Archive of Our Own

Clan Wars, Duct Tape, and Stolen Kisses

Fifteen years of Marriage

“A Kirk!”

This war cry was bellowed from a small body that suddenly launched itself out of the tree overhead and onto the Kirk in question. Jim turned just a bit so that he caught the brave warrior in his arms, rather than on his head, and smiled down at his captive, “Ah, I have captured a rogue space pirate!”

“Nuh huh, Daddy!” Hannah shook her head, throwing her mahogany curls in all directions. “I’m a McCoy laird, one of the scariest in all the lands!”

Jim shot his husband a look out of the corner of his eye only to see Bones bury his head deeper into Georgie’s neck, nuzzling their youngest in a vain attempt to hide his smile. Dammit, he’d gotten to her already.

Nodding solemnly, Jim tried to judge how serious she was about this McCoy business. “A laird huh? But you don’t get your own space ship if you’re a laird.”

Hannah showed her supreme unconcern for this by shrugging a shoulder, “Ponies! Papa said I could have herds and herds of ponies!”

Ah. There was little more precious to five-year-old Hannah than ponies and her twin-sister Joanna. Ponies and speaking everything like she was shouting it were the hallmarks of Hannah’s fifth year. Hmm . . . Jim would have to see if he could lure her over to the Kirk side in her sixth. For now, he surrendered. And maybe began to plot for Georgie.

Plopping Hannah to the ground and watching with a smile as she assumed her Papa’s favored standing position, Jim raised his hands in the air, “Alright, I surrender to the judgment of the mighty laird of these McCoy lands. I throw myself upon your mercy.”

A bright giggle escaped Hannah before she remembered she was to be the scariest laird in all the lands. Forcing herself quiet, she pursed her lips, Bones’ lips, and pointed a dainty finger in his direction, “There can be no mercy for a Kirk! For Kirks are a scurg-”

“Scourge,” her Papa provided helpfully, ignoring the blue-eyed glare coming his way.

“scourge upon these lands! I hereby banish you to the gallows!” Hannah finished.

For as advanced as the children of the Kirk-McCoy household were, scourge, hereby, and banish were a little beyond the typical vocabulary of a five year old. Clearly, this was a prepared speech. And the bright blue eyes peeking from behind a tree were obviously responsible.

“David Horatio Kirk-McCoy!”

Their lanky nine year old popped out from behind the tree and clasped his hands behind his back. Jim felt more than heard Bones sigh as David gave a solemn nod, “Yes, Father?”

David was the only child of the Kirk-McCoy clan to call either of his parents father. And had done so since he was two and a half years old and noticed that his contemporaries (read Spock and T’Pring’s children) referred to their male parent as father. And despite their best bribing abilities, neither Bones nor Jim had ever been able to convince him to call them anything else.

Jim had, in the interest of his sanity, finally surrendered around age three. Bones had never officially surrendered, still shooting Spock a resentful glare for vulcanizing his kid if he was present, or heaving a sigh if he wasn’t. That Spock and T’Pring weren’t to arrive until tomorrow was fortunate.

Placing his hands on Hannah’s shoulders, he turned her towards David, “Is this the foul creature who has been spreading such vicious untruths about the Kirk clan?”

Hannah, who was as likely to throw her siblings under the bus as she was to protect them, gave David, who was doing his best not to fidget, a considering look before turning those hazel eyes back on Jim, “I do not have to answer your questions, cave!”

“Knave,” Bones again, helpfully, offered.

“Knave!” Hannah repeated, her dainty finger of judgment being whipped out again, “I command thee to be my slave and I will decide if three--thee,” she self corrected this time, “will be allowed to live in my kingdom!”

David’s shy grin fluttered into existence at that and Jim gave a purposefully heavy sigh and then bowed at the waist, “I am yours to command, Laird Hannah.”

Her put upon scowl disappeared and the sunny disposition inherent to her returned. “Take me swimming, Daddy!”

Swinging her into his arms once more, Jim savored the feel of her, aching at how much she had grown since last summer, “Most of your brothers and sisters are already swimming, sweetheart.”

And like the little heartbreaker she was, Hannah only gifted him with her sunniest smile and put a small hand on his cheek, “But I haven’t gotten to swim with you yet.”

And Jim’s heart just about melted. He shot Bones a soft look that was equally returned as Bones continued to cuddle a sleepy Georgina under a willow tree. And doing as his laird commanded, Jim stopped to scoop David up under his free arm, surprising the nine year old out of his dignity and into a laugh, Jim headed to the pond where shrieks and giggles sounded. Yeah, it was good to be home.

Years One and Two of Marriage

The Clan Wars of the Kirk-McCoy household had started out innocently enough. In the First Age of the Kirk-McCoy family, as Jim was oft to think of it whenever he found a new gray hair, he and Bones had had a simple plan. Adoption.

They had debated whether to adopt locally (Earth) or intergalactically, with Jim advocating intergalactically despite the ridiculous hoops Federation adoption laws required in inter-species adoption. Jim had just seen too many kids orphaned in his days as Captain, too many kids on too many worlds unwanted, and refused to rule them out due to location. So he’d cajoled and whispered Bones into filling out the forms and going through the classes and interviews to determine their eligibility for inter-species adoption. The process had been considerably greased by the fact that Jim was a Starfleet Admiral and he couldn’t imagine the horror other parents went through without that status to ease them through the impossibly complicated system.

Then they’d had to decide which range of age they would be willing to take. Jim had refused to rule out teenagers, only agreeing to cap it at sixteen, at which age most kids in the system applied for early emancipation anyway. And Leo, having heard the stories of survivors of Tarsus not being adopted due to their age and trauma level, agreed.

So really, it hadn’t taken long once all the paperwork had gone through that they had gotten their first call from the Federation Bureau of Home and Family Services.

