"For the last time, no," Quinn was saying as Jim came in the front door. He peaked around the doorway into the living room and saw Q standing in the center of the room with her hands on her hips as she surveyed Quinn's work on the tree.

"I only said that I could do it for you, and I promise Jim will love it," she said, shaking her head. "You never trust me."

"This time it's because I know how important Christmas is to Jim," said Quinn as he handed Runak another ornament to hang on the tree. "Things have to be perfect."

"And you know exactly how to make it perfect for him?" she demanded.

"Of course I do, Mother," he sighed. "He's my husband after all."

The large room did look amazing. Jim was touched that Quinn had gone this far for him. The floor to ceiling windows were now covered with white lace topped with deep red velvet drapes and hunter green sashes. The fireplace mantle was covered with a Christmas Village. Where Quinn had found it was a mystery. There were stockings hanging from the mantle made from red velvet with green and white velvet trimmings. There were statues of Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause one on either side of the fireplace. He'd found hand knitted throw blankets in green and red and draped them over the backs of the couch and two recliners. There was a miniature clear glass Christmas Tree on the end table next to Jim's recliner filled with red and green candy covered chocolates. It was a little over the top, but Jim thought it was perfect just because Quinn had gone to so much trouble.

Then there was the tree. Where he had found such a fine balsam fir tree was a mystery to Jim, but it was a tree that nearly touched the two story ceiling and was lush and full. He and Runak had nearly blanketed the tree with silver and gold gossamer garland, clear glass balls with multicolored lighted centers that pulsed and glowed, gold and red satin wrapped balls and silver jingle bells strung on green and gold braided cord. They'd even popped popcorn and strung it with green thread and draped it around the tree. It was perfect. Now Quinn was handing Runak ornaments out of the box from Jim's family's tree. It was absolutely perfect. Sure it was a bit gaudy and overdone but it was perfect.

"I still say that I could do this better," said Q as Jim walked fully into the room.

"I don't think so," he said, smiling at her. "I love you for wanting to, but Quinn and Runak have outdone themselves."

"James Kirk, you weren't supposed to be home until 1700!" Quinn said, turning to face him with the look of a caught criminal on his face.

"Well, Quinn Janeway," he said, chuckling as he pointed to the clock on the wall above the mantel. "It's now 1730."

Runak laughed as Quinn glared at the clock and then looked at the box of ornaments in his hands. Q was beaming at him, and he realized that if he hadn't walked in on this scene he'd have thought that she had snapped her fingers and put it all together. It made him feel good that Quinn and Runak had worked so hard to make the room look like it did. Jim loved Christmas, but the fact that this was Runak's first was making it even more special for him.

"Oh," said Quinn, turning to him with a smirk on his face. "I guess time got away."

"That wouldn't have happened if you'd just let me help," said Q, pouting in that way that Jim thought was so funny.

"Mother, I told you that we had to do this for ourselves," Quinn said in a stern voice and turned to Jim again. "So what did they want with you all day?"

"We were having strategy sessions for the most part," he replied slowly. He had to be careful what he said about the wormhole. "New crew members and officers arrived at the station today and they wanted me to talk with each of them about what we encountered in Andromeda. They didn't seem to care that the only species we encountered there were Borg and Arminian."

"A new crew for the station?" Quinn asked. "Why would they need a new crew?"

"They're refitting the station with armor and more weapons, shields and other armaments," Jim said. "They're reacting to the wormhole."

"But they created the wormhole," Quinn said.

"Yes," he said. "They also had all of these plans in motion already in case their experiment worked."

"That seems a little backward, Jim," said Quinn. "You'd think they'd have done all of this before they tested the device."

"Well yes, I would have done all of this first, but I don't know why they're doing it this way," he said. "I just know that I'll be at the station most days, and I have to approve a crew roster at the same time for our own ship."

"And that means we're about to receive our orders, doesn't it?" Quinn said, putting the box of family ornaments on the coffee table and crossing his arms.

"No," said Jim. "The ship needs a few things that will take some time. Approving the crew is the job of the captain and it'll keep everyone here on the planet or on the station."

"Right," sighed Quinn. "I'm getting used to the idea of heading back out there. I promise, Jim."

"We have no choice but to get used to the idea," Jim said as he crossed the room to take his husband in his arms.

"And what about you, young man," Q said to Runak. "Are you excited about leaving for the academy?"

"I am," he said, smiling at her. Runak had accepted Q on sight, which seemed to irritate Quinn quite a bit. "Carter says he can't wait. We'll miss our families, but it's only four years."

Jim didn't have the heart to tell him that it was four years until he would graduate, but then he would receive his orders and that could mean even longer depending on where he was assigned. Jim had no way of knowing or even speculating on where Runak or Carter would be assigned after graduation. For all he knew one or both could go on to Command School which for them would be another four years.

"I hope their time at the academy is better than ours was," Quinn said, looking at Jim hard.

"It will be," replied Jim. "They're not us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Runak asked, looking from Jim to Quinn and back again.

"We didn't have an exactly easy time at the academy when we were there," Quinn said before Jim could speak. "Some thought we didn't deserve to be there at all."

"And others were even more cruel," said Q, looking at Jim for a moment before turning a beaming smile on Runak. "But that won't happen to either of you."

"How can you be sure of that?" Runak asked her.

"Because things will be different," said Quinn a little more forcefully than he'd intended, but it got his mother's attention.

