THE BABYSITTER'S CLUB

by Heartwings

Set post Endgame, this story deals with that pesky C7 canon nobody liked anyway and has a very special crewman get Janeway and Chakotay on the right path. Note: this is NOT a babyfic!

THE BABYSITTER'S CLUB

"Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself, Katie?"

"Of course, Mother, I'll be fine!"

Gretchen put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, "I just feel so bad running off for an entire month when you've barely been home a month."

"It's been six weeks, Mom, and, like you said, getting invited to conduct a symposium at the Organian Institute of Applied Mathematics is a huge honor and a once in a lifetime opportunity. Besides, you accepted the invitation months ago and have it all planned out, you can't back out now. I'll be just fine here, now that all the hoopla, pomp and circumstance is over and I'm officially on extended leave, I'm really looking forward to resting and spending some quiet time here on the farm, maybe even getting a few things fixed up around here for you. I have a lot of reading to catch up on and I thought I might do some writing too."

"Well, all right, Katie, but just make sure you don't sit out here by yourself for the entire month, you need to get out and get back into circulation, meet new people and have some fun, maybe invite some of your friends from Voyager over. Would you like another cup of coffee?"

"Rhetorical question, Mom, thanks. I won't sit here like a rock the whole time, I promise, and I am getting out, Richard and I are going to see a play at the university and have dinner on Wednesday evening, remember?"

Gretchen sat a cup of coffee in front of Kathryn and joined her at the table. "Yes, Dear, and I'm glad you're seeing someone, although I don't exactly see what the two of you have in common."

Kathryn sat her PADD down, "We have a lot in common, Mother, we… we both like the theater, for one thing. Come on, we'd better get going; you don't want to miss your shuttle. Don't worry about me, Mom, I'll be just fine, send me a message to let me know you got there safely." Kathryn scratched the sleek black Doberman's ears as he slid his head into her lap, "Besides, I have Anubis here to keep me company, I won't be alone!"

When Kathryn returned from taking her mother to the shuttle port, she changed into an old T-shirt and jeans and curled up on the sofa as the Doberman did his best to dislodge her. She rubbed his belly, "Well, Nubs, it's just you and me, kid!" She gave up, let the dog have the sofa as she sat on the floor by the coffee table, and grabbed a PADD, "How about we make a list of the things that need doing around here and get some of them done and surprise Mom?" Anubis rolled on his side, moaned and lifted an eyelid. "Well, I can see you're not going to be much help!" Kathryn made her list and managed to crawl back on the sofa and snuggle up with the dog for a nap.

After about an hour, the signal of the com link awoke her. With some difficulty, she rolled out from under the huge dog and made it over to the desk. Seeing that the call was from Sam Wildman, her mood brightened considerably as she punched the button. "Hi, Sam, how are you?"

Sam returned her smile, "Hi, Kathryn, good to see you. Oh no, did I wake you?"

Kathryn realized her hair must be a mess and tried to smooth it back, "Oh, no, Nubby and I were just snuggled up on the couch."

Sam gave her a knowing smile and giggled, "Oh, Kathryn, I'm so sorry I interrupted something, why didn't you tell me that you had a new man in your life these days?"

Kathryn laughed and gave a whistle. The Doberman sprinted to her, put his paws in her lap, stuck his nose into the screen then licked Kathryn in the face. "All right, off, boy! Meet Anubis, the 'man' in my life, he's Mom's dog, but he's good company, we were just cuddled up on the couch, getting into some heavy petting," she giggled.

Sam gave her a disgusted look. "You've been home six weeks and a dog is the best you can do? You need to get out, Kathryn, get out and move on… and I don't mean taking the dog for a walk!"

Kathryn crossed her arms over her chest, "Yes, Mother! I am getting out, I'll have you know I have a date Wednesday night to go to the theater, I'm dating a guy I met at a party a couple weeks ago."

Sam grinned and leaned into the screen, "Do tell Kathryn! What's his name, what's he like? Tell me all about him!"

Kathryn sat back in her chair and sighed, "Well, there's nothing much to tell, his name is Richard Russell, he's an accountant, and we've been out twice, I met him for lunch one day and he took me to dinner the next time."

"And…?"

"And what? That's it, Sam."

Sam gave her a big smile. "Are you in love?"

Kathryn laughed and ran her hands through her hair, "No, nothing like that, we've just had two dates, and we hardly know each other." Anxious to change the subject she asked, "So, how is my special assistant?"

"Naomi's fine, she was a little shy at first and it was somewhat of an adjustment for her, but she and her father are getting along famously now. Kathryn, Naomi is the reason I'm calling. Were you serious when you said you'd take care of her if I ever needed a sitter?"

"Of course, Sam, I'd be delighted, I'm on leave and I don't have a thing to do, when do you need me?"

Sam's expression got serious. "Right away, Kathryn. Greskrendtregt's father passed away this morning and we need to leave as soon as possible for the funeral. I've called everyone I could think of, but I can't find anyone, anyone Naomi would be comfortable with, on such short notice and, the problem is, we'll probably be gone for at least two weeks, maybe three, what with the time it takes to get there, the length of Ktarian funerals and all. I know it's a lot to ask, Kathryn, but we can't take her, she's too young to attend a Ktarian funeral, and I think it would be too stressful for her anyhow, with all she's been through, and a funeral would not be the time for her to meet all her family there. I'm so sorry to have to ask, but we need to catch the last transport out tonight and I just don't know what else to do!"

"Oh, Sam, I'm so sorry! Yes, of course, I'd be glad to have Naomi come and stay. In fact, Mother just left for a month to present a symposium and I'm here all alone on the farm, I'd love some company!"

"Are you sure, Kathryn?"

"Yes, Sam, absolutely! I'm sorry for the circumstances, but I'd be delighted to have Naomi come and stay with me. Do you want me to beam out and pick her up, would that help out?"

"No, Greskrendtregt is making all our travel plans now, I've already got her things packed, if it's OK, I'll beam over in about an hour, you don't need to come all the way out here. Oh, Kathryn, I appreciate this so much and Naomi would be more comfortable with you than anyone else, she doesn't really know anyone here that well yet and most of the family is going to the funeral too. Are you sure it won't be an inconvenience for you?"

Kathryn smiled warmly, "No, not at all, I would really enjoy her company, you know I adore her and I've really missed her, we'll have lots of fun here on the farm and there's plenty of room, she can have my sister's old room, it's pink, she'll love it! I'm sending you the coordinates, don't you worry, we'll be just fine!"

Sam placed her fingers to the screen as Kathryn did the same. "Thank you so much, Kathryn, I really appreciate this, we'll see you in about an hour!"

Naomi and her mother arrived in less than forty-five minutes. Sam and Kathryn spoke quickly, but Sam had to hurry home to catch the shuttle, so the goodbyes were brief. Kathryn helped Naomi carry her things to her sister Phoebe's old room. "Here you go, Sweetie, you can have my sister's room, just make yourself at home and I'll put your things away. My room is right across the hall, so if you need anything or you can't sleep, you just let me know."

Naomi gave Kathryn a hug, "Thank you, Aunt Kathryn, I wish Mommy and Daddy didn't have to go away, but I'm glad I get to stay here with you, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too and it looks like you've grown since I last saw you. I'm glad you're here, I can always use the help of my special assistant and I would have been lonely without you, my mom had to go away on a trip for awhile too."

Naomi grabbed her Flotter doll from her backpack and jumped onto the bed. "Wow, this bed is so pretty, I really like it! Can we go and see the horses?"

"Sure, let's get your things put away and we'll go see them and put them in the barn for the night and feed them and then I can fix dinner, what would you like?"

