[ Jim shifts so that he's sitting sideways, facing him, one arm folded over the back of the seat. Contemplating both the predicament and Bones' profile, faintly illuminated by twinkling starlight. ]

You're right. The potential for shit to go wrong is endless, and it's terrifying.

[ No use trying to say otherwise, because saying otherwise would be false, and disingenuous anyway. They both know what lurks out here. ]

No matter what, someday, as a parent, you're gonna make a choice in good faith and something will go wrong. It's inevitable. That choice could just as easily be 'stay home' as it could be 'go for it'. We can't see the future.

[ Hm. ]

Well. Mostly. But I never saw anything in Ambassador Spock's head about Jo having a bad time.

[ Something Jim virtually never speaks of, but it's worth not pretending it doesn't exist, for the sake of Bones' kid. ]