Jim had paused expecting a lecture, expecting to get yelled at for the things that he'd said to the mother that had abandoned him. It didn't matter that she was from a point in time from before she left him, the truth of the matter was that she would. She'd pack her things and leave for some planet in another sector under the guise of orders she could not disobey and an environment that did not allow Starfleet Officers to bring their families along. Sam would take off and leave him, alone in that house with Frank. And to think Jim had gone running out of that room with that cute blonde girl in it, looking for that very man out of a gut-twisting fear that he'd get in trouble if he was found missing -- nevermind that Jim had pulled stunts like this before with his step-father, but it all, like always, came back to bite him in the ass.
And now, his father, his real father, was telling him that he loved him and was proud of him? He'd...never really heard that from family before. Teachers said it, but those who were kin to him? Never. The boy wasn't exactly sure how to the react to that.
"I know how to behave," he said after a moment, a fist clenching and unclenching at his side. "I just... I'm used to pissing people off, I guess." After all, if he actually did something to make them mad, at least he'd understand their anger.