"Spaghetti!" Naomi enthusiastically replied, "I love spaghetti and all Mom's been fixing is yucky Ktarian food, do you know how to make spaghetti?"

Kathryn gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, I can most certainly try! Aunt Katie isn't too handy in the kitchen without a replicator, but I'll give it my best shot."

Naomi's eyes got wide, "You don't have a replicator?"

"Well, no, my mother likes to cook the old fashioned way, so she doesn't have one, but she just went shopping so there's plenty of food, I'm sure we'll come up with something and you can help me."

After taking care of the horses and chickens and a tour of the farm, Kathryn and Naomi went to the kitchen and got to work on dinner. Kathryn's mother had been doing all the cooking since she'd been home and it took her awhile to get herself oriented in the kitchen. She rattled the pots and pans, did her best and slid a plate in front of Naomi as she said, "I hope you like it, I couldn't find the PADD with my mom's recipes, so I did the best I could and your salad looks delicious!"

Naomi looked up and smiled as she struck her fork into the spaghetti and it all came off the plate in one sticky lump. She grinned, used her spoon to pry it apart, took a bite and winced. "Aunt Kathryn, this doesn't taste like Neelix's spaghetti."

Kathryn passed her the grated cheese. "Well, Naomi, I'll take that as a compliment, sometimes food not tasting like Neelix's cooking is a good thing! Here, put a little cheese on it and maybe it'll taste better? I'm sorry it's all stuck together, I'm not quite sure why that happened."

Naomi heaped cheese on her spaghetti and smiled, "It's OK, you tried, and the garlic bread is good, you got that right."

Kathryn shrugged her shoulders, "Well, at least I can make toast, Sweetheart! Your salad is very good, Neelix would be proud of you and don't forget, we have brownies my mom made and three flavors of ice cream to pick from for dessert!" Kathryn tried without success to pry her spaghetti glob apart. "I'll just get us some knives, if we cut it up, it'll be easier to eat."

After dinner, they sat on the couch together and Naomi showed Kathryn a storybook she had made for her on a PADD, illustrated with pictures from Voyager. When Naomi got to the part about the beautiful princess and handsome prince and scrolled down to a picture of Kathryn and Chakotay taken when they were dressed for a formal party several years ago, Kathryn sharply drew in a breath as she looked at the picture.

Naomi stopped her story and looked up. "What's wrong, Aunt Kathryn?"

She put on her best fake smile, "Nothing, Sweetheart, please go on, I really like your story."

Naomi sat the PADD down. "It's Uncle Chakotay isn't it? You really miss him, don't you? You don't have to pretend, I know you're sad. Neelix said we don't have to be happy all the time, sometimes it's OK to be sad, but being sad isn't so bad if you have a friend to help you."

Kathryn wiped her eyes, "I'm fine, Dear. Of course I miss Chakotay, we were good friends. Please, go on with your story, it's getting late."

Naomi took Kathryn's hands. "I know you were good friends, best friends, but you stopped being friends. Why, did he do something bad?"

"No, of course not! Sometimes, after you've been friends for a long time, well, whatever it is that made you such good friends goes away, people change, get older, and move on, that's all. Chakotay was a good officer, I'm sure we'll always be friends."

"Has he called you or sent you messages or presents?"

"No, I haven't heard from him, but I don't expect to, I'm sure he's very very busy."

"He sends me lots of messages; he even sent me a present, a real Indian doll."

"That was very thoughtful of him. Well, let's get on with your story, shall we?"

"Aunt Kathryn, it's because of Seven isn't it? You were Chakotay's girlfriend, his beautiful princess, and then you weren't and then it was Seven, only she isn't like you, she can never be his beautiful princess because there has to be magic and there was only magic with you and Uncle Chakotay! You believe in magic, don't you?"

Kathryn didn't know quite what to say and took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Well, when you get older you don't believe in magic quite so much. Sweetie, Chakotay was never my boyfriend, I was the captain, I couldn't have a boyfriend, we were just friends, that's all, and I think your imagination has got the best of you!"

Naomi's eyes started to tear up. "But, you loved him didn't you?"

Kathryn put her arm around Naomi and hugged her, "Yes, I loved everyone on Voyager, we were all family."

"But, I mean, you loved him like Mommy loves Daddy, like the beautiful princess and the handsome prince and you're sad because he went away with the wicked witch!"

Kathryn gave Naomi another hug. "Naomi, Seven isn't the wicked witch, you know better than to say things like that, she's your friend! If Seven and Chakotay are happy together then we should be happy for them too, that's the grown up thing to do. Now come on, show me the rest of your story, it's really very good."

Naomi got up. "No, I'm tired and I'll have to rewrite the ending, it was supposed to be a happily ever after love story. Is it OK if I go to bed now?"

"Sure, I'm kind of tired too, I'll get you tucked in and you just let me know if you need anything."

When Kathryn had Naomi safely tucked into bed, she went back downstairs to have a cup of coffee and curled up on the sofa with Anubis. She pulled Naomi's PADD from between the cushions and read the rest of her story. Of course, being from a little girl's imagination, the beautiful Princess Kathryn and handsome Prince Chakotay got married, had lots of little princes and princesses and lived happily every after in their Starfleet castle. As tears ran down her cheeks, Kathryn showed the dog a picture at the end of the story of herself and Chakotay sitting together on some Delta Quadrant planet she had long ago forgotten the name of and gently stroked his head. "Oh, Anubis, I had my chance and I blew it! He really was a handsome prince, but even the best of princes won't wait around forever and some beautiful young blonde princess who has twice your chassis and half your mileage will come along and steal your prince away. If only he could have waited another month or two, we would have been home and maybe things could have been different! Oh well, what do you say you and me go upstairs and get some sleep?"

The dog, who seemed to understand every Human word, gave her a gentle look with his big brown eyes and started up the stairs as Kathryn checked the doors, turned off the lights and followed him. As she slid into bed and nudged him over, she let out a sigh, "At least you're not sleeping alone, Princess Katie!"

The next morning Kathryn's feet had barely hit the floor when Naomi started enthusiastically rapping on her door. "Come on in, Naomi," she replied as she put on her robe.

"Aunt Kathryn, can we go feed the chickens now? You said I could feed them and see if there's any eggs! Can we eat the eggs for breakfast?"

"Of course, but let me get dressed and have some coffee, I don't think I could find the henhouse without a cup of coffee first."

"OK, I know how to make coffee, I'll go make you some, I do that for Mommy and Daddy every morning, it's my job. They're like you; they're totally useless until they've had some coffee. C'mon, Anubis, you can help me!"

"Thank you, Sweetheart, I'll be right down. Can you let Anubis out, but make sure you let him out the back door so he's in the part of the yard with the fence? He's not allowed to run loose unless someone is with him."

"OK, may I feed him too? He looks hungry."

Kathryn laughed, "He's always hungry! His food is in the pantry, he'll show you where it is, but he only gets one scoop, no matter what he tells you, just ONE scoop. Understood?"

Naomi snapped to attention, "Yes, Ma'am! C'mon, Anubis, we have to make Aunt Kathryn coffee!" The two ran from the room as Kathryn shook her head and grinned.

After breakfast Kathryn showed Naomi the list of things she wanted to fix up to surprise her mother and they decided that repairing and repainting the bookshelves in the den would be a good project, so they headed into Bloomington and got the supplies they needed. It took the better part of the afternoon to take all the books off the shelves, dust them and pile them up on the other side of the room, but they finally got finished and Kathryn spread some tarps down to protect the floor. She went to the cellar to get the toolbox as Naomi started wiping down the shelves.

When she returned Naomi announced, "Aunt Kathryn, there's a call for you on the com link."