They went back to decorating the tree after that. Jim left them to it and went out the back door to the deck. He sat in one of the wooden deck chairs and stared at the ocean. He almost didn't hear Q come out the back door. She put a hand on his shoulder and he sighed. Thinking about his time at the academy was never easy, but thinking of what Runak might go through because of his skin and his heritage was weighing on him.

"You're uneasy, Jim," she said, letting go of his shoulder and taking the chair beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Just thinking about the academy," he sighed. "It gets to me sometimes. That's all."

"Runak and Carter will have an easier time there," she said softly.

"I thought you weren't allowed to alter their lives in any way," he said after thinking about what she'd said for a moment.

"I can't," she said, smiling at him. "But I have a feeling that things will be different. After all, the admiral said you, Quinn and Chad are legends at the academy. Once they learn that Runak and Carter are connected to the three of you things will probably be very different."

"That'll just make them expect things that either of them probably won't be able to live up to," he said.

"Don't sell them short," she warned. "Runak is still working with Juliet to control his emotions, and Carter is a very smart young man."

"How is it that you know so much about all of us?" he asked her with a smile.

"Because I'm a Q of course," she said, beaming at him.

They sat there as the twin suns went down saying noting to each other. Jim just enjoyed the silence as he watched the water turn amber and then violet as the suns went down. The moons shone full and fat in the sky and he sighed in contentment as Quinn and Runak came out to sit with them. None of them said anything for a while. They just enjoyed being with each other. It was the first time that Jim had ever seen Quinn be so comfortable in his mother's presence. She stood up and Quinn broke the silence.

"Leaving?" he asked her. This time as he looked at her, Jim could see the love in his eyes and he smiled.

"I should," she said. "It'll be time for the humans to sleep soon."

"There is that," Jim said with a smile.

"You know I love you three so much," she said softly, looking out at the ocean. "Jim, I love you like a son because you love my son so much and he loves you as much. Runak, I love you because you're you and so special."

"We love you as well," Jim said, standing to hug her. She didn't seem to know what to do at first, but then her arms were around him and she held him tight.

"You've gotten to me somehow, Jim Kirk," she said into his hair. "I never thought it would happen, but you've just found your way to my heart. I love you so much."

"Thank you for loving me," he said awkwardly. "I love you, too."

She left them after that and Quinn smiled at Jim and took his hand to lead him back into the house with Runak behind them. Jim thought about what she'd said, and he thought about how attached he now was to Runak. It would be hard to let him board a ship and head to Earth with Carter. This was what Haneek had asked for, but Jim's heart ached at the thought of letting him go.

They had replicated hot chocolate as they sat in the living room with only the lights on the tree lit. Runak stared at the tree in wonder as he held his cup of hot chocolate. So many things were so much more than he expected living with Jim and Quinn. It had taken him a month to start calling them that. They'd insisted every time he called them Mr. Kirk and Mr. Janeway. It took some getting used to when he learned that they loved each other and were a married couple, joined like his mother and father. That was new to him, but they were so good to him that he just accepted it and hoped that one day someone would love him as much as they loved each other.

Before he knew it his cup was empty. He couldn't remember drinking from it even once. He got up and took his cup to the kitchen and returned with the dust keeper and cleaned up the fallen skin from his hands, face and neck. He looked at Jim and Quinn and found them watching him. He blushed as he stood back up.

"I try to keep it cleaned up as best I can," he said quickly.

"Come here," Jim said, standing up. Runak came to him hesitantly and flinched as Jim wrapped him in his arms. "We don't care about that. We love you, Runak. We love you like you were our own son."

"Thank you," he said, trying not to cry as he held Jim tighter. "I love you both, too. I love and miss my mother, but you two are like parents, brothers and friends to me. I thank you both so much for allowing me to stay with you."

"The pleasure is ours, Runak," said Quinn as he came to join them in their embrace. "Jim's right, you know? We do love you like a son."

"Goodnight," he said before kissing them both softly on their faces.

They watched him walk out of the room and up the stairs in silence. Now more than ever, Jim knew it would be so hard to let him go when the time came. He just hoped that he wouldn't make a fool of himself when the time actually came. One look into Quinn's eyes and he knew his husband felt the same. They walked up the stairs to their room hand in hand, both thinking of how empty the house would be when Runak was gone.

The next day was spent on the station, telling the staff there once again that he had no idea what to expect from the wormhole. It still hadn't been determined if the wormhole acutally lead to Andromeda. No one wanted to go through it for fear that they'd end up inside the barrier. Jim didn't know how much more of this he could stand. Did Starfleet expect him to suddenly remember something new about what had happened in Andromeda? He still wasn't sure if his time in Andromeda had even been in this timeline.

"There was nothing in all of that space?" asked Lieutenant Commander Sam Lavelle when Jim broke the conference to have lunch. The young officer sat down at his table without even asking permission.

"Nothing that we saw," sighed Jim. "If there were other species out there, they were very good at hiding from us."

"Did you stop on any planets other than Arminia?" he asked, taking a bite of his salad.

"No," Jim said, giving up on his tuna salad sandwich. "There was no reason to investigate any of the planets. Most weren't even Class-M."

"I would have investigated," Sam said in an accusatory tone of voice.

"Well perhaps one day you'll have your chance," Jim said without bothering to keep the testy tone from his voice. He got up and took his tray to the refresher and went back into the conference room. He almost walked right into Admiral Batanides.

"Captain Kirk," she said, stepping back. "I've submitted my report to Starfleet. This will be your last day of these boring meetings. I promise."

