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Winona frowned when Jim came down the hallway from where the San Francisco shuttle let off in Riverside. No one walked beside him and no one followed after him.

Still as he opened his arms as he got closer to her, his smile didn’t slip.

“Hey Mom.”

She hugged him tight. Tears sprang to her eyes.

“Hey, why are you crying?” he asked gently.

“It’s been too long since I’ve seen you in person. Even longer since you’ve been home.” She linked her arm with his. “You have a bag to pick up?”

“Mm.”

They walked to baggage collection together.

“Of course I got all your favorites. Turkey and stuffing. Mashed potatoes. Stuff to make gravy. Pies. Rolls.”

He laughed. “Sounds great.”

She bit her lip. “I, uh, I thought…I got some vegetarian food too. Because. Well, wasn’t Spock coming with you?”

Jim bent down to retrieve his bag, then straightened to give her a smile. “We had a fight.”

“Oh no.”

He nodded. “He’s a big pain in my ass lug head.”

“Now Jim.”

“Well. He is.” His communicator beeped and he took it out of the leather jacket he wore. “Speaking of lug heads.”

Despite his words, Winona knew Jim loved Spock. Sometimes that’s all he talked about. From her limited experience with Spock, she figured he felt the same.

“Well?”

Jim’s smile was much more genuine and triumphant. “His shuttle arrives in twenty minutes.”

She returned his smile. “Guess we’d better get a coffee while we wait, huh?”

Jim laughed again and hugged her. “Yeah.”

A happy Jim was her jam, and so…it would all be grand.

The best Thanksgiving in years. She was giddy.  

Happy Thanksgiving my American friends. M and I host Thanksgiving at our house and all told there will be six of us. May yours be filled with great food and gratitude.