Their first visit had taken them to an orphanage run by Starfleet for the children of Starfleet officers that had nowhere else to go. It was heartbreaking and eye-opening. They couldn’t save them all, couldn’t take all of them home. And there were so many. Too many.

It had sobered them to the reality that was adoption and Leo had made a decision that he’d never regretted. They wouldn’t go trolling for a child, interviewing this one and that one and making decisions on personality and compatibility, like they were shopping for a new hovercar. Leo was pretty sure neither he nor Jim would be able to stomach that. Instead, they would simply wait . . . wait for their child to find them.

For a notion that was almost unbearably romantic, when he suggested it to Jim, he’d only smiled gratefully and buried into Leo, sleeping well and fully for the first time in months. He was as haunted by that orphanage as Leo had been.

So they had waited.

It hadn’t been easy or painless. There first was Iona, a half-human, half-Betazoid child who’d been left at SF General at six weeks old, dangerously underweight and addicted to narcotics. Bones had been on duty in the ER when she’d been found outside with a note pinned to her blanket, invoking safe haven for the child.

Bones had sat with her the entire night, beginning the long, painful process of weaning her off of narcotic-laced breast milk and simply holding her, watching with heavy eyes as she curled into his palms. She’d been touch-starved as well, dangerous not only for a human child, but for an empathic one.

Jim, concerned when Bones had never made it home, found him laying in a biobed in the ER, with her still tucked in his arm, asleep against his chest while Bones stroked a finger against her cheek and sang softly. He must have watched for thirty minutes before Leo looked up to see his husband there, blue eyes soft with love.

They had taken her home that night. Named her Iona the next morning. And lost her three months later, when Betazoid revoked their application for adoption and sent their ambassador with a young couple who was to adopt her and return to Betazoid. Leo’s hands had trembled when they’d arrived and Iona had begun crying at the transference of emotion from both he and Jim. She had, the ambassador had explained, already formed an empathic bond with them both. And their inability to shield themselves from her before she could be trained to build her own barriers made them unsuitable to care for her.

It was explained gently, empathetically, for the three Betazeds in the room were all too aware of how miserable Leo and Jim truly were.

The couple soothed away their worries that Iona’s half human blood would keep her from gaining full acceptance in Betazed society. Had explained that they themselves were unable to conceive and considered Iona a most precious blessing. And the way Iona had settled at the touch of her new mother’s hands had soothed Leo’s heart, even while it crumbled at the absence of her weight in his.

He and Jim had held each other that evening, and many others to follow, aching at the silence that filled their flat where for three months there had been the gurgles and sighs of a happy child. And even though they were provided periodic updates and holo-photos of Iona by her new parents, it was months before Leo could bring himself to look at them. Nearly a year before he could sit with Jim while he talked to the Betazed couple that was raising his daughter. Leo could still feel the way Jim had clutched at his hand, even as he smiled and nodded. Could remember how his resentment towards Jim, who had taken the whole thing calmer than Leo liked, had faded away as if it had never been. Jim was mourning too.

Eleven months after Iona had left for Betazoid, Jim was striding into Starfleet Medical with a young boy of about four perched on his hip. Bones, who was giving Pike his yearly physical, looked up when Jim barged into the room, ignored Pike, and gestured to the boy who was hiding his face in Jim’s shoulder, “This is Aev. He’s half Romulan, half Vulcan. And I’m keeping him.”

The look on Jim’s face didn’t suggest Bones argue and Jim stood rigidly as his husband took in the boy, the bruises on his arms and legs, the tension in his back, the way his hand gripped Jim’s shirt. The dangerous glitter in Jim’s eyes and the suppressed violence in his mouth told Bones everything he needed to know in that moment, so he simply nodded.

Jim relaxed immediately, his hand lifting to soothingly stroke the boy’s back. Pike had excused himself, no doubt intending to call Eleanora and tell her she had a grandchild, if an unusual one, and Bones had stepped forward, watching as Aev raised his head warily and pinned Bones with dark eyes that spoke of fear and suspicion.

He had somewhat less pronounced ridges than the few Romulans that Bones had seen, and the patrician nature of his nose and mouth were pure Vulcan. Not knowing what else to do, Bones shaped his fingers into the ta’al and smiled a bit when the boy scowled for a moment, before returning it. Clearly he wasn’t purely Vulcan in nature.

***

Aev became the first Kirk-McCoy. The legal paperwork had been a living nightmare. Particularly as Aev’s parentage remained unknown. He had simply appeared at Starfleet Headquarters one day, bruised and broken, quietly sitting at the fountain in front of the main building.

From security camera footage, he had been dropped off by a hooded figure early in the morning and had stayed there, unmoving, nearly all day until Jim had found him still there at noon.

“I swear, Bones, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with people! I mean, he’s a four-year old kid just sitting there, clearly abused, and no one even stops!”

Aev was sleeping in a small bed they had bought on their way home with him and had assembled under the suspicious eye of the child. When he spoke, it was in Romulan, which Leo was incredibly grateful Jim seemed to mostly know. And when Jim had indicated the bed was Aev’s, he’d watched it for a long moment before hesitantly pulling the newly placed blanket off of it and curling himself in a small ball on the floor.

Jim had moved him to the bed one he’d fallen asleep and despite the kid twitching awake, Jim had convinced him to stay in the bed. Both Leo and Jim were sitting in the doorway watching the kid sleep, while Jim whispered the story furiously.

“I sat next to him and before I could ask him where his parents were, he told me his price. His price!”

Leo flinched despite knowing what Aev had been put through. His medical tricorder had told him more than he’d ever wanted to know, to imagine, what could be done to a child.