Continually weary of reporters who somehow managed to get through to her, Kathryn asked, "Who is it, Dear?"

"Some man, he said his name is Mr. Russell. Can I open the paint?"

"No, let's wait until I get back, OK? Can you keep wiping off the shelves?"

"Sure!"

Kathryn was gone for about ten minutes and returned with a fresh cup of coffee. "Naomi, Richard is going to come over and help us after work and bring a pizza for dinner, would that be OK?"

"Sure, I like pizza. Who is he? He didn't seem very friendly."

"He's a friend. He's very nice, he probably just didn't know who you were, that's all."

"Is he your boyfriend, Aunt Kathryn?"

"Well, not really, I just met him a couple weeks ago, we're just friends, his name is Richard Russell, he's an accountant, I'm sure you'll like him."

"Well, OK, if he's bringing pizza I guess it's all right."

They spent the rest of the afternoon fixing the shelves as some of the brackets had come loose from the wall. Satisfied that she had them reattached securely, Kathryn opened the paint and they started painting the shelves on sawhorses they had set up over the tarps. Kathryn wasn't the neatest painter in the world and Naomi had never painted before, so it didn't take them long to get almost as much paint on themselves as on the shelves.

"Good thing we bought lots of paint!" Kathryn giggled as she wiped a spatter from Naomi's nose. "That's the door, it must be Richard, why don't you put the lid back on the paint and take the brushes to the sink so I can wash them and I'll be right there and then we can have dinner?"

"OK, I'll set the table, I saw where you keep the dishes and Neelix taught me how to set a table."

Kathryn opened the front door and Richard took a step back when he saw her. "She looked down and smiled, "Sorry, I've been painting. Please come in, it was nice of you to stop by and bring a pizza. Come on in the kitchen and I'll introduce you to Naomi."

He stepped in and looked around. "Wow, Kathryn, this is certainly very… rustic. Is she staying for dinner?"

"Well, I told you my mom lived on a farm! Yes, Naomi is my friend Samantha Wildman's daughter, Sam's father in law passed away and they had to go to the funeral on Ktar, so I'll be taking care of her for the next couple of weeks."

"Weeks? Oh, that's nice," he replied as he followed Kathryn to the kitchen, clearly disappointed they wouldn't be alone.

"She's a perfectly delightful little girl, she was born on Voyager not long after we left, the first of two children born on the ship, I'm sure you'll like her. Come in the den first and I'll show you what we were working on. I'm glad you'll help, did you bring any old clothes?"

Richard, still carrying the pizza box, took a look around, carefully dodging the mess. "Well, looks like quite a project! Sorry, I didn't have time to stop by my apartment to get any old clothes. Kathryn, let's eat this pizza before it gets cold."

Kathryn smiled, "OK, I guess you can't paint in your good clothes, so maybe we can play kadis-kot after dinner instead?"

"Mmm hum," Richard mumbled as he followed her to the kitchen.

Throughout dinner, Naomi was very quiet and Richard and Kathryn did most of the talking, but the pizza didn't last as long as the conversation did. After dinner they retired to the living room and set up the kadis-kot game, however Richard announced that he had to leave after only one game, complaining that he had a bad headache, probably from the smell of the paint. As Naomi set up the board for another game, Kathryn escorted him to the door and he gave her a kiss on the cheek before he left. She returned the kiss and smiled, "I hope you feel better, Richard, I'll see you Wednesday night, I'll beam to the theater and then you can drive me home."

Kathryn got herself another cup of coffee and joined Naomi on the sofa as they started another game. As Kathryn dropped a piece into the board she said, "I'm sorry Richard wasn't feeling well and had to leave early, did you like him, Sweetie?"

Naomi continued concentrating on the game as she replied, "I don't think he was sick, I think he just wasn't having a good time, I don't think he liked me very well either and he's kinda boring, but the pizza was good."

Kathryn grinned, "Well, he doesn't have any children and he's an only child, so I suspect he was just a little uncomfortable, I'm sure he liked you. He's not boring; he was just being a little quiet this evening, probably because he didn't feel well. It's supposed to rain all weekend, what would you like to do?"

"Well, we didn't get much painting done today and it was fun, maybe we can paint some more?"

"OK, sounds like a plan! It's getting late, how about we make this the last game and go upstairs and I'll get one of the story books my daddy used to read me when I was little and read you one of my favorite stories?"

"OK, I'd really like that, Aunt Kathryn!" Naomi grinned as she slid in the piece that defeated Kathryn again. Kathryn put on her biggest frown and jammed her hands on her hips, largely because she was not trying to let Naomi win.

The rain was unrelenting all weekend, but it did allow them to get the painting finished. Unfortunately, it also created a new project for the coming week as the screen porch roof started leaking, just slow drips at first, but by Sunday evening, it required every bucket in the house to catch the water and Kathryn feared the floor would be ruined as well.

On Monday morning it finally stopped raining and the sun made an occasional tentative but welcome appearance. While Naomi was busy putting the books back on the shelves in the den, Kathryn dragged out the area rugs from the porch and draped them over a fence so that they could dry out. She went to the storage shed for the ladder and repair supplies, determined to go up on the porch roof, find the source of the leak and repair it, although she had to admit she had never actually repaired a roof before. The ladder was very heavy and, after a few paces, she realized dragging it would be easier than carrying it, so she slowly made her way back to the house, dragging the ladder along behind her, mad that she couldn't find any antigravs in the shed. As Kathryn reached the front of the house, the thick lawn and soggy ground made her task even more difficult, so she got a better grip, gritted her teeth and headed for the back yard. After a few more steps the ladder suddenly started moving more easily; she looked behind her to see why.

"Chakotay!" she screamed as she dropped her end of the ladder. "What are you doing here?"

He extended his hand to her, however she remained in place. "Hello, Kathryn, it looks like you could use a hand. Here, let me carry that for you."

She stood her ground and crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't answer my question, what are you doing here?"

"My reinstatement hearing was this morning at Starfleet; I'm surprised you weren't there." He stretched out his collar with the three shiny new pips on it. "In case you're interested, I was reinstated."

"So you were," she said as she inspected her muddy boots in lieu of looking at him. "I wasn't ordered to attend and, as you can see, I have things to do. You still haven't explained what you're doing here." She eyed the duffel bag he had with him, "What do you have that thing for? If you thought you'd just stop by for a visit and stay here, think again, Commander!"

He took a few steps towards her and held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Thank you, Admiral, and congratulations again on the promotion by the way. Nothing of the sort, Kathryn, I was going to drop by Tom and B'Elanna's after my hearing and surprise them and hope I could stay there until the next transport home, but it seems they left yesterday for a belated honeymoon trip, so the surprise was on me. When that didn't work out I decided to drop by and surprise Sam and Naomi Wildman, but they weren't home either, neighbors said they had a death in the family and had to go away and Harry Kim is off visiting relatives. Anyhow, since I hadn't heard from you since we got home, I just thought I'd stop by and say hello and see if you were OK, that's all." He twiddled his earlobe and grinned, "I come in peace, Kathryn."

"I see. Well, I'm pretty busy, have a safe trip home… and uh… congratulations," Kathryn replied as she turned her back to him and bent down to pick up the ladder.

He snatched it from her and hoisted it onto his shoulder. "Fine, Kathryn, but please at least let me carry this for you. Where do you want it and what do you need it for?"

Not one to look a sturdy gift horse in the mouth, she started for the back yard. "Follow me, the porch roof was leaking yesterday, so I was going to go up there and fix it." She pointed to where she wanted the ladder and he leaned it up against the edge of the roof. "Thank you," she replied as she climbed up onto the roof and started looking around, hoping that he would get the hint and leave.

