Beloved Relatives

Fanfiction
Title:	Beloved Relatives
Author(s):	Gena Moretti
Date(s):	1991
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Beloved Relatives is a K/S story by Gena Moretti.

title page

It was published in the print zine As I Do Thee #17.

See some comments about this story at Some Fan Comments: Gena Moretti's Star Trek Fic.

Summary

"To thwart his mother's and aunt's constant urging toward his marrying, Kirk comes up with a surprise guest to bring along on his visit home."

Reactions and Reviews

1991

Nice little ’visiting Mon’ story. Alice seemed rather narrow-minded, but she made the story’s point. I wondered why Kate Kirk didn’t have more input into the situation, one way or the other. She sort of gave me the impression of being a shy little wallflower.

Some of the conversations in this story seemed more like speeches, especially toward the end, as one person would speak for continuous paragraphs without interruption or input from anyone else, which came off as a bit stilted and unnatural.

I was curious about any possible morality stigma in the 23rd century concerning a man marrying his ’half-cousin', even if said cousin was adopted. I tend to think in this century it would raise a few eyebrows, even though the individuals would not be genetically related.

Overall, a simple ’good feeling’ little story.

A nice, sweet, funny, sexy story from this dependable author. I loved the way Spock ’handles’ Kirk’s nosy relatives.

The idea of Spock ’pretending’ to be Kirk’s lover was priceless. Of course, once they were there, forced to sleep in the same bed in a cold room, the inevitable happened. An enjoyable story.

1992

There are elements to this story which give me a mixed reaction to it: some things I love and others didn't appeal to me at all. The main difficulty I had was with the portrayal of Kirk's mother. It just didn't ring true to me. Perhaps I've read too many other stories that portrayed her as an enlightened, independent classy lady to take this version seriously. It is said Kate and Kirk are very much alike which makes me wonder why she wouldn't know she couldn't manipulate him any way she wanted. The element I like best about the story was the portrayal of Spock as strong, confident and self-assured enough to take the opportunity to get what he wanted and to do whatever was necessary to keep it.

Coming home to "meet the folks" is something I always enjoy seeing explored. On this occasion, I found the author's interpretation to be entertaining and sometimes amusing. Kirk's smugness was very well suited to the character and the author really put me in touch with his thoughts and reactions.

I personally was uncomfortable with the unnecessary harshness with which Kirk sets his mother straight. I see him as more diplomatic than that, but mother's can be exasperating! I would also have liked it better had Mrs. Kirk been more fleshed out — we didn't really see too much of her. I don't mean to beoverly critical, though, because it was a good light read.

1999

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

As this story began, I could see big, big potential. Potential for trouble. Potential for love. And such a clever premise! I wish I'd thought of it! By page 4 I began to wonder if Kirk was having his leg pulled. You see, Spock was just too willing to participate in the deception of Kirk's match-making relatives. Just a little too receptive to the idea of portraying Kirk's lover so Kirk could convince the relatives they were too late. Somewhat implausible and thoroughly rewarding is Spock's singular involvement in his "role".

I don't want to give away the whole premise as this is such a delight to experience. I would urge anyone who's in need of a warm fuzzy feeling and a few chuckles to read or re-read it.