Seeing Aev flinch at the raised voice, Jim sighed and sagged next to Leo, leaning into him, “I had to bribe him to come with me with the promise of food and water. He’s four years old, Bones. And look at him. How could this happen?”

Leo had no words of comfort or wisdom. He’d treated that small body. Had eased the dermal regenerator over parts . . . no, he couldn’t think about it again.

Instead, he wrapped his arm around Jim and brought him close, “We’ll keep him safe, Jim. We won’t let him go back.”

And they hadn’t. Despite nearly starting a diplomatic incident with Romulus, they’d refused to return him. And it was only his status as a half-Vulcan hybrid that had allowed them to do so. The Council had stepped in and had him declared a Vulcan citizen, and then summarily signed over responsibility for him over to Jim and Leo. They didn’t want him. And Leo had never seen Jim so furious.

Not because he’d wanted Aev to go and live on New Vulcan, but because their distaste of his Romulan heritage couldn’t have been more clear. “He’s a child! He doesn’t deserve their scorn.”

Leo had cupped Jim’s face and pressed a kiss to his mouth, “Let them have it, if it gives us Aev.”

Jim had sighed, “I know. I know I should be grateful that they don’t want him. And I am. But still . . .”

Leo looked over Jim’s shoulder to where Aev was building something intricate with his new blocks and gave a smile, “Still, they’re assholes.”

They watched as Aev, who had been living with them for six months at that point, turned to them and gave them the hesitant smile that was his deepest expression of joy so far. When he turned back to his blocks, Jim leaned and Leo and sighed, “He’s ours, Bones.”

And Leo had smiled and held Jim closer. Because he was.

***

And so Aev Francis Kirk-McCoy was born and Jim and Leo had their family. And while they were quickly forced to acknowledge that they had no clue what they were doing, Aev seemed willing to simply wait for them to figure it out.

They had to contend with nightmares, telepathic tutors, and the Vulcan embassy who didn’t want responsibility for Aev but were more than happy to nose into their family life and do periodic ‘checks’ on Aev. He was, after all, the only child of Vulcan descent currently living off the colony. And while Leo would happily kick the next Vulcan to nose their way into his home, he couldn’t deny that they had been helpful, providing a telepathic mentor to guide Aev, which eased his nightmares, and names of suitable tutors to help cope with the child’s almost frightening intelligence.

And if the embassy disapproved of the laughter and games they encouraged in their home, they could go hang themselves. Jim and Leo had decided early they wouldn’t force him into the Vulcan way. He was, after all, half Romulan and had a right to those emotions until or if he decided otherwise.

The first couple of years had been rough. Aev was deeply attached to Jim and Leo had struggled with his own relationship with the child, who at turns viewed him solely as an extension of Jim or a competitor for Jim’s attention.

The breaking point had been about a year after he had come to live with him. Jim and Spock were due for their trip to Romulus and neither Jim, Leo, or Starfleet were willing to allow Aev to go along. Leo had been apprehensive about being the sole caregiver to a young boy who clearly preferred Jim, but Jim had merely smiled and kissed him, “He loves you, Bones. He just doesn’t really know it yet.”

Leo had merely snorted and kissed Jim again, arching a brow when a small hand pushed between them and began tugging on Jim for his attention. Jim had laughed, scooped Aev up, planted a wet kiss on a blushing green cheek, and transferred him into Leo’s arms, “You two be good. With any kind of luck, I’ll be home in a couple weeks.”

A couple of weeks had stretched into four and still with no word from Jim, who’d been out of contact since entering Romulan space. Leo and Aev had existed in silence for the last week, Aev nearly completely withdrawn, refusing his studies or activities, choosing to sit in his room hugging the stuffed sehlat Jim had bought him his first week with them. When Leo tried to coax him out of his room to eat, said stuffed sehlat had been thrown at Leo and suddenly his legs were being pummeled by a screaming child, “Your fault! It’s your fault! I want Jim!”

Feeling his own eyes water, Leo sank to his knees, absorbing the blows into his chest as he scooped the crying child closer, holding Aev into himself until he stopped struggling and simply sank against Leo, curling into his neck as Leo stroked and murmured, “I know, darlin, I miss him too. I want Jim back too.”

Leo had held him for the rest of the night, eventually placing him in his bed and curling up next to it, falling sleep with his hand resting on Aev’s back. The dam had burst.

The next couple of weeks were horrendous, waiting for word, but Leo and Aev were no longer waiting alone. And when Starfleet called saying Jim and Spock were back, both recovering at a Vulcan healing after being attacked by a rogue Romulan ship, Leo had swept Aev into a relieved hug before hurriedly packing them and getting them on the next transport to the Vulcan colony.

When Jim had awakened, he’d found Leo in a chair next to his bed, Aev curled up sleeping against his chest, and smiled. He was home.

Year Four

Mira had come to them when she was nine. It was Aev who had found the young, human girl huddled behind a trashcan outside the restaurant they had met Eleanora and Pike for dinner on February evening.

Eleanora had gasped at the condition the young girl was in. Emaciated, dirty, huddled in a ragged old coat without shoes. She had been living on the streets with her mother, who had frozen to death while curled around her daughter in the park the previous week. Mira had stayed with the body for two days until she heard police offers coming and had hidden in a nearby bush while they took her mother’s body away.

Mira had flinched when Jim and Bones approached her, Bones’ hands aching to rub warmth back into her feet. They had shared a look when she’d edged closer to Eleanora, keeping a wary eye on the males of the group. It was finally Aev, who was ridiculously cute and charming at six years old, that had crept forward and spoke in his softly accented voice, “They will not hurt you.”

Mira was not immune to Aev’s adorableness and she gave him a hesitant smile, reaching out and gently touching his ear, tracing the graceful shape with trembling fingers. It was Aev who had taken her hand and led her out from behind the trash can, who convinced her to let Eleanora carry her, sat with her back at Jim and Bones’ place as Bones began treating her for hypothermia, malnutrition, and a whole host of bacterial infections that ran along cuts in her legs and arms.