"Thank you," he said, smiling. "I was beginning to think that we'd be going over the same information for months."

"Starfleet can be pretty stuck on their ideas," she chuckled, but stopped short when an alarm began to sound all over the station. "Come with me to Ops," she said as she stepped around him and out the door.

He followed her down the corridor to the metal stairs that would take them to the Ops level of the station. Right behind him were Tom and B'Elanna. They looked at each other in confusion when they got to the Ops station. Lavelle and the others arrived just after them. The wormhole had opened, which was what the alarm was about. Yet nothing had come through so far. Jim stared at the view screen in tense anticipation.

"Nothing so far, Ma'am," said Lieutenant Vaness Gates.

"Deploy armor," said Batanides as she stared at the screen.

"Aye, Ma'am," said Lieutenant Jeff Mulcahey. "Armor deployed. Shields raised."

"Contact Command," she said to Lieutenant Haskal. "Apprise them of the situation."

"Aye, Ma'am," said Haskal.

Just then a cone shaped opject, smaller than any ship known to the Federation came through the wormhole. It closed as soon as the object was out of range and space was calm again. Jim heard Batanides call for magnification, and the object was magnified until he could see that it was at least five feet long, and as wide around. It was a rounded object which had a cone shaped front end.

"Scan the device," Batanides ordered.

"Admiral, the device seems to be emitting some sort of recorded message," said Lieutenant Commander Linda Larson. "I'm running it through the universal translator, but it doesn't seem to be working."

Jim couldn't take his eyes off the screen. Could this be it? Was this some sort of device from a species in Andromeda? He couldn't think of what else it could be. It had to be some sort of probe from an alien race from another galaxy. He was sure that the wormhole didn't lead to a completely unknown galaxy. It had to be Andromeda. It was so close to the barrier that nothing else could be possible unless there was some highly superior race living inside the barrier, but all he'd learned at the academy about the barrier told him that was impossible. It had to be Andromeda.

"Ma'am, its position is unchanged," said Larson. "It isn't moving."

"Keep scanning," said Batanides. "The universal translators will decode the message in time."

From listening, Jim learned that it was transmitting a four part message. One part was a communication from one race or another. The universal translators were having trouble deciphering the communication. Another part of the message was some sort of data stream, but it and all other parts of the message depended on the communication. It seemed that whoever had sent the probe had either expected it to be intercepted or feared who might intercept it. Either way they had programmed the probe to only release the other parts of the message once the communication had been acknowledged. Jim had no idea how it was supposed to be acknowledged, but he was sure that it would require a ship, probably his own.

He left the station two hours later on a transport shuttle. When he got to the house he found both Quinn and Runak waiting for him with tense expressions. It seemed that the entire planet knew of the probe, but no one knew what had happened with it. Quinn had a million questions while Runak looked to be afraid of what Jim might say.

"All right, calm down," Jim said after Quinn had asked his fiftieth question after only two breaths. "It is a probe of some sort, and no, we don't know exactly where it came from. I believe that it has to have come from Andromeda, but that doesn't mean that's where it came from. It's transmitting a message that has four parts. The strange thing is that three of those parts depend on the communication stream being acknowledged. How that's to be done is beyond me. The universal translators still hadn't deciphered the communication stream when I left the station. That's all there is to tell."

"There have been ships coming and going from the station for the last three hours, Jim," Quinn said. "Kathryn and Admiral Hammil are at the station by now. There has to be more than you know going on."

"Quinn, it will do us no good to speculate," sighed Jim. "They have it under control. There are admirals in charge of this. I'm only a captain and you're only a commander. It won't do either of us any good to worry over this. They won't let us near it anyway."

"But you and Chad are the experts on Andromeda," said Quinn quickly.

"That doesn't mean much, Quinn," said Jim. "We only encountered the Arminians. Unless that probe proves to be sent from Arminia, Chad and I are in the dark just as much as everyone else. You know we didn't encounter any other species. We landed on no planets other than Arminia, and we weren't really in the right frame of mind to explore. Calm down."

"What about Christmas?" Quinn asked, looking around at the living room.

"What about it?" Jim asked. "We'll carry on until they tell us there's a need not to, Quinn. This'll be Runak's first."

"All right," sighed Quinn. He wanted to know more, but it was clear that Jim didn't know any more than what he'd told them.

Jim looked at them both for a few minutes, trying to figure out what it was that had drawn his attention. It took him a minute to understand that it was Runak that had drawn his attention. Mostly because the boy was no longer wearing his Skrreean hat. The second part of what had attracted his attention was the boy's skin. Skrreeans have a type of skin that flakes often. Usually Runak had flaky skin all over his face. Now though there were patches here and there on his face. What Jim could see of his exposed arms was the same. He wondered what Runak had been doing to himself, but when the boy turned away in obvious discomfort from Jim's staring he decided to let it go for the moment. He decided he would keep a close eye on him none the less.

"We haven't had dinner," Quinn said into the silence that had grown. "Why don't I replicate something?"

"Maybe some fried chicken?" Jim asked, smiling at him.

"With mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob and cole slaw?" Quinn asked.

"You know your way to my heart," Jim said with a chuckle. "I'll go change and wash up."

"All right," Quinn said, kissing him.

Later that night, after Jim had polished off almost every scrap of food on the table, he and Quinn sat in the living room together while Runak went up to his room to study for his entrance exam that Annika had informed Quinn he was ready for already. It made Jim's heart ache to think of Runak leaving. It was so bad that he was the one to bring up having a child instead of Quinn.

