Snippet 6b :-)

"Schaven was there, Pa," Rosie tried again, reaching for all possible ways to calm her father down. "You know he wouldn't have let anything happen to me. He's always got an eye on me - he knows I'm accident prone, too, see..."

Kirk grimaced. She had to bring up Schaven.

"That damn Vulcan's been hovering around you again?!" McCoy roared, standing up out of his seat looking like he was going to march out and murder him. "Now you know what I told you about him Rosie!"

"But he's fine, Pa!" Rosie said, now looking desperate. "He's my friend! And he's really polite and smart. He never does anything wrong!"

"That's just my point," McCoy said, jabbing a finger at her. "He's seems like little Mister Perfect, doesn't he? Well let me tell you that Vulcans are not little Mister Perfects. They know they're smart and cute and polite and they play the hearts of sweet little girls like you and break them just as easily. Now you stay away from him, you hear me?"

"Now, now, Pa," Rosie sighed, sounding saddened as she stood up, ushering McCoy carefully back to sit on the couch. "You're just sayin' that because you're mad about camp. I'll never go back again, if it makes you happy. Want me to make a brandy before I go unpack? Or a mint julep?"

"Now don't you go try buttering me up," McCoy said, a residual glare on his face. He could never stay angry when she made that face. "Your old Pa's got a heart of stone and I'll be damned if you're the one to break it."

"Well, I'm half of Dad, and he broke your heart, didn't he?" Rosie teased, before all but dancing over to the liquor cabinet to begin making McCoy a drink - a skill she'd had before she could even write her name. "I never get tired of that story, Pa. You're both so cute!"

Kirk's eyes widened, and he quickly gave McCoy an innocent smile. "I haven't told her anything, Bones."

"Then who the hell did?" McCoy snapped accusingly.

"She must've dreamed it. Subconsciously."

"Pa, drink this, now," Rosie said, coming over to McCoy and patting her father's hair as she handed him his perfectly-made drink. "You'll feel a lot better in a few minutes."

McCoy harrumphed as he took his drink, giving Kirk a dirty look as he took a sip. "Unlikely."

"I've seen it work, Pa, I'm bettin' on it," Rosie said, before happily picking up her bag and walking toward her room. "I'll be out in a minute! I'll make dinner tonight!"

"That's our Rosebud," Kirk sighed contentedly as she disappeared. He grinned over at McCoy. "And we don't have to worry about camp for another year. Nice, huh?"

McCoy glared at him in stony silence as he took another sip of his drink.

"Hey! I have a great idea," Kirk said, perking up again. "Let's have dinner with the Masens! Then we can all catch up and have fun and stuff. Schaven and Rosie can tell us both sides of the story, then!"

McCoy slowly turned to him with a death glare. "And expose her to even more Vulcan nonsense?!"

"Bones, the Masens aren't that bad. Besides, together, they actually make up more human than Vulcan," Kirk grinned, patting him on the back. "Come on, it'll be fun! And it'll make Rosie happy."

"Rosie's back home and alive, she should be on top of the damn world."

"Yeah, but you know with kids her age. They're not old enough to consider being 'alive' a significant reason for concordant bliss." Kirk chortled. "C'mon, Bones, it's a great idea. Let's just do it tonight. You never have to speak to Spock or Schaven again for another year, then, if you don't want to...except for physicals, of course."

McCoy took another menacing sip of his drink before putting down. "Fine." he said, glaring at him. "But don't blame me if I drug their drinks by accident."

"Oh, right. Because that could SO happen by accident..."

*

Two hours later, the two families met together in the Mess Hall that evening for dinner - and Rosie and Schaven launched into their stories about camp almost right away.

"It was beautiful! With the lake and the hills and the woods, absolutely gorgeous," Rosie said happily. "I couldn't spent all day just starin' at all of it."

"And the facilities were well-maintained and regularly staffed," Schaven added, nodding as he forked at his salad. "Our counselors were intelligent and very experienced."

"And our nature walks were so informative," Rosie continued. "I never knew there was so much to know about the Earth!"

"The sunsets were beautiful," Schaven added. "So many colors for a single, natural event!"

"The only drawbacks were some of the other campers," Rosie said, her face turning to a grumbling expression. "They were morons. Especially the one that kept trying to bite Schaven's ears."

McCoy choked on his drink, garnering the table's attention as he broke out laughing. "Like father like son, eh Spock?"

Spock gave him a not-so amused look before turning to Schaven. "Continue, Schaven."

"I had an interesting conversation with Counselor Benson," Schaven said, taking a bite of his salad. "He explained to me the principles behind the sport of skiing on Earth, both on snow and water. It was fascinating."

"The camp nurse had heard of you, too, Pa," Rosie offered. "She heard my last name and gave a little squeak, saying she went to med school with you. Her name was...Dora, I think? Dora Fields?"

"Dora?" McCoy said, frowning as he chewed his salad. "Did she say her husband was a botanist?"

"I dunno. She did have a picture of her husband holding a plant on her desk, though," Rosie said, blinking. "She showed it to me."

"An old flame of yours, Bones?" Kirk said, pretending to be offended. "And why haven't I heard about this particular intergalactic hottie?"

"She wasn't my girlfriend," McCoy said, glaring at him. "She swore she was in love with me during the academy around the time I met Jocelyn. I, naturally, wasn't interested."

"I can go kick her, if you'd like," Kirk said in mock sympathy.

"Sounds like you kids had quite the time," Rorek chuckled, clearly enjoying this conversation. He glanced over at Spock afterward. "Spock, do you remember when we were counselors for that camp that one summer? On Xenon 3? Remember how that turned out?"