Pike and Jim had gotten on their comms and started making arrangements for Mira to temporarily be placed in Jim and Bones’ care until they could see if she had any family. When Jim and Bones had found Mira asleep next to Aev, who was curled next to her with a small hand laid protectively on her shoulder, they’d agreed that if there wasn’t any family who wanted her, they would do their best to keep her.

Six months later they were signing the adoption papers and Mira Alvarez became Mira Alvarez Kirk-McCoy.

And it was when Mira had shyly asked to keep her mother’s name that it occurred to them that perhaps the Kirk-McCoy last name should be voluntarily taken. So a pact was born. When their children came of age, they would offer them the opportunity of which name they would like to take.

Thus the clan wars were born.

Year Five

Aev had long been allied to the Kirk name, which wasn’t surprising considering his personality allied more closely to Jim than Leo.

But Mira, with her gentle hands and quiet ways, had gravitated more immediately towards Leo. While Jim cried foul, stating the Leo used his mother to lure Mira over to the McCoy side, Leo had simply smiled smugly and stated he couldn’t help it if his mother felt the need to bake cookies and take Mira shopping. After all, two men raising a little girl were bound to need some female help.

The clan grew rather quickly after that.

Six months after Mira came Alianya, an Orion girl of three rescued from a slaving ship that had gotten into a firefight with Sulu’s ship and lost. Federation policy was not to return children to slaving nations, no matter their nationality, a policy that had been railroaded through after the failed Orion-Romulan alliance.

Sulu had called Jim and Leo as they docked and Alianya had take one look at Jim, fallen in love, and refused to let go of his leg.

Jim had looked up at Leo and grinned, “Wanna have a third?”

Alianya was a little Orion version of Jim, golden curls, bright blue eyes, inquisitive fingers, and never ending energy. Leo had caved and soon they had moved her into their apartment and immediately began house hunting. They were going to need a lot more room.

***

About four months after Anya had come to them, Leo walked into the apartment to find it eerily quiet. It was never quiet in the Kirk-McCoy household these days.

Jim was sprawled out on the couch in the living room, his feet up and a beer in his hand, staring blissfully at the ceiling. When Leo came in, his head came up and he sat up, “Bones!”

Leo looked around, waiting for one of the kids to appear and demand to be fed, cuddled, or played with. When it didn’t happen within sixty seconds of his coming through the door he looked at his husband, “Did you finally lose patience and send them all back into space?”

Suddenly, Jim was bounding off the couch and wrapping Leo in his arm, mouth nuzzling at his ear, “Nope. Even better. Uhura and Scotty are back in town.”

Strong hands gripped Jim’s shoulders, “Don’t play with me, Jim.”

Jim simply laughed slipped his own hands underneath Leo’s sweater, tracing neglected skin, “I wouldn’t lie to you like that, Bones. They got in last night and commed me this morning, demanding to see their nieces and nephew. What could I do?”

“They took all of them?”

This was asked incredulously. Their children, ages ten, seven, and three were more than a little mischievous. Babysitters came and went and usually they were forced to call in Eleanora or Gaila to rope them in for an evening. They’d made the mistake of letting Pike babysit one night and had come back from dinner only to find Pike duct taped into a chair, Aev standing over him with a pair of scissors, Mira with a bottle of nail polish she wasn’t supposed to have, and Anya with Pike’s comm, probably making intergalactic calls to Qo’noS.

They’d de-taped the Admiral, apologized for his new haircut, and handed him an extra bottle of nail polish remover they’d learned to keep in stock. There was no stopping Gaila in handing out nail polish to Mira like it was candy. Jim swore she’d figured out a way to beam it directly into Mira’s room.

“All of em. For a sleepover.”

Leo could only gape for a second before Jim leaned up and crushed his mouth to his. Leo let himself be pulled toward the bedroom and as he was shoved eagerly down onto a bed, he let out a silent thank you for good friends.

***

Of course, that was how they got David.

“He’s what?!”

“I’m what?!”

Christine Chapel sighed and briefly massaged the bridge of her nose. She had been hoping stuff like this would stop happening to her once Jim settled on Earth. Settled with a ridiculously hot husband as well.

“Pregnant. About six weeks.”

“What?”

“What?”

Christine sighed and grabbed her data PADD. There she typed in large, boldfaced capitals- JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK IS SIX WEEKS PREGNANT and held it up to them to read.

Both of them stared dumbfounded and finally it was Dr. McCoy that spoke first. “Are you sure? Did you run the test right?”

Christine rolled her eyes. Pregnancy tests weren’t complicated. “Yes, Dr. McCoy, I ran the test right.”

Jim was near wheezing, “I don’t understand.”

Her lips quirked at that, “Well, sometimes, when two people love each other very much-”

“Not funny, Chris!” Jim protested, still staring at the PADD.

She sighed, “Well, I assume from your reactions you didn’t have the male carrier procedure done?”

Both of them shook their heads, nearly in tandem, but it was Leo who spoke, “We talked about it but ultimately decided against it. There are so many kids that need homes. We thought it was unnecessary.”

“And weird.” Jim stated, blinking rapidly as if that would make the words change.

Her brows lifted and bright, stunned eyes shifted to hers, “I mean, it’s weird, right? Are you sure it’s not some kind of alien parasite or something? Our kids go to an interspecies school. The kids are always coming home with germs and weird parasites. Maybe it’s cause I ate that weird blue apple a couple of weeks ago. Ow!”

Leo had poked him under his ribs, “What did I tell you about eating weird fruit!”

“Anya said it was good!” Jim said defensively, rubbing his ribs.