"I just think that with Runak gone we'll be awful lonely," Jim said when Quinn arched an eyebrow at him.

"You do realize that for quite some time human children are infants, right?" Quinn asked.

"Of course," Jim replied with a smile. "But just think of how wonderful it'll be to watch the child grow and experience the things around him."

"Which at any time could be a starship," Quinn interjected.

"Quinn," sighed Jim.

"I'm not saying no," Quinn said quickly. "It's just that when I brought this up you thought it was too soon."

"That was before I realized how much it was going to hurt to let Runak go to the academy," Jim said softly, looking away from Quinn.

"You know, Runak isn't ours, Jim," Quinn said just as softly.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't feel like he is," Jim replied.

"I know how you feel," Quinn said. "I've been trying to think of anything but Runak leaving, but Annika and Juliet make it very hard to do that with all of this talk about how well he's doing with controlling his emotions and all of the requirements for entrance to the academy. You know that Annika plans to sponsor him?"

"How can she?" Jim asked. "If we receive orders she'll be on a starship nowhere near Earth."

"That's what I told her," Quinn said, and Jim realized that for the first time he'd mentioned their impending orders and Quinn hadn't freaked out. "She says she'll figure it out."

"If anyone could it would be Annika Hanson," laughed Jim. "But it's still going to hurt a lot to let him go, Quinn. Let's at least talk to Julian about what it'll take to have a child of our own."

"Well he'll be here tomorrow for dinner," said Quinn.

"Along with ten other people," Jim reminded. They'd decided to hold a Christmas Eve dinner for members of the crew who had no family on the planet. Julian and ten others had accepted.

"Well I'm sure we can ask him to stay after," Quinn said. "If you really want to talk to him about it we'll do it, Jim."

"Just as long as neither of us have to have a procedure that gives us a uterus," Jim said seriously.

"Oh stop that," laughed Quinn. "You know Starfleet Medical has come a long way from those awful procedures."

"Has it now?" Jim asked, smiling at Quinn.

"Yes, it has," replied Quinn. "I'm not sure what exactly happens, but I recently heard about a male couple on one of the starships who had a child. I was told that neither of them carried the infant, but no one seemed to want to talk about how it was done."

"Well Julian will tell us," said Jim firmly.

"Yes," Quinn laughed. "Because you're now officially his captain."

"There is that," laughed Jim.

The next day they had dinner with Julian, Austin Chang, both Ichebs, William Telfer, Motimer Herron, Harry Kim, Chell, Kinis and Jason Kendrick. Jim and Quinn replicated a buffet type dinner with dishes from the home worlds of Icheb, Chell and Kinis as well as a few from Betazed and Bajor. Everyone seemed happy enough with the food, which they ate on the back deck sitting around the large wooden table under the relaxing light of the twin suns. Each expressed their excitement about being accepted into the crew of Lexus, and some expressed a desire to be on the ship and in space. Quinn pretended not to hear those voices and kept his smile the entire time.

While the guests were leaving, Jim was about to talk to Julian about staying behind when he noticed that Runak was talking quietly with him in the kitchen. He gave them their space and waited for Julian to come into the dining room. He wondered just what Runak was talking to the doctor for. Could it be, he wondered, that Runak was interested in medicine? That brought a smile to his face as he thought of it. He felt like the young man's father when in all actuality he was only old enough to be his young uncle or older brother. He was still thinking about that when Julian and Runak came into the dining room.

"Jim, I was just telling Runak how great the dinner was," said Julian, patting Runak on the shoulder. Jim noticed that the young man winced at the touch, but said nothing. "Thank you for having me."

"The pleasure was ours, Julian," said Jim with a smile. "You've become a good friend. I wondered if you would stay a bit longer and chat with me and Quinn."

"I'd be delighted," Julian said, glancing at Runak as he said this.

"I'm going upstairs to work on my mother's gift," Runak said, smiling at both of them. The wince was gone from his face, but Jim wondered what was hurting him.

"All right," Jim said, for lack of anything to keep the boy long enough to ask what he didn't know how to ask him. "I'm sure that she'll love what you're making."

"Julian," said Quinn as he came in from the kitchen. "Thank you so much for coming today. Now if my husband hasn't beat me to it, I'd like to invite you to stay a bit longer to talk with me and Jim."

"As a matter of fact, Jim's already asked and I've happily accepted," Julian said with a smile.

"Well why don't you and Jim head on into the living room while I get us drinks?" Quinn asked, smiling at Julian.

"That sounds fine," Julian said, nodding at Jim.

They went into the living room and Julian sat on the couch while Jim took his recliner. He watched as Julian looked around the room at all of the alternate timeline's twentieth century decor and smiled. He was proud of his house and how it was decorated. Quinn was responsible for the decor and Jim still couldn't imagine where he'd found all of the items he'd purchased for the house. Of course the living room now looked like the fictional North Pole, but even all of that was twentieth century style.

"You've a remarkable home," Julian said after looking around for a bit. "The style is like nothing I've seen before."

"It's decorated to look like the twentieth century of our original timeline," Jim explained. "I'm glad you like it."

"Very different from my quarters at Starfleet Medical," Julian said with a smile. "I'm very much looking forward to heading back out. I've toured the ship. I signed up for the tour the day I was informed I'd been accepted on the crew. Thank you for that, by the way."

