Dear Demora (Make It up As I Go)

by MissCar

Sequel to Dear James and Dear Spock. The 5 year mission is a go. Everybody's trying to balance their work and family responsibilities. No one knows quite what they're doing. But they are the best crew in Starfleet, which essentially means they'll just make it up as they go. A collection of emails & other written correspondence from the first year of Enterprise's 5-year mission.

138. Day 306: I don't care

Thank you to everybody who read or left kudos for the last section. You're all fabulous. Now that we've swapped who is on New Vulcan, we will be hearing from different people in the emails. Also, as you saw in the last chapter, more text messaging. My characters have to take advantage of being on the same planet.

As mentioned previously, I am keeping the time messages arrival as midnight Enterprise time. That translates to 8 PM New Vulcan time. Even though this is day 306 on the ship, it's still 305 for the people on New Vulcan in this chapter. It was a great way for me to divide this long day into two parts. However, a tiny part happens on December 24 on New Vulcan. I'm updating today instead of Sunday so that this chapter can be uploaded on December 24 at least in a few time zones.

Day 306: I don't care if it's inappropriate to send text messages at a Starfleet dedication ceremony.

From: Legal Queen San Francisco
To: kitten_loverJJMU
Subject: Your Christmas presents are on their way.
Time arrived: 12/24/2260 00:00:01

Now I'm so happy I got Peter a lot of Batwoman toys. I even got him a Lego Batwoman keychain. Not that people actually use keys anymore, but I'm sure Peter will love it all. She was my favorite growing up, my role model. Kids need to see themselves in media and even the toys they play with. This may have also been why I sent both of you the Enterprise Lego playset. Did you know that your father has a Lego action figure?

I wish I had a friend like you growing up. I never felt comfortable being myself, especially with the judge being a homophobic asshole. I tried to hide who I was because it was safer that way. Your biological mom was the only one who was remotely OK with me. However, it wasn't enough. This is one of the reasons why I did way too many drugs. I hope Chris one doesn't go down the road I did. It's hard, but it's easier when you have friends. I'm glad they have you.

I am sad that Kevin and Liz have left for their semester in space. They are the best people. They've been great friends to me these last couple of months. But I think I'll stay in touch. I'm getting used to deep space letters. I can write a few more. Although I've been informed by Liz that she can do video calls from Yorktown. (Speaking of video calls, is that something you can do from New Vulcan. I would love to talk to you in real-time.)

Just like I needed to leave Georgia, I think Liz needs to get out of San Francisco for a while. I think a lot of her classmates are just draining her emotionally. And it got worse after her sister's kidnapping. I think it might be good for Liz to get some space after what happened to her sister. I'm glad the Admiral waited a few days to tell Liz that Sue was missing. Otherwise, Liz would have completely fallen apart. I think she was ready to leave Starfleet at that point, so time in Yorktown might be good for her. Also, Liz and Kevin will graduate closer to the same time. This is better for tandem assignments.

I said goodbye a few days ago, and I loaded them up with lots of goodies. You have lots of presents and a humongous care package coming your way. Your dad will be mad at me, but I also included a bottle of his favorite whiskey. There are Christmas/Winter Solstice presents for the whole family. I didn't forget about your mom either. However, I won't tell you what I got because I don't want to ruin the surprise. But it's something warm snuggly, and comfy. I do adore your mom; she's a good woman. I'm glad you got a second chance in that regard.

I'm happy to know that you've been learning Vulcan in preparation for your time on the planet. I assume you're there by now. I want pictures, and I want to know about all the cool things you've been doing. I always wanted to travel to different planets but never had the chance.

It's going to change the summer, though. I've talked to Shawn, and I am going to Yorktown. I won't even have to use vacation time because Jim and Spock are our clients. There are a couple of issues that will require actual physical signatures and in-person consultation. I know it's ridiculous, but I think Nana Kirk is doing it so Jim and Spock will drop the lawsuit. Liz and Winona are functioning as my couriers for the first round of documents. Someone from the Enterprise legal team will serve as my proxy. I'll do the next round, which I expect will happen because Nana Kirk is just that type of person.

