Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are so absolutely fabulous. Welcome back to the New Vulcan system. We hope our time in the New Vulcan system will go better than last time around. Fingers crossed for no kidnapping this time. We've had enough kidnapping for one year.
I actually had to re-read through all the Vulcan chapters in the original story. That made me realize I did not remember my own continuity, and I made a really big boo-boo. I forgot that I gave the Pikes a child before the twins. Whoops! It was such a throwaway line that nobody else remembered, and nobody pointed it out to me. So, I ended up deleting that from all the places I still post for the sake of continuity. There might be a Live Journal version out there somewhere with the original line. I don't even go near my life journal account anymore. Not since it's been taken over by Russia. I should probably delete it, but I don't even remember my password anymore. It might be saved somewhere.
So, in the new canon the twins are Chris and Nhi's only children. I like this version better because it makes the events of Into Darkness hurt less. Which may have been why I totally forgot I gave them kids. The first story was written before Into Darkness even came out. The second story recontextualizes Into Darkness to make it better. This story may or may not be feeding into Star Trek Beyond. We will see if we ever get a fourth movie in this timeline or a TV series. (Although since I originally dictated this sentence, there's been movement on a new movie script.) I personally want a Paramount plus Captain Sulu series. It would be awesome. (The initial draft chapter was sitting on my hard drive so long that it originally said CBS all access. They didn't even have Paramount plus announced yet.)
We will get some diary entries finally, including from Peter in this chapter. This is a reminder that you don't get to see everything, only the conversations moving the plot forward; otherwise, the story would probably end up around a good 500,000 words plus. My current record for longest story is the original version of Scenes From Freshman Year at 360,000 words. If I didn't break the rewrite into two separate stories, it probably would hit the 500,000-wordmark. The rewrite will be significantly longer, which is why I decided to divide it into two stories.
This story is already at 225509 on AO3 words before adding this chapter. So, this could beat the original Scenes from Freshman Year. But, we have at least 75 more days to cover and a wedding. I am also considering going until the wedding because I want to cover Kevin's time on Discovery and life in Yorktown. The other option is skipping to the wedding by doing some sort of Time jumping. We'll see.
Day 290: Grandpa Day
Excerpts from the therapy Journal of Peter S. Kirk
December 8
Dear Journal (or Dr. Margarita):
This morning is weird. Today's the day that I am supposed to be meeting Spock's dad, or as Josephine puts it, my good grandfather. At least in person. We have met on various holo calls. Despite the Vulcan exterior, he seems nicer than my other grandfather. Of course, it wouldn't be that hard, considering the man murdered my aunt.
Spock is nervous. Uncle Jim says that he has a really complicated relationship with his father. They didn't speak to each other for a decade before his mom's death. They have a better relationship now. They call each other a lot even though they probably shouldn't. Uncle Jim says that grandpa uses his ambassadorial privilege to keep an eye on his son because he cares. He thinks it's cute. Uncle Spock had a cookie. Apparently, he needs low doses of chocolate to be near his father for long periods. Yet this is still preferable to my mom's family. People care here; they're just really bad at showing it.
I'm so excited to get to hang out with Saavik. She's so cool. Plus, she totally understands my current family situation. It's weird for her to live with the ambassador. She doesn't think she'll ever think of him as her dad, although she is cool with thinking of me as her cousin. Even though nephew might be more accurate because her foster brother is sort of my dad.
Sometimes I do think of Jim and Spock as my dads. It's a weird concept because I never had a dad. I knew about Sam. His name is my middle name. I always knew about him, but I didn't know a lot about him because mom didn't want to talk about him. I think she was still bitter about him going to Tarsus and leaving her behind. But I think she always thought that when he came back, they would be able to pick things up right where they left off. I think that's part of the reason why she never told him about me while he was there before everything blew up. Then they couldn't receive mail anymore anyway. But things did blow up, and he never came home.
I'm aware mom didn't tell any of the family about me. She tried, but Nana Winona already relocated to San Francisco at that point. Although I don't know why she didn't at least send a letter. It would've been so much easier if they knew about me before she died because now I'm getting used to this entire new family on my own.
Don't get me wrong, I like this family. I adore Josephine. I like most of the Enterprise crew. There are some idiots, but obviously, we're better than other ships like the Hamilton. Uncle Jim said some interesting things about that ship that mostly involve curse words. They were confirmed by Sue.
I adore Liz's sister. She is cool and, unlike my mom, has decided to take a much safer job after a near-death experience. The incident that killed my mom was preceded by three near-death experiences. Yet, she never left. She couldn't stay on earth because of what happened with grandpa, so we were on Devon. She died, and now I live with my uncle and his husband on a starship.