After a few minutes, he shouted up to her, "Have you found the leak yet? Often times a roof doesn't leak near where the water was coming inside, you know, it may be farther up and it ran down the beam." He looked at the supplies she had assembled to patch the roof. "Kathryn, theses aren't the right kind of nails to use with shingles." Still receiving no reply, he climbed up onto the roof with her and started looking around. "Kathryn, here's where it's leaking, the flashing up against the house came loose, why don't you let me fix it for you?"

She walked over and looked where he was pointing. "Fine, but I think I can handle nailing it back, thank you."

He shook his head. "Kathryn, you can't just nail it back, you have to apply compound too and replace these warped shingles, it will probably leak next time there's a good rain and you've got some loose shingles over there and the gutter is all messed up. Why don't you get off the roof and let me fix it properly? You don't have the right kind of supplies down there, do you have more stuff? I'd be glad to fix it for you," he grinned, "You know I'm pretty good with leaky roofs!"

She managed a slight smile. "Well, OK, I'd appreciate it; I have to admit I don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing."

"OK, go on back down and I'll follow you. I have some old clothes with me, do you mind if I change? This is my best uniform and I don't want to mess it up."

Kathryn kept talking as she descended the ladder. "You can change in the tool shed. There's all kinds of stuff in there, maybe you can find the right kind of nails and all?"

He grabbed his duffle bag and followed her to the shed. It was a disorganized mess and he looked around and finally found what he needed. "Kathryn, that roof is in pretty sad shape, it really would be best to replace it."

"Well, I'll talk to Mother about it when she gets back, but I think a patch job is fine for now, Chakotay. She has a handy man who does repairs for her, but I don't know who it is, I would have called him if I'd known, I couldn't find his name. Well, thank you, I have things to do inside, let me know if you can't find what you need, and have a safe trip home." Without further ado, Kathryn left him and returned to the house, slamming the door behind her.

Chakotay changed, rummaged around the shed and found everything he needed, so he went back on the roof and proceeded with the repairs. The hammering was the easy part, each time he swung the hammer he thought of Kathryn and how stupid he had been to give up on her and try to move on, and such a short time before they found their way home. Of course he'd had no way of knowing that they were so close to home when he started spending time with Seven, but seeing Kathryn again, even a cold unfriendly Kathryn who hadn't even bothered to show up at his reinstatement hearing, just confirmed that she was the woman to whom his heart belonged. Admiral Paris had shown him the report she had submitted for his reinstatement hearing and it was glowing, obviously the woman was not petty enough to let a personal conflict and her hurt feelings lead her to seek professional revenge; she was a consummate officer. Still, he had thought his CO for the last seven years should have shown up for the hearing and even Paris was surprised she wasn't there.

When Kathryn went back into the house it was nearing lunch time and she knew Naomi still took a long nap after lunch, so she explained the noise away as "a man" fixing the roof. Kathryn did not want to tell Naomi that it was Chakotay, as she would undoubtedly want to see him and insist he stay. Kathryn felt awful essentially lying to the girl, but she reasoned Chakotay would finish when Naomi was asleep and would leave right after, so there was no need for her to know he had been there or for him to know she was there; that was a can of worms Kathryn simply did not want to open. If he came to the door when he was finished, she'd just thank him, say goodbye and shut the door. Knowing him, he would want to talk and make apologies, but she wanted nothing to do with that, what was done was done, she had licked her wounds dry and it was time to move on.

When Naomi went upstairs for her nap Kathryn went to the study to finish replacing the books. Naomi had done a good job of replacing them, but hadn't been able to reach the higher shelves so there were still many books to be put away. She noticed that the hammering on the roof had stopped, so she hoped Chakotay had decided to leave of his own accord and she would check his work when she had finished and he had no doubt gone. As Kathryn slipped a beautiful antique complete works of Surak onto the top shelf, she took a step back to admire her work and was summarily rewarded with a resounding crash as the top shelf fell, taking the three below it along for the ride, and showering her with dozens of heavy books as she ducked and fell to the floor.

She lay there for a moment under the avalanche of books, slightly stunned, but more disappointed than hurt as almost three days of hard work had just come crashing down upon her. Kathryn tried to sit up and put her hand to her face, feeling pain and the sticky warmth of her blood, before she succumbed and fell back under the stack of books.

She awoke to a stabbing pain just above her nose. "Lay still, Kathryn," Chakotay said as he pressed his handkerchief to her to stop the blood. "Are you OK? What happened? I'm sorry to barge in, but I heard a crash and you scream and then you didn't answer the door and it was unlocked, so I came in and I'm glad I did. Here, keep this pressed to stop the bleeding and let me clear these books off you and help you up."

Kathryn moaned as she came to grips with the throbbing in her head. "I'm fine, the books fell, that's all." She tried to get up, but was still too shaken to do so and her nose started to bleed in earnest as soon as she sat up.

"Oh no you don't!" Chakotay exclaimed as he picked her up and laid her down on the couch. "You stay right there and I'll got get some ice and towels to clean you up, I don't think it's too serious, but I won't know until I can get a better look." He went to the kitchen and returned with some wet towels and a bag of ice. "Here, let me clean you up, this doesn't look too bad, the cut is tiny, most of the blood is from your nose, just hold the ice to it, tilt your head forward and it'll stop." Kathryn closed her eyes for a few minutes as the ice dulled the pain and the bleeding finally stopped. Chakotay wiped up the remainder of the blood and took a closer look. "I don't think it's too serious, but you should probably beam out to Starfleet and have a doctor look at it, that cut may need to be closed up, you got a pretty good bump on the head. Did you fall off the stepladder into the shelves or did the books fall on you?"

Kathryn sat up and leaned against the throw pillows. "The shelf collapsed and books fell on me, I wasn't on the ladder when it happened. I'll beam out later and get it checked out, I can't leave right now, Naomi is upstairs taking a nap, I'm surprised the noise didn't wake her."

Chakotay's face lit up, "Why didn't you tell me Naomi was here? You know I'd love to see her, I told you I went to her house before here." He thought for a moment before he went on. "Kathryn, are you so pissed off at me and so petty that you'd keep her from seeing me just because you hate my guts? I can't believe you'd do that. Kathryn, I think we need to talk, there are some things I want you to know, I've sent you dozens of messages, but you didn't answer a one of them."

She ran her fingers through her hair. "Messages? I haven't even heard from you since I got back, I figured you were too busy in the sack to bother writing me," she sniped.

"Kathryn!" Chakotay replied with a tone of anger she had never heard directed at her before. "That's not true! I know you obviously think I'm the lowest form of life on the planet right now, but I wrote to you dozens of times, if you'd bothered to read any of them you'd know I bared my soul to you and apologized repeatedly. For your information I was never in the sack with Seven, she left weeks ago, there was nothing to it like I told you, we were just friends. I wasn't exactly welcomed home with open arms on Dorvan, I'm Starfleet and the people there have nothing but contempt for Starfleet, blame them for letting the Cardassians practically destroy the planet, and they liked Seven even less. She left weeks ago, she's found her aunt in Sweden, I haven't even heard from her. If you'd read my messages, you would know. I'm not lying Kathryn, nothing happened and I did send you the messages!"

Kathryn sat upright and swung her feet to the floor. "I never got any messages!" She gave him and angry stare that eventually softened somewhat as she recalled, "Oh, somehow the press got Mother's com link information, we had to get a new one a couple days after I got back, the old one was flooded with hundreds of messages, I guess I never told you."