Silver lining is I won't have to use vacation time, and the trip will be on the Company credit chip. I wish we could do that this time but they're taking Starfleet, not commercial transport. So it's just not feasible. Liz's mom couldn't pull enough strings to get me on board.

Presently, I would describe my relationship with Chloe as eventually approaching the Vulcan definition of friendship. However, we'll just see where things go right now. She just survived a nasty divorce, and I just survived an equally nasty divorce with my father of a different type. Per my therapist, I need to focus on figuring out who I am now that I'm free. So no romantic relationships for at least six months. We'll just have to see where things go after that. Maybe I'll have a date for the wedding. Ben invited me. I adore him as well.

You should know that the judge is up to his usual bullshit and manipulation. Thankfully my current firm has no fucks to give. Also, the judge has nowhere near as much power in San Francisco. My boss really doesn't care what he does. Shawn doesn't believe a word out of his mouth. So at least I'm going to stay gainfully employed. That's all I really hope for at this point.

Yes, my artist friend is different than Chloe. See, I have more than one friend. This is good with Kevin and Liz leaving for their Starfleet version of a semester abroad. (Feels a tinge of bitterness at the judge for never allowing me to study off-planet.) Alex is a paralegal at the firm and a painter in their spare time. They find it relaxing, but they are also really good. Their portfolio is amazing. I've sent you some pictures of it. They also sent you some how-to guides and other things. You are going to have so much fun. Also, I feel like if you have art that will keep you out of trouble. Please don't do any of the stupid stuff I did when I was a teenager. So many mistakes were made.

Anyway, write back when you have time. I'm sure you're ridiculously busy on New Vulcan. Also, send pictures of the babies opening their toys. I sent some stuff for them too. I'll see you soon.

PS: It's OK if you don't come to Earth for a while. I want to go to you. I think it's time I actually saw the universe. I always wanted to but never had the chance before.

Xxxxx

From: Elizabeth_Chen
To: SuluHG2260
Time arrived: 12/24/2260 00:00:01
Subject: School work in space is the worst

It is always good to hear from you. Today it breaks up the monotony of finals and filling out after-action reports for my fellow Kobayashi Maru classmates. Kevin gets to at least function as my mom's aide for the inspections of the ship we're not allowed to talk about. I don't actually get to do the fun stuff until I'm done with school work. It's so unfair that Kevin finished all of his finals.

One of his professors made Kevin working with my mom his final. another staff member is submitting an evaluation of his work. Mom's not doing it herself because it could be a conflict of interest. Everybody knows he's dating the head of Starfleet's daughter. It's moments like these I deeply regret dropping Simmons from my last name. But since Sue started using Chen again, I decided to use Chen again.

Actually, everyone still thinks we are planning a shotgun wedding because he got me pregnant. We go to school with idiots.

I am so tired of watching my classmates screw up the Kobayashi Maru in the most spectacular way possible. Half of them aren't even trying, but I'm not allowed to write that per mom. Kristin did the best by only having two team members die. By the test parameters, that's still considered an unsuccessful mission. Those of us who have lived in the real world know two fatalities is sometimes the best you can hope for.

Because you sent a rapid message to Ben for being an idiot, I know that you know I beat the Kobayashi Maru. The good news is I'm not getting sent to judiciaries. After the tapes were reviewed by multiple Starfleet and Federation officials, it was determined that I beat the test without modification or assistance from others.

They actually checked to make sure neither Kevin nor I asked Spock for help with the test. He is my boyfriend's brother-in-law, after all. Thankfully, most professors are under the impression that Spock would never help me because Vulcans would never do that. They obviously don't remember that he is half-human. Of course, we didn't ask. So at least I'm done with that part of academic bullshit. I'm almost done with only a few more days of videos and one more essay to finish. Then I get to be mom's aide.

Your fiancé is still appropriately chastened after your messages to him. He promises that he will tell you things. This is good. Open communication is the only way whatever this is between the three of you will work. I'm supportive. Actually, I think mom is even supportive. She loves your future husband. He is her favorite.

Tell Sue I'm thankful for her willingness to run interference with mom to keep her from finding out we are engaged. Although it's not necessary. I am pretty sure she knows we are engaged. Ms. Sulu can see an engaged couple from a mile away and handed us her long-term engagement planning binder in front of mom. She hasn't said anything yet. At least to me, I don't know what she's possibly said to Kevin while they've been working together. OK, maybe that's why mom arranged for them to work together.

Don't worry, we will not do a double wedding in Yorktown. Actually, we are leaning toward waiting until after graduation unless we still have to be married before graduation to qualify for tandem assignments for our first mission. Then we may do a courthouse wedding and then throw a bigger wedding afterward. Your sister actually suggested that as an option.

Although I heard this was Jim and Spock's original wedding plan. Instead, they ended up with multiple weddings on multiple planets. But Ramirez will forever be loyal to Jim and Spock for saving him from that financial crisis. Spock says he sends them candy all the time.

I'm sure your sister will have our whole wedding together before getting to New Vulcan. I saw firsthand what she did for Jim and Spock's wedding in just a few hours. Because your sister hates being on a starship planning a wedding is her favorite distraction. This is why she stopped planning destination weddings. Although she would make an exception for Kevin and me because we are family. She also wants to put her niece in as many weddings as possible. To do that, it can't be on earth. Actually, we might be doing a Yorktown wedding too, just maybe a year later. Or maybe Risa. But a classy wedding, not a quickie at the Chapel of Love.

Thank you for writing a letter I could read to the babies without editing the heavy parts. The last letter to the baby was definitely hard. The baby is happy. She can't wait to visit mommy and daddy. But she's having fun with Baba and her big sister K bear.

Mom has decided that you are Oto-san, but Ben is Baba. I think it's going to stick. See, this is so much better than calling Ben other daddy. Standard is sometimes too simple of a language. It's why we had to go back to prewarp language sometimes.

I'm kind of sad that my time with Kevin, me, and baby D is coming to a close. It was nice for us to be a little family for a while and gave me a good idea of what parenthood will be like. This is why I made sure my long-term contraceptive worked perfectly before we started on this journey. Kevin is on the shot anyway because we believe in being prepared.

In about 10 years, we will begin giving mom and Winona more grandbabies. Or we can adopt. I was with Sue during labor. I am OK with raising kids. I'm still on the fence about pushing one through my private parts. Also, as an adoptee, I know how important it is to give someone a loving home.

Besides, I'm might just end up being the accompanying spouse of my diplomatic husband. I wonder if that's what Amanda did. Now I'm really sad that I will never meet my future brother-in-law's mom. I feel like she would have some stories. I guess I will have to try to get some from the ambassador. We're staying at his compound. So there will be plenty of chances.

Anyway, there's a 50-50 shot of you getting this before I actually arrived on the planet. Good thing we recently had a recent rapid message.

XXXX

December 23, 2260, 8:33 PM New Vulcan time. (Or December 24, 2260, 12:33 AM Enterprise time)

Almost brother-in-law: So did you know that Enterprise emails arrive at 8 PM local time. I just got yours that you wrote right after the rapid messaging. So technically, you did get here before the email.

Liz: But only by a few hours.

Almost brother-in-law: Even though I haven't seen you yet. I'm sitting next to a very sad Josephine. She said she hadn't even seen you yet. Although she did see Kevin hanging out with the Elder. She didn't get to talk, though.

Liz: I didn't get to mingle because I was with mom when she was not sitting at the head table. Kevin got to hang out with the Elder. They bonded that time he had to visit Kevin's dorm room to kick him upside the head because he didn't want to go to Jim and Spock's wedding. He's back with me now that we're sitting through the speeches. This should have been over three minutes ago per the schedule.

Almost brother-in-law: As evident by my big sister currently glaring and making a cutting motion.

Liz: It's been chaos today. We've been so busy since the shuttle landed. We had to turn over D to your fiancé so Kevin and I could do the walk-through this afternoon with mom and Jim. Although I think I was still sitting at your table during the walk-through.

Liz: I think your big sister is mad at me. We haven't done enough wedding planning, apparently. This is obviously a punishment.

Almost brother-in-law: Honestly, Sue and I are both happy that we don't have to keep the engagement a secret from your mom. Also, I'm not surprised at all that my sister did that. She also hit me with the wedding plans during lunch.

Liz: Wait, she had time to have lunch? When did you have time to have lunch with your sister? It couldn't have been today because we were doing walk-throughs. I only got to see my own sister because she snuck down early. Jim has video of all the crying.

Almost brother-in-law: Yesterday. She wanted to go over some things before the Admiral and the babies arrived. Remember, she got beamed over here early, although that wasn't an option with your mom.

Liz: Transporter malfunction shortly afterward. Involving an engineer, a lace bra, and organic lube.

Almost brother-in-law: I'm not even going to ask how. I don't want to know.

Liz: You don't. I've assumed that you've been in the baby bubble since the fiancé arrived.

Almost brother-in-law: Yes. Why can't we be at the same table? Sue misses you. We would still be sitting by each other instead of text messaging during these boring speeches as we wait for them to finally bring out dinner. At least I could see your facial expressions.

Almost brother-in-law: Kevin just sent me a picture of you smirking. I also see you surrounded by the three Ashleyes and Jay.

Liz: Mom is making us sit with the Enterprise kids to ensure they didn't do stupid stuff. Like, make really good use of the free bar. Although I did get to see Pav's future stepdaughter try to flirt painfully with her crush. It was adorable.

Almost brother-in-law: Oh, does this mean you know who she has a crush on. Pav is worried that the guy might be the same age as him or older. It's all he talked about during dinner last night. Since Ashley was at a sleepover, we decided to go to one of the tea shops. It was very relaxing.

Liz: I'm sure you had fun at the tea shops. You should check at the bookstore next door. I recommend getting him and Olivia a copy of Congratulations Your Child is Not Heterosexual. Since Ashley 3 had a crush on her future stepdad, you should probably get the bi edition.

Almost brother-in-law: I'm not surprised. I caught her checking out Ashley 2 a couple of times during fencing class until she started dating Jay. I just need an age to make Pav feel better. I think he is in this weird place between seeing Ashley as a little sister and his girlfriend's daughter.

Almost brother-in-law: The age difference between Ashley and Olivia is already pretty small since Olivia was a midlife crisis child and significantly younger than her deceased sibling. Ashley is actually the same age Pav's sister would be if she didn't die.

Liz: That's right. The crush is 17 but is currently working on her first Ph.D. in biochemistry. She's doing the dual enrollment at UF Berkeley.

Almost brother-in-law: So a slightly more age-appropriate version of Pav. Although Pav did dual enrollment at UF Moscow.

Almost brother-in-law: Oh, thank God the speeches are over, and they're bringing out the food. I thought big sis was about to jump on stage to get it to end.

Liz: Of course he did a Russian university. He should just be happy she passes the half your age +7 test. And she is nice.

Liz: She asked me all sorts of questions about the Kobayashi Maru. She's taking it next year. I couldn't answer most of her questions, and she was respectful of that.

Liz: Oh good, now we can switch to polite dinner conversation. I'm starved. I didn't even get to eat any of the appetizers because it was not polite to do so while escorting mom. I hate protocol.

Almost brother-in-law: You're already a living legend because of the Kobayashi Maru. I don't know how everyone on ship knows that you already beat the Kobayashi Maru, but they do. And not all of them are blaming it on your mom.

Liz: I should've kept the last name Simmons. Nothing works faster than gossip in Starfleet. Besides, it's been about a month. So even non-rapid messages about it have managed to reach people by this point. Technically we all signed NDAs, but I broke that emailing Sue and Jim. Mom found a loophole to email the video to Spock. Apparently, that was to prove that he did not help me in any way.

Almost brother-in-law: Your mom is smart.