At least I got a cool cousin out of it. I will get to be on Vulcan for three weeks, so we can hang out. Although I know there's actually going to be some school stuff there. At least for the first two weeks.
It's going to be weird being away from Jim and Spock. They've always been around outside of the occasional away mission. I really don't like those away missions. Now I am the one going on a mission, but Saavik really wants me there. She doesn't have a lot of friends at her learning pod. Apparently, my job is to convince grandpa that she should do full-time homeschooling.
As someone who did full-time homeschooling until Enterprise, I feel like it is slightly overrated. I hate Chris 3 with a fiery passion, but I like everyone else and don't want to go back. Although I've been told that the Ashleys are better now than what they were in February. I know Josephine blames Jeremy for that. This is not surprising; I heard the guy killed a puppy. That is not something a good person does.
XXXX
Dear Spock
Hey sweetie. I probably shouldn't be giving you chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, but your dad will be here in two hours. I feel like you need to be a little mellow. Besides, only one pancake is chocolate. The other two are blueberry. I know you adore blueberries. Just remember to use the mouthwash before you kiss me. I'm not allergic to blueberries yet but let's not take any chances at the moment. Because I totally would have an allergic reaction before your dad showed up. That seems on brand and very reminiscent of my first dinner with him. You know, before we realized we were totally married to each other, Vulcan style.
Before I knew anyway. I think you may have, but we were still in heavy denial at the time.
I know you're nervous, sweetie, but I'll be OK. First, you're bringing him a grandkid, and that makes parents super happy. He already adores Peter. You know how many gifts we've already got from him. I'm sure he'll be bringing more.
Second, you and your dad have talked a lot more than you probably have at any other time. A lot of it is work stuff, but you talk actually more than Winona and me. Not all of that is because of misuse of ambassadorial privilege. I'm still waiting for mom's reply to my last letter. Although it might be another week because the servers are still weird.
You have nothing to worry about. You are a successful Starfleet Captain. Your crew adores you, even if I'm still getting snarky comments about myself from a few. Starfleet adores you and not just because the head of Starfleet's daughter is dating my brother a.k.a. your brother-in-law. You've also been doing wonderful with the VSA team. We are already five days ahead of schedule. The whole team is doing great with the assignment, including the new head of the science department, Dr. Morales.
I feel like this assignment will go so much better than our last new Vulcan Assignment. It helps that most of us won't have to actually be on the planet. Fingers crossed nobody gets kidnapped, especially our kids.
Are you still worried about the kids going to New Vulcan? Which I do get because I'm a little apprehensive for Peter to be away from us for the very first time. However, Gina will be there along with Pav. Nyota will also be on the planet even though she will be working at the VSA on a project. Even though she won't be with them during the class portion, she will be there at night to make sure they don't do anything stupid like consume Vulcan headache Blondies.
Honestly, I really wouldn't be surprised if Ashley three or one ended up doing a bunch of Blondies. Did you experiment when you were a teenager? I just realized one of our chaperones is barely not a teenager. Why are we sending him? Other than Sue deciding to stay with her baby's daddy.
.xxx
From: Jim's_cuddlebear
To: Spock's_cuddlebunny
Time sent: 12/08/2260 10:32:01
Subject: I am not nervous about my father's stay on Enterprise
I believe it was pure scientific curiosity on my part. I wanted to know how certain substances react with my nonstandard biology. It was important that I discovered that I am still susceptible to both human and Vulcan intoxicants. Although not at the same levels as baseline Vulcans or humans.
If you remember correctly, Ensign Chekov's girlfriend is also one of the chaperones. He prefers that she not be there alone after what happened last time we were on the planet. She is there because we wanted one member of our medical team on the planet. Since her child is there, we felt she would be the best option. You mentioned that parental chaperoning is an earth tradition that we should maintain.
Nyota is going now because she will be in charge of Enterprise while we are on the planet for our extended stay. Despite the fact, this means that Nyota will not get to spend Christmas with her daughter. However, Nyota finds this acceptable because she's planning to inundate her with presents later. Apparently, arrangements were made to bring all sorts of "goodies" to the children.
I am not nervous about my father's presence. Our relationship is significantly more cordial than it was during my adolescence. I expect that his time on Enterprise will be well spent. Besides, he will only be with us for 3.2 days.
I will acknowledge that I am apprehensive about Peter staying on New Vulcan for 13 days without us. Especially because, unlike the other children, he will be staying with my father. That may have been why I asked Nyota to accept the temporary assignment at the VSA. She will be staying at my father's home as well. I believe Gina, the doctor, and Ensign Chekov will be able to supervise the rest of the minors in the program adequately. The science interns should be able to take care of themselves.
XXXX
From: Spock's_cuddlebunny
To: Jim's_cuddlebear
Time sent: 12/08/2260 13:32:01
Subject: You are so nervous.
