Title: The Road to Delta Vega is Paved with Good Intentions

Series: Trek Pod

Sub-series: You Don't Have To Be My Boyfriend

Pairings: K/S with a few surprises along the way

Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. This is the final chapter of The Road to Delta Vega is Paved with Good Intentions and the final chapter in the You have to be my boyfriend series.

This chapter is dedicated to the brave men and women in the military and in public diplomacy that must leave the love of their life behind temporarily so that they can serve his or her country.

Chapter inspired by: If I Ain't Got You written by Alicia Keys although I have the Maroon 5 version on my iPod.

Lyric excerpt:

Some people live for the fortune
Some people live just for the fame
Some people live for the power, yeah
Some people live just to play the game
Some people think that the physical things
Define what's within
And I've been there before
But that life's a bore
So full of the superficial

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you, Yeah

All I Want is You

Noticing his husband's shock from his previous announcement, Spock pulled Jim into an empty office to continue their conversation privately. He understands his husband's reaction because he was quite shocked when his grandmother and Starfleet proposed this mission to him. He wished Jim could come with him, if he decided to accept but that was not an option. Becoming the captain of Enterprise was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Jim and Spock will not stop him from accepting a position that he fully deserves.

"Are you okay love?" Spock asked as he kept holding on to Jim's hand.

"I'm fine." Jim's use of the word 'fine' worried Spock. "Just give me a minute. You just told me that you're leaving me for three months." Jim said with anger in his voice as he sat on top of an empty desk.

"I said no such thing. I said that I was offered the position. I did not accept it yet." Spock said trying to ease the tension that was radiating through their bond. He could feel Jim's anger and fear via their connection quite easily.

"But you didn't say no." Jim said a lot calmer now.

"I informed the Admiralty that I must speak to my husband first before accepting any assignment. I felt it was best that we discussed the situation together. Your opinion matters to me. I trust your judgment." Spock said sitting beside Jim and pulling him into his embrace.

"Good answer. I know you want to do this. I know you said you wanted to find a way to help your people without having to leave Starfleet during our various posts sex conversations on the way back here. This would be the way." Even though Jim said this aloud, Spock could tell through their bond that Jim did not want to be without his husband for three months. Spock felt the same way but he understood the importance of the mission.

Growing up, his father would sometimes leave him and his mother behind when he was required to do certain functions of his job that were too dangerous to bring his wife and child along. That is when his mom started a lot of her volunteer work and became a major player in the refugee relief and anti sex trade movement.

"It is not a matter of want. I do not want to be parted from you." Spock said aloud as he kissed Jim on the forehead. That made Jim smile momentarily. "I wish you could come with me. However, I will not ask you to give up your dream of being a starship captain, even if Starfleet's argument that I am the best candidate for this mission was logical." Spock said sternly.

"Let's forget about me for a moment. You accepting this mission makes sense because you are the only Vulcan in Starfleet. Also knowing you as well as I do, you feel you have to except the position because you owe that to your people and your dead father." Jim said understanding Spock's reasoning perfectly.

"Possibly," Spock said not completely confirming Jim's assumption.

"But you also don't want to leave me?"

"The thought is completely repugnant." That resulted in Jim pulling him in for a very long kiss.

"Again, that's a really good answer. I don't want to be without you either, but it's for three months. Yesterday we promised the Admiralty that we would not allow our marriage to interfere with us serving Starfleet to the fullest. You know they are going to be watching us under a microscope. If we screw up then they are never going to change their policies regarding married couples serving together in Starfleet." James raised a valid point.

"You feel I should take the position?" Spock asked hesitantly.

"Only, if you promise to come back to me." Through their bond, Spock could tell this was a very hard thing for Jim to say to him but he did mean it.

"I will always come back to you." Spock said as he kissed Jim on the lips once more.

"Good. Let's get out of here before I start crying, unless you want to act out my office sex fantasy." Jim says as a joke to break the tension, but Spock decided to take him seriously.

"I am not completely opposed to having sex with you in my office, where I have supplies and can activate the privacy lock. However, this office is not a suitable location." This statement resulted in James opening his mouth in shock.

"Did you just suggest that we go to your office for a quickie even though we're supposed to meet your mom in 45 minutes? Why do you have supplies for sex in your office? Wait another minute; you thought we were friends with benefits when I thought we were friends. That explains everything. You always believe in being prepared. You are one kinky Vulcan." Jim said with a touch of sarcasm.

"I did not suggest we go over to my office for the sole purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse. However, I do need to stop by my office to pick up a few things." Spock said with an expression that Jim refers to as his sneaky smirk. There was actually no real need for Spock to go to his office, but he felt the need to be with his husband at that moment and Jim was sending him very dirty thoughts mentally again.

"This is why I love you. It's not like we can do anything at the apartment because your mom is always up. I caught her working on our wedding at 2:00 AM this morning. According to Gaila, this is an improvement over the first few days." Spock realized his mother was not handling his father's death that well. He woke up to the sound of her crying at 3:33 AM this morning. Being able to spend more time with her was another reason to accept the temporary position. By the time he joined Enterprise again he hoped his mother would be in a better place.

"I feel she is unused to sleeping alone." Spock told his husband as he got up from the desk.

"It's going to take a while. Your mother really loved your father. My mom was like that. That's why she had one of those old fashion body pillows to snuggle with when I was a kid before she married the ass hole." Jim said getting up from the desk. "Come on let's get to the academy we have to meet your mom in 43 minutes." Jim said smiling as they walked out of the vacant office.

They actually did not arrive at the tailor's until 93.6 minutes later after engaging in various activities that resulted in breaking his desk. He was currently trying to come up with a plausible explanation of what happened when he reported the damage Monday. Spock was just grateful that James had the foresight to send Amanda a message stating that their meetings were running late.

Several days later

Why did she let her friends talk her into attending her ex boyfriend's memorial service? Really, Nyota would like to know the answer to that question as she looked at herself in the mirror wearing her black ensemble. She could wear her uniform, but it just didn't feel appropriate. Then again, a uniform would be more appropriate than the bright red number that Gaila was wearing.

"You're wearing that?" Nyota asked pointing to her friend's too tight dress that showed a lot of cleavage.

"It's cheery. Funerals need to be cheery. The last one was just too depressing. It's all depressing. I don't understand why humans believe you must wear black to a funeral. It's such a miserable color. Doesn't that just make everyone sadder? Humans confuse me." Her friend did have a point. She almost wanted to laugh at that.

"I'm human and I find our species confusing, especially the male members of the species. I'm still angry at Jordan for apologizing from the grave when he never intended to in life. I can't believe you're making me go. If it wasn't for Claire I wouldn't go at all." She said adjusting her dress again before she pulled it off to find something less miserable. "You're right about black being depressing. Not all cultures on earth consider black the color of mourning. In the region once known as India to this day white is considered the appropriate color for mourning." As she said that, she grabbed a white outfit out of her closet. If anybody said anything, she could just say she was observing the traditions of other cultures.

"I thought that was for weddings?" Gaila asked with a puzzled expression.

"Only in western Earth cultures, in India red is worn at weddings. Also white is only appropriate if you're a virgin or it is your first marriage." Nyota explained as she inspected her new outfit. This was much better.

"Is that why Jim and Spock are wearing black?"

"We're going with black because my husband looks absolutely fabulous in the color and he would not agree to wear anything else. You and I were just some of the many who fell in love with him because of his sexy professor uniform." Jim said walking into their room. Her roommate must have given him the code. That was so unfair.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be making out with your husband right now? " she asked with hands on her hips.

"He's at meetings preparing for his new mission." She is personally shocked Jim was taking being separated from his husband for three months so well. She would have been angry as hell if Starfleet decided to send her husband on a different mission for three months during the beginning of their marriage. Then again, Jim had his new position on the Enterprise to keep him happy as well as the promise that Spock will become his first officer as soon as the current mission was over.

"Starfleet is requiring me to attend as many memorial services as possible to help boost morale." Jim continued. "I figure I could help provide backup for Gaila since she asked so nicely. She's worried that you're going to run the other way before you even step inside the funeral home." She was deeply offended by that statement. Nyota was ready to run now.

"Thank god you're here. She was already backing out. I love you to death Nyota, but you are the most hardheaded person in the universe." Jim was actually chuckling at Gaila's statement until Nyota gave him the glare of death.

"I was not backing out. I just don't see the point of going to the funeral of a coward, who not only cheated on me but didn't have the balls to apologize to me in person." She said angrily pacing her room.

"Oh please, you wouldn't let him apologize. The moment he tried to talk to you, you ran away. He is dead now. What's the point of running away again?" Why did her friend always have to ask such great questions?

"All the more reason not to go to this funeral." Nyota said sitting down on her bed being as defiant as ever.

"I was always told that funerals were more for the survivors then the deceased. It's about getting closure. Besides, I hear your friends with his mom. I'm sure she needs you to be there." Jim said sitting next to her as Gaila sat on her other side.

"What's the point of closure? I do not need closure. Maybe you should be having this conversation with your husband and your new mother in law. They are not even having a private memorial service for Sarek. I didn't see you trying to force your husband to go to yesterday's service for the members of the Vulcan council that died." She said to Jim feeling she had a valid point. He was being just a little bit hypocritical.

"Spock and Amanda are mourning in their own way. For example, they have been having a movie marathon every night of my late father in law's favorite Earth films as they share various anecdotes. It's how they're dealing. I think that is more fitting then some public ceremony that has no real sentiment and most of the speakers either didn't know Sarek or felt that he was a traitor for marrying out of his species". She was just about to use this as an excuse to excuse herself from attending but Jim beat her to it. "Before you say anything, the thing for Jordan is a real funeral and not some political show for the media." It irritated Nyota that he acted like he knew her so well.

"What's the point of mourning someone who broke my heart in little pieces? Why should I cry over someone who fucked around behind my back? " she asked practically screaming with one tear rolling down her cheek.

"Because you need to let go of this and everything else. Jordan's ghost has been haunting you long before he was actually dead. You need to let go. You have not had a real relationship in almost three years." Gaila said pointing this out to her as she wrapped an arm around her.

"That's not fair. I tried to have a serious relationship but the guy was completely in love with someone else. That counts." She said just as she laid her head down on Gaila's lap.

"Sorry." She heard Jim say from behind her as she felt another hand reluctantly pat her back.

"Don't feel sorry Jim. The entire thing with Spock was a safety crush. Spock wasn't going to give in to you while he was your professor unless he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Even then, it wouldn't be more than a friendship with make out privileges. You two were never going to be forever and you know it. You're never going to be able to move on unless you say goodbye." Gaila said as she stroked Nyota's hair.

"Fine you win. Let's get this over with." She said as she wiped away her tears, got up from the bed, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door.

The memorial service was not as bad as she thought it would be. It was mostly Jordan's family and a few of his remaining friends that didn't die in the battle of Vulcan. There weren't that many. Claire made her sit next to her. She was an absolute mess for the entire service.

Even Nyota cried at some point. Maybe her friends were right. (Yes, she actually considered Jim Kirk, her future captain, to be her friend despite everything.) She needed closure and this was as close as she was going to get.

