The Doctor Will See You Now

Chapter Twelve (UPDATED)

Star Date: 2261.135 / 15.05.2261

Six months in deep space passes by in the flash of an eye, thankfully most of it uneventful on this occasion. The Enterprise had gone over a year and a half with no serious injuries or altercations of any kind. Too long, as it turned out, the entire crew had felt like their run of luck had been too good, that they were overdue for some life altering kind of catastrophe. It arrived in the form of the Klingons, who hadn't been happy with the Enterprise's proximity to their mining colony on the second moon of Aldan.

True to their nature they'd fired first asked questions later, thankfully Jim with Uhura's help, had managed to convince them they meant no harm and to let the Enterprise pass without any further destruction being inflicted.

The damage sustained however had been beyond even Scotty's extensive skills, leaving the Captain with no choice but to limp the Enterprise to the nearest shipyard for repairs. Luckily for the crew some critical and specialist systems had been damaged in the attack and the nearest dock with the required engineering capabilities had been Earth, which is why they now found themselves heading home three and a half years early.

Lex along with everyone else was disembarking for a well-deserved four-week shore leave as ordered by the Captain, who promised it was not going to be cut short this time, no matter what. She hoped rather than believed that to be true but Scotty had assured her the repairs would take at least three weeks and then the ship needed to be resupplied so there was very little chance of an early departure.

"How old was Poppy when you saw her last?" Lex asked the Enterprise's pilot as he paced anxiously, waiting for the docking process to complete.

"She was just a few months old" Sulu responded, pulling a picture of his now 2-year-old daughter, from his back pocket to show her.

Lex beamed at the photo "What a cutie"

"Do you want kids someday?" He asked curiously.

The unexpected question took Lex by surprise, but she answered as honestly as she could "Maybe, one day. I've not given it too much thought"

"What about Bones?" Sulu asked, pressing his luck in Lex's opinion, she liked the man but that was just plain nosy, and not something they'd even discussed themselves.

Lex raised an eyebrow "He already has a daughter remember" she was polite but firm letting him know the subject was closed.

Thankfully at that point the doors opened, sparing Lex from further inquisition, with a wave the pilot hurried through the doors moving with the throng of people all looking for their loved ones.

Lex shouldered her bag and followed him down the walkway not bothering to wait for Jim or Bones who were just finishing up final checks, part of their senior officer duties. There was no one waiting to greet her today, her sister was the only family she had left, and she was busy preparing for her wedding in 3 weeks' time. They would see each other in a week when she returned from Georgia. There was a lot to do considering they'd pulled the date forward by 6 months, once Ida had found out her big sister would be home unexpectedly, she was determined to pull it together in time.

Making her out into the space terminal orbiting earth, she watched her fellow crew members greeting family and friends that had hopped a shuttle to come greet them personally with huge smiles on their faces. Sulu and his husband Ben were embracing a short distance away, a small girl in Ben's arms looking thoroughly unconvinced by the stranger in front of her, but less than two seconds later giggling madly as he tickled her.

Looking across the crowd Lex spotted a familiar face, an old friend from her days on base prior to being assigned to the Enterprise, both surprised and pleased to see her she ducked sideways around the group in front of her and made her way over.