By:AW

Published in Unicorn Press. Editor: Nancy Border & Pat
Hayden.

You can buy it from Unicorn Press @
http://members.aol.com/UnicrnPrs/press.htm

Disclaimer: You know it, I know it, I don’t own idea
of Star Trek: Voyager. I just own the story.

Date With Destiny II

2. A Request Granted

Kathryn had left Phoebe’s house and in a week hadn’t left the motel room where she was staying. She lay back in her bed and ran her hand over her
five-month-old fetus. What have I done?

She knew that tomorrow she would get up and go to see Tom and B’Elanna. She had heard of the tragic death of their daughter. No one deserved to be in, and live with, the pain and sorrow that had occurred to her crew. Yet, they lived on; the ones who had survived the Dominion battle. As the war had waged on, she had read the casualty reports day in and day out, reading
the names of fallen comrades and friends. So much had happened in so little time. So many people gone from her life; so many others entered.

She looked down as she felt her child kick her. She had stayed low key throughout her pregnancy; she had wanted this to stay a private affair. At her three month checkup, she had learned that the child she carried was a girl, maybe a child with her father’s dark skin and hair. No matter what, she hoped this daughter inherited her father’s keep obsidian eyes, the ones with an understanding beyond their years. She felt a tear slip down her cheek. Tomorrow she would find out if they would accept her daughter into their
lives…tomorrow.

The next day, she awoke early in the hopes of catching them before they made too much of their day. She put on a loose, flowing dress. One that had been altered but, she had worn on New Earth; his favorite dress. She threw her large coat over top. It wouldn’t be long before she could no longer hide, or deny, the fact that she carried a child within her womb. She went down to the hotel lobby and checked out, never to be seen by any of the strangers who had shared her space for a week again.

/\/\

Kathryn arrived at the Paris’ house around 9 am. She hoped she wasn’t waking them, or interrupting anything. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. Soon the door opened to reveal Tom Paris, who looked as if he had just woken up, sleep not yet cleared from his clear blue eyes which almost mirrored her own in their color.

“Kathryn?” Tom couldn’t believe it. Their long lost captain had returned.

“Yeah Tom. It’s me. Is B’Elanna home?”

Tom looked at her one last time, making sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. “Yeah, she’s getting breakfast ready. Have you eaten?”

Kathryn blushed thinking about how she really should be eating more in her condition. “Not yet Tom. I’m sorry to interrupt, I don’t know what I was thinking coming here at this hour on a Sunday…”

“No.” Tom grabbed her hand as she turned to flee the Paris home. “No, why don’t you come on in, have something to eat…I’m sure we have some coffee around her somewhere.”

Coffee. Now there’s something I haven’t had since I found I was pregnant. Months of hiding and of moving had taken their toll, Kathryn knew she looked pale and thin, despite her problem.

“Okay, Tom. I’ll come in. I have a request for you two. I need you both to hear me out, let me finish before you say anything. Please, for old times’ sake.”

Tom sensed something was bothering her, and her words just confirmed his suspicions. “Sure Kathryn, anything. Come on in.”

He led her to the kitchen. “Why don’t you give me your coat and I’ll hang it up for you.”

Kathryn tensed up and felt like a deer caught in the headlights. “No thanks, Tom. I’m a little cold. Maybe later.”

Was that fear he saw in Kathryn’s eyes? He left it alone. She was behaving strangely, but who was he to say anything to her. If she was cold so be it, but he had a feeling that there was something more going on. He brought her into the living room and let her sit herself down on the couch. B’Elanna walked into the room.

“Kathryn? Oh my god, is it really you? We thought something horrible had happened to you. It’s been so long.”

Before Kathryn realized what was happening B’Elanna ran up to her and pulled her into a huge bear hug. B’Elanna gasped. “Kathryn…”

Kathryn fell silent and nodded, tears threatening to spill over her lower lids. At the same time though she felt a sense of release at not having to hide, even if it was for only a minute. Kathryn removed her coat, and revealed her protruding abdomen to those around her. “Life hasn’t been the easiest, I guess. I’m here to ask you something that’s really important to me.”

B’Elanna nodded and Tom finally found his voice again. Kathryn let the tears roll down her cheeks, for once letting go of everything. She told them of the
trials of the months after Voyager. Of her life, of the child’s parentage. Of the choices she had made and the situationsshe had just begun to deal with when she discovered she was pregnant. She looked keep into B’Elanna’s eyes, and then Tom’s.

“I could never have murdered this child B’Elanna, but I have been hiding this pregnancy. I need you to keep it to yourselves. I have a friend a Starfleet medical who has been helping me out in private.” She took in a deep breath and hesitated. Now or never. “I love this baby already, but I’m not ready to be a mother yet. There are too many things I need to deal with. I don’t feel I could provide a stable environment for this child. I need…” This was the hardest thing she had ever done. She only hoped they would agree. “I need
someone to take care of my daughter, and I would really like it to be the two of you. I think you two could provide her a stable home and family in my
absence. Please?”

They saw the pleading in her eyes. Tom turned to B’Elanna, and no words were needed. This woman who had done so much for them over the years was asking for something in return, how could they deny her? B’Elanna
moved to sit beside Kathryn. She reached a tentative had out and at Kathryn’s nod of ascent placed it on her belly. “How could we not help you out? After all you’ve done for us.”

Kathryn smiled, the first real since their return to the Alpha Quadrant and Earth. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.” She stood up. “I need to go. There are some things that I need to do before she comes,” Kathryn patted her stomach.

They nodded their understanding and watched her walk out of their lives for a second time in less than a year. “Kathryn, take care. See you in a few months.”

TBC in Date With Destiny II - Chapter 3: Another Journey

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