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Joseph Sisko adjusted the framed photo he had just hung above the bar of his restaurant. The two figures in the image might have seemed unusual to the casual observer: a Ferengi in a Starfleet dress uniform and a human dressed in less flamboyant than usual civilian clothes. The fact that they were sitting on bar stools and leaning against each other did nothing to obscure the height difference, but Joseph only saw how happy they were to finally be together celebrating their wedding with their family and friends. Seeing that happiness on his grandson’s face as well as on the face of the man he had known to be in love with Jake for so long he knew that their difficult journey and all the trials they had faced during the course of their friendship had been worth it. His contemplation of the photo was interrupted by a knock on the door and a voice calling out, “Crawfish delivery!”
As he moved to answer the door he thought back to the beginning when his son was still getting used to commanding a space station in a politically volatile area away from the safety and familiarity of earth and the Federation. It was not long after the move that a certain young ferengi named Nog became a frequent topic of conversation during the Sisko family subspace transmissions. Joseph remembered fragments of conversations from years ago as well as the advice he gave to both Ben and Jake at the time.
“That Ferengi is a bad influence on Jake. “I tried to keep them apart but it's not working.”
Benjamin Sisko said to his father.
“Maybe Jake will be a good influence on this Nog fellow. You might as well give them the benefit of the doubt. Jake's a good kid he will turn out alright.” Joseph replied.
“So Nog and I were watching the wormhole on one of the upper pylons but dad said I had to go help Chief O'Brian so I can study engineering. The Chief is great but I don't want to be an engineer, and just two days later we were on the promenade watching the Bajoran transports come in but his uncle Quark said he had to go back to work at the bar” Jake told his grandfather.
Joseph made vague supportive noises in response while he gathered his thoughts, “It seems to me that they just want you protect you from the difficulties the differences in your cultures could cause, but if you feel so strongly about him, it's up to you to prove them wrong and make the friendship last.”
“It would be easier if they didn't try to sabotage us all the time.”
A few years later when he learned from both of them that Nog was going to be the first Ferengi to attend Starfleet Academy, Joseph decided to reach out to the boy. He sent a message inviting him to the restaurant and ordered fresh tube grubs to be shipped in from Ferenginar. Looking at his research on Ferengi eating habits, he thought, I bet this young man would appreciate some crawfish.
Joseph listened as the young Ferengi cadet told him stories about his grandson some of which were familiar and some were new. It was interesting to get to know Nog in person after hearing about him second hand from various biased sources. It did not take very long to reach the conclusion that Nog was very much in love with Jake, and unbeknownst to either of them, on a space station far away, Nog's uncle was accusing Jake of similar pining.
When his son and grandson returned to earth a short time later there was so much going on Joseph almost missed the quiet conversation between Jake and Nog behind his restaurant one evening. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but having witnessed their earlier reunion could not help himself.
“The station has not been the same without you,” Jake told Nog.
“I knew it would be hard going to the academy and I knew that a big part of that would be how much I'd miss you but...” Nog trailed off not sure how to finish his point without giving too much away, but Jake seemed to understand him anyway.
“I know what you mean, and I feel the same way,” Jake leaned down to kiss Nog with a chaste peck on the lips.
“Maybe this will make it harder to be apart, but I missed you so much I could not wait any longer.”
“Worth it!” Nog replied. “Besides nothing can really keep us apart. We have proven that for as long as we've known each other-- this won't be any different.”
After that, Joseph slipped away to keep from spying on the rest of their private moment (especially if their kisses became more heated that was something no man needed to see his grandson involved in no matter how happy he was for both of them).
Nog came to the restaurant several times after that and he always seemed happier than he had been which surprised Joseph who had expected him to be even more depressed when Jake left. “Don't you miss him more now that you are together?“ Joseph asked Nog one day after bringing him a plate of crawfish.
“I already loved him and missed him so much it's not actually any different but knowing he loves me back makes it so much easier to deal with the separation. It makes it seem more temporary,” and after a pause, “I know he will be waiting for me when I get home.”
Nog got to go home soon after that when he was given a field assignment on Deep Space Nine for his second year of Academy training. He and Jake moved in together right away not wanting to waste any time after being apart for the start of their romantic relationship. Joseph heard several sides of that story over Subspace. Apparently living together had been harder than they anticipated and their fathers, Benjamin and Rom, had helped get them back together. A change of heart from the early days of their friendship.
Not too long after that Joseph received an urgent subspace call from Jake. At first he was worried (after all, his relatives were living in a warzone) but when he saw the look on Jake’s face as he came on screen he knew it must be good news. “Whats got that smile on your face Jake?” Joseph asked.
“Nog and I are getting married!” was Jake’s enthusiastic reply as he moved to aside to make room for Nog on the transmission’s image.
“Hello, sir.“ Nog said.
