Thank you to everybody who read or left comments for the last chapter. You are all wonderful. I know that the last chapter was hard on everyone because it was hard on me. You did not notice it because of the new chapter banking system, but I actually took a 5-month break on this story after that chapter. I focused on all the other stories for a little while before coming back to this universe to give my heart a little time to heal. Of course, I had to reread everything with that long of a break. Whenever I do that, I usually find a boo-boo that I made. You'll find out what that boo-boo was in the next chapter.
Day 309: I have yet to nerve pinch my father or any other family members
From: kitten_loverJJMU
To: Magnificent Ashley 2.0; J fabulous
Subject: Greetings from grandpa's house. I miss you guys
Time arrived: 12/27/2260 00:00:01
Hey, I miss you guys. I really wish your guardians would have let you stay on the compound. It was more fun with all of you here. I'm so sorry I didn't write you yesterday when I got your "we have all arrived back on the ship safely" message. There was way too much going on yesterday. Last-minute emergency shopping and quality time with Peter's brand-new grandmother.
That meeting was nowhere near as traumatic as Peter feared it would be. Also, a fight did not occur between Nana Winona and Uncle Jim. We are all grateful for that. Apparently, she didn't like Spock early on for a reason known only to her, but it probably involves how those two got together. Dad said it involves nerve pinching and judiciary hearings.
Because we got your email so quickly, we're now 100% certain the delay on our messages is deliberate. It has to be Uncle Jim's encryption. But it's really the only way to guarantee privacy. If you talk to my mom, she will upload a copy to your PADD. Actually, I wonder if you're even going to be able to open this message without the encryption. Well, if I don't get a response, I will know. I should have thought of that earlier.
That's a risk I'm just going to have to take because I prefer not to write any message without encryption. I have a psycho grandfather. I don't think he cares about me, but he's kind of been fucking with my aunt. I could see him targeting me to hurt her. Therefore I prefer for him not to get any information about me by any means. I know he probably has friends at Starfleet that would be happy to forward my private messages from the server.
He broke into my aunt's condo today, a.k.a. Christmas Day, and apparently burned down part of the place. I don't know all the details. I've decided I don't want to know all the details.
For Christmas, I got to do a video call with my aunt. It was our first real-time conversation since February. Considering what happened today, she really needed it. She didn't actually tell me what grandpa did. I found out because they disconnected the video but not the audio after our visit was over. I got to hear Aunt Lena thanking her bosses for giving her a wonderful Christmas present that completely makes up for her father breaking down the door to her condo and starting a fire in her office. Yes, my family is that fucked up. No, I don't want to talk about it.
I wish I could have introduced her to everyone. I think she would have loved you all. Maybe we can try to do a video call on shore leave. Mom said you guys could come with us to the amusement park if it's okay with your guardians. Uncle Spock is paying. I think that's his not a Christmas present to me.
My cousin is very sad she will not be joining us. She's never been to an amusement park before. Unfortunately, New Vulcan doesn't have any amusement parks. They barely have parks. Actually, they didn't have amusement parks pre genocide. Gina assured me that Vulcans love going to amusement parks on other planets. She used to go all the time with her girlfriend.
Sorry Ashley, you owe Chris II 50 credits. They are totally together. The GF might be taking a two-year job on Enterprise. Gina is really happy about that. They have been dating off and on since high school. Gina would really like for the relationship to stop being long-distance.
So, you should have lots of pictures from today's nondenominational day of winter festivities. (Even though it's actually summer here.) By the time you read this, you may have already received pictures from tomorrow when Uncle Spock does his Vulcan martial arts demonstration. Kevin is actually looking forward to that. I think that might be because, deep down, he still wants to hit his brother-in-law. There might still be a few issues there. Probably related to that disastrous first meeting. Peter still doesn't have all the details.
I'm glad we're going to get to spend some time together. Liz and Kevin are the best people. They got me so many presents it's ridiculous. I'm just always happy when I get to hang out with them.
After that, Uncles Jim and Spock will be too busy working. I've seen their schedule, and it's kind of terrifying. I thought we were over-programmed during our field trip. It's so much worse for them. Thankfully, we remaining kids have less structure and more playtime with the babies now. I found out we are going back to the botanical gardens and the animal sanctuary on the 27th. I cannot wait to see the babies with the animals. That's going to be cute and fun.