You know it's really hard to lie to your husband. Especially because I can feel your emotions. I'm starting to easily pick up on fucking terrified and nauseous anxiety. You hide it well with your cocked eyebrows and calm demeanor, but Spock bear, I know better.
Even if I couldn't pick up on your thoughts through the bond, I would still know. You are making your BFF, with whom you have a Vulcan family mental bond stay with your father. Just so she can keep an eye on both her daughter and our son. I know you're worried he's going to screw up our kid as bad as he screwed you up.
That's not going to happen. First of all, sweetie pie, you're not that screwed up. That's not to say that you don't have issues. The universe knows that you're going to be seeing Dr. Margarita for a very long time. That means nothing in this family because we are all in therapy. A good portion of the ship is. It's why we have two therapists. Dr. Reyes is already booked solid along with Doctor Margarita.
Although I think Sue is responsible for half of Doctor Reyes' extreme schedule. It will take Sue a while to work through all the Hamilton bullshit and acknowledging that she kind of does have a relationship with her baby's daddy. Whatever that might be, we do not speculate. They'll tell us when they tell us.
The other thing is I think your father is aware that he made mistakes with you and your brother. So he's trying hard not to repeat those.
Lunch with your father went well. He didn't try to feed me anything I was allergic to. Although it helps, we were in charge of the menu selection on our side. I guess I should be more worried about us causing him to have an allergic reaction. Thankfully that did not happen. I think you would like to avoid a diplomatic incident with New Vulcan, especially when it involves your father.
As suspected, he did bring tons of presents for the kids. Not just JoJo and Peter, but he brought things for the others. Although they were mostly educational presents. I'm sure at least one of the Ashleys was disappointed that she didn't get a gift pack of Vulcan headache Blondies. The chaperones are going to have to watch those kids. I'm counting the interns as kids. Honestly, they're worse than the Ashleys during the Jeremy phase.
I don't know how I feel about giving our 12-year-old a weapon. Granted, it's a weapon in pet form, but it's still a weapon. I'm glad your father went with a robot companion sehlat and not a real one. I feel like Admiral Nana would have allowed it on board as an emotional support animal. The universe knows that kid needs all the emotional support he can get. But those things are big and scary. And I feel like Peter is going to train them to growl at Chris 3 on site.
Considering the alternative, I am not going to take the robot sehlat away. Peter hugged the sehlat the entire lunch. I wonder what Peter is going to name them.
Xxx
From: Jim's_cuddlebear
To: Spock's_cuddlebunny
Time sent: 12/08/2260 17:24:01
I think my father went with the electronic version because the species is endangered at the moment. The colony does have a sanctuary for sehlat that have been relocated to the colony from various parts of the galaxy. The conservation team is working on rebuilding the sehlat population. However, it will be at least a decade before every child will have a pet sehlat again. This is probably why the robot version has become quite popular.
I feel that it will be advantageous for Peter to actually have a pet to take care of. It will allow him to become a more responsible individual. In addition, Peter has already named his sehlat Annie, therefore designating a female gender to his pet.
I was more shocked that my father praises my parenting skills. Sarek is actually pleased that Peter is so well-adjusted despite how he came into our lives. He even asked me for parenting advice. Saavik is having trouble acclimating to the colony. Saavik has yet to make any friends. My father is concerned and actually willing to let her do homeschooling with a tutor. Apparently, Sarek wants to avoid the mistakes of my childhood. I'm unsure of how I feel about this.
XXXX
Dear Spock:
I opted to hand write this reply to your email. You know I love to write you cute little letters. Unfortunately, the art of love letter writing is so lost.
They say the first kid you make all the mistakes with. In your case, you were the second child, and mistakes were still made. Although you did end up significantly more well-adjusted than your half-brother by all accounts. I actually suggested that your father go back into being an active ambassador. It honestly might be better for Saavik. She might encounter less prejudice on other planets, especially if she's at the international school there. At least among school children. Their parents are an entirely different story.
Actually, there may be no good solutions. The prejudice is bad. I recommended that one of our visiting scientists go home early because they said something really inappropriate to your foster sister in front of Nyota and me. My accent sucks, but I am fluent in Vulcan. I have to be so I can understand when you talk dirty to me.
Maybe it's better to deal with this bigotry than just run away. I don't know. Do you really want your child to have to deal with all of that prejudicial bullshit? I think some of that is why you spend so much time with Margarita. I think your dad doesn't want that to happen again. Which is why he's asking us for help. You're right; it is bizarre.
Our kid is hanging out with your foster sister and father for another two hours. Do you want to try out a new toy?
XXXX
Dear James:
I am highly amenable to your suggestion. I'm also mostly sober. I consumed significantly less chocolate than I thought I would today.
To be continued.