“None of this ‘sir’ if you are going to be my grandson-in-law”
But their happiness was not to last. The tension in the area came to a head and soon the station was under Dominion control. Joseph was shocked and worried when he learned that Jake had stayed behind to cover this new occupation as a reporter to the worried dismay of both the father and fiancee who could not abandon their Starfleet duties to go talk some sense into him. Joseph, being under no such Starfleet restrictions, was of half a mind to go to that station himself but he realized that Jake was able to make his own decisions. He just hoped it did not do permanent damage to his relationship with Nog after they had fought so long to be happy together.
Despite having made it this far in his life without leaving Earth, and even though there was still a war on, Joseph could not think of a better reason to finally visit the space station his son and grandson had called home for the past six years than Jake and Nog’s wedding. Nog was wearing a Starfleet dress uniform that made him look almost regal. Meanwhile Jake had spent a considerable amount of time arguing with the Cardassian tailor, Garak, about what he would be wearing to the ceremony. Joseph had attended one of the fittings with the boys and smiled at the memory of Garak admonishing Jake to stand up straight while Jake continually bent or leaned to look at or talk to his much shorter fiancee. Fortunately that was enough of a distraction for Garak to dress Jake in clothing of a more subdued color scheme then his usual fashion choices. Nog had insisted on having the ceremony in the middle of the promenade or more specifically, he was told, a corner of railing on the upper level where he and Jake had spent a lot of their childhood getting to know one another. Who would have thought the Ferengi was the sentimental one? Benjamin was performing the ceremony as Captain of the station so Joseph, Kasidy Yates, and Jadzia Dax were standing on Jake’s side with Rom, Leeta, and Quark on Nog’s. The ceremony was somewhat informal due to the location and the family and friends gathered in a random crowd on the lower level below them. In keeping with that theme, Benjamin combined his role as officiant with that of the father of one of the grooms when making a congratulatory speech.
“When my son and I first moved to this station, I did not think Jake would be able to form a lasting friendship with a Ferengi and I was not the only one. But Jake and Nog proved us all wrong: their friendship only grew and matured as they did. I watched Jake and Nog grow up from young boys forging what seemed like an impossible friendship to young men deciding on the future they wanted for themselves and each other, and I could not be prouder of their accomplishments or that they have decided to continue their journey together. Once when the four of us were on a camping trip, Nog’s uncle Quark asked me if I would ever allow Jake to marry a Ferengi, at the time I said I had not thought about it and that was true, but now it seems like everything was leading up to this moment and I'm sure Quark wishes he tried to make a bet on it”. There's some awkward laughter and knowing looks exchanged at that before Benjamin continues, “I'm incredibly honored to be able to be a part of this wedding between my son and Nog, but you all did not come here to listen to a proud father talk too much, so now it's time for the grooms to say their vows.”
Nog goes first and says, “Some people try to say that first love is fleeting and not likely to last but I have loved you since the first self-sealing stem bolt.“ Jake gives a shaky smile, and starts to tear up as Nog continues, “I have loved you for so long, I have forgotten what it feels like not to. I considered myself lucky to have you as a friend and look forward to a lifetime of having you as my husband.”
Jake’s vows follow, “Nog you are the best friend I ever had, and the best friend anyone could ask for. I always knew I loved you, but it took me a little longer to catch up on how much. When you left to go to the Academy, I missed you so much more than I ever thought possible, and I knew I would love you as hard as I could for the rest of my life.”
Jake tries to discreetly wipe his eyes after this, but he does not have much of a chance because soon his father is saying “I now pronounce you married,” and Nog grabs on to the promenade railing with one hand and Jake’s shoulder with the other and pulls himself up to kiss Jake to the cheers of all their friends and family.
After the ceremony there was a reception at Quark’s where everyone enjoyed the crawfish Joseph had shipped to the station in stasis for the occasion.
Rom took his turn at a speech saying just “I’m not good with words like Captain Sisko but I always wanted my son to be happy, and Jake makes him happy.”
Whether that was the intended end of his speech was unknown as his brother Quark encouraged a toast and soon everyone was busy celebrating.
In the midst of the party Joseph, sees the grooms sitting on barstools pushed too close together and leaning against each other. He quickly borrows a holo-imager from Leeta and takes a picture of the two of them. “I am going to hang this up at the restaurant,” Joseph said.
“Thanks grandpa!” the boys said in unison and then started giggling. Apparently there had been a bit of alcohol in their root beer. Joseph hugged each of them in turn and knew they would make it work despite all the obstacles they had faced getting to this point.
He came out of his musings when the young man delivering the crawfish noticed the picture.
“This is my grandson, Jake, and his husband, Nog. They just got married,” Joseph proudly told the man. “Jake is a writer: he’s had a book published about living on a Dominion controlled space station, and Nog is the first Ferengi in Starfleet.”
“Sounds like you're awful proud of them. I always appreciate an unusual love story myself. How did a human writer and ‘the first Ferengi in Starfleet’ wind up married?” he asked.