deserves all the people who love her.

Anyway, thanks for writing. I promise to keep sending you more pictures. We will be moving on to New Vulcan soon, so I feel like that's going to be an excellent opportunity for photos.

To be continued …