How did Christmas/whatever you choose to celebrate go with your families? Will I be getting pictures? What's happening on the ship? I miss being there. It's weird being on the planet for so long. I think I'm the exact opposite of my dad in that regard. He hates ships, and I want to be back in the black.
Anyway, write back when you get a chance. I really miss you guys.
Xxxxx
From: Jim's_cuddlebear
To: NyotaUM
Time arrived: 12/27/2260 00:00:01
Subject: I have yet to nerve pinch my father or any other family members
Greetings from my father's house in what James refers to as our baby condo. You were right. My father did build an entire wing for James and me, complete with a separate entrance and kitchen. We are staying in that section with the kids right now.
So far, the visit has been going well outside of the work components. I find most of the meetings superfluous and inefficient. Almost everything could have been handled via a video conference or simple email. Although at least I was not sexually harassed like James. My father has reassured me that the diplomat in question will be severely reprimanded. Unfortunately, I feel that the diplomat being rendered unconscious by my father's assistant may end up being his only punishment.
The ambassador involved represents a planet that is presently not a member of the Federation but considering joining, and the diplomatic situation is complicated. Removing the ambassador may not occur until after the planet joins the Federation.
I am grateful that we will not be working today or tomorrow. Even if that means spending large amounts of time with my father. As you're aware, we spent many years not speaking to each other after my decision not to attend the VSA due to their bigotry. Obviously, our relationship is better now. He even asked for my opinion on my sister's educational future and followed through on my suggestion. She starts at the international school next semester.
I am glad our relationship is better; I just wish it did not come at the expense of losing my mother. Being here makes me realize how much I truly miss her. Her absence is very noticeable.
Even though Amanda never lived in this house, I feel her absence. The gardens are replicas of what we had on the Vulcan of old. Even down to the bench. My father had the same artisan in Ontario create it for him just like the original. In my mind, I can see her sitting there like she did when I was a child. Despite being highly illogical, part of me expects to see her there. It hurts every time I remind myself why it is not feasible.
Yesterday evening we watched some of my mother's favorite movies. As we rewatched the original version of the Nightmare Before Christmas, I couldn't help but imagine her watching it with us and telling Peter about all her favorite parts. It made me realize that she is never going to meet Peter.
She will never meet any of my children, and they will never meet her. I was not expecting that revelation to hurt so much. This is my third holiday season since the death of my mother. I don't understand why I am now sitting in my room crying after watching the kids try to assemble gingerbread houses without her. She was always so good at that.
I want her to be here. I know that is not possible. I thought I had accepted her absence. Jim thinks things are "hitting me harder" today because I see him and Kevin with Winona and Sue and Liz with the Admiral. That this is making me miss Amanda more. James told me he was always jealous of the other kids at school when they got to be with their fathers. I hope this is not actually the case. I am too old to be behaving like a schoolchild.
Regardless, I'm sending you pictures of today's festivities. I'm going to also eat at least three of the golden coins and then meditate before I go out there again. Maybe I'll feel better by then. Writing you has helped.
I hope all is well on the Enterprise. Please rest assured that we are taking excellent care of your child.
Xxxxx
Starfleet priority message from Captain Spock Grayson-Kirk to Acting Captain Nyota Uhura
I want to inform you that James did inform me of my counterparts' medical issues. I am currently scheduled for a physical at the VSA Medical Center at 6:30 AM local time. I agree to do this for James's overall emotional well-being.
I will send you a rapid message again if anything of importance occurs.
XXX XXX
December 26, 9:43 PM new Vulcan local time
Captain Spock Kirk: Please make sure I am present next time you inform James of a major health complication. I should have been there with him for emotional support if nothing else.
Ambassador Spock: You are correct. However, I was uncertain of how to tell you about my current illness. James is the first person I told.
Captain Spock Kirk: Were you worried that I would question your current stance on treatment? After reviewing your medical file, I agree with your choice. Regardless of your hesitancy for me to find out, you could have invited Kevin or Winona to join you.
Ambassador Spock: I knew you would eventually understand my choice. I'm not sure Jim does.
Captain Spock Kirk: He understands the situation. However, he wishes to ensure I do not follow a similar fate.
Ambassador Spock: We agree there.
Captain Spock Kirk: Which is why you gave him access to your medical files.
Ambassador Spock: You're aware that I changed the permissions to allow Jim access? Did Leonard tell you that I gave him permission to read through the files after contacting me earlier?
Captain Spock Kirk: I have not received any urgent work communications from Dr. McCoy. Though I'm not surprised that he would consult you before accessing the records. No one understands your programming style better than yourself. I can easily see that you purposely created weaknesses for James to exploit and gain access to your medical files. You should have just given them to James yourself.