"Oh, don't worry over it," Jim said, smiling. "The crew of Voyager is family. I approved everyone from my old crew to the Voyager crew. I thought it would be wrong not to have us all together. I was just happy that everyone applied."

"Sometimes it's still hard for me to imagine what you've been through," Julian said. "How much you've lived amazes me. To think all the time we thought you and Chad were locked on the holodeck, and you were here. I've read your file. I'm very sorry for what you went through at the academy."

"Don't worry yourself about that," Jim said, waiving a hand. "I'm healed, and all is well again."

"Then to think of what I witnessed on Pemera," Julian said with a shiver.

"That's all healed too," he said. "Thanks to you."

"Forgive me, but I keep thinking of the scared sixteen year old boy that I revived on Voyager in what seems now to be another life time," Julian said. "You're very remarkable, Captain Kirk. I have tremendous respect for you and Chad."

"Thank you," Jim said, smiling. "That means a lot. I have to admit that I look back on who I was when you revived us, and I barely recognize myself from that time. It truly is like another life time. Now I'm a captain of a mighty ship, married to the man I love and thinking of having a child. It can blow you away to think about it all."

"A child?" Julian asked with wide eyes. "You're barely twenty-one, Jim."

"I know that," laughed Jim. "I'm afraid I've slipped on that one. Quinn and I wanted to talk to you about that together."

"James Kirk, you stop what you're saying and take this drink," Quinn said as he came into the room with a tray of drinks. It appeared that he'd replicated Alta Venus Ale. Jim knew they had no more of it after the welcome home party.

"Thank you, Love," he said, taking the glass.

"Yes, thank you," said Julian as he also took a glass.

"Well it seems that Jim has let the cat out of the bag," Quinn said as he took his glass and sat across from Jim in the other recliner. "But we really do want to at least talk about having a child together."

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Julian asked, looking from Quinn to Jim and back.

"Well, first we'd like to know how it's done," Jim said quickly.

"That's a conversation," laughed Julian. "You may be shocked at what Starfleet Medical has come up with for male reproduction."

"Try us," Quinn said with a smile.

"Well, don't be alarmed, but have you seen a Borg maturation chamber?" Julian asked with a straight face. Jim felt a cold chill at the words.

"We've not seen one," Quinn said. "But I studied them in medical school. Why?"

"The technique we use now is much like the maturation chamber," Julian explained. "Oh I don't mean that we create Borg-like children. The Borg use the chambers to grow infants to be assimilated. The fact is they are already born when the Borg put them in the chamber. I must admit that our technology is based on those horrible chambers, but they don't do anything like what the Borg do."

"On one level what you're saying is fascinating," Quinn said while Jim struggled not to shiver at the words. "How does it work?"

"We take a donor egg and strip the coded DNA," said Julian as he looked from one of them to the other. "It's replaced with the DNA of the male who decides to be the maternal partner so to speak. His DNA is coded into the egg to replace what has been removed. Then we utilize the semen from the male who is to be the paternal partner and fertilize the egg inside the chamber. The embryo grows and matures in the chamber for nine months."

"How does the embryo get nourishment?" Jim asked, finally letting go of where the idea for the chambers had come from.

"We construct an umbilical," Julian explained. "Nutrients are fed through the umbilical for the entire gestation cycle."

"And how is the infant born?" Quinn asked. He looked a touch more than fascinated by what he was hearing. Clearly he hadn't studied this technique in medical school.

"When the infant is full term, we open the chamber and disconnect the umbilical," said Julian. "It's very simple and easier on the infant than natural child birth."

"So what would we have to do to be considered for this?" Quinn asked.

"Well first you've have to go through counseling to determine if you're even ready to be parents," he said slowly. "Now I know that's kind of unfair when male female couples can just conceive with no limitations or conditions, but Starfleet really is interested in the welfare of the prospective child. Some male couples think they're ready to become parents when they really aren't, and let's face it, in our line of work most aren't."

"I can understand the counseling phase," Jim said, nodding. "What else is involved?"

"Physicals for both parties involved," Julian said. "Genetic screening, the DNA harvest, semen contribution and medical preparatory work for the most part. If you're serious about this I can set you up with a councilor to get the ball rolling, but I believe it'll be probably six to nine months before we even begin the actual process of fertilization."

"We would want you to be the doctor who makes this happen for us, Julian," Quinn said. "I have another question though. Is it possible to block a gene?"

"Of course," he said. "That's what part of the medical screening is for. If we find any genes that are deemed to be hazardous to the infant we simply extract them from the DNA samples."

"What I'm getting at is that I was born Q," he said quickly. "Do you think it might be possible to isolate the genes which made me Q and block them from our fetus?"

"That I'm not sure about," Julian said slowly. "Quinn when you were made human I would think that all of the genes that made you a Q were removed from your DNA."

"But that's not definite," Quinn said quickly. "If it's possible to find those genes, do you think you could extract them so that my child has no chance of being born Q?"

"Well I'd need a sample of Q DNA for that," he said after a long silence. "If your mother would consent to giving us a DNA sample I could probably find the genes and know what I was looking for when I have your DNA to work with."

"I don't know if she'll do that," he said sadly.

"I'll talk to her about it if you want," Jim said.

"She might do it for you," he said after a moment. "She does seem to have affection for you. I don't understand it from a Q perspective, but she really does seem to."

"Well I tell you what," Julian said, smiling. "You talk to Q and I'll set you up with a doctor to start the counseling. Then we can work on DNA. Does that sound acceptable?"