"I guess it must have slipped your mind!" He drew in a quick breath, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sure you've been busy. I really think you need to see a doctor; you might have a concussion or something. Why don't you beam out and I'll stay here, in case Naomi wakes up, and I'll leave right away when you get back, I promise. I'd really like to talk to you, but if you don't want to talk to me, well, I guess I can't make you." He tried to take her hands, but she wouldn't let him. "I'm sorry, Kathryn, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you, but I thought you made it clear you weren't interested." When she didn't reply he added, "Go on and get that cut checked out and get cleaned up, you know it would upset Naomi to see you all bloody like that, it looks a lot worse than it probably is." She still made no effort to move. "Go on, you can trust me to stay here, I'm not going to steal the silver or anything!" He stared gathering the bloody towels. "Kathryn, I won't even see Naomi unless she wakes up, but, if it's all right with you, I would like to spend a day with her, I'd already arranged it with her parents. I have a present in my bag for her, may I leave it here? Sam probably sent me a message when they had to leave, but it took me several days to get here and I haven't checked my messages since I left. I'll just pick her up for a day, you won't even have to see me if you don't want to, would that be OK?"

Kathryn tried to pull herself together as she spoke. "Yes, that would be fine if her parents said it was OK, Sam's father-in-law died and they had to rush off to the funeral and were stuck for someone to take care of Naomi. They won't be back for a couple weeks and my mom left Friday for a month to go conduct a symposium." Kathryn started rooting around in the desk as she held her aching head, "Damn, I can't find my com badge, maybe it's upstairs?"

He retrieved his from his pocket and handed it to her, "Here, use mine, you're still a little wobbly on your feet, you probably shouldn't climb any stairs. Go on, you need to get going, your eyes look a little funny, I think maybe you hit your head harder than you think; that's a lot that fell on you. Do you mind if I use your bathroom or would you prefer I go outside and use the bushes?"

Kathryn cracked a slight smile, "Go ahead, it's right through there, I'll be back as fast as I can, just tell Naomi what happened if she wakes up before I get back, but she usually takes a pretty long nap and we were up late last night."

"OK, Kathryn, don't worry about anything, I'll just…" but she beamed away before he could finish. "Gods but I love that woman!" he exclaimed as he took the bloody towels back to the kitchen and disposed of them so Naomi wouldn't see them. He couldn't resist the temptation to have a look around the first floor of the house before he returned to the den and began picking up all the fallen books and neatly stacking them. The house was just what he imagined it would be, a comfortable old-fashioned farmhouse that was warm and inviting and no doubt held many wonderful memories for Kathryn.

It only took a little over twenty minutes for Kathryn to return. She was obviously still a bit wobbly as she immediately sat on the sofa and placed the cold pack they had given her to her forehead. Chakotay moved to sit beside her. "Here, let me see." She turned away and it was apparent the sudden movement made her dizzy. Chakotay got up, grabbed her ankles and tugged her into a lying position. "Kathryn, for heaven's sake, I'm not going to hurt you! Now, let me see, did you have a concussion?"

She felt so queasy she had no choice but to succumb to his pampering as he tossed an afghan over her. "Yes, I did, a pretty good one actually. Is Naomi still asleep?"

"Yes, haven't heard a peep out of her. Do you need anything, would you like something to eat or drink?" She moaned a no in reply. "Fine, but I'm staying until she wakes up, I'm sure they told you that you shouldn't be alone just after a concussion, so don't bother trying to argue, I'm staying and that's that, but I promise I'll leave as soon as Naomi gets up and we've had a chance to say hello and make arrangements to get together, OK?"

"Fine!" Kathryn huffed. "I see you picked up all the books, you didn't have to do that, thank you." She relaxed into the sofa and didn't protest as Chakotay sat on the floor beside her head. "If you want anything, go in the kitchen and help yourself, OK?"

"You're welcome, Kathryn," he said as he adjusted the pillows to make her more comfortable. "I can see why they fell, I checked them out and it looks like someone did some work on the shelves, only they didn't securely attach them to the studs and the wall wasn't strong enough to support the books' weight. In an old house like this the brackets have to be put into the studs, old walls can't support much weight as modern ones can. I can fix them if, you want, and repair the damage to the wall. I'm going to get a glass of water, are you sure you wouldn't like one?"

Kathryn tried to sit up, but the pounding in her head convinced her not to. "Alright, maybe a glass of water, they gave me a pill to take for the pain, but don't worry about the shelves, I'll get someone to fix them, I'm the one that tried to fix them and I guess I didn't do it right."

Chakotay laughed, "You sure didn't! Stay there, don't try to get up, I'll be right back." He returned quickly with two glasses of water, handed her one and helped her sit up enough to take a few sips and swallow her pill before he sat the glass on the coffee table and sat down on the floor beside her again. "Kathryn, would you at least talk to me? I now realize some of the problem was due to messages that you never received, but I really want to talk to you, to explain what happened, or, better put, what didn't happen. I would really like for us to be friends again."

"Chakotay, there's nothing to talk about. If you thought you could just waltz back here into my life and I'd crawl into bed with you, you're wrong! I'm not about to be the consolation prize because your girlfriend half your age left you, you should have thought about that before you crawled into her bed!"

"Kathryn, that's not fair, you know me better than that!" he shouted as he stood to make eye contact with her. She tried to get up, but he gently held her down. "Kathryn, you're going to listen to me whether you like it or not, I won't hurt you, but I'm going to make you listen. First off, I was concerned I hadn't heard from you at all and I just stopped by to say hello and to see if you were OK, Paris told me you were at your mother's house and where it was. I was surprised when you didn't show up at my hearing today and I was concerned and, quite frankly, so was Admiral Paris when you didn't show up. As for that remark about me just wanting to get into your bed or whatever you said, that was uncalled for, there was no reason for that! Kathryn, our relationship was based on mutual trust, respect and friendship, there was never anything sexual about it, I never put any pressure on you did I? Did I?"

She had to capitulate, "No, you didn't, I apologize, you're right, it was uncalled for, but how do you expect me to react when you ran off with Seven and then come waltzing in here like it never happened? Do you really think I'm a bitch because I'm angry and hurt?"

He sat back down on the floor. "I never said you were a bitch, Kathryn. You do have a right to feel the way you do, I suppose, but I did everything I could and all you did was to push me farther away and find every excuse in the book not to spend anymore time with me than you had to the last couple months on Voyager. I swear, I heard 'dismissed' more often than hello and had gotten to the point where I thought 'commander' was my name. I know you were under tremendous pressure out there, I know that better than anyone does, but you started pushing me away long before I had ever spent any time with Seven. If it bothered you so much, why didn't you say something?"

She rolled onto her side and faced him. "Because I had no right to. Who was I to tell you not to find someone who could make you happy, someone prettier and younger and someone who could be more to you than I could? You and I had gotten comfortable together, as comfortable as an old pair of jeans, but there comes a time when you eventually have to throw those old jeans out and get a new pair, a better pair."

"And you think that's what Seven was?"

Kathryn rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, "Wasn't she?"

"No, Kathryn, not at all and you should know that. Although I now know Seven might have misinterpreted friendship for something more in her naïveté, nothing happened, nothing. I never had sex with her or anything even close, I didn't love her. She had no idea what she was doing and hopefully you know me well enough to know I wouldn't take advantage of her, of anyone, like that. Yes, she went home to Dorvan with me and she stayed at my sister's house, she didn't have any place to go until she found her aunt. Seven had a miserable time and it wasn't a week until her aunt convinced her she didn't belong there and to go to live with her. Was I flattered someone like her would want to spend time with me? Yes, I freely admit that and to being desperate to replace what you and I shared, although I know I never really could. Kathryn, you are the best friend I have ever had and ever will have, can't you somehow find it in your heart to forgive me? I miss you, Kathryn, I miss you so much, nobody could ever replace you in my life, I miss you desperately and… and I love you."