After the memorial, she found herself walking back to her room alone with Jim because Gaila had a meeting with Amanda to attend. Like Spock, Gaila is going to be assigned to a detail for the next three months helping with the recovery efforts before joining Enterprise. Although her friend was a computer genius, she was doing really good helping with the Vulcan children. Gaila would probably make a really good mother someday.

"Was that really so bad?" Jim asked her.

"Not really. Claire was really glad I was there. I should be able to handle your wedding now without any trouble whatsoever. At least the bridesmaid dresses are something that I would be willing to wear in public." She said with a smile. The dresses were actually beautiful and she looked really good in blue.

"We're already married so the worst part is over. I can't believe you agreed to be a bridesmaid." He said almost surprised.

"Why does everybody keeps saying that?" Really she was getting tired of hearing that over and over again. Even Spock's mother was shocked she said yes. She is not some fragile flower. The guy she was in love with married someone else. It's okay. Maybe Gaila was right about the safety crush thing. She was only in love with Spock because she knew their relationship really wouldn't go anywhere. He is still her friend and she is going to be the best maid of honor/best person ever.

"A few weeks ago you were trying to convince my husband to dump me for you. Are you just doing this so you can disrupt the wedding during the 'speak now or forever hold your peace' part of the ceremony?" Jim asked her half seriously.

"First, you two are already married, so what's the point. Second, I am not my father and I don't screw up other people's marriages. You and Spock love each other very much even if you're going to have to spend a few months apart due to duty." She answered Jim honestly.

"Good to know you're not planning on trying to be the other woman." Jim said with a laugh.

"He is too much in love with you for that to work." She answered back as they arrived at her building. Being the gentleman that he was, he insisted on walking up to her actual door. She can't believe that she just referred to Jim Kirk as a 'gentleman'.

"Anyway, speaking of your father, I was told by my mother in law and your roommate to try to convince you into calling the man. However, due to the fact that I rather spend time with certain members of the Vulcan council that wish me dead than even considering calling certain relatives of mine, I'm not going to push." Why a she not surprised that Gaila asked Jim to pressure her into calling her father?

"Thank you for not pushing. I am getting enough of that from my roommate. Because of those members of the Vulcan council that hate you, I will not even have the opportunity to object even if I wanted to. According to my extremely pushy roommate, Amanda has specifically asked soon to be Admiral Pike to leave that part out of the ceremony. She is worried that certain members of the Vulcan council will object to Spock marrying a human when the Vulcan race is in such a dire state. It would look bad if that happened. Is Pike even going to be well enough to do the wedding by then? I know he is still in rehab right now." She asked the last part as an afterthought.

"Considering the way they treat me, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. Good thing they don't know Spock's great uncle is also half human. I think I gave a certain prejudiced member of the council a heart attack when I reply to him in perfect Vulcan after he referred to me by several vulgar terms for prostitute. Also, Pike will be fine. He is getting out of rehab Saturday and moving into his new Starfleet provided apartment specially designed for an individual utilizing a wheelchair. There is no way I am letting him miss my wedding. He is like the closest thing I've ever had to a real father even if my husband had a crush on him for a few years." There is no way she heard that last part right. That was just too much.

"He had a crush on Pike?" She asked laughing.

"Yes. But I didn't tell you that. I hope you're better at keeping a secret than my husband. I know all about you not hating me." He replied with a smile.

"It's not my fault you grow on a person. It is hard to hate you once I stopped seeing you as another version of my ex boyfriend. I'm sorry for doing that to you." She said sincerely.

"I understand. I've had my share of bad boyfriends and girlfriends for that matter. I did Cupcake. We all have temporary lapses of good judgment." He said the last part with a wink.

"What's happening to him?" She asked wondering what happened to the guy she reluctantly kept from getting killed.

"If he ever wakes up from the coma, a dishonorable discharge and maybe some prison time. That's fine with me. I heard that my new chief of security, Sam Giotto is really good at what he does even if he's on the young side. Then again, we all are." Jim said excitedly.

"Are they bringing anybody else on to be your first officer during Spock's detail." She said approaching the subject delicately. Jim obviously didn't want to deal with the fact that his husband will be away from him for three months.

"I didn't like any of the possible outside candidates. At least one has too big of an ego to be willing to do the job for only three months and I don't think Spock would be happy with me working with anybody I slept with in the past. I'm sure he's pissed at the fact I'm becoming a captain before he is anyway." She really wanted to know whom Jim was talking about. However, she knew better than to ask for a name.

"Good point, but if you do anything to hurt Spock I will kill you." She said with her best sickeningly sweet smile.

"I know. You are one protective friend."

"What about Dr. McCoy? He did major in command as well."

"That's only because he had no choice. I think I tricked him into doing it by promising vast quantities of alcohol. Didn't you also double major in command?" Jim asked her obviously already knowing the answer. Because he was her brand new captain, he probably had her resume it memorized.

"During undergrad but I felt I was much better at linguistics. That's what I focused on during grad school." She answered honestly, as she typed in the code for her room and the two walked inside.

"You made a very hard decision on the bridge when you decided to knock out my husband. Most people would not have the courage to do that."

"I'm not most people." She answered putting her bag down on top of her desk.

"No you're not. I think you'll make a good temporary first officer."

"What?" She asked him in shock

"I want you to be my first officer until Spock gets back. After that, you will become our second officer but your duties are going to be a little bit different because Starfleet is a little uncertain about having a married command team. We can talk details later if you accept." Even after that, she was still confused.

"Why?"

"Because I need someone who will put the ship first no matter what and I know you're the person. You have already proved that. I also need someone who is as committed to his or her job as I am. You are a bit of a workaholic. Most importantly, I need someone who will be willing to tell me when I am doing something absolutely stupid. Also, I owe you for sneaking me on the ship in the first place." He was smiling again.

"There's no need to thank me for that. We all would be dead otherwise. You want me to be your first officer? I barely served on a ship before."

"Your actions kept us all from ending up dead. You're good at what you do." Jim said actually praising her. She still wasn't sure she was really qualified for the position.

"Do you need me to say yes now?" She asked.

"No, I don't. Think about it. I don't need to know for a little while. You can tell me at graduation or the wedding for that matter. I have to go anyway. I'm meeting my husband for a very awkward dinner with his great uncle Selek and his mother."

"Uncle Selek was the guy who saved your life on Delta Vega and provided a way for you to get back on the ship?" Due to accessing file she shouldn't have, she now knew exactly who 'Uncle Selek' was.

"Yes." Jim said hesitantly.

"I met him yesterday at the memorial service. He really does look exactly like Spock. It was like Spock was his uncle's clone." She said as she opened the door to her apartment

"You know, don't you?" He asked quietly.

"Yes. Have fun tonight." She said letting the door closed behind her. If she decided to actually send her father a short message, that was no ones business but hers.

The day before graduation and two days before the wedding, Jim and Spock's house was in complete chaos. There was so much to be done before both he and Spock left for their respective missions in a week. The worst was the packing. Even though Jim spent the majority of his life moving around from planet to planet, it was still difficult getting the entire contents of your life down to two bags. He had no idea how much stuff he managed to accumulate in this apartment over the last nine months. He really has been living in this apartment since the beginning of their relationship.

Everything not going with them will go into storage eventually. Amanda is staying in the apartment for now, but has decided to move to the colony as soon as the first houses were ready. At that point the loft would go on the market. They thought about keeping the apartment but it didn't make sense considering they would be on earth so little during the next few years.

That's also why Jim finally decided to sell the old family farm to Starfleet who needed the space for the rapid rebuild of the ships destroyed by Nero. It was better to sell the property. There were too many bad memories associated with that place. Now that he was starting his new life with Spock it was time to let go of the pain.

Jim wondered if Amanda would really relocate to the colony right away considering how certain Vulcans treated her. Also Amanda was becoming very attached to two little Vulcan girl's name T'Pend and T'Pay. In human terms, T'Pend was 9 years old and extremely protective of her 10 month old cousin T'Pay, mostly because the little girl was the only family she had left. The two girls were thrown on a shuttle together by desperate parents in the minutes before implosion of their home planet. The only individual that T'Pend will let near baby T'Pay was Amanda.

Amanda has been spending so much time with the two girls over the last few weeks that he wouldn't be surprised if Amanda was considering becoming their Foster mother. If that happened, Amanda wouldn't be leaving until the new colony was well established and suitable for a small child.

He and Spock hope to have all the packing done before the wedding in two days. After the ceremony, they were taking a very short honeymoon. Jim talked Spock into renting an old fashion motorcycle and just riding down the coast without plans or reservations. Knowing his husband Jim doubted that plan would last more than 20 minutes. The tropical beach honeymoon fantasy was impractical because they had to be back to San Francisco by Wednesday to begin final preparations for their departure and separation.

The thought of being separated from his husband for three months made him sick but it was just something that had to be done. Jim was half convinced this was a test from Starfleet to see if he could be a good captain without his husband. Jim would be happy to prove their assumptions wrong.

Jim could be selfish and tells Spock not to help out his people. However, He wasn't that type of person. This type of separation was very common in Starfleet because of the organization's arcane policies involving spouses and families. It was so common that there were classes at if the Academy on handling long-term separation.

Now that Pike was an Admiral, the man was going after those ridiculous policies regarding families living on starships in addition to changing Starfleet's policies regarding individuals with disabilities. Pike told both him and Spock this when they took the man out for a celebratory dinner. However, it will take a while before Pike's dream will become a reality and in the interim, he was going to have to get used to being away from Spock for three months.

At least this situation was better than what his best friend Bones will be going through. Even when planet side Bones would end up going four or five months without seeing his baby girl because his bitch of an ex wife would not honor the court ordered custody arrangement. Bones was supposed to be able to see his daughter one weekend every month but Jim doesn't know how many times his friend has returned heartbroken from a weekend trip to Georgia because he didn't get to see his daughter. For some reason the evil one kept forgetting what weekend her ex husband was supposed to spend with baby Bones.

Thanks to his mother in law knowing some of the best lawyers on the planet, his best friend was currently spending two weeks with his daughter before the long separation. As it stands, they were not returning to earth until winter of 2259. Maybe if the policy regarding children on starships was already a thing of the pass, now that Bones had a decent lawyer and was one of the people who helped saved Earth he could probably get full custody of his daughter Joanna. At least his favorite pseudo niece would get to be the flower girl at his wedding.

"So how many pairs of blue jeans should I take?" Jim asked his husband that afternoon as he dumped the entire contents of their closet onto the bed. His mother in law was currently visiting her two favorite Vulcan girls, leaving Jim and Spock at the apartment by themselves. Instead of sexy time, they were packing. Jim really didn't understand this but he decided to humor his husband. Love made him do strange things.

"Considering that you will be in your uniform most of the time, I believe two will be sufficient along with a few T shirts. I personally am not bringing any civilian clothes." That was not going to do, Jim thought to himself as he placed three pairs of jeans in a suitcase including the pair that Spock like the most.

"You have to bring at least a pair of jeans. What if I want to take you out on a date during shore leave?" Jim said giving his husband his signature pout. Spock was completely vulnerable to the pout.