"Yes," they said almost at the same time and smiled at each other.

"We really want a child," Jim said, looking at Julian earnestly.

"Then I shall do my very best to see that you have one," Julian said, smiling at them.

When Julian got back to Starfleet Medical he was surprised to find Runak waiting in his office. It was after office hours, and only emergency cases were accepted after hours. He had no clue as to what the young Skrreean man wanted. Further, he wasn't sure if Jim and Quinn even knew that Runak was no longer in the house with them. He thought about calling them but decided to at least find out what Runak wanted first.

"Doctor Bashir," he said as soon as Julian came into the office. "You've got to help me. The dermal regeneration isn't working."

"What are you talking about?" Julian asked. "Where did you get a regenerator?"

"It's a relic, Doctor Bashir," said Runak. The boy looked desperate. There were red blotches all over his face and neck. "The man in town said it would do what I wanted, but they keep coming back."

"Calm down, Runak," he said. "Tell me what's happened from the beginning. Where did you get the regenerator?"

"All right," the boy said, visibly taking himself in hand. He sat back down and took a deep breath. "I wanted to look like a human before I went to the academy. I've been made fun of for the flaking of my skin here on the planet, and I didn't even want to think about what it would be like on Earth. I went to Olde Town and talked to one of the street vendors about my problem. I used every credit Jim and Quinn had given me since they became my guardians to buy it." He pulled a crude instrument out of his pocket and handed it over. "I have it here."

"Let me see if I have this figured," Julian said as he turned the device over in his hand. It really was a crude relic from another century. "You wanted to have human skin, so you thought that this would help you achieve your goal?"

"Yes," said Runak. The boy was so agitated that he was crying. "Only it burns the skin off. It's very painful and now I have all of these burns." He lifted his shirt and Julian gasped. "They hurt non stop, Doctor. Will you please help me?"

"I'll have to call Jim and Quinn," he said, standing. The boy was instantly on his feet.

"Oh, Doctor Bashir, please don't," he moaned. "They'll be angry with me."

"Runak, I'm sure they won't be," he said. "They'll likely be worried about you, but I can help you. They'll be calm when they know I can help, but I can't help without their consent."

It was a tense twenty minutes while he called and explained to Jim Kirk what was going on with Runak. Then they had to wait for him and Quinn to arrive. When they did the questioning began. They were upset by what they'd heard. Jim was beside himself. He'd been talking to Admiral White about getting the street vendors out of Olde Town, but so far nothing had been done. Now Runak was one of their victims.

"What can you do for him, Julian?" Jim asked. "Is he in a great deal of pain?"

"The burning of his skin has to be painful," Julian said delicately. "He has serious dermal burns nearly covering his chest and abdomen. I've not seen the rest of his body yet, but I assume he's been using the crude instrument on all parts of his body. What I can do is regenerate the skin and heal the burns, but I'm afraid that what he wants is ultimately what he'll get. I can't restore his Skrreean skin. I simply don't know enough about them to do it."

"Do what you can for him, Julian," said Jim with a sigh. "I understand that he's been picked on for his skin, and if Juliet hadn't been working with him to control his emotions that could have sparked a much bigger problem. You know his staying with us is reliant on his keeping his emotions under control. I'm just worried about what Haneek will say about his condition. You know that she and two of his fathers will be here tomorrow for Christmas."

"Yes," he sighed. "I'm afraid they're all in for a shock when they see him. But don't worry, I'll have him out of here in a matter of hours."

"Thank you," Jim said as he and Quinn took seats in the waiting area.

Julian took Runak into the surgery room and had him strip out of his clothes and lie on the table. It took two hours just to heal the burns that turned out to be everywhere on him. How the young man had gotten his back was beyond Julian, but he suspected that Carter had helped him. He decided to keep that thought to himself. The last thing that was needed was for two young men to be in hot water with their parents.

It was 0239 before Julian was finished working on Runak. When he was done the boy had smooth clear skin all over his body. His genitals had been the hardest part, and Julian had sedated him so that he could work on them. By the time Runak was woken up and dressed in his clothes Julian was dead on his feet. He released him to Jim and Quinn after giving him a mild sedative that would have him asleep within an hour.

"What will his parents say?" Quinn asked once they were home and Runak was safely asleep in his room. "He looks like a human now."

"Julian said there was no other way," Jim explained. "He said he didn't know enough about the Skrreea to return him to his rightful appearance. He had to do this. I just wish I could get my hands on the vendor who sold him that junk regenerator."

"Why didn't he come to us with this?" Quinn asked. "Are we that unapproachable?"

"I don't think that was it, Quinn," Jim said, turning to face his husband. "I think he was ashamed, and he didn't want to shame either of us."

"I just can't stop thinking of how much pain he had to be in," Quinn said miserably.

"I know," sighed Jim as he sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. "I saw him flinch when Julian touched him this evening. I didn't know why, but I wish I'd asked questions then. What kind of guardians have we turned out to be?"

"Oh don't do that," Quinn said, crawling across the bed to massage Jim's shoulders. "We didn't know, Jim. There was no way for us to know. He's always off with Annika or Juliet. Then he's off with Carter. Do you think Carter was in on this?"

"I don't know," sighed Jim. "I know I'm not going to ask. We have enough trouble on our hands with this without bringing Carter into it. Do you realize Haneek may take him away from us later today?"

"What time do they arrive?" asked Quinn.

"I have to meet them at the transport site at 0900," he said with a sigh.