“She’s Orion. She can eat things you can’t. I thought that was made clear by the orange-blueberry-like fruit.”

Jim winced at the memory of two days lying on the floor of his bathroom while Aev brought him glasses of water and Mira read stories to him when he wasn’t throwing up.

Chapel waved her hand and brought their attention back to her, “So clearly this wasn’t planned.”

“Planned?” Leo snorted. “It wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.”

“How is this even possible, Chris?”

Christine sighed and began going through Jim’s extremely extensive medical files. When she looked up thirty minutes later, Jim was leaning into Dr. McCoy’s side while the man stroked his jaw with a thumb. Man, they were cute. And hot. Focus, Christine.

“So, I have a theory but there’s really no way to immediately verify it.”

Dr. McCoy looked skeptical and Jim just waved his hand, “Go ahead.”

Christine sighed and propped her hip against the next biobed, “Well, let me recall your attention to the Jannassian mission the first year of our second tour. They told you that they would give you the most precious gift they had and it would manifest in time. And then you spent the next two days asleep in sickbay for no reason we’ve ever been able to determine. This is probably the gift.”

Jim’s eyes widened, “But . . . but . . . that was years ago! Bones and I have been married for four years!”

“Five.” Dr. McCoy corrected exasperatedly.

“Five years!” Jim burst out. “If this was their gift, why now? And I mean, it’s not like I was celibate until I met Bones!”

Dr. McCoy rolled his eyes at this but otherwise seemed unconcerned by the memory of his husbands past . . . popularity. Course, Christine could see how if one had just knocked up their husband when many others had failed to do so, one would be quite confident.

She shrugged a shoulder, “Well, the timing thing, who knows? But the other people thing, Jannassians mate for life. In fact, their body chemistry becomes uniquely attuned to their mate and it’s impossible for them to be impregnated by any but their mate. Apparently, whatever it is they gave you, sees Dr. McCoy as your true mate.”

Both Jim and Dr. McCoy were looking at her like she had lost her mind and she threw up her hands, “Look, you’re a male and you’re pregnant. How the hell am I supposed to know what happened? It’s you, Jim. Weird crap like this happens to you all the time. Remember when you grew tentacles?”

Dr. McCoy shot Jim a concerned look and Jim glared at Christine, “So is this gonna be like the tentacle thing? Will it go away on its own?”

Christine sighed and tucked her PADD underneath her arm, “From what I can tell, you have a healthy, humanoid fetus approximately six weeks old inside of you. And from the symptoms you have described, it has been inside of you for six weeks, which indicates that growth patterns are normal so far for a human child. So, we’ll keep a close eye on you, but until there’s something to suggest otherwise, you are pregnant with a healthy, human child. Congratulations.”

She left the room leaving Jim and Dr. McCoy staring at each other. As she turned to close the door behind her, she saw Dr. McCoy tilt Jim’s chin up and press a sweet kiss there. They would be fine.

Year Six

“I am not fine!” Jim yelled nearly seven months later. He wiggled himself on the biobed and sighed when nothing made him more comfortable, “I’m huge! Not fine, HUGE! God, I’m like a beached whale who is being forced to run down the beach.”

Christine went to correct the metaphor and Dr. McCoy gave a sharp shake of his head. Aev, who had come with his parents, climbed up onto the bed next to his dad and laid a hand over his belly. “David is hungry.”

Her brows lifted, “David?”

Jim gave a partial smile at that, “Leo was telling Aev the story of David and Goliath after I was hospitalized during the fifth month. And when the baby stayed put, Aev decided he was small but mighty. So he’s David.”

Christine grinned at that and at Dr. McCoy’s hand, which crept forward to rest over the extended stomach, meeting Aev’s small hand. He gave both belly and hand a stroke, “We’ll go feed our men after we’re done. Okay, Aev?”

The boy nodded, “That will be satisfactory.”

Jim sighed, “He’s spending too much time at the Vulcan embassy.”

Aev shot his dad a considering look, “Storek says a male carrying a fetus is illogical.”

Dr. McCoy rolled his eyes, “Naming your kid ‘Storek’ is illogical.”

Jim just patted Aev hand, “Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s illogical.”

Aev gave a proud nod, “I will inform Storek of his mistake.”

Jim and Dr. McCoy met each other’s gaze and smiled slightly. Christine coughed slightly, “So, getting back to David, he’s doing just fine. It should only be a few more weeks now.”

Bright blue eyes met hers, “Come on, Christine, can’t we hurry him along a little?”

A smile touched her mouth, “Getting uncomfortable?”

“Getting?” Jim snorted. “I can barely sleep. And sitting is a chore cause I can’t get up. Yesterday, I had to have two of my students haul me out of my chair! And . . . everyone keeps touching me!”

Aev drew his hand back at that but Jim sighed and brought it back, giving the boy a smile, “I don’t mean you guys, of course. Just other people. They keep touching my stomach!”

At the indignant note and pout forming, Christine could only smile. “Well, now you know what women around the world, possibly the universe, go through. People are always touching their bellies too.”

Yeah, that was definitely the James T. Kirk pout forming. “I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I,” Aev stated firmly. “It is inappropriate for others to molest my father’s mate.”

Dr. McCoy’s mouth twitched at that before looking hastily away. Jim just gave another sigh and explained, “Since this happened,” pointing at his belly, “Aev seems to consider Bones the ‘male’ and me the ‘female’. So, in his tiny, misguided little brain,” shooting an unrepentant Aev a glare, “I’m Bones’ mate. We’re working on it.”

Thin shoulders shrugged and Aev patted the belly, “David is most insistent on being fed. I believe he would like a chocolate shake.”

Jim’s stomach grumbled and he hummed, “Hmmm, chocolate shake. That’s exactly what I’m craving. Maybe with some fries. And . . . curry sauce! Hmm, fries in curry sauce.”

