Chapter Twenty

Ari woke to the surprise of a calendar in her face two days later. "Guess what, Ari!" a very giddy Jim asked, tossing the calendar away to pick her up with ease.

"What?" she asked groggily.

"Oh, come on, Ari! Get excited! It's the fourth!"

"Of?"

"July! Sweetie, tonight we're watching the fireworks on the beach!"

"Is this one of your Earth holidays? The fourth of July?" the Lorentian asked.

"It's Independence Day!"

"Jim, I studied Earth languages, not history," Ari said.

"Never mind the holiday, then. I'm sure Spock or Bones'll explain it. All that matters is fireworks! Come on! Get dressed! We're all beaming down in fifteen minutes!"

"Jim, that's not nearly enough time, especially in my condition!"

"That's why I'm here! I'm going to help you dress and pack!"

"No! I'm putting a swimsuit on, Jim! Get out!"

"You still can't walk on your own. How do you expect to get dressed?" Jim pointed out extremely logically.

Ari opened her mouth for a comeback before sighing in defeat. "Fine. Set me down, then go over to my closet."

"As you wish, my beautiful ice princess," Jim said, laying her down gently on the bed before hurrying to the closet.

"On the left of the shelf above the bar," Ari directed.

Jim obliged, pulling out the first swimsuit he saw: a simple, blue, one-piece halter. "Why do you even have swimsuits, anyway?" he asked, holding up the tiny suit to his own body in comparison.

"Bones taught me in my first year at the academy," she explained simply.

"Did he go swimming and mention how cold the water was?"

"Yep."

"Well, you're not wearing this to the beach. You need something a little more revealing," Jim said, tossing the suit away to search through the stack of clothes. Seconds later, he pulled out what looked like a bra but felt like a swimsuit.

"Well, well, well. You got a bottom for this?" Jim asked, grinning like a boy at the sight of it.

"You found it," Ari sighed in resignation.

"Ah, ha!" Jim said, pulling out the small bikini bottom. "Black with polka dots. It must look great on you."

Ari threw her pillow in his face. "Just give it to me, and a dress to go over it."

"Yes, my lady," Jim said, mock bowing. His smile was still fixed firmly in place. He threw the swimsuit over to her before shuffling through her dresses quickly and throwing one to her.

"Why the shirt dress?" she asked as she slipped on the swimsuit.

"Bones'd love you in it," Jim said, staring pointedly at the wall.

"Bones? He doesn't care how I look. That's why he's one of my best friends," she said, slipping the dress over her head.

"That's because he's a gentleman," Jim pointed.

"A southern gentleman," she corrected before saying, "You can look, now."

"Okay, do you need sunglasses?"

"They're on top of the dresser," Ari said, propping herself up on her elbow to grab her PADD.

Jim walked over and gently placed her sunglasses behind her ears, propped up against her forehead. "Let's go," he said with a smile, pulling her up gently.

He placed one of his arms around her waist and used it to carry most of her weight. As they walked past her dresser to the door, she snatched her straw sun hat and placed it on her head.

ooooooooooooo

Jim led Ari to the docking bay. Everyone else was already waiting for them. "What took you so long?" Bones grumbled.

"Ari here took forever to get dressed," Jim said, stealing her hat and putting it on his head. "God, your head's small!"

"Give it back, Jim," Ari said, attempting to reach up to his head. She was too short.

Bones did not like the way he was holding her. His hand was on her waist, so very close to her hip. He had dreamt of touching her, of draping his arm around her waist as they walked. Now to see Jim doing just that was infuriating. Before he could step in, Scotty came forward and stole the hat back.

"Give the lass a break," Scotty said, setting the hat back on her head gently. "There you are, Lassie."

"Thank you, Scotty," Ari said with a grateful smile.

"Are you ready, yet? Or are we going to stand here all day?" Bones asked, interrupting them.

"Vat is the problem?" Chekov asked. Clearly, he was young. He was obviously looking forward to the day at the beach.

"All right. Everyone in the shuttle," Jim said, rolling his eyes at his CMO.

They all filed in, waiting to go down to Earth.