"Then we should get what little sleep we can," said Quinn.

It was almost what he feared the next day when Haneek, Caul and Jame saw Runak. Haneek had to restrain her husbands when they saw him. Jim and Quinn stood up to protect Runak from them, but Haneek handled them well. She spoke softly to them and they took their seats. She had plenty to say to Runak however, and each word rose the level of Jim's anger.

"You have forgotten the face of your mother," she said heatedly. "For this I cast you out. You are no longer my son, Runak."

"Now wait just a minute," Jim said after that. "How can you say that? The boy was being picked on. Now I don't agree with what he's done but surely you still love him."

"I cannot love what is dead to me," she said. "I think we'll adjourn to our rooms for the remainder of our stay. You may keep him for the rest of his life, Jim Kirk. I respect you, but he is no son of mine."

"Adopt him formally," Chad said later when Jim explained what had happened. Their mothers were in the kitchen with Katie O'Claire and Kathryn. He and Quinn were sitting with Chad, Gerron, their fathers and Chakotay. "If she says he's dead to her then she won't mind appearing before the council to permit the adoption. You can start the ball rolling in the morning."

"I hadn't thought of that," Jim said honestly. He'd been so hurt for Runak that he'd thought of nothing else all day long. He turned to look at Quinn. "What do you think?"

"He's ours, Jim," said Quinn. "We both already love him like a son. I say we do it."

"Dad?" he asked, turning to his father.

"Jimmy, you have to make this decision," said Mark. Kara nodded her agreement. There were tears in his mother's eyes. Jim hadn't even realized that she'd come in from the kitchen and had been listening to them.

"Then I'll talk to Kathryn about this," he said. "After I talk to Runak."

His conversation with Runak was difficult. The boy couldn't stop crying over his mother's reaction to his skin. Jim held him as he cried and cried along with him. He couldn't believe how unaccepted Haneek had been. When he mentioned that he and Quinn would like to adopt him Runak pulled away from him to look him in the eye.

"You would want me to be your son even now that I am shunned?" he asked.

"We haven't shunned you, Runak," Jim said. "We love you as a son already. If you want this, I'll talk to Kathryn and get this started."

"Oh yes," he said. "Thank you, Jim."

"Sit tight," Jim said as he got off the bed to go back downstairs. He hesitated at the door. "Do you think you can come down and join the family? They're all hoping you will."

"I'll do my best," he said, trying to smile at him.

Jim knew that it was a battle for him to control such powerful emotions. Thankfully Juliet would be there soon. She could help him. He thought of that as he went down to have his conversation with Kathryn. She surprised him when she told him she knew all about what had happened. He listened to what she and his mother had to say on the subject of Haneek's shunning her own son.

"Jim, I think it's a great idea that you and Quinn adopt him," she said, smiling at him. "I have no doubt that you'll be outstanding parents."

"Jimmy, I think you and the others had best come into the living room," said Mark as he stuck his head in the doorway. The look on his face had them following him through the dining room to the living room where Jim got the shock of his life.

"Dad!" said a tall dark haired young man who looked a bit like Jim's father. He was dressed in a red shirt with black pants. There was a funny version of the Starfleet insignia on his left breast. "I was just telling Pop who I am."

"Who are you?" Jim demanded.

"I'm your son, Joshua," he said, beaming at him. "I wanted to see you both before I was born, so I came here. Where's my brother?"

"Your brother?" Quinn asked.

"Runak," Joshua said. Jim had to sit before he fell over from shock. It seemed Quinn's greatest fear was realized. Joshua was clearly a Q.

"He's upstairs," Jim said, looking around the room at the stunned expressions on everyone's faces.

Joshua went up the stairs like a human, leaving them all to stare at each other. The wait was short however. Before any of them had a chance to say anything, Q and Judge Q appeared in the living room. They both had angry looks on their faces and Jim sighed at the sight of them. What else could happen, he wondered.

"Where is he?" Judge Q demanded.

"Joshua?" Jim asked. He'd long since decided to just accept the insanity of this situation and deal with what it meant later.

"Yes, Joshua," she said to him in a tone of voice that implied that he had lost his senses.

"He's upstairs, talking to his brother," Jim said, sitting back down.

"He was told not to come here," she said. "It seems that all Kirk men will do as they wish no matter the consequences."

"Mother?" Quinn breathed, looking up at his mother with wide eyes.

"Quinn, you must believe that this is none of my doing," she said quickly. "I listened when you said you didn't want to see your future child."

"You offered to bring him here?" Judge Q demanded of her.

"I did," she said softly. "But both of them informed me that they weren't interested and I let the matter drop."

"We will speak of this later," said Judge Q. "I intend to drag that Q back to his rightful time by the hair on his head."

"What do you mean your my brother?" Runak demanded as he stood to face the stranger.

"Runak, I'm from the future," Joshua explained. "I was given Q powers to help me decide if I wanted to be a Q or stay human. I have to say that you were very vocal on the subject in my time."

"If you're my brother, then that means that Jim and Quinn are really going to adopt me," Runak said more to himself than to Joshua.

"They haven't yet?" Joshua asked. "Wait is this the Christmas when you got your skin regenerated by Doctor Bashir?"

"How do you know that?" Runak asked, sinking back down onto his bed.

"Because I'm from the future," laughed Joshua. "You know, in the future you're a lot smarter."

"Don't insult me," snapped Runak.

"Easy, brother," said Joshua putting up his hands. "I guess you're not yet a master of your emotions. You will be, though. I promise."

