London, February 2396

Beverly set her communicator down. She'd just called the school to notify them that Hermione would be staying the night at her apartment.

It wasn't the first time Jack and Hermione got caught up in studying, reading magical books, or working on a project and lost track of time. When that happened, Hermione would usually stay the night in the guest room.

Of course, she could just apparate back to the dorm, but Beverly liked having her around because it made Jack happy. And she liked the girl herself, too.

Their laughter drifted through the open door of Jack's room, before they began talking in low voices again.

Beverly busied herself with making some hot chocolate, marvelling at how fast this school year in particular seemed to be flying. It seemed that only yesterday, she'd enrolled Jack in this school, and now he was in his final year and would graduate soon. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. There was some relief, but also a lot of uncertainty.

Moreover, in mere a couple of weeks, Jack would be turning eighteen.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Beverly scoffed. She certainly loved being a mother, and Jack was a good kid. As any child, he had his own challenges, and being a single mother hadn't always been easy. Far from it.

But I chose this, she reminded herself.

She sighed and wondered, for the millionth time, if she'd been irrationally unfair to Jean-Luc. Sure, they'd broken up (for the fifth time), but that had never stopped them from trying to work it out again.

Everything had changed after their shore leave on Casperia Prime, though. It had all started out perfectly, but then Jean-Luc had been called back early. That was how it had always been with them. There'd always been a clock.

Shortly after the shore leave, Beverly had found out she was pregnant.

She'd wanted to tell Jean-Luc. She'd struggled over telling him. She'd wanted Jack to know his father, but then refugees from Kalara V, angry about Romulan relocation, had kidnapped Jean-Luc and held him for nine days.

Then she'd tried again, but this time, two Reman assassins had intercepted the ship in the Donatra sector and held a disruptor to his head. Then, only days later, Starfleet had asked him to negotiate with the praetor, and a photon grenade had detonated meters from Jean-Luc.

And that was when Beverly knew: it would be like that forever. It would be what it always had been—attempts on Jean-Luc's life.

Keeping Jack far away from all that danger seemed like the right thing to do. She'd already lost her parents, then a husband, then her son Wesley—all to the same stars that owned Jean-Luc.

In her heart, Beverly had known that Jean-Luc would have never walked away from it all and from Starfleet. She'd also known that any child of Jean-Luc Picard's would have a target on his back.

And so, driven by fear for her child's safety, she'd done the only thing she could think of: she'd abruptly resigned from Starfleet and disappeared.

The months before Jack was born had been the longest of her life. Beverly missed her friends and colleagues on the Enterprise, especially Deanna. Cutting Deanna out of her life while Deanna was also pregnant made Beverly feel like dirt. Their sons could have grown up together, been more like brothers than simply friends. But Beverly couldn't risk telling Deanna, because then Will would know too, and then Jean-Luc.

She missed him too, of course. While they'd ended their romantic relationship (yet again), they were still old friends. And she'd taken away his chance to know his son from him.

Did that make her a terrible person?

Oftentimes, she was certain that it did.

She'd confided in Kathryn, whom Beverly had become close to thanks to Jack's friendship with Hermione.

Ever the diplomat, Kathryn had listened to Beverly's story and said, "When I was a girl, I spilled my sister Phoebe's paints on the floor but blamed it on the dog. My dad said to me then, 'Come on, Kate. Make something great out of that mess.' "

Beverly supposed it was her way of telling her to try and make something great out of the mess she'd made.

And so, Beverly decided to tell Jack about his father on his eighteenth birthday and let him decide for himself what he wanted to do next. She'd support him in whatever decision he made.

With a steaming mug of hot chocolate in each hand, Beverly headed to Jack's room. When she drew closer, she overheard a conversation.

"Hand me that hyperspanner, please," Hermione was saying.

"Hmm, I think you need a focal adjustment spanner for that," Jack said.

They were both hunched over Jack's desk, heads nearly touching, as they worked on a project. Beverly didn't know what they were working on this time. They were always inventing one thing or another, trying to combine magic and technology to create something new.

"Knock, knock!" Beverly said, standing on the threshold. "I made you some hot chocolate. I thought you might like some before heading to bed."

That caught their attention, alright. They exchanged a glance, then as one looked at the chronometer on Jack's wall.

"Oh," Hermione said, "I'm so sorry!"

"No need to be sorry," Beverly said, walking into the room and searching for a spot to place the mugs. Finally having found one, she set them down and said, "I already called the school and informed them you'd be staying here tonight. Your mother knows as well."

"Thank you."

"Of course." Beverly took in the organized chaos on Jack's desk. "What are you working on?"

"A portable personal shield," Jack said, grinning.

Beverly couldn't help but smile back at Jack's enthusiasm. She asked a few questions about the project, but both seemed eager to get back to their tinkering and gave somewhat distracted answers.

