Jim doesn't need to speculate. He knows. He's known what life he could have had since the moment Spock from the future pulled him into that unstable mindmeld, showing him not only the destruction of Romulus, but also the life of another James T. Kirk. One who still passed through the fires of Tarsus IV, but one who had a stable family at home to support him, to encourage his interests, to guide him down the paths of a normal life.

Not this.

"I'd be different."