Ambassador Spock: Although your James is very different from my Jim, both need a project to focus on in times of grief or stress.
Captain Spock Kirk: You created a project for James?
Ambassador Spock: Yes.
Captain Spock Kirk: I have a 6:30 AM appointment tomorrow at the VSA Medical Center for a full medical evaluation.
Ambassador Spock: In that case, I should bid you good evening so that you may get adequate rest for your appointment tomorrow.
Ambassador Spock: Although you should know that your mother-in-law just arrived at my house. Your brother-in-law is also with her, along with Cadet Elizabeth Chen.
Ambassador Spock: Sarek apparently drove them here. He appears displeased.
Ambassador Spock: Should I be concerned?
Captain Spock Kirk: Yes.
XXXXX
From: NyotaUM
To: Jim's_cuddlebear
Time sent: 12/27/2260 07:27:01
Subject: RE: I have yet to nerve pinch my father or any other family members
Congratulations on not nerve-pinching any family members. I'm sure it was tough. Although if you nerve-pinch your "grandfather" right now, I will forgive you. Unfortunately, that's probably bad for his heart. But I'm a little annoyed at him for what he did to Jim. That was not cool.
It's okay that being at your father's new home affects you. Grief isn't linear. It creeps up on you at the weirdest times. I didn't tell you about the crying jag I had last week when I accidentally walked into a baby clothing store. There are a lot of those in the shopping district. That makes sense for a society trying to rebuild itself. The cashier just passed me a tissue. It's not that weird for someone to start crying at that store right now, even here. Everybody here lost somebody, and apparently, big Vulcans do cry.
It makes sense that being on New Vulcan is hard for you. Amanda should be here watching old holiday movies with you and your child. Amanda should be the one teaching Peter how to make her signature gingerbread Vulcans, and she's not. It's moments like these that you really feel her absence. That's normal.
Last year was my first holiday season as a mom. Yes, I was still mourning the miscarriage. But I also really missed my Grandma and Marc because that would've been their first Christmas with my daughter. I feel like they would've loved Josephine so much. Marc would have told her all the best stories from our boarding school days. It hurt that they weren't there last year. It hurts that they're not here this year. I hate to tell you it's always going to hurt. Some years are better than others. The only thing you can hope for is that it's mostly better days eventually.
This year was better than last year, maybe because I wasn't dealing with the baby grief as much. Or maybe it was because I was on the ship and not on Earth. Leonard and I had a good Christmas by ourselves, but we can't wait to open more gifts when Josephine returns. Maybe that will be when the floodgates open for me. I don't know. Like I said before. Grief is not linear. It's okay if we're sad, and it's okay to mourn. It's also okay that it doesn't completely end. But I do think eventually you come to terms with it.
So obviously, you know about the Elder. I'm glad I got your rapid message about five minutes after your other email showed up. I was up late due to dealing with a minor ship issue. Obviously, the email was written days ago. I want to ask you how you're feeling about that, but I'm not sure what type of answer you will give me. I don't want you to tell me that you're your version of "fine." Because it's always annoying.
You just found out that other you is terminally ill. Even though they are more than a century older than you, it is hard to process that. You can't be fine in those circumstances. I'm not fine. I am nowhere close to being fine right now. Therefore, I don't expect you to be.
I absolutely expect a full readout from your medical exams today. Sending it to Leonard doesn't count because you know he doesn't tell me anything. He even rapid messaged the Elder before reading the files that Jim sent him. He strongly believes in doctor-patient confidentiality.
I am warning you now, Leonard is definitely going to try to put you and the hubby on a heart-healthy diet/exercise plan. I'm positive my boyfriend would try to make your hubby go vegan with you, but he's allergic to too many plant proteins to try.
I'm also supposed to ask if Jim found any new food allergies while on the colony. We haven't received a rapid message yet, but you haven't had your dinner with Suarez. That should be tonight which means it will already have happened by the time you read this because it's taking way too long for these messages to get down to the colony. We're not that far away. I will figure out why Jim's special encryption slows down messages.
Even on people who don't have it on their PADD yet. I have to go update Jay's PADD. They just turned up at my door. Ashley 2 already has the special encryption, but Jay doesn't. And he can't read Josephine's message because of it. Both got the email at the same time. So, I have to deal with that. I'll talk to you later.