"What is the purpose of dating when we are already married?" Spock asked with his normal 'I think you're crazy' expression. Jim was starting to think that expression was adorable yet annoying.

"It's a human thing. Married people do date nights sometimes to put the spice back in their marriage, usually after they have kids. Not that we will ever need it for that reason, even if your mom talks us into adopting as soon as Pike successfully changes the children in space policy. I just like doing things with my sexy husband." Jim said walking over to Spock who was neatly folding his extra meditation robes in a box for storage to give Spock a quick peck on the lips.

"What do spices have to do with marriage?" Spock asked once they were parted.

"You know sometimes I don't know if you actually don't know what I'm talking about or if you're just messing with my head because you think it's cute. I have a direct link to your mind and I'm still confused. In this case, it's an expression. Once upon a time on earth, people were afraid to talk about sex. 'Spice' was a code word for sex. Because our sex life is absolutely fantastic we don't need to worry about that. However, I still want to show off my husband." Jim said just as he kissed Spock so hard this time that he caused him to fall on the bed resulting in the bag that he just packed to fall on the floor spilling its contents.

"I have packed the two pairs of blue jeans that you forced me to buy in the things that will be sent to Enterprise. However, I doubt I will need such things during my detail." He pulled back from Spock at that moment remembering that his husband wouldn't be joining him right away.

"I forgot for a moment. How am I going to deal with being away from you for three months?" Jim asked just as Spock pulled him back down and wrapped his arms around Jim.

"We will be so busy with our duties that we will not notice the absence. According to my mother, that is how my parents survived such long absences." Jim was pretty sure that was how Amanda was dealing with the fact her husband was dead but he wasn't going to comment on that.

"Although, I'm sure you will introduce me to the concept of communicator sex at some point." Spock's mouth was on Jim's neck before he had time to form a coherent thought, let alone suggest e-mail sex instead. Jim quickly realized that using the bed to pack was a really bad Idea, as all the boxes fell to the floor within 2 minutes.

They ended their various fun 'activities' just in time to take a quick shower before Amanda showed up to their apartment with takeout and her two very special guests. Jim really did not want Amanda or her two favorite little Vulcan girls to know what he and Spock were doing for 3 hours instead of packing.

Amanda seemed unbelievably happy when she was with T'Pend and T'Pay. Actually other than her one on one time with Spock, this was the only time Jim really saw Amanda happy. Jim was sure that they were going to be talked into either adopting the two girls or Spock status as an almost only child was going to be over for good. Thanks to modern medicine, 53 was now considered middle age and it wasn't that unusual for human women to have biological children as late as their mid-sixties. (Technically, Spock had an older half brother but he disappeared a long time ago like Sam. Spock assumed his half brother to be dead based on something Sarek said long ago. It was another thing he and Spock had in common.)

Because his mother in law got to spend time with her two favorite Vulcan children, Jim and Spock were not woken up in the middle of the night by crying or late night wedding planning. This was a welcome thing. Amanda was acclimating to life without her husband a lot better than Jim's mother ever did, but Jim knew it was hard on her.

The next morning was the graduation ceremony which was a very somber affair by design. Normally the Starfleet graduations involved lots of fanfare and a marching band but considering 93% of the class was graduating posthumously, it was highly inappropriate. The least Starfleet could do was graduate the students who died in battle. They deserved that at least.

This made the graduation seem more like another memorial service than an actual graduation. There were supposed to be 3000 students graduating that day at the San Francisco academy alone, instead there were only 221 students, all who were on Enterprise. The same scene would be taking place at other Starfleet academy campuses across earth. For the first time ever the graduation ceremony was taking place in one of the large auditoriums instead of on the academy green because there were so few graduating.

As expected, he was valedictorian and would be required to give a speech. While Jim was sleeping, Spock completely rewrote his speech to make it more occasion 'appropriate'. His husband was beyond obsessive but Jim loved him anyway. Jim knew to keep things positive and talk about the upcoming mission. So he may have included a few things about Starfleet needing to change with the times and took a potshot at the fact the organization did not find Nero and crew earlier. Not that anybody but Spock and his mother in law picked up on that particular reference. Even though Spock was a little upset, Jim felt He might as well let the Admiralty know now that he wasn't going to be their sweet little puppy dog poster boy.

Once the ceremony was over, he was subjected to multiple group photos by Amanda. She even forced Bones to participate, although Joanna helped. That little girl had Bones wrapped around her finger. After lots of posing, they left for the celebration/rehearsal dinner. Because Joanna and Amanda's little friends were there, everybody kept their stories about the happy couple PG. Jim was happy for that because he really didn't want Amanda to hear about a certain incident his first year at the academy involving nudity, illegal substances, public sex, handcuffs, and being found the next morning by Bones chained to a bike rack without wearing a thing. Actually, Bones had a lot of stories that Jim did not want Amanda to hear.

Scotty also told an edited version of the first time he met Jim and how desperate he was to get back to his husband. Jim asked him to be a usher as a thank you for getting him back to Spock and to even out the wedding party. Even though Jim only knew him for a few weeks, he was quickly becoming good friends with the engineer mostly due to all the time they had been spending together lately. Scotty and most of the people who would become the main bridge crew were still in town for tons of meetings related to Enterprise and their first mission. Everyone was in place, but his interim First officer because Nyota hasn't said yes yet. At some point at the dinner, he may have asked her again to be his first officer. He also may have asked her something else that almost landed him on the couch until he convinced Spock that he was just joking.