Dr. McCoy heaved his own sigh and began the process of wrestling Jim’s shirt back over his head, turning to Christine, “Kid’s invaluable at picking up Jim’s cravings. No more guess work needed when we’ve got our little craving barometer present.”

Aev glared at his father but was mollified with a quick pat of the shoulder. While Dr. McCoy finished wrestling Jim into his shirt and was helping him off the biobed, Aev leapt off and gave Christine a short and utterly charming bow, “It was pleasurable seeing you once more, Dr. Chapel. I look forward to the day you will gift me with my brother.”

Christine could only smile as Aev followed his parents out the door, gently nudging between them to take a hand from each one and overriding Jim’s nagging at Dr. McCoy to say, “I believe Mira and Anya would appreciate if we also brought them chocolate shakes.”

***

Two weeks later, Jim was back but in the midst of labor, panting and yelling that Leo would never be allowed to top again. Dr. McCoy was wild eyed and demanding Christine’s presence when she came from around the corner, laughing at Jim’s dialogue and Leonard’s panic. She folded her hands as a nurse brought an anti-gravity bed, “Gentlemen, perhaps we can calm down a little. Everything is ready for the c-section.”

Leonard nodded and began helping the nurse move Jim to the bed, leaning over and brushing a kiss over his forehead, ignoring Jim’s, “This is all your fault, Bones! Ow, ow, ow, ow, dammit!”

Christine looked at the three Kirk-McCoy children were huddled near the desk. Christine had met them at various times and found them to be lively and charming. Now, they were frightened. Mira, the eldest, was holding the hands of the other two, her lovely, dark eyes concerned even as she cuddled Anya closer to her. Christine crouched down, “I promise, your dad is going to be fine. He’s going to be fine and in a couple of hours, you can meet your new baby brother. Okay?”

Mira nodded solemnly, “Okay, Dr. Chapel.”

Leonard crouched next to her and cupped Mira’s cheek, “Your grandma and grandpa are on their way. And Aunt Gaila too. Can you and Aev take care of Anya until then?

She nodded, “Yes, Papa.”

“Good girl,” he murmured, bringing them all in for a hug.

Christine smiled at them before motioning to Leonard and taking Jim away.

Three hours later, the Kirk-McCoy family all crowded into the hospital room to meet their newest addition. David Horatio Kirk-McCoy was nestled in Jim’s arms, Leonard wrapped around them, Aev, Mira, and Anya sitting at the edge of the bed.

Winona peered over Leonard’s shoulder, “Well, he looks human.”

Jim snorted, “Mom. Seriously.”

“What?” She shrugged. “Don’t tell me you weren’t worried.”

Leo and Jim glanced at each other and only smiled. Eleanora nudged Christopher out of the way to get closer to her newest grandchild, “Is it my turn yet?”

“Mom,” Leo sighed.

Gaila scooped up Anya and settled her in her lap so she could sit on the bed and get a closer look, “I think he looks like Leonard.”

“That’s definitely the Kirk chin,” Winona chimed in.

“The McCoy nose,” Eleanora noted.

Cloudy blue eyes blinked open but their future brightness was undeniable. Winona smirked, “Definitely the Kirk eyes.”

Jim nuzzled his son and gave Leo a sly look, “Definitely a Kirk. That’s three to one, Bones.”

Year Twelve

“Kirks have more fun.”

“McCoys live longer.”

“Kirks are prettier.”

“McCoys are smarter.”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

Jim and Leo watched as Anya and Jack shouted at each other. David, who was six years old now, and the source of this argument, sat with his PADD and watched in between solving math problems that only Jim could understand.

Leo had Joanna in his arms while Jim held Hannah, the two year olds staring wide-eyed at their siblings. Jack had come to the Kirk-McCoy family three years prior, just as Leo and Jim learned they were expecting twins.

The eleven-year old Andorian-Napean hybrid was the son of two officers in Starfleet that had been killed when their ship had been attacked by a hostile planet in the Delta Quadrant. Jack, short of Ja’kathara, had been living in the Starfleet boarding school while they were gone. He’d been brought into Starfleet Medical to be treated for shock after the death of his parents (having felt the severing his empathic bonds with his parents), and Jim and Leo had been called to see if they were willing to house him for a few weeks while they tried to contact his father’s family on Andoria.

Housing wayward kids was sort of a past-time in the Kirk-McCoy household. Not all of them stayed. But they were all welcomed back.

Year Nine

Jack, however, stayed. There was no family on Andoria to take him and his mother only had an elderly aunt who was unable to care for the young boy. It had been Mira who’d come to Leo, then fourteen years old, and slid next him as he began putting away a pile of laundry, “Papa?”

“Yeah, darlin?”

She waited until Leo turned to her and her dark eyes gleamed, “I think we should keep him.”

Leo closed David’s drawer and sighed. They hadn’t told the kids yet, but Jim was pregnant again. With twins. And currently not speaking to Leo.

“Honey-”

Mira took his hand, “He likes us. He wants to stay. And he has nowhere else to go. I think . . . I think he’s supposed to stay here.”

Out of all their children, it was Mira who was the most sensitive. Her psi-ratings were ridiculously high, empathic level. She just . . . knew things sometimes. “Honey, your Dad’s pregnant again. I don’t know if we can-”

Mira clutched at his hand, “I’ll help. I promise. And Aev can share his room with him. I just really think he belongs to us.”

Leo sighed, “All right, let me talk to your dad about it.”

A huge smile crossed her face and Leo held up a hand, “No promises.”

Mira nodded, sending her dark hair flying, “Okay. Okay.” She leaned up to press a kiss up against his cheek. “Thanks, Papa!”

