Chapter Eleven: Thinking Ahead

Jim’s schedule at Gad-Shen ended up with him having Wednesdays off in addition to the Saturdays that the restaurant was closed.

So for Wednesday, he could watch Lily himself.

While she played by the tree with one of the dolls he’d given her for her last birthday, Jim searched on his PADD for other work. While working at Gad-Shen was a Godsend, it really was, he wasn’t sure it could sustain them for long term. And if Spock wasn’t going to run Gad-Shen himself after a while, Jim didn’t even know if he’d be kept on.

Or if the restaurant would be successful. Many were not. And times were currently pretty tough in Riverside with Starfleet pulling their contract. Come spring, it would be more than Jim out of work. With people out of work, he wasn’t sure how many customers would be patronizing Gad-Shen.   

Truth be told, it didn’t hurt to plan ahead.

Before Ruth and his assistance in her having a child, Jim had dreams of enlisting in Starfleet himself one day. His father, George Kirk, had been a famous captain back before Jim was born, but he’d been killed in action.

Winona, Jim’s mom, hadn’t wanted either of her sons to follow in George’s footsteps. Eventually, Sam had left Riverside behind, becoming a research scientist on some planet light years away or whatever. He hadn’t even come back when their mother had died of cancer.

Jim had put off enlisting because of his mother’s feelings, and then, Ruth came along with her request, and then Lily was born, and her mama died.

Jim supposed he couldn’t ever be a captain of a starship like his father had been with Lily to care for, but perhaps, maybe, there were other things he could do in Starfleet, maybe headquarters in San Francisco.

So Jim, faintly smiling, as Lily chattered to herself and the doll, Jim sent in his application for the Academy. It was a long shot and he wouldn’t get in any earlier than spring, maybe not then, but well, it was what it was.

And in the meantime, he would look for jobs in San Francisco.

Sure, it would mean uprooting Lily and their life to the city. He’d have to sell this place, but he didn’t do much with it anyway. Jim wasn’t a farmer.

He’d also checked with Maggie and she was willing to watch Lily Friday night. She planned on coming here to the house and they’d make gingerbread houses and watch movies until Jim came home from his date.

Yeah, because whatever Jim got up to with Spock, and he had a pretty good idea what that was going to be, he planned to be home to put his angel to bed at night like he always did.

He also had to have time one of these days to do some Santa shopping for Lily. He wasn’t sure about adopting a cat for her as they might be moving, but he’d consider it. She did love kitties whenever she saw them.

No prospects for jobs anywhere near Riverside, so Jim closed out of it with a sigh. He’d look again, but for now, he had the restaurant job at least for the holidays and a bit beyond.

“What do you want for dinner, Lily?” Jim asked, leaning back against the couch.

He’d put his parents old tree by the family room window that faced the front yard. He’d strung the new lights on it and put a few sparse ornaments on it, leaving most for the main tree. He considered that he ought to put some lights on the house itself and if he was going to do that, he should before it got dark.

“Pizza!”

Jim laughed. “That doesn’t sound very nutritious.”

“No,” Lily agreed. “Sounds yummy though.”

“Well. We’ll see. Daddy’s going to go put some lights on the outside of the house.” Jim stood. “You want to come help?”

Lily nodded and stood. “Maybe Spock can help too.”

“Spock?”

“Yeah, you could ask him over. Maybe he’d like pizza too, Daddy.”

Jim looked at the time. It was just after two and the restaurant would be closed. He shrugged. Sent a message.

“We’ll see what he says.” Jim glanced outside. Looked cold. “Let’s get your coat on.”

And as he was getting her bundled up, he received Spock’s response.

“He’s coming.”