Leaning forward on the table, he placed his elbows on it even hearing his mom's voice in his head yellin' at him about table manners and etiquette. Still, he leaned in closer to smile just a little. "Like I'd ever forgot things that hurt you. Unless I prepared the peaches myself with ma, I wouldn't even let her try to feed it to ya."

That was the truth. Leonard would step on his own mother's toes to be sure Jim would be safe. And that really was sayin' somethin'.

"You think so? Make it hard for a guy to argue when you're talkin' about leavin' him for one of the two greatest women in his life. Wholly unfair." Between his ma and Jo, there really wasn't any room for much else in his life. Well, so he thought till the scrappy blonde with amazin' blue eyes went and tried to calm him down on a shuttle to Starfleet Academy. Had to admit, that completely blindsided him. (And those letters will be burned if he even dares try to find them.)

Smiling warmer still at that reasoning, he lightly nudged Jim's foot under the table. "You are special and I enjoy it more than I should." Even when it meant he got stuck doing something dangerous or flying somewhere. "Sayin' no to you is a real problem. I need to work on that."