He was shocked that Amanda planned such a great 'congratulations you graduated' party for him. Having Amanda as his mother in law was almost like having a mother again, which was why he was starting to get just as skittish around her about the sex thing as his prudish husband. In a way it was good to have somebody who was excited about his graduation and always made him put on a sweater before leaving the apartment. Jim was pretty sure he was already falling in love with the woman. It was good to have a mom like that for once. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to her soon.

All in all, his Starfleet graduation went a lot better than his college graduation. At least the ceremony didn't begin with him wondering where his mother was and ending with him being pulled aside by the police to identify his mother's body via a video feed. That was a horrible graduation.

This time despite the sadness of losing Vulcan, his father in law, and several of his classmates, this was a much happier night. Watching his friends goof around telling silly stories as he cuddled up to Spock drinking a glass of wine was the perfect ending to the day.

His commendation ceremony was a lot happier than graduation. He didn't know who had a bigger smile Amanda or Pike during the entire thing. The best part was Spock actually kissed him afterwards in front of everyone with tongue.

If he saw a woman who looked a lot like his mom standing in the back of the room, he put it out of his mind because she was gone. It was probably just another long lost relative coming out of the woodwork. Although, it made perfect sense to Jim that it started pouring outside at that exact moment. So much for an outdoor wedding.

XXX

The role of the maid of honor/best person was to make sure that the bride or in this case, the other groom, had the best wedding possible. Nyota took her job very seriously and she had her work cut out for her. This wedding was a nightmare and she was determined to make sure that Spock never realized that. The torrential downpour that began during the middle of Jim's commendation ceremony was the least of their problems.

First, they deliver the wrong bridesmaid dresses this morning resulting in a last minute trip to the dress store to find suitable replacements. Thankfully, they did not have the same problem with the tuxedos or the flower girl dress. The rental place lost Jim and Spock's reservation for the vintage 21st century Harley and Gaila spent all morning trying to find a suitable replacement in time to be decorated with the traditional replicated 'tin' cans and 'just married' sign.

Someone who will remain nameless, in the effort of getting the best images possible simply placed the wedding rings on top of the pillow instead of securing the rings. This resulted in the best man losing the rings somewhere on the academy green. Mr. Scott, who would be Galia's escort for the wedding, managed to find the rings 10 minutes before it started raining using a homemade 'metal detector' that could search the entire green in seconds.

Because it started raining, there was a frantic effort to move everything to the alternate site on campus. Because of the venue change, it was a good thing that the caterers were late and half of the food was currently stuck in traffic. It meant less running around. Unfortunately, that half included the cake and the vegetarian entrees.

Because it was taking so long to move the wedding, they were stalling as many people as they could at the commendation ceremony reception to give Amanda and Gaila time to fix everything. Spock's grandmother was doing her part by forcing Jim and Spock to meet every single diplomat in attendance that she knew. That could probably keep the happy couple occupied for hours, if not days.

Although none of those problems compared to the possible situation that could occur just by the presence of the blonde standing by the champagne table. This could result in an incident on par with what happened on the Enterprise's bridge almost four weeks ago.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Nyota asked not caring about her use of profanity. She could not believe Carol had the audacity to show up here less than an hour before her ex boyfriend's wedding. Even though Carol was gone before Nyota transferred to the San Francisco campus for more intense linguistics training, she recognized the woman from a panel last year on women in science that she attended.

"I am a member of Starfleet and this event is open to all Starfleet personnel. I wonder how long it's going to last?" Carol said pointing her glass at the couple who were mingling with various dignitaries.

"For a very long time, unlike your relationship with Spock, Jim actually loves him and isn't using him for a cheap fuck or to satisfy some sort of alien sex fetish. Jim actually sees how great Spock is. If That is something you could never do. You need to leave. Your ex boyfriend doesn't want you here. As his friend, I'm going to make sure you don't ruin this for him." Nyota said keeping her voice down to avoid a scene.

"Spock was never my boyfriend."

"Thank god for that. Finish your champagne and get the hell out of here. I have no trouble having security escort you out. I would do it myself but you're not worth my time." She said in an angry voice.

"It's not champagne. It's sparkling cider. I'm pregnant. I'm just a few weeks along but alcohol is bad for the fetus." Carol said taking another drink of her sparkling cider. Great now Nyota can't hit her because of the baby.

"I pity that child and the poor bastard who knocked you up. I hope he gets full custody. On the bright side, we know it's not Spock's because he hasn't touched your skinny ass in at least five years." Nyota said sardonically. "Leave now."

"You will be amazed what can be done these days with technology and a DNA sample." Carol said cryptically as she placed her empty glass on the table.

"Is there a problem?" Elder Selek also known as the other Spock said from behind her.

"No trouble at all Elder. was just leaving." She replied in a tone that told this other version of Spock to get that bitch away from her now.

"Just in case, I will escort Carol out of the facilities personally." Older Spock said grabbing the woman by the arm.

"Wait how do you know my name?" Carol asked as she was essentially dragged away by a much older version of her ex whatever.

"At my age, I know a lot of things. I'm well aware of what you did to my nephew." That was the last thing Nyota heard as the two disappeared out the side door and she went back to stalling.

Once the venue change was complete and certain unwanted guests were removed from Starfleet property the rest of the wedding from hell went smoothly. The worst thing that happened during the ceremony was there adorable flower girl requesting to use the restroom aloud when Jim was reciting his very heartfelt vowels. The humorous moment probably kept a lot of people from bursting into tears. The mother of the groom cried any way and Nyota was actually able to smile during the ceremony. Best of all the caterers arrived with all the food just in time for the reception.

This wedding was so crazy even she was breathing a sigh of relief during the first dance to a modern version of the old R&B song If I Ain't Got You. They actually looked really cute together. The last vestiges of her Spock crush were gone by this point.

