hapter 25

"Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been,

A sound which makes us linger;—yet—farewell!"

Lord Byron

Jim looked around his bedroom. It was almost time to go; their Christmas Leave was over. Jim sighed and thought back on how fast the days since Christmas Day had gone by. They had been filled with fun, friends, food and family; the Kirk's annual Boxing Day Open House, when all their friends and neighbors dropped by throughout the afternoon and brought a covered dish; his lunch with Serena which had gone extremely well, they'd had a lot of fun catching up on life since high school; dinner with Father Joe at the Rectory; another ice skating afternoon, another snow ball fight; the annual New Year's Eve family party at Mama and Papa's home; their quick visit to Des Moines to record their depositions and see Violet and Davy. It had all been wonderful.

He looked carefully around one more time to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He had folded up Peter's cot and stored it in the back of the large closet, stripped the bed, and put everything in the laundry; his Christmas gifts were safely wrapped and packed in his second duffel.

He looked at his chronometer, it was almost time to leave. Scotty had reported in and the Enterprise was at the Mars Space dock having her lettering redone. They would rendezvous with the ship late today and wait at the Mars docking station for their new mission orders.

Yesterday, Jim had made the rounds of Riverside to say his goodbyes to his friends; Jonathon, Serena, the Salvatore's and Father Joe. He'd commed Violet, heard Davy's sweet gurgles over the comm unit, talked to Gavin and Tom, and now he faced saying goodbye to his mother and Peter. His tugged at his gold shirt, his heart felt like lead inside his chest.

He walked out of the bedroom to find Nyota, Spock and Bones waiting for him, their duffels on the floor. Winona and Peter, both pale, faces stoic, stood beside them. Jim looked worriedly at Peter and saw that he had his bottom lip caught tightly between his teeth and he was clutching poor Sorrel in a death grip. The cat, as if sensing the child's need, did not protest the tight grip or try to get away.

Jim glanced at Bones, who shook his head slightly, his blue eyes somber. There was no comforting Peter today. Winona turned to the trio and hugged Nyota fiercely. "It has been lovely, Nyota, I'll miss you so much, my dear, please come back."

"I will, Winona." Nyota hugged her back. "It was the best shore leave of my life, thank you for everything." She swallowed the lump in her throat and could not say more.

Winona turned to Bones, whose arms went around her hard. He could feel the faint tremors in her slight body. He patted her gently, consolingly, speechless. "I know you'll be there for Jim, when he needs you, Leonard. I thank you in advance for that," she whispered in his ear. "He is so lucky to have a friend like you."

"I'm the one who's lucky, Winona," McCoy said softly, finding his voice. "I have Jim as my closest friend and now you too. A man can't ask for better friends, darlin'. Thank you for everything. I'll never forget this shore leave, ever."

Winona finally turned to Spock, "Mr. Spock." She looked up at the impassive face fondly. "Please keep an eye on Jim for me. I know that no one does that better than you do." She opened her hand in the Vulcan salute, but Spock embraced her gently and then looked into the hazel eyes so much like Jim's.

"Dr. Kirk, I wish to express my gratitude for your hospitality and for treating me like one of your family. It has been most gratifying to spend this month with you and Peter. I thank you."

"It has been an honor to have you with us, Mr. Spock."

Peter put Sorrel down, and hugged Uhura and McCoy. "Goodbye," he whispered. He was determined not to cry, so he didn't say more.

"Be sure to write to both of us, Peter," said Nyota, smiling at him mistily and hugging the little boy. "We love to get your letters, so get started right away before we have a chance to miss you too much." Peter gave her a faint smile, and turned to his beloved Mr. Spock. Words were beyond him, and he swallowed hard as he reached over to hug the tall Vulcan around the waist and bury his face in the soft Science blue shirt. Spock could feel the sorrow flowing through the child.

"Peter," the deep baritone voice said softly, a gentle hand on his head. "You know we must go back to work on the Enterprise, our Christmas leave has ended; but we will keep in touch as we always do; we will write to each other, we will send holos of important events, and we will play chess over the ship's comm link. You are proficient enough at chess now for us to do this. Would you like that?"

Peter nodded. "Yes, Mr. Spock," he said, his voice muffled, still pressed tightly against Spock.

"Good. When I am back on the Enterprise, I will await your first move of our game."

"Jim," said Bones, we'll meet you at the shuttle. Take your time, there's no rush." He picked up one of Jim's duffel bags, Spock picked up the other, and they walked out the back door.

Jim turned to his mother. "Thank you, Ma." Jim whispered. "It was wonderful to have this month with you and Peter." He hugged his mother so tightly that he thought he might be hurting her, but she hugged him back just as tightly. She felt Jim's rapid heartbeat where her ear was pressed up to his chest.

"I love you, darling, so much. Please take care of yourself. It has been so wonderful to have you here."

"I love you too, Mom. There never was a better mom," he murmured into her soft hair. He swallowed hard, as he drew back to look at her face. Jim saw there were tears in her eyes, but she blinked and refused to let them fall. She looked up at him, gave him a blinding smile and saw that Jim's eyes were suspiciously bright as well. Jim let her go, and knelt. He opened his arms and Peter came stumbling into him.

"Squirt," Jim said, holding him tight. "Take care of Noni for me. You know you're the man of the house around here while I'm gone," Jim told him. "I'm counting on you to keep me posted about everything that happens around here, okay?"

"I will, Uncle Jim, " Peter gulped. In spite of his best efforts a small sob escaped him. "I wish you weren't going," he whispered into Jim's ear.

"I know Squirt, but I have to. It's my job to be Captain of the Enterprise, and it's time for me to get back to work. We had a wonderful month, though, didn't we? We did so many fun things and our time together was special. I want you to think about that, and not be sad about my leaving. Will you do that for me?" He hugged the small body closer, lending his warmth to the shivering little body. Would parting from Jim ever get easier for this child?. It was always so hard for Peter.

"Yes, Uncle Jim. I'll try."

"Good." Jim stood. "Ma, I know the house will seem empty with all of us gone, but you're going to have a lot of company in the next few weeks. Violet and Davy are coming in a couple of days for a visit. Gavin will be here next weekend, and then Tom said he'd be coming the following weekend. Father Joe will be calling to invite you and Peter for dinner at the rectory. Marie and Dina want you and Peter to come to dinner and for Peter to stay for a play date, and Jonathon will drop in often. Gavin told me he was inviting you and Peter to New York for the Ice Skating Show next month, so you'll have that to look forward to also."

"Thank you, sweetheart. Peter and I were dreading this empty house. It will be wonderful to have everyone visit. We'll try to keep busy," Winona said, "and I do have to get back to work soon. I took the whole month off, but Star Fleet has already said they had a job for me to do."

Jim took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "It's time for me to go. I love you both very much. I'll send you a message when we're back on the ship."

Winona and Peter walked him to the back door and watched as he trudged through the deep snow. He turned for one last glimpse of his mother and Peter, waved and stepped into the shuttle; he got behind the pilot's seat, started the engine for lift off and they were gone into the brilliantly blue horizon, back to the Enterprise.