Almost brother-in-law: Why did you drop the Simmons part of your last name?

Liz: Part of it was because Sue was using Chen again. I think I mentioned that in my letter. Also, if I had an Asian last name, fewer people would question my custody of baby D. You know I have some Chinese ancestry, but it's several generations back. Finally, someone's working on a big Tarsus documentary, and my birth name might've been released in an FFOIA request. So it was time to go by a different name.

Almost brother-in-law: All good reasons.

Liz: Were you the one who successfully talked mom out of bringing the babies? I know she wanted to show off the kids to all her diplomatic friends. Fortunately, I haven't seen a toddler running around. I expect D would be throwing food by now. It looks like we have roasted carrots, and she really loves throwing roasted carrots.

Almost brother-in-law: Yes. D and K are with Gina because she is done with teenagers, so she volunteered to watch the babies instead. She's escorting the kids back to the ship tomorrow but coming back down for a few days to spend with her goddaughter and BFF.

Almost brother-in-law: Basically, she needs serious quality baby time after the last two weeks with the kids on the planet.

Liz: This is not a surprise at all. Although the babies shouldn't be here. They start throwing food when they get bored. There would be carrots everywhere by this point.

Liz: Although now I understand why I am at the Enterprise kids table other than your big sister hating me.

Almost brother-in-law: This is entirely possible.

Liz: OK, I have to put my phone away because your big sister is unhappy. Apparently, it's rude for me to text during dinner.

Xxxxxx

HS: Liz is a miracle worker. Ashley has a crush on a 17-year-old working on her first Ph.D. in biochemistry, dual-enrolled at UF Berkeley. Do you have an idea of which Intern that is?

PC: Cadet Jacqueline Ortega. Super sweet and one of the few people that hasn't been horrible. Olivia likes her.

HS: That's good.

PC: She is staying till May. She's working on her Ph.D. and believes her time on Enterprise will help her dissertation.

HS: Is this good or bad?

PC: In 14 years, when your daughter starts dating, tell me if you find it good or bad.

HS: Oh, they grow up so fast. My little baby is diving headfirst into stepparenthood.

PC: I want to be with Olivia. You know how miserable I was during the breakup.

HS: You cried in my bed a lot. Sue was worried about you.

PC: And then, because you were busy with Sue, we ended up hooking back up on anniversary night.

HS: I'm aware.

PC: And we kept on hooking up. Then I realize that I need us to be more than that, which means being a part of her family. So I volunteered to chaperone my girlfriend's niece's field trip. I want to strangle at least one of her classmates, but we are a lot closer than before the experience.

HS: I'm glad you have that. But you're still worried about Ashley's crush?

PC: I just don't want her to get hurt.

HS: You will just have to trust her to make the right choice. If it falls apart, be there for her. I haven't raised a teenage daughter yet. Thankfully unlike my friends, I get to start with an actual baby. But I do remember having a little sister.

HS: Besides, I don't think Ashley will appreciate you acting like an overprotective Poppa bear. She might smack you upside the head.

PC: This is true.

Xxx

December 24, 2260, 7:13 AM new Vulcan time

T'hy'la: I am deeply upset that I am running teenagers to the VSA at 7 AM without you. Especially after not getting back until 1 AM. Then I have to do work stuff.

Spock: I was unfortunately scheduled for a 7:30 AM breakfast meeting. I would much rather be with you right now. I have to meet with several diplomats before they return to their home planets.

T'hy'la: I actually have a lunch meeting like that. We're still doing separate meetings today?

Spock: Yes, so we can cover more diplomatic representatives. But I believe we will be engaging in joint meetings when we return to duty on the 27th.

T'hy'la: Tomorrow will actually be a day of rest?

Spock: Yes, I promise.

To be continued…

Josephine's response to her aunt will be in the next chapter. Unfortunately, I don't have enough chapters banked to upload that tomorrow. Sorry. I am writing new chapters today. Send me your encouragement, so I will write faster.

Acronym Key: FFOIA: Federation freedom of information act