She was sitting at the head table drinking a second glass of wine when she was approached by her new captain and friend 30 minutes later.

"I think there is some rule about the bride dancing with everybody at her wedding." Jim said extending his hand.

"Yes, but you're not a bride. Also, you never follow rules." She said smirking.

"You just said I never followed the rules. Dance with me? I'm sure you're better at this than baby Bones." Jim said referring to Dr. McCoy's daughter.

"What about your wonderful new hubby?" She asked as she continued to enjoy her champagne.

"That's not going to happen. I had to promise to bottom for most of the honeymoon without argument just to get him on the floor for the first dance. He's spending quality time with his mom right now anyway." She could not believe he just told her that. She really hoped T'Pend and Dr. McCoy's daughter were out of hearing range.

"You should have just gone with the last part of that explanation." Nyota said rolling her eyes. "I do not need to know anything else about your sex life. I don't want to know anything else about your sex life. Jim, there are children in the room. If I dance with you, will you promise to stop over sharing?" She said putting her now empty champagne glass on the table.

"Maybe," He said giving her his signature smile.

"That's all I can really ask for." She said taking his hand and following him to the makeshift dance floor.

"I should say thank you for scaring the bitch away." Jim said as they started to dance.

"You saw that?" She asked.

"Yes, but fortunately my husband did not. Who do you think sent back up?" He asked smirking.

"Thank you for that. I was this close to hitting a pregnant woman and I couldn't live with myself if I did something like that." She told him honestly.

"She's pregnant?" Nyota nodded her head yes. "I hope the guy gets full custody."

"I actually said that to her. It was probably a sperm donor anyway. She made it sound like this pregnancy was another one of her experiments. Yet, she didn't have time to explain why she was here."

"She was probably here just to make Spock miserable. I really feel sorry for that child. I don't want to talk about her anymore. So have you thought about my offer?" Jim said blatantly changing the subject to the thing she has been thinking about all week.

"I don't do threesomes." She said jokingly, knowing that was not what he was talking about.

"I'm not talking about that offered. I was not even being serious last night and maybe I was a little drunk. I almost ended up on the couch because of that little joke." Since the two were married already, Jim saw no point and spending the night apart.

"A little drunk?" she said incredulously.

"Okay very drunk. It wasn't like I got to have a bachelor party. The wine was really good. Anyway, I'm talking about my offer for you to become my temporary first officer when my hubby is working on creating a new home for the Vulcan people." Jim said using his signature pout and puppy dog eyes on her.

"You really want me to be your first officer?" She asked him.

"Anyone who's willing to go toe to toe with a slight lead mentally imbalanced Vulcan will make one kickass first officer. I trust you. In addition, I know that you will keep me from doing really stupid things. I'm probably going to need that."

"I have a feeling that would be a major component of my job. If I say yes, what will be the probability of you listening to me occasionally?

"I will always listen to your opinion but I may still do things my way." He answered her honestly.

"That's all I can ask for. Fine you win. I will be your first officer. "

"You made the right decision. We will be great together."

"I cannot kill my captain." Nyota mumbled this to herself for the 1000th time since she agreed to be Jim Kirk's first officer a month ago as her ADHD captain bounced in front of her. Why did she accept this job again? He was literally driving her insane for so many reasons including the dirty messages exchanged between Jim and Spock that she keeps intercepting and deleting from the ship's record.

She wondered how Spock could handle being married to the most reckless and insane individual she has ever met. Then again, at the core the two were exactly alike. At least once a day, she had to remind herself that strangling Jim would be detrimental to her career and it would hurt her friend if she killed his husband. Before his tear inducing departure a month ago, Spock made her promise to keep Jim alive long enough for him to come back. Spock also made her promise to keep Jim from doing stupid stuff like baiting the Admiralty.

She took her job very seriously but Jim didn't make it easy on her. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep Jim Kirk from doing stupid things or ending up dead? It was a fulltime job keeping Jim Kirk from getting killed. Yes, he's a really good captain but Jim is completely reckless. Looking without leaping is a great leadership quality but it also leads to sickbay visits and her repeating the phrase, "please don't shoot us; he didn't mean anything by it," in various languages.

In the four weeks, that Enterprise has been in space, Jim has been in sickbay twice and they barely avoided causing a major diplomatic incident on another mission. This is amazing considering they have only been on three major missions so far. One of these injuries did not even occur during a mission. There was a little incident involving a training exercise gone wrong and a security officer who had no idea what he was doing. Both times, she had to deal with constant messages from an extremely worried husband.

She could tell Spock was having just as hard a time as Jim was being away from each other. The constant e-mails and calls were not enough. She was convinced Jim was more annoying than usual just because he missed his husband. He was probably forcing her to do paperwork all the time with him just because he was lonely. Apparently, it was part of the first officer's duty to keep their captain from moping about his absent husband all the time.

Also, because Spock was not there it was her duty to scare off the little girls who were trying to get with their captain even though they had no chance whatsoever of sleeping with him. Even if Jim was not a happily married man, he was too professional to sleep around with his crew. She was much scarier than his wedding ring.

The biggest problem was she was absolutely convinced Jim Kirk believed 'regulation" was a dirty word. He doesn't follow the rules at all. She realizes that this is not necessarily a bad thing but it still resulted in her getting a headache at least once a day especially because the Admiralty was watching Jim a little too closely for her taste.

Even she was starting to believe Jim's theory that Spock was assigned to a three-month detail to see if Jim could survive being a captain without his husband. If a certain friend of the now former Admiral Johnson was hoping that Jim would fall flat on his ass without Spock, he was sorely disappointed. Jim could still perform admirably under any circumstances, even being really sad because he missed his husband.