"I'll leave you to it, then," Beverly said, heading for the door. "Just make sure you don't stay up too late. It's a school night. Classes tomorrow bright and early, as usual."

He mock-saluted her, then promised, "We will be responsible, Mother."

Jack awoke to the smell of pancakes and coffee drifting from the kitchen. He smiled as he got out of bed and began pulling clothes on. Today, he was turning eighteen, and his mother must have decided to make his favourite banana pancakes for breakfast.

Except, his mother usually didn't cook—she used the replicator.

Which meant that Hermione was most likely here, in the kitchen, at this very moment.

Jack grinned even wider as he finished getting dressed and made his way to the kitchen.

"Happy birthday, Jack!"

He was greeted by bright smiles from his mother and Hermione and confetti thrown at him from tiny little cannons floating in the air. Various alphabet letters zoomed past him and arranged themselves on the wall to create a 'Happy Birthday, Jack!' message. Hermione's otter gambolled merrily around the kitchen, and the still-empty coffee cups, plates, and utensils danced around the table.

Jack laughed, taking in the scene before him, and hugged his mother first, then Hermione. The three of them sat down for breakfast, laughing and teasing one another, making jokes and simply enjoying each other's company.

Hermione passed him a small package, wrapped in shimmering gold paper. Jack unwrapped it. Inside was a gold watch, with stars circling around the face instead of hands.

"It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age," Hermone explained.

"But I'm not a wizard," Jack pointed out.

"You are a witch's best friend. In my book, that qualifies."

They laughed and exchanged a hug, while his mother disappeared into her bedroom and brought back a large rectangular package. Jack unwrapped it to discover—

"Your new telescope," his mother said, when Jack fell speechless and simply stared at his gift. "With better optics."

Jack put the package down and hugged his mother.

After breakfast, Hermione helped clean up and left for San Francisco, and the mood suddenly turned sombre. It was as if she'd taken the sunshine with her.

Not true, of course. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and the birds were singing their merry songs on this fine Saturday morning.

"What is it, Mother?"

"There is something I need to tell you," she said, settling at the kitchen table and motioning for Jack to sit across from her. "It's about your father."

Jack settled down in the chair and crossed his arms. "Go on."

"I think it's time I told you who he is," Beverly began.

"Hmm," Jack said. "And what makes you think I don't already know?"

Beverly narrowed her eyes at him. "Meaning?"

"Meaning you aren't very good at keeping secrets."

"Oh, really? I managed to keep my location and your very existence secret for a long time, darling."

Jack waved a dismissive hand. "I mean keeping secrets from me. It's easy to fool other people, but not me. I've known who my father was since I was about ten. Or I strongly suspected. I'm actually slightly insulted that you thought I wouldn't have figured it out. Honestly."

She was momentarily stunned by his confession. She'd always known Jack was smart as a whip, of course. But she was so sure she'd done a good job of keeping her secret.

Apparently not.

"How did you figure it out then?" she asked, blinking away her shock.

"It wasn't all that difficult. I'm observant," Jack said with a shrug. "It was clear that you got sad every time you talked about your life on the Enterprise. Especially, when you talked about the captain. You even have a holo of him that you carry around and look at when you think I'm not watching."

Beverly felt her cheeks heating up. "That doesn't mean—"

"Oh, come on, Mother. I'm not stupid. Your reaction alone every time you hear the name of Jean-Luc Picard is a dead giveaway."

She stared at him, processing the information.

"I guess I should have realized," she finally said.

And then she told him why she'd made the decision to keep Jack's existence secret all these years.

"So, all this time I thought my father simply didn't want me," Jack said lightly, but Beverly knew better. "But it turns out he didn't even know I existed. All to what end? To prevent me from becoming collateral damage in the life of Jean-Luc Picard?"

Beverly closed her eyes. She could see why Jack would think his father didn't want him. When he'd been much younger and had asked questions about his father as any child his age would have done, she'd told him that his father was far away, helping people, doing good. And at the time, Jean-Luc had been busy helping with the Romulan relocation.

The questions had become less frequent and one day stopped altogether as Jack grew older. Now she knew why.

"Yes," Beverly said. "I did it all to protect you. I couldn't stand losing someone else I love, especially not another child of mine!"

Jack blinked, stunned by her outburst, but said nothing.

Beverly collected herself and said, "I can tell you how to find him. If you'd like to meet your father. Get to know him."

Jack was silent for some time, his expression unreadable. Beverly desperately wanted to know what was going on inside his head.

"I'll think about it," he finally said.

Then he got up and headed to his room.

A/n. Not much Jack/Hermione in this chapter, but I'll make up for it next time :)

This chapter fought me, but it was necessary to move the story forward. The part about Jack being the son of Jean-Luc Picard, and Beverly keeping him a secret for a long, long time is canon-compliant as per Season 3 of "ST: Picard".

Take care, and see you next time! :)