She scurried out of the room, leaving Leo with a pile of laundry and too much on his mind. It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford it. It was more a time problem. They’d had four kids in six years of marriage. And now, when they were just shy of their ten-year anniversary, they were pregnant with twins and taking applications for a nanny.

Leo was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice Jim come in until strong arms wrapped around him, “You okay?”

Turning in the embrace, Leo cupped Jim’s face, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

A muscled shoulder shrugged, “I threw up a couple hours ago. Feel fine now.”

“Did you hear Mira?”

Jim smiled and leaned his head into Leo’s chest, “Christ, that kid kills me. How’d we end up with a kid with such a wide heart?”

Leo smiled, “You know she has a puppy living in her room, right?”

There was nodding against his chest, “Yeah, Mason and Dixon barking at the room door was a pretty good indicator. Plus, I got it out of Anya. She apparently rescued it from the ally behind school a week ago.”

Leo let the silence stretch between them for a moment before murmuring, “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not upset?”

“I’m worried, Jim. We have four, which will quickly be bumped to six. If we keep Jack, that’ll make seven. Seven in ten years. Is this what you imagined our family being?”

A soft smile crossed Jim’s mouth and he reached up to smooth the furrows in Leo’s brow, “This is so much better than anything I could have imagined, Bones.”

“We barely have any time now.”

Jim gave him a soft kiss, whispering against his mouth, “But we’re happy. And the kids are happy. Mira was homeless and now she’s gonna be a vet, most likely. Aev and Anya went from child slavery and prostitution to being the brightest in their classes. I swear Aev’s gonna make it into the VSA, just to spite Storek.”

“And convince T’Aman to marry him.”

Jim grinned, “I think she’s weakening.”

Leo snorted, “Cause she didn’t nerve pinch him last Christmas?”

“Hey, it’s progress!”

Leo laughed helplessly at that and brought Jim closer, rubbing at his lower back, “He is so your kid.”

That caused a beaming smile and Leo sighed, “I get your point.”

“So can we keep Jack?”

“You’ll seriously consider hiring a nanny?”

“Booones.”

“No whining. You need to sleep more. And we need more time together that doesn’t involve school projects, duct tape, thrown spaghetti, and trying to convince Anya she can’t wear make-up.”

Jim groaned, “Christ, she’s only seven.”

“And I found a stash of gold lipstick in her underwear drawer.”

“Gaila.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna kill her.”

“If it makes you feel better, the last time she babysat, I came home and found her duct taped to a chair in the dining room.” Sadly, Jim was not at all surprised by this.

Leo arched a brow, “So, nanny?”

Jim groaned, “Oh all right. We’ll start looking. But I bet fifty credits the minute we find one, we’ll find her duct taped to something.”

Leo ignored this. It really was best for his sanity if he did. “I’ll ask Jack if he would like to stay.”

“I’ll call Joce, ask her to get the papers going.”

Leo tilted Jim’s chin up and stole a kiss from those lips he still dreamed about, “You ever think it’s weird my ex-wife is our adoption attorney?”

“No stranger than the fact that Pike became my father-in-law.”

Leo only sighed at that. It had taken him awhile to get used to Pike as a permanent figure in his mother’s life. It had only been after he and Jim had begun their family, and he’d seen how good Pike was with them when not duct taped to a chair, that he’d softened towards the man.

“Hey, Jim?”

“Yeah, Bones.”

“I’m really happy about the twins and Jack.”

Jim’s arms tightened around him further and a soft kiss was pressed at that sensitive spot behind his ear. “Love you, Bones.”

“Me too.”

And when their lips met, they lost themselves in each other and didn’t hear or see Anya’s soft giggles, Mira and Aev’s exchanged looks of satisfaction, David’s little ewww, or Jack’s blossoming smile.

back in Year Twelve

Anya and Jack continued their argument of Kirk versus McCoy while Jim idly wondered when he had so solidly lost Jack to the McCoy side. Probably the first time Leo had taken Jack with him to work. Kid had decided that day he was going to be a doctor. Jim’s dreams of starting a space pirate fleet were getting further and further away. He was gonna have to heavily recruit Hannah and Joanna.

David, who was being recruited by his siblings, turned to Leo and Jim, “I do not understand why they are fighting. We are all in one family unit.”

Jim just grinned, “It’s a game, David.”

His serious face, so closely Leo’s face, frowned, “But it is a subjective game with no clear winner.”

Leo leaned over and whispered, “I told you he was spending too much time with Spock’s kid.”

Spock and T’Pring had been living in San Francisco for the last couple of years. Sarek had retired his diplomatic duties after T’Pau’s passing to take her seat as head of the Vulcan Council of Elders. Spock had inherited his position as Earth’s ambassador.

David was in the same class as Senek and the two boys were best friends. In fact, it was only because Senek had telepathic lessons with Spock on Wednesdays that he wasn’t at Jim and Leo’s place now.

Grinning at his husband, Jim turned back to his eminently logical son. Who he was pretty sure had been swapped at birth. “It’s just a fun game we like to play, Davy. You don’t have to choose if you don’t want to.”

David turned back to his PADD, solving another math problem as he considered the options of choosing the Kirk clan or McCoy clan. After a long moment he turned, blue eyes gleaming and bow shaped mouth serious, “Can I be a Spock?”

And the argument between Anya and Jack was halted by Jim’s laughter and Leo’s shout, “Dammit, Jim!”

Year Eleven

“What?!”

“What?!”

Christine sighed.

***

Denea smiled at the dark haired man who opened the door to the old house. There was gray streaking through his temples and bags underneath his eyes, but there was an air of deep-seated contentment to him. He was happy.

And once the door widened and she stepped inside the home, she knew that it was a place that would ring with tears and laughter, shouts and whispers, fear and comfort. The house sang of its inhabitants and of lives lived exuberantly and confidently. It was a true home. She would be happy here.

