With This Ring...

Chapter 1

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune,

must be in want of a wife."

Jane Austen

"Pride and Prejudice"

With all of his formidable self-control, Jim kept a neutral expression on his face as he listened to Admiral Komack rage on his large comm in the ready room. Komack's face was red with fury.

It was early into Beta shift, and Jim had been off duty when he'd been called to his ready room to take the comm from Komack.

"It seems I have been overruled by the C in C himself, Captain." He yelled. "Ten days of shore leave for you, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock and Lt. Uhrua have been approved. I protested vehemently but Admiral Nogura didn't listen. It's unheard of for the Captain, the First Officer, the CMO, and the chief communications officer to all be off a star ship at the same time, and for a wedding no less!"

"Admiral Nogura thinks very highly of Commander Bradford, Admiral Komack. The Commander has given invaluable service to Star Fleet on numerous occasions. I'm sure Admiral Nogura is happy to accommodate his request on the occasion of his wedding. After all the Admiral is also invited to the wedding."

"It's ridiculous to give such preferential treatment to a mere Commander," Komack snarled. "I have a good mind to send a private communique to the C in C telling him so."

"You do that, Admiral." Jim spent a private gleeful moment imagining Nogura's reaction to that!

"Alright, Kirk. You are free to attend this wedding, but not one minute more than those ten days. Who are you leaving in charge?"

"Commander Scott will have the comm while we're gone, Admiral. Enterprise is not scheduled to begin another mission until we come back on board. Our orders, as per Admiral Nogura, are just to cruise the Federation borders and make our presence known."

"You tell Mr. Scott that I'm keeping an eye on him and the ship. I better not hear of any problems, you hear me? All that man cares about is his engines."

"Yes, Admiral." They can probably hear you in the next quadrant, Jim thought angrily. Casting aspersions on Scotty's capabilities to command was beyond the pale as far as Jim was concerned.

Komack turned off his comm without so much as a "Komack out," and Jim breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced to the corner of the Ready Room where Bones was leaning against the wall. Hazel eyes met blue and Bones straightened up and walked over to Jim.

"Should I check your blood pressure, Jimbo?"

Jim rubbed his hand over his face. "I don't know why that man hates me so much, "he said. "What have I ever done to him? He's hated me since I took command of the ship."

"Jealousy, Jim; pure and simple jealousy. Youngest Captain in the history of Fleet. Highly decorated officer, beat the Kobayashi Maru. He'll never be the commander you are, not in his wildest dreams. His staff hates him, his Captains resent him, and Nogura only tolerates him. Your staff and officers love you, the other Captains like and respect you, and Nogura admires you. Don't' let Komack rain on your parade, he's not worth it."

"Thanks, Bones." Jim sighed and clasped Bones on the shoulder. "He just gets to me sometimes."

"Come on, Captain, let's go get some dinner and grab a drink afterward. I think you can use one, doctor's orders."

Jim grinned. "I like the way you think, Doctor McCoy, and I am getting a little hungry. My stomach was tied in knots while I was talking to Komack, and you're right, I shouldn't let him get to me like that."

They made their way to the Officer's Mess and picked out their food choice. Spock was already there eating and they sat down at his table. He looked up and quirked an eyebrow quizzically.

"I gather you have finished your conference with Admiral Komack, Captain?"

"Yes, let's not talk about it, Spock. I want to enjoy my dinner. What matters is that our ten day leave is approved and we are free to attend Gavinand Violet's wedding. After dinner, I'll comm Ma and tell her the good news." He checked his chronometer. "It's still early in Riverside," he said.

They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. Jim put his fork down. "Now that Komack has seen the light, I'll have Navigation implement our course change to the Jupiter Space Station. When we get there, we'll take The Galileo to Riverside. Be sure and pack your dress uniforms. Gavin is getting married in his, so all of us except Uhura will wear ours. As I understand it, she'll be Violet's only attendant and will wear a formal gown. Gavin's brother is coming and he'll be the best man. I'm walking Violet down the aisle. She asked me if I'd do it since her father is gone. I told her I'd be honored. We've been friends since first grade."

"Well, that's mighty nice to hear," said McCoy, He sighed. "I'll wear the evil tunic, but only because it's Violet wedding, she's somethin' special that one."