Xxx
From: Magnificent Ashley 2.0
To: J fabulous; kitten_loverJJMU
Subject: Re: Greetings from grandpa's house. I miss you guys
Time sent: 12/27/2260 14:32:01
Don't worry, I already had the special encryption. Jim is my mentor in our support group. So he already hooked me up. Although I forgot to have Jim add the software to Jay's PADD, so we had to go visit your mom this morning. She was really nice about it. We also had to pass on some more Intel involving Chris 3 and his friends. I can't say more, even with the special encryption. Let's just say we had to repeat everything to security. We're definitely having a catch-up day as soon as you get back on the ship. We have so much to talk about. Please bring lemon bars.
Sorry about your grandfather. It's unfortunate that you have a toxic family member. I know all about that. My grandmother said getting raped was my fault, so I don't have a grandmother anymore. Trust me, I get it all too well. I'm glad you're several light-years away from the man. I hope that your aunt will eventually be free from him. Nobody needs that toxicity in their life.
We got the videos from your not really a Christmas celebration yesterday. I see you got so many gifts. I'm jealous. Although Jay did give me the most adorable sweater. We also brought back a bunch of sweets and treats from the colony. Nothing chocolate, but I really like those lemon bars. Can you bring more of those and the peanut butter cookies? Actually, bring gingerbread. I now have a craving for it after watching your competition.
Yes, you did have the better gingerbread house. However, babies make everything cuter. Do you think we're going to get to see the babies again? They are the best babies. Why can't babies live on the ship? They should be with their daddy. I heard the policies were slightly different pre-Kelvin incident. I hope our little experiment proves that families belong back on ships again.
Anyway, keep having fun on the planet and send us many pictures. We want to see everything.
XXXX
Text message conversation between Jim and Dr. Suarez December 27, 2260, 5:43 PM local time
Jimmie: Hey, can you change our reservation to 8 PM tonight? We had to jiggle some meetings around so Spock could do a physical at the VSA Medical Center this morning. However, one of the meetings we moved to Chen is now back on Spock's schedule for 6:30 PM today because she's dealing with another situation.
Suarez: It's fine. Kevin actually already called me and asked if he could change the reservation. Apparently, his boss is dealing with something on Enterprise that he couldn't tell me about.
Suarez: BTW, is it okay that he comes with us? I haven't seen him for a while. Not really. I don't count waving to me from the other side of a banquet hall as actually getting to speak with him.
Jimmie: Yes. Although we're leaving the kids with mom and the ambassador. He's taking them to the Observatory tonight.
Suarez: I just let Kevin know, and the reservations have been changed to 8:15 PM. He is also ensuring that they'll have something you're not allergic to on the menu and the good tea.
Suarez: Is there something I need to know?
Jimmie: He's the Admiral's acting assistant right now. He's definitely making me really regret that he can't nor will ever be willing to work for me. He's really good at his job.
Suarez: Do you need a new assistant?
Jimmie: So badly, the hubby does anyway. We had a temp, but they are currently in the brig.
Suarez: That might explain the need for cannabis-infused beverages, but I feel like there's more.
Jimmie: The issue with the assistant didn't help. But yes, there is more. It's kind of connected to why Spock spent three hours this morning at the VSA Medical Center.
Suarez: Is he okay?
Jimmie: My Spock is perfectly okay.
Jimmie: His blood pressure is a little high. But he had to deal with an emergency call with security. We found out his recently assigned temporary aid was working with a group of human supremacists on the ship who wanted to get rid of the hubby. I can't say more because they're still working on it. That's where Chen is right now.
Suarez: That explains why you need cannabis tea. This is totally understandable.
Jimmie: Again, Chen is dealing with that. We're not supposed to go anywhere near Enterprise at the moment. Which is the other reason why we have to do the 6:30 PM meeting.
Jimmie: Actually, now we have separate meetings because I have to do one that Spock should do.
Jimmie: And I really don't need this right now because I was already worried about losing my husband since the Elder is dying.
Jimmie: Shit, I meant to push the delete button, not the send button.
Suarez: I'm going to need elaboration.
Jimmie: You might have to get that from the Elder since I don't think I was supposed to tell you. He's already a little upset that I told my father-in-law.
Suarez: I'll call him. We will talk tonight. I feel like you need someone to talk to. Maybe we can take a walk while my nieces entertain your husband and brother.
Jimmie: That would be good. We'll see you tonight.
Suarez: I'm looking forward to it.
To be continued.