When she and Jim were not arguing the two actually made a pretty good team and they succeeded at all their missions. They even succeeded that one time where Jim had a severe allergic reaction due to a 'cultural misunderstanding' and she had to continue negotiations to get the dilithium rich planet to join the federation. Together she and Jim were a good team, but in her mind, Jim and Spock were even better. With her, Jim was good. With Spock, he would be great.

They were currently at Starbase 17 picking up more supplies and a few new crewmembers. Both she and Jim were presently standing in the main transporter room waiting to greet the new personnel and Jim was already showing signs of boredom. A board captain usually meant bad things happening in engineering.

That changed seconds later as her second favorite Vulcan appeared on the transporter pad. Spock did not even have time to step down before Jim was on top of him kissing him in a way that tells her that they would be locked in their joint quarters for the next 6 to 7 hours and she would be in charge for the rest of the afternoon. The poor ensign running the transporter was completely shocked by the nearly pornographic display. The two were so lost in each other that she had to smack Jim upside the head to break the two apart before they 'christened' the transporter pad. It was enough to make her wonder if Spock was medicated again or really did miss Jim that much.

"No sex on the transporter pad. Get a room. " She yelled to get their attention as she said it in a sweet way.

"You are like the worst first officer ever." Jim said playfully still holding onto his husband for dear life.

"I'm not your first officer any more, he is. I'm so thankful for that. He is insane." Spock nodded as she pointed to Jim. "I was going to volunteer to greet the rest of the new crew members so you two could have some private time but…" She trailed off letting Jim fill in the blanks.

"Thank you. You're in charge." With that, they were gone and everything was right in the world again.

When he accepted the three-month assignment helping his people with the establishment of a new colony he did not expect that he would miss Jim so much. Spock thought if he could survive being separated from his mother for long periods of time, he could survive being away from Jim for three months. At the wedding a month ago his mother warned him that that would not be the case when she tried to talk him out of taking the assignment.

Even though her argument was logical, Spock knew that he really didn't have a choice. Before he formally accepted, his grandmother informed him that this assignment was a test. Certain Admirals who were dear friends of the now disgraced Johnson did not believe Jim could be a good captain without him. Spock did not want anybody doubting his husband's ability to do his job.

However, being away from James made Spock miserable if he would admit to having such a feeling. It amazed Spock how difficult it was to sleep without James by his side. The constant e-mails and calls were not enough just as his mother had warned.

Amanda was a wise woman and knew what he was going through after being separated so many times from Sarek because of both of their careers. He realized that now. When he contacted his mother for advice on how to deal with the unexpected loneliness her only suggestion was to stay busy. That seemed to be his mother's coping strategy to deal with his father's death. She was staying very busy with her council duties and her two new foster daughters.

Staying busy was an excellent distraction if only a temporary one. He stayed so busy that an assignment that should have taken three months, only took one. He did not tell James this during their last communication that the Admiralty decided to allow him to return to Enterprise early. Spock was told that sometimes humans like surprises.

By the way James was kissing him Spock knew that James really did enjoy the surprise. Once they arrived in their quarters, there was no time to talk or explain his presence before they were both undressed on the bed. Their lovemaking was even more frantic than their first time almost two months ago or their last time 4.2 weeks ago.

"This isn't just a vacation sort of thing is it or a fantasy?" James asked post orgasm.

"It is not. I missed you, t'hy'la." Spock said kissing James naked shoulder.

"So you left early because you couldn't handle being away from me?" James asked pulling Spock in for another kiss. Spock missed this immensely during their separation.

"I was so eager to return to you that I pushed my team and myself to complete our mission two months early."

"I'm completely irresistible like that. I'm glad you're back. I love you so much that this month has been torture. I was this close to leaving just to be with you. I realize I just want you. I love you too much." James said pulling him closer.

"I love you as well. Being away from you is an experience I do not want to repeat." Spock said as he pressed a kiss upon James forehead. "I have discovered that you are the only thing I desire in the entire universe." Spock said in all honesty.

"I feel the same way and I thought we were just going to be friends." Jim said with his signature smile.

"You are my friend, you are my lover, and you are my family. You are my T'hy'la and I cherish you." Spock told James as he expressed those feelings in another human kiss.

"Don't leave me again." James mumbled against Spock's lips.

"I have no desire to."

The end

Okay, I know some of you are a disappointed that I didn't write out the honeymoon scene. I'm not very comfortable doing sex scenes and we all know Jim and Spock's honeymoon will be very close to a PWP.

However, I planned to issue a challenge for anybody who would like to write the story of Jim and Spock's honeymoon in all its NC17 glory. Please let me know if anybody is interested in writing that particular story.

It has been a wild ride during these last eight months. This was originally going to be a one shot and it is now well over 130,000 words. I would like to thank everyone who has read or reviewed this story at any point. This is my first story to ever go beyond 250 reviews on this site. I would also like to thank the 277 individuals that have this story on alert and the 207 individuals who have added this story to your favorites so far. I would like to thank both Vampirewine and Kumada for beta reading a few chapters in this story. I would also like to give a very special thank you to Teddy Bear who was the primary beta for this story.

There will be a sequel. The working title is You Don't Have To Be My Family and the song will be Ordinary People by John Legend. I will begin that story once I finish Dear Spock or Starfleet Family Values, whichever one comes first. For those interested, I will be beginning the sequel to But I Thought You Were Straight as soon as I finish my Daria story. It will most likely come out under the title 'Why Didn't We Elope?' or something similar.