"Humph!" She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

He again stood and looked her directly in the eyes, waiting for them to open before he spoke. "Do you think I'm lying? Have you ever known me to lie to you? Have you, Kathryn, have you?"

"No." Kathryn turned her head so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Chakotay, whatever we had or didn't have is gone now. I think you need to pick up and move on. I have, I'm seeing someone and maybe you should do the same, go find someone who can be what you need and want, because that someone isn't me, it never was."

"You're wrong about that, Kathryn. What happened out there, why didn't you talk to me? We've always been able to talk to each other about anything, why didn't you talk instead of shoving your damn pips in my face and trying to order me out of your life? What happened, what did I do or what happened to you? Kathryn, I think I have a right to an explanation, to know…"

He was interrupted by Naomi's shout, "Uncle Chakotay!" as she ran to him and he picked her up in his arms and twirled her around. "You're here, you're back! Look, Aunt Kathryn, he came back! Oh, Aunt Kathryn, what happened to you?" Chakotay put her down and she sat beside Kathryn as she lay on the sofa and Anubis nuzzled her. "Your head, what happened?"

Kathryn sat up a little, "Nothing, Sweetheart, I just had a little accident, the bookshelves broke and the books fell on me, I'm fine, really, I went to see the doctor, just a bump on the head and a little headache, that's all." She finally made it to her feet, albeit a bit unsteady, "I'm going to go lie down on the sofa in the living room, it's more comfortable. Why don't you stay in here and visit with Chakotay?" She gave him a stern look, "He has to leave soon."

"OK, but you're not walking very well. Chakotay, can you help her please?" Kathryn flashed him a death glare as she precariously crept her way out of the room.

"Naomi, I'm sure she'll be fine." He raised his voice, "She's just too stubborn to accept any help, that's all! I brought you a present, why don't we go outside and get my bag and I'll give it to you? I think Aunt Kathryn needs to lie down for awhile, she has a headache, but I'm sure she'll feel fine in a few minutes, I'll check on her before I leave." He rubbed the Doberman's ears, "Who's your friend here?"

"Oh, that's Anubis, he's Aunt Kathryn's mother's dog and he's so cool! Don't worry, he's friendly!"

They sat in the den and talked for nearly two hours as Chakotay repaired the shelves and they put the books back. When they were finished they went in together to check on Kathryn, however she was sound asleep, so they went to the kitchen. Naomi rooted around, "I'm hungry, are you sure Aunt Kathryn is OK?"

"Yes, she's just asleep, the doctor gave her some medicine so she'd rest, I think she needs to and it is the best way to get rid of a headache. Why don't we fix something for dinner, I'm sure she won't feel like fixing dinner when she gets up. What would you like?"

"I dunno, just not leftovers from anything Aunt Kathryn fixed, OK? It was all pretty yucky, I tried to sneak my dinner to the dog last night and he wouldn't eat it; she can't cook, can she? I thought she said you had to leave soon?"

Chakotay opened the cupboards and looked around, "No, I can stay until she wakes up. You're right, she's not a very good cook, but she tries real hard, so don't say anything, OK? Where's the replicator?"

Naomi let out a sigh, "This is her mother's house, she doesn't have one, she lives like cave people! Don't worry, I know better than to say anything about Aunt Kathryn's cooking, some of it was OK if you didn't look and her boyfriend brought a pizza the other night and it was really good." Naomi went into the pantry and rummaged around, not realizing what she had just said.

Chakotay took a moment to gather himself together, Kathryn had told him she was dating someone, but somehow he thought that maybe she had just made it up. He was crushed as the reality set in, she was a beautiful woman and a celebrity, and certainly, men must be beating a path to her door. "What's wrong, Uncle Chakotay?" Naomi asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He refocused his attention on dinner, "Nothing, Sweetheart, I'm just a little tired, that's all. Decide what you'd like for dinner?"

Naomi tightened her hug to a death grip as she began to cry, "Chakotay, why aren't you and Aunt Kathryn friends anymore? What happened, did you have a fight and why did you leave with Seven? That made her cry you know, she thought nobody saw her, but I did, and she was crying. I was so scared; I'd never ever seen Captain Janeway cry! Did you hurt her?"

He picked her up and sat at the table with her on his lap as he hugged her. "It's complicated, Naomi, and I don't really know how to explain it. I would never hurt Kathryn on purpose and I didn't mean to if I did."

"Then, why did you fall in love with Seven if you loved Captain Janeway? You do love Aunt Kathryn, don't you?"

He rocked her, more for his benefit than hers. "I never fell in love with Seven, Honey, we were just friends, Seven went home to live with her aunt more than a month ago. She wanted to visit my planet, but she didn't like it and went to be with her family."

Naomi looked up as tears danced on her eyelashes. "You didn't answer my question, don't you love Aunt Kathryn?"

"Yes, of course I do and I love you too! Come on and help me out so I can fix dinner for the two prettiest ladies in the world!"

There was plenty of food in the kitchen, so they prepared a salad, two casseroles and some steamed vegetables. Naomi insisted upon making strawberry shortcake for dessert and Kathryn slowly walked in as they were applying the whipped the cream.

Naomi ran to her and hugged her. "Do you feel better now?"

Kathryn walked over and inspected her strawberry creation, slightly lopsided, but definitely very decadent looking. "Oh my, but that looks wonderful and something certainly smells good in here. Yes, I feel better, but I still have a little bit of a headache. Can you please set the table, Sweetheart?" Kathryn got a cup of coffee and leaned on the counter to steady herself as she spoke to Chakotay and satisfied Anubis' need to have his ears scratched again. "I went to the den first, I see you fixed the shelves and put all the books back. It looks very nice, thank you, and thank you for taking care of Naomi and fixing dinner, that was very thoughtful of you."

He gave her a smile, "You're welcome, Kathryn, but Naomi helped me on both projects. Well, I guess I had better be going, are you sure you'll be OK here with just Naomi?"

Naomi overheard them and joined them. "Aren't you staying for dinner, Chakotay? I set the table for three, can't you please stay? Oh, Aunt Kathryn, can't he please stay? Please?"

Kathryn rubbed her aching temple again, "Well, alright, I suppose." Naomi hugged her and started putting the food onto the table.

Chakotay spoke to her quietly, "Kathryn, I did promise you I'd leave and I will. I can make up something to tell her, that I have a meeting I just remembered or something and I'll call tomorrow to make arrangements to spend the day with her, I'm not…"

She held up her hand and silenced him. "No, you might as well stay. You did all that work around here and fixed dinner and all, it's the least I can do and she just adores you."

Chakotay offered Kathryn his arm to escort her to the table and grinned, "Well, at least someone does!"

The meal really was excellent and it made Naomi very happy that Chakotay stayed. Kathryn and Chakotay managed to keep civil tongues and engage in amicable but meaningless conversation during the meal. After dinner, Naomi volunteered to clear the table and clean up while Kathryn and Chakotay had coffee in the living room.

They sat on the couch and Chakotay asked, "How's your head feel now? I can tell you're still hurting."

"It's OK, not as bad as before, the pill and the nap helped, but I'm a little stiff and sore. That was a delicious dinner, thank you again."

"You're welcome. Kathryn, can we talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about, Chakotay, weren't you listening to me before?"

"Weren't you listening to me? Kathryn, you're not going to just throw away the last seven years, are you? Dammit, woman, I love you!"

She picked up a PADD and started reading, "I suggest you get over it, end of discussion!"

He moved and sat beside her, just stared at her and then cracked a smile. "Sorry, I was waiting for the 'dismissed, Commander'! Kathryn, please, can't we at least talk?"

Kathryn threw down her PADD and got up off the sofa. "I think you should leave now. Go say goodbye to Naomi and you can see yourself out."

Naomi had been standing in the doorway and rushed in. "Oh no, please don't go now, you said you'd play kadis-kot with me after dinner! You don't really have to leave! Oh, Aunt Kathryn, can't Chakotay stay for a while longer? Please?" she begged as she began crying. "I'll do whatever you want, please just let him stay so we can play kadis-kot, oh please! Why can't the two of you be friends again?"

Chakotay took her onto his lap and wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, Naomi, I shouldn't have told you I would stay without making sure it was alright with Kathryn first. Sweetie, this is her house and she makes the rules, so I think it would be best if I left now, OK?"

"Where are you going? Are you going back to Dorvan?"

He grinned, "Well, not yet, there's only one transport there a week, so I'll just have to find someplace to stay until Friday. Kathryn said I could spend a day with you, so maybe we can do something on Wednesday?" He looked at Kathryn, "Would Wednesday be alright, 0900?" She nodded and went back to her PADD. "OK then, I'll see you on Wednesday." Chakotay retrieved his bag, went back to the living room and handed Kathryn a PADD. "Can you please give me your new com link?" She punched it and shoved it back at him. "Thank you and thank you again for letting me stay for dinner. Kathryn, Naomi showed me your list of things you want to fix and I'd be glad to help you, I know you can't manage some of them on your own, especially since you hurt yourself and I'm sure the doctor told you to take it easy for a few days. I'll be here until at least Friday night, if you need help, please call me, no strings."

Kathryn ignored him, intent upon her PADD. Chakotay gave Naomi a hug and they said their goodbyes and she went to sit beside Kathryn. He stood in front of her and extended his hand, "Thank you again, Kathryn, and I hope you feel better, don't forget to take it easy. It was good seeing you again."

She looked up and quickly returned her attention to her PADD as she said, "Good night, Chakotay."

He picked up his bag, moved to the center of the room and punched his com badge to transport back to San Francisco.

On Wednesday morning Kathryn opened the door to Chakotay and a huge bouquet of flowers. He smiled as he held them out, "Good morning, Kathryn, your forehead looks much better, I can barely tell where the cut was. Here, these are for you."

"You're early," she tersely replied, "Naomi isn't ready yet and I can't accept flowers from you."

"Fine, well then, they're for Naomi. May I come in or do you want me to wait out here?"

"I suppose you might as well come in. Naomi was playing with the horses and got filthy and lost track of time, so she'll probably be awhile, she has to take a bath and put on clean clothes." Kathryn walked to the kitchen and began cleaning up the mess from breakfast. "Where are you taking her? I should know where she is and what time you'll be back."

Chakotay cleared the table and helped Kathryn. "Well, I don't know what we're going to do, I thought I'd let Naomi decide what she wants to do today… with your approval of course. I'll have her back at whatever time you say. Do you have a vase I could put your… Naomi's flowers in?"

"There should be one in the pantry, on the top shelf, you'll have to get it, I'm not tall enough to reach it." Kathryn said as she kept her back to him, wiped off the counter, got a cup of coffee and sat at the table.

Chakotay put the flowers in water, sat the vase in the center of the table and joined her. "Kathryn, do you mind if I have a cup of coffee or would that be asking too much?"

"Suit yourself," she replied as she picked up a PADD and began checking her messages. "Oh shit!", she mumbled to herself, "I was supposed to go out tonight and my cousin was going to come over and stay with Naomi, but she just canceled on me, she's sick! Damn, I've got to go and cancel my plans, I'll be right back. If Naomi comes down don't leave until I get back, I need to talk to her before you leave."

"Kathryn, I'd be glad to stay with her."

Kathryn glanced back at her PADD and considered her options. "Are you sure, I might be back pretty late?"

"Of course I'm sure! I'll see that she has a good dinner and brushes her teeth and goes to bed on time and all, I'd be glad to do it, I'd planned to spend the whole day with her anyhow, I'd really enjoy it. Kathryn, I don't mind and you know you can trust me. OK, you think I'm the biggest bastard in the galaxy, but you know I'm responsible and I'll take good care of Naomi… and that I can follow your orders." he added with a grin.

"Well, OK, if you're sure it's no trouble."

"I'm sure! Where will you be this evening?" Kathryn shot him a look. "I'm not trying to pry, Kathryn, but I should know where you are in case there's a problem. Any good baby sitter would ask you where you'd be."

"Of course. I'm not sure where we're going after the theater or what time I'll be back, but I'll leave the information on a PADD on the kitchen table for you. Let me go see what's keeping Naomi."

Kathryn returned with Naomi, they talked it over, and she decided she wanted to go to the zoo and the amusement park. Both of those choices met with Kathryn's approval and Naomi was excited as she got up and started dragging Chakotay to the door. He let go of her hand, "You go on and wait outside, I'll be right there, I just need to talk to Kathryn for a minute, OK?" Naomi nodded and skipped off. "Kathryn, you know where we'll be and I have my com badge, so you can contact me if you need to and we'll be back by dinner time. Don't worry, I won't let her eat too much junk or get on any rides that would make her sick and I'll make sure she goes to bed on time. Are you sure you wouldn't like to come with us?"

"No, I have a lot to do. I'll feed the horses and chickens and the dog before I leave, but could you please let the dog out when you get back?" He nodded. "Naomi knows the security code to the door, it's pretty safe around here, but I do keep it locked after dark and of course Anubis will be here, not that he has a protective bone in his body, but he looks like he might. She's really been looking forward to this, have a good time and thank you again for agreeing to stay with her this evening."

"Of course, Kathryn." He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to her, "I hope you have a good time this evening too."

When Chakotay and Naomi returned to the house, her mouth was still running at warp speed about how much fun she'd had and Chakotay had to laugh to himself as he prepared dinner, for he'd probably had more fun that day than Naomi. After dinner they played a couple games of kadis-kot, but Naomi started having trouble keeping her eyes open, so Chakotay carried her upstairs to get ready for bed and she was asleep before he'd read more than a few pages of Flotter and the Magic Minnows to her. Chakotay kissed her goodnight and left her safely tucked into bed with a smile on her face, Flotter in her arms and Anubis snoring belly up at the foot of her bed.

When he left her room, he noticed there was a light on in the room across the hall and the door was slightly ajar. Curiosity got the better of him and he poked his head into the room and confirmed that it was obviously Kathryn's room. Several dresses and an array of lacy undergarments were tossed on the bed and he took a look at them, definitely not the conservative and practical styles he was used to seeing her in. If she were dressed in something like that this evening, she certainly wasn't planning on getting back early and wasn't out with her grandma! Chakotay left the room as he found it and went downstairs, sorry that he had invaded her privacy, for all it did was confirm she certainly had the right clothes to move on, clothes that he never imagined the Kathryn Janeway he knew would be caught dead in. Kathryn was conservative, perhaps a bit dowdy for a woman her age by most people's standards, but that was one of the things he liked about her, how she was elegant and covertly sexy. He looked at the PADD she had left for him and all it said was she would be at the Indiana University theater and then at the Frangipani Room restaurant.

Chakotay cleaned up the kitchen, made tea and settled on the sofa in the den to read one of the books from the Janeway's extensive collection of old books. He was interrupted just after midnight by the sound of the front door banging open and Kathryn's laughter. As he was putting the book away and folding up the afghan he heard her giggle again and say, "Shhh, be quiet, we don't want to wake up Naomi! You go in the kitchen and open the scotch and get some glasses of ice and take it in the living room and I'll be right there as soon as the sitter leaves." He heard a male voice reply to her, but couldn't hear what he said.

Kathryn came into the den and asked, "Any problems? Sorry I'm so late."

Chakotay mustered a slight smile and replied, "No, everything was fine, we had a good time, but she was really tired, so I put her to bed pretty early. Oh, we had plenty of leftovers; you probably have enough for dinner tomorrow." He dared to take a good look at her, but she still had her shawl on and it covered most of her dress, which probably didn't cover up much of her if it were like the ones he'd seen upstairs. "You look nice, Kathryn, that's a pretty color on you."

She looked down and pulled her shawl more tightly around her. "Well, thank you again, I'll show you to the door." He followed her to the door, stepped out and turned to speak to her again, but she shut the door in his face.

"Goodnight, Kathryn," he mumbled as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, took out his com badge and tapped it to transport back to his hotel in San Francisco. An exasperated voice replied that transporters were unavailable due to an emergency shutdown and he would have to wait for at least a half hour. "Fine time for that to happen!" he said as he sat on the front steps, wishing he at least had a PADD or a book with him. He walked to the driveway and looked at Kathryn's date's fancy car; obviously the guy had money and probably an ego to match or had such a car to compensate for some other inadequacy. Chakotay caught himself, maybe the guy just liked nice cars, and at least he certainly had good taste in women. He returned to the steps and sat back down to wait.

The window in the living room was open a little and he could hear Kathryn and her date talking and laughing and music playing. He couldn't hear every word they were saying, but he could catch enough to know they were having a good time and getting cozy, as a tear slid down his cheek. Chakotay wiped it away and moved to a bench by the rose garden in the front yard so he wouldn't have to listen to them while he waited, wondering, if he'd never had that first dinner with Seven, would it be him that was in there with Kathryn now and not Mr. Fancycar?

Sitting on the bench in the moonlight he could see some weeds in the flower bed so, with nothing better to do while he had to wait, Chakotay knelt down and started weeding. After a few minutes, he checked his watch and saw that he still had almost ten minutes to wait. He looked to the house, fearing that he would see the lights downstairs off, but they were still on and he could faintly hear music, Mahler he thought, so Chakotay returned to pulling weeds. Kathryn's raised voice caught his attention and he stood and looked towards the house, but didn't hear anything more. After another minute or so he heard what sounded like a muffled scream and started towards the house, but stopped himself, maybe she was loud during sex and he was pretty sure that must be what was going on in there. Totally dejected, Chakotay started to walk to the end of the driveway to wait there, but he clearly heard Kathryn's raised voice saying what sounded like "no, get off me", so he thought it best to investigate and walked to just outside the window to listen, just to make sure she was OK. What he heard made it very apparent that Kathryn's date wasn't taking no for an answer and she was struggling and begging him to stop.

Chakotay rushed to the door, keyed in the code he had seen Naomi use when they got home and ran into the living room. Her date had her pinned down on the sofa and she was indeed fighting back and yelling at him to stop as he was doing his best to get her dress off. Chakotay ran across the living room, grabbed him by his shoulder, pulled him off her and cocked his fist back, but resisted the temptation to rearrange his face as he said, "The lady said no, get your ass out of here before I kick it clear to the Antares Nebula!

Clearly inebriated and not the type to want a fight, Richard held up his hands and said, "Hey, take it easy, Dude, this isn't what it looks like, we're just having a little fun and who the hell are you barging in like this? Kath, who is this jerk?"

Chakotay looked at Kathryn, who was shaken and sobbing as she tried to pull her dress together. Still holding Richard by his shirt he asked her, "Kathryn, do you want him to leave?" She bit her lip and nodded, so he picked up Richard's jacket, marshaled him to the door, gave him a good shove out that caused him to fall face first onto the sidewalk and tossed his jacket on top of him as he yelled, "When a woman says no, it means no. Got that, Dude?" and slammed the door.

Chakotay rushed back in, grabbed a throw off an armchair and handed it to Kathryn to cover herself as he helped her to sit up. "Kathryn, are you OK, do you want me to call the police, are you hurt, did he, did he…?"

"No, I'm fine, it was just a misunderstanding." She pushed her hair back and wiped her face with the back of her hand. Her tears had made the excessive makeup she was wearing look like racing stripes down her cheeks. "Chakotay, what are you doing here, were you… spying on me?"

"No, transporters are down and I was waiting in the rose garden, the window is open and I heard you yelling, I could hear you were in trouble, saying no and telling at him to stop. Kathryn, I think you should call the police, that wasn't a 'misunderstanding'." He grabbed her hands, "Look, Kathryn, you have bruises on your wrists, are you hurt anyplace else?"

She yanked her hands away and wrapped the throw more tightly around her. "No, I'm fine. Chakotay, I can take care of myself, there was no need for you to come barging in like that, it was just a misunderstanding. Richard is a nice guy, he'd just had too much to drink, that's all."

"Kathryn, nice guys don't hold women down so hard they bruise them and they don't try to touch them and rip their clothes off when the woman's saying no and shouting at them to stop and being drunk is no excuse!"

"Chakotay, you're exaggerating and I can take care of myself, there was no need for you to come barging in here like that!"

"What was I supposed to do, Kathryn, just sit there and listen while he forced himself on you?"

"Chakotay, that's enough, I think you should leave."

His patience with her ingratitude and denial had worn to a frazzle. "Fine!" He stood and took out his com badge, but an automated response informed him that the system had experienced a cascade failure and would be offline until at least 0800. "That's just great! Kathryn, I have no way to get back to my hotel, would you drive me to the nearest civilian transporter station so I can get back to San Francisco?"

She tried to get up and flopped back down on the couch as her head spun. "I'm think I'm too drunk to drive."

"You definitely are and we couldn't leave Naomi here alone anyhow. OK, how far is the nearest transport station? I'll walk."

"It's across from the university, but it's almost twenty kilometers and it only operates until midnight weekdays and taxis won't come this far out in the country. Damn! Why don't you just stay here and you can go back as soon as Starfleet gets the system running again?"

"I guess I don't have any choice, I'll sleep here on the sofa if that's OK. Do you have a pillow and a blanket I could borrow?"

Kathryn got up and weaved her way across the room. "I'll get you one; I'll be right back, stay here." Chakotay just shook his head; he had seen her steadier on her feet as she walked across the bridge while photon torpedoes were pummeling Voyager.

Chakotay sat on the sofa to wait, but he heard a loud thump followed by several smaller ones, so he went to see what it was and found Kathryn sprawled on the floor at the foot of the stairs. "Kathryn, are you OK?"

She pushed his hand off her, pulled her dress back down and tried to get to her feet as she spoke, "I'm fine, I just sl…slipped on the st…stairs, it's these new shoes."

"Kathryn, you're not wearing any shoes, or much else for that matter, and you're so drunk you can't walk." He wrapped the throw back around her, picked her up and she started protesting as he carried her up the stairs. He admonished her, "Shhh, shut up, you'll wake Naomi." Chakotay carried her into her room, sat her on her feet and held onto her so she wouldn't fall as he pulled the spread off her bed and tuned down the covers, dumping her array of clothing onto the floor.

She seethed, "Don't you dare tell me to sh…shut up, I'm… I'm an admiral!"

He picked her back up and gently tossed her into the center of the bed. "Fine, Admiral, then why don't you start acting like one? Look at you, you're shit faced drunk and you're supposedly responsible for that little girl across the hall! What would you do if she had a nightmare or got sick or something and needed you right now, or what if that guy was some sort of pervert and tried to hurt her after he was done with you? Did you stop to think of that, Admiral Janeway?"

"How dare you, