Chapter Text
From: KirkWX
To: Spock’s_cuddlebunny
Time arrived: 03/10/2261 00:00:01
Subject: I am happy I lost the betting pool.
I'm glad I lost three cases of Oreos in the delivery betting pool. Preemies are hard to deal with. Although you're aware of that since we saw you and the kids on Valentine's Day. Well, from our perspective, the day after Valentine's Day, but it was Valentine's Day for you. It was surreal seeing your father-in-law's residence covered in pink. How did you find that many heart-shaped balloons on that planet on such short notice?
It was good to see you guys in person. I swear the kids get bigger every time I see them. They grow like weeds. Let’s do another video call soon. I am sure you’ll want to do one after the twins are born. Just send me a date.
Sorry, I didn't reply immediately, but I had to make some calls after finding out your baby picture was used without permission for Starfleet propaganda. I was f*cking furious. So is Ming. She and Shawn are looking into it. So, expect messages. Starfleet owes you a lot.
Your legal team thinks your grandmother may have been involved. The pictures they used were ones I sent to her. Not that I really remember anything from back then because I was a mess. It's possible somebody put the contract in front of me, and I signed it, not even realizing what I signed.
You know I was not in a good place after you were born. Your dad was dead, and you were a very sick preemie who I thought I was going to lose for the first week. I couldn’t even stay with you. I think that affected our ability to bond, and it’s been something we’ve been trying to make up for ever since. But I hope things are getting better.
If it makes you feel better, most of the people who think you’re the twins’ biological dad believe you’re just the sperm donor, not that you actually had sex with your good mother figure. Fortunately, most Starfleet officers can do the math and know you were nowhere near Earth when the twins were conceived. Although the rumor mill does have a tendency to get things twisted. I heard you were in a coma after the invisible rock incident. I meant to ask you about that during the video call, but I forgot. I have so many questions.
Anyway, write back when you get a chance. Also, send baby name suggestions to Nhi if she hasn’t already asked. I am slowly going crazy with her procrastination. I just need her to pick something. If I have to read one more baby name book, I will scream. I might have to get the therapist involved. Those babies will end up coming home as baby girl and boy Pike. I just feel it.
I know from Ming that they will decide soon if the kid's program is renewed for another year. She’s less concerned now that Cmdr. Franco is the one doing the evaluation. She’s fair, at least. Also, she thought Carol’s dad was a jackass, so at least she’s not one of his cronies. By the time you get this, you'll know whether the program is staying or not.
I hope you’re not reading this from your new house on New Vulcan. Even if I know it would make Spock’s dad very happy. He is lonely, but at least he has your baby sister-in-law to focus on. I'm going to write to your father-in-law more.
Anyway, send pictures. Tell the children I miss them. I always miss them. I heard the babies were going to an amusem*nt park. Please tell me somebody got your husband on a roller coaster. I need pictures of that.
PS: Would you be willing to take over my best woman's duties of doing the bachelor party? It's in everybody’s best interest that I don’t plan a party involving alcohol.
Xxxx
Starfleet priority message for Captain James Kirk-Grayson from Commander Winona Kirk retired.
cc: Captain Spock Kirk-Grayson
Hey, good news. We are safely back home. Nhi and the babies were actually released yesterday after successfully passing lactation 101. However, the first 24 hours back home were chaotic, and I didn't have a chance to send a message. Thankfully, Rebecca and Carol are here to help and take more baby pictures. I've uploaded more photos of everybody.
The birthing center was a vastly different experience than what I had with your brother. They don’t push you out the door within the first 24 hours. It was very peaceful and comfortable. There were a lot of first-time mommy classes for Nhi to help her acclimate now that the children were actually here. She even has access to a trauma counselor. I wish I had that after you were born.
I talked to Nhi about showing off the babies to you in real-time, and she suggested April 2 for the video call. By then, it should be safe to take her to Starfleet London. She would be recovered enough to work at that point if somebody was stupid enough to ask her to do something. We could schedule something in the middle of the night our time, so nobody will be there to force her to work. You know somebody’s going to ask her something if she’s there. Probably her temporary replacement. I’ve already had to hide Nhi’s PADD, so she doesn't see text messages from the man. Seriously, who decided to put him in charge? It's going to be a disaster.
Have you left the Starbase yet? I forgot to ask that question previously. You should be back by this point. Write back but the regular way. I'm shoulder-deep in diapers right now, anyway.
PS. I spoke to Chen, and she's working on getting rapid messages returned to the default email setting. Slow email is unfair to everybody. She’s convinced the policy change was deliberate to make her tenure last as little as possible. Everybody would blame her for the change, not the committee that implemented the safeguard in the aftermath of Carol’s father’s f*ck up. Nobody wants secret warships built again on Federation credits.
PSS: Also, expect an apology check soon. I bet they’re all sad that they delayed becoming a cashless society so they could build more weapons.
Xxxx
“I got two messages from my mom,” Jim told his husband as he drank his morning coffee. Peter was still in his room trying to prepare for the first day back to regular classes. They are all glad to be back on the ship.
Although Jim was still getting used to being back on ship time. Hopefully they wouldn’t have to deal with a different time zone again until the Federation General Assembly in June. That’s gonna be the exact opposite of Starfleet standard time.
“Nhi and the twins are back home. She sent us lots of pictures.”
“That is a good thing. Although, why were they at the birthing center for so long? There were no mentions of complications in the previous messages.”
“I did some research on where Nhi had the twins. Unlike Starfleet Medical, they don’t push you out the door immediately. Mom said it was really different than what she went through with Sam. They want you to have time to bond with your child in a safe environment. Especially if you’re recovering from previous trauma. They actually got out yesterday, but everybody was too tired to write.”
“That is understandable.”
“I’m sure the time difference is probably making it worse.”
“Perhaps.”
“Mom suggested April 2 as a good day to do a video conference. She believes bringing Nhi to Starfleet London at that point would be safe. Although she is concerned, somebody is going to approach her."
“It would most likely be to cuddle the children. Most of the baby books I read said that is inappropriate for the first few weeks. Although by April 2, they would be nearly 4 weeks old." Jim is not surprised that his husband has been reading baby books diligently.
“I’m surprised you didn’t give me their age down to the last second. You're slipping, honey bear." Jim joked.
“I have yet to consume my tea this morning.” That’s when Jim poured his husband a cup.
"Okay, I will tell them the second is good for us. Work willing.”
“We are currently star mapping. We are unlikely to encounter any situation preventing us from having the scheduled video conference.” Spock told him.
“Now you just jinxed this, and we’re going to be stranded in a cave or caught in some sort of solar storm and not be able to transmit anything,”
“I doubt that would happen,” Spock responded as he drank his tea.
“Now you know it will," Jim sighed as he took another drink of coffee.
“Speaking of Starfleet chaos, Mom did not know about me being used as a propaganda spokes baby. Nana Kirk may have been involved. We should be getting an apology check soon. We can use it to pay for Peter's college tuition if he manages to get into the VSA."
“All schooling in the Vulcan colony is free to all Vulcan citizens. This includes the VSA. My father mentioned plans for a second University with a humanities focus to be built within the next five years." Spock explained.
“Which our child has a higher chance of getting into.”
“I’m merely stating what my father told me.”
"True. Did you send your father pictures of the twins?" Jim asked.
“Yes. I also promised to send any more we receive.”
“I will forward what Mom sent me. Mom wants me to take over her best woman’s duty of throwing the bachelor party. I don't know if I want to say yes, but I feel like I need to.”
“I assume traditional bachelor parties involve vast quantities of alcohol.”
"Yes. Sue might already be helping with the planning. It's in all our interests for my mom not to plan a party with that much alcohol involved. Traditionally, there are also strippers, and I don't know how you will feel about me doing that.”
“Let Sue take care of anything involving sex workers. You can take over all other best person duties.”
“Duly noted,” Jim leaned over to kiss his husband just as Peter opened the door. Their child had perfect timing.
Xxxx
From: Spock’s_cuddlebunny
To: KirkWX
Time sent: 03/10/2261 21:10:21
Subject: Sorry, there are no pictures of Spock on a roller coaster.
I wish I had a picture of my husband on a roller coaster. Unfortunately, we were stuck in boring meetings when the kids got to spend quality time at the local amusem*nt park. Although I was told there were no good coasters just lots of water slides. I regret not spending the day with my husband in a Speedo. Maybe next shore leave.
I received two messages from you about six hours apart. It is odd getting two letters from you from different points. Surprisingly, they both fit in with each other. April 2 works for us as well as long as nothing work-related pops up. Spock may have accidentally cursed us. He's convinced we will just be doing tedious star mapping for the next two months and said that out loud to the universe. Now you know the universe will have other plans. At a minimum, I'm expecting April Fools' Day pranks that will backfire. I’ll have our new Yeomen send out an email with more details.
Andrea’s great. We adore her, and it's only been a few days. She flagged your baby messages for us when we were in meetings, so we didn't miss anything. It also helps that she doesn’t want to kill us. That’s an improvement over the last one.
Her wife Kim is also assigned to Enterprise. She is an engineer, and Scotty already adores her. She might be his apology present for having to be acting captain of the Hamilton. The man literally kissed Enterprise when we got back. He is never leaving his baby again ever.
So, we are back to our regularly scheduled star mapping. At least until we are forced to attend the Federation General Assembly. No, I don't want to give a speech and or kiss the asses of various officials, but I have little choice. I would rather be at the wedding.
I will be happy to host the bachelor party. At least the ship side part of it. Sulu told me Sue is also working on it from her side. We will have to work together because, per Sulu, they've already decided on a joint party. Because we already realize that it would be best for you not to do the traditional bachelor party. You could do a bridal shower. That might be fun because the couple didn't get to do an engagement party. Not really.
I'm happy we don't need to move to New Vulcan. If Peter decides to go to university in the colony, we might live next to my father-in-law. You could be right about him being lonely. He now writes to me sometimes. The ambassador also does call a lot. Probably because the email is so unreliable. I heard from Liz a few days ago that her mom is trying to return the old email system. More power to her. I have attached many pictures from the kid's amusem*nt park day. They had a great time celebrating that they wouldn't have to leave their friends.
Anyway, send more baby pictures when you get a chance. I may not have contributed to their DNA, but I still want as many pictures as possible.
PS: the sperm donor assumption makes things only slightly less creepy. Although that rumor may have come from all our lesbian friends asking Spock to be their baby daddy to help with the Vulcan repopulation efforts. It’s a thing.
PSS: The only reason why we had that many pink shaped balloons is my father-in-law has the party planning settings in his replicator for diplomatic emergencies. I am afraid to ask if he ever had a diplomatic emergency that required balloons and/or streamers.
To be continued...