Gracefully, breezily, she skirted boxes, waving aside Dr. McCoy’s explanation that they had just moved in, and followed him into a living room only partially set up. There was a blond man, heavily pregnant, sitting on the couch with his feet up on the table, pouting even while running his fingers through a young girl’s hair. Ah yes, the famous Captain Kirk.

When she came in he smiled but didn’t get up. But his smile was open, welcoming. The source of the gold around Dr. McCoy’s mind.

Accepting Dr. McCoy’s offer of tea, she turned her concentration to Jim, “It is unusual for Terrans to desire someone in their home that can so easily enter their minds.”

Jim grinned at that, “Our eldest son, Aev, is half Romulan, half Vulcan. Our eldest daughter has pretty high psi-ratings, and another son is partially empathic. Plus, our closest friends are Vulcan and we usually have at least one tabloid reporter camped outside of the house at all times. Privacy isn’t really something that exists in this household.”

Denea smiled at that, “You have a wonderfully open home. I have never encountered such outside of Betazoid.”

Jim’s mouth turned down for a moment and darkness came about him before she saw a willful pushing of it away, “Ours is a mixed home. Alien and Terran, adopted and biological. We have to be open with each other. It’s that or go insane.”

Denea had known she would take the job from the moment Dr. McCoy had opened the door. Meeting this man had only sealed it. As a Betazed care-giver, she was highly in demand amongst the non-human population of Earth. But she liked San Francisco and she liked this family. “Any rules I should know about?”

A huge smile split Jim’s face and she saw his aura pulse blue in relief and peace before returning to it’s customary gold. Dr. McCoy returned with her tea and a chocolate shake for his husband, who took it with a thankful smile.

Settling a protective hand on the admiral’s shoulder, Dr. McCoy turned to her, “Rules tend to be flexible around here. But there is one hard and fast rule that should never be violated.”

“Oh?”

A small smile graced his mouth, turning him from a handsome man to a stunning one, “Under no circumstances is there to be duct tape in this house. For everyone’s safety.”

Year Fifteen

Georgia air soaked into Jim and he lay on his back, enjoying the sounds of the Fourth of July Festival around him and a glass of May’s lemonade in his hand. His head was pillowed on Leo’s thigh and Leo’s dexterous fingers were running through his hair as they waited for the fireworks to begin. It was just he and Leo, in a glorious moment of intimacy amongst chaos. Around them the games of the festival moved on, shrieks echoed from the Ferris wheel, and the sweet scent of cotton and sugar floated over the air.

On this rare occasion, they had to be responsible for none of their children. Georgina was one blanket over, napping on her Grandma Win. Aev was off courting T’Aman under the pretense of discussing his impending arrival at the VSA, Mira was pretending to not notice the boys surrounding her, something Jim hoped she would continue until she was thirty, Jack and Anya were playing games with Uhura and Scotty and their two girls, David and Senek were one blanket over glued to their PADD’s challenging each other to math quizzes, and Salek, Spock and T’Pring’s eldest son, was watching over T’Aya, their youngest, as she plotted to take over the universe with Jo and Hannah.

T’Pring and Spock were one blanket over, also enjoying the rarity of having some time to themselves.

Sam and Aurelian were off watching the boys compete in the pie eating contest, Jocelyn and Clay were off with their daughter, Gaila was with Eleanora while Pike was taking Sulu and Chekov around, introducing them to the town as this was the first year they had managed to be on Earth for the celebration most of the Enterprise senior crew took as a reason to have a reunion. Of course, now that Nyota and Scotty were permanently on Earth, a reunion was rarely needed. Usually they just grabbed coffee in San Francisco and traded off babysitting for each other.

It was a rare occasion where everyone Jim loved was gathered in one place. He thought back to a Fourth of July celebration almost twenty years ago where he’d found his home overrun and chaotic, where he and Leo had illicitly kissed under exploding stars, where he could’ve never imagined his life would become this.

He blinked open his eyes to find Bones’ hazel eyes moving over his face, a soft smile teasing those lips Jim still liked to pin beneath his own and plunder. And here, here was the most remarkable thing in life. The one thing time left unchanged.

Because despite the fact that they were both grayer, not as hard-bodied as they were before (but Jim was not fat. Jim made sure he ran at least four times a week to ensure that would not be happening in this reality), they were still them. They fought and bickered, laughed, and scarred their children by making out in front of them.

They had learned to be together, to reach for each other first, to become ‘we’ rather than ‘I’, but had never forgotten the ease and need of their first kiss or their promise to give each other their last.

And here, fifteen years after they exchanged vows, fifteen years and eight children, Jim still looked into those hazel eyes and felt something flutter in his belly, felt his palms dampen. Reaching up with a palm, he cupped a scruffy jaw and ran his thumb over those lips, “Hey, Bones?”

Hazel eyes gleamed, “Yeah, Jim?”

“You look pretty hot today. Wanna make-out later?”

Amusement shone out of those eyes, “I’m a married man, Jim. I can’t just go around making out with famous Starfleet heroes in public places.”

Jim, pleased, nodded, “Hmm . . . I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

So when their family was gathered and everyone was staring at the night sky for the firework spectacular about to begin, Jim slid his hand over Leo’s thigh. Feeling it tense beneath him, Jim used the first burst of fireworks, and everyone’s preoccupation with them, to pull Leo’s head down. As the sky streaked with light, all Jim could see was amber eyes and with a reckless grin from so many years ago, he covered Leo’s lips with his own and stole a kiss.

The next months and years would involve great change and new challenges. But as Leo’s mouth softened so beautifully under his, as still strong, nimble fingers cradled Jim’s jaw, all he could think was that everything he needed was right within his grasp. Just like it had always been.