"Jim, what about Davy?" Spock asked. "Who will take care of Davy-kam during the ceremony?"

Jim chuckled. "Peter and Davy are in charge of the rings…although I don't dare call them ring bearers, Peter would be highly offended. He's like a junior groomsman. Gavin and Violet wanted the children to be involved so he asked Peter to carry his ring to his brother, and Violet wants Davy to carry hers to Uhura. Peter is going to hold Davy's hand and walk with him. I hope it goes well, they're going to practice it a few times."

McCoy grinned. "Davy is so cute whatever he decides to do, it won't matter much."

They finished dinner and adjourned to the Captain's quarters for their after dinner drink. Jim got out his crystal tumblers and the bourbon Bones favored and the tea and tea cup he kept on hand for Spock. He flipped open his communicator.

"Hannity here," came from the bridge.

"Lt. Hannity, please ask Navigation to set course to the coordinates I left earlier. Our orders have been updated."

"Aye, sir."

"Also, ask Lt. Palmer to contact my mother in Riverside and pipe it to my quarters."

"I'll take care of it, sir. Anything else I can help you with, Captain?"

"I think that's all for this evening, Lieutenant. Have a good shift. Kirk out."

Jim waited impatiently for the beep and Lt. Palmer's face came on the com. "I have your mother for you on the comm, sir."

"Thank you, Palmer."

Winona Kirk's lovely face filled the screen. "Jim, sweetheart, how lovely to hear from you. I didn't expect your call until tomorrow. Is everything alright?"

"Hi Ma. Everything's fine, more than fine. Admiral Komack approved our ten day shore leave. Not that he had much choice, since Admiral Nogura drew up those orders himself and Komack couldn't do much about that." Jim grinned at his mother. "Tell Violet and Gavin that the wedding plans can go forward."

Winona's hazel eyes, identical to her son's lit up. "Jim! That's wonderful news. Violet and Gavin will be so happy. When can we expect you dear?"

"We'll dock at the Jupiter Space Station in two solar days, and we'll take the shuttle directly to Riverside. So you can expect us to arrive in forty eight hours."

"Wonderful! I better start cooking," Winona said. "I have some new recipes I want to try out; they're all vegetarian so Spock can enjoy them too."

"Ma, I expect you to hire some help. Besides having us four there at the farm, you're hosting the reception and helping Violet with all the wedding preparations. I really think you should have the whole reception catered," Jim told her sternly.

"Catered! Catered! James Kirk!" She looked aghast at her son. "As if I would give Violet's guests catered food when I'm perfectly capable of cooking it all myself. I am certainly not having it catered. Now Violet did insist on having the cake made at the Riverside Bakery, and I agreed to that because they make beautiful cakes." She sighed dreamily. "They made your father's and my wedding cake and it was beautiful and delicious. Your grandmother knew Mrs. Weston, and the women made the most gorgeous and delicious cakes. Mrs. Weston's daughter, Sara, took over when Mrs. Weston retired. They've been in business for 40 years, so I do trust them with Violet's cake."

"Ma," Jim groaned. "You can't possibly do everything yourself! There's just too much to do. You'll be exhausted by the wedding day, and then what will we all do?"

"Now, Jim sweetheart, settle down. The four of you are no trouble at all. Don't you remember how much help you were at Christmas? And as for the reception, I already took care of that. I will have some help. Mama Salvatore coming to help me with the cooking and you can't ask for better than that. The woman is a genius! She loves Violet and Davy and she offered to help right away as soon as she knew I was hosting the reception." She leaned back in her office chair and looked triumphantly at her son. "See? I took care of everything."

Jim laughed helplessly. "Winona Kirk, you are a menace! I should have known," he said shaking his sandy head, "Alright Ma, you'll get your way, but if I see that you're exhausting yourself by doing too much, I'm hiring someone to help you, at least with the housekeeping part and of course the four of us will help you all we can. I'll hear no arguments."

"Of course, darling. I certainly can't argue with that." She smiled serenely at him. She glanced to the side of the room. "Hello, Mr. Spock and Leonard, I can't see you, but I know you're there. I can't wait to see you all. Peter will be so happy! I haven't told him yet, for fear that the shore leave wouldn't come through, but I'll tell him tonight."

Leonard grinned and Spock quirked an eyebrow in amusement

"Ma, I want you to buy yourself a new dress for the wedding," Jim said, ignoring the little by play distraction. "You are going to be the hostess after all."

"There's no need for that extra expense, Jim. I don't need a new dress; I'm going to wear the dress I wore to Sarek's birthday celebration. I've only worn it that once, and it's a beautiful dress. However, Peter will need a new suit, that child is growing so fast. I thought I'd leave that to you, though. You could take him shopping when you get here. He'd love that."

Jim grinned. "I'll do that. It will be fun for me too. Okay, Ma. We'll see you day after tomorrow. Don't know what time yet, but I'll comm you from the Jupiter Station to give you our ETA. Bye Ma, I love you."

"Bye darling, see you soon." The comm went dark.

Leonard started laughing as soon as Jim swiveled his chair to face them. "Jim I don't know why you even try. There's no way you're going to win with your Ma," he said.

Jim sighed. "I know, but I keep trying. I'm always worried that she does too much or that she doesn't have enough money for everything, and she works so damn hard all the time, but you heard her. I know Sam and Arurelan left Peter well provided for, but Ma won't touch any of his credits, she says it's for his education or if he goes to Star Fleet, for afterward when she's gone. It's going to garner interest for him until he needs it. Dad was pretty well insured with Star Fleet, but the amount of insurance for a retired officer goes way down. The maintenance and upkeep on the farm house is pretty heavy. It's so old something always needs repairing, and even though Ma's leased part of the farm land and although her consultant work pays well, it's not a full time job. She absolutely refuses to let me send her something every month. She said if she needs financial help she'll let me know, but I still worry. I know that sometimes she goes without some things for herself and I hate that. I just hope she didn't offer to pay for the reception herself, "he mused. "It would be just like her to do that and call the reception her wedding gift to them."

"Are you kidding? As if Violet and Gavin would let her do that. You need to stop worrying, Jim. Take Winona at her word. If she needs financial help she'll let you know. And about the reception costs, if you want, I'll sound out Gavin very subtly when we get there and find out for you, but I'm sure Gavin and Violet are paying for everythin'"

"Thanks, Bones. It would relieve my mind, and you're right, I need to stop worrying about Ma and Peter, but it's damn hard."

"Jim, Dr. Kirk is independent, highly intelligent, and has managed her life in an exemplary manner since your father's death. Since the death of Peter's parents, she has coped admirably with raising Peter." Spock looked at Jim's troubled face and gave an internal sigh. Since the incident on Vulcan when Winona Kirk had almost died, Jim had been hyper vigilant in his concern about his mother. Spock doubted if this would change anytime soon. He only hoped that time would allay Jim's worry about his mother's well-being.

He and Leonard exchanged a glance of understanding. They would do what they could to alleviate Jim's concerns and worries about his mother once they were back at the farm. There was no point in trying to do that now.

For the next two days, Jim, Spock and Bones were kept very busy. Jim made sure his paperwork was up to date knowing Komack would pounce on anything he saw as Jim neglecting his duties before his leave. Bones caught up on all his paperwork so Geoffrey M'Benga and Christine Chapel wouldn't have to bother with reports while he was gone. Spock, as usual had nothing to catch up on, but he made sure his Science Department and his relief for his Science Station were aware of his many ongoing projects and experiments that had to be monitored.

Jim and Scotty laid out the parameters for the patrol of the Federation borders. "Just zip around, Scotty, show her off, and make sure everyone is aware that Star Fleet's presence is visible. I'm not expecting any problems, but keep your eyes and ears open, especially for Romulan ships."

"Aye, Captain. 'Tis the Romulan War Birds that are the problem…them with their sneaky cloaking devices. Klingons, now, they always beat their breasts to show us they're comin', Dinna' worry, sir. We'll be careful."

"I know you will, Scotty. I'll check in with you from Riverside, and you comm me if Komack bothers you."

"Aye, sir. That I will. Blasted man, is a nuisance, that's what he is, pardon me for saying so, Captain."

"Between you and me, Scotty, I agree."