"What's the future like?" asked Runak, striving to believe him.

"Well not much different from this time I'd imagine," he said. "Oh, Dad and Pop like to say it is, but I don't see much difference. The house still looks the same. Well I haven't seen my room yet, but I'm sure it's the same."

"So you're really going to be my brother?" Runak asked.

"Yes," laughed Joshua. "I promise. I didn't get to meet you until I was seven though. We were on the ship in Andromeda for a long time. You were on a starship when we got home. It took a month for you and Carter to get back here to see us."

"So I'll graduate from the academy?" he asked in shock.

"You'll do much more than graduate, Runak," said Joshua. "You'll make Dad and Pop proud. You're going to be a doctor!"

"I've been thinking about that for a while," admitted Runak. "Maybe you shouldn't tell me so much about the future."

"Oh don't worry," laughed Joshua. "You and I have talked about this day a lot in the future. Nothing changes because of this conversation. I promise."

"That's quite enough," said Judge Q as she entered the bedroom. She looked from Runak to Joshua and back again. "I assume he's told you things about the future."

"Not much," lied Runak. Joshua smiled at him for his covering him.

"Well you'll not hear any more," she said loudly. Haneek came to the doorway to see what was happening.

"What are you doing here?" Joshua asked hotly when he saw her.

"I'm a guest here," she said primly. "Who are you?"

"I am Joshua Kirk," he said proudly. "James and Quinn are my fathers, and you are the woman who gave birth to my brother, Runak."

"Enough of this," said Judge Q. "I assume your fathers would like to see you before you go, so I suggest you follow me downstairs now."

"Later, Runak," he said, smiling at him.

Runak watched as he left the room behind Judge Q. His mother turned and went back to the guest room without looking at him. What she thought about Joshua calling him his brother, Runak didn't know or care. He decided then and there to harden his heart and control his emotions where his birth mother was concerned. Jim and Quinn would become his fathers and he would probably never see her again.

Everyone was talking when they returned to the living room, but they all stopped talking when they saw them. Joshua smiled at everyone. It was nice to see his grandparents again. He couldn't get over how different his Pop looked with his original face. That was a shock. He hadn't seen that face since his childhood. He wondered if he should say something about it.

"You will say goodbye to your fathers," said Judge Q. "You will reveal nothing of the future to them or I will make you sorry you were ever born."

"Dad, Pop," Joshua said as both of his fathers stood. He hugged Jim first and then Quinn and whispered in his ear. "Just remember that no matter what happens in the future I'm your son and I love you."

"We love you, too," Jim said, trying hard not to cry over this and still reeling from the implications of it all. "We always will."

"I hope so," Joshua said before embracing Jim again. "Let me say in advance that I'm sorry, Dad."

"Oh I'm sure you have nothing to be sorry about," Jim said. "Just seeing you makes me so proud."

"Enough of this," said Judge Q. "Jim Kirk, I'm sorry that he came here, but I can see that both you and Quinn are happy to see him. It's time for us to go."

"Goodbye," laughed Joshua. "I suppose it isn't really goodbye. You'll be there when I get back to my time. I guess this is see you soon."

"See you soon," Jim said, smiling. Then they were gone.

He was the topic of conversation all through dinner. Even Kathryn was amazed at his arrival, but she looked troubled. Jim didn't care though. His coming was proof that they would have a child of their own. That he was Q they'd have to get used to, but Jim truly didn't care about that. He was a father, or he would be. That was enough.

Runak seemed to have forgotten about what had happened between him and his mother as they ate. He seemed happy and content all through dinner and didn't even blink when his mother and two fathers came down to eat once everyone was done. He followed Jim into the living room for the giving of gifts. He smiled delightedly at each gift he received and Jim was shocked when he called him Dad.

The very next day at 0900 they were before the Federation Council to formalize Runak's adoption. Kathryn had fast tracked the proceedings. Haneek was eager to give her consent, and an hour and a half later Runak was officially their son. They had a small celebration at the house after taking Haneek and her husbands to the transport site.

It was just four days into the new year that the universal translator succeeded in translating the communication stream from the probe. Starfleet and the Federation were relieved by what they heard.

We are the Nitari from the planet Nitar. We are a peaceful culture who mean no threat to any around us. This wormhole appeared in our space, so naturally we were curious as to where it lead. If this probe is intercepted, please understand that we wish only to learn. We have included a star chart so that any who wish to know can chart our position in the universe.

There was more than that. In addition to the star chart was a detailed history of their people with holographic representations of a male and female of their species. To Jim they looked like the ancient humanoids he'd learned about at the academy. That they were in Andromeda was a given once the star chart had been entered in the main computer at Starfleet Command. Their planet was only light years from the wormhole where it opened in Andromeda.

The fact that the wormhole did, in fact open in Andromeda meant tighter security on the station. The Alta Venus defensive ships were once again deployed and remained in orbit day and night. Jim wasn't asked to command any of the ships, nor was anyone on his crew. It was evidence that their orders were coming soon. The ship was completely finished now.

He was, however, stuck in meetings with the Federation President and his staff. He and Chad were known as the Andromeda experts by President Kologian and several of the admirals. They protested that they'd never been anywhere near Nitari Space, but it fell on deaf ears. Jim knew that Quinn's fear that they would be sent to Andromeda was likely to be realized. He was actually looking forward to it though. He wanted to "boldly go" as the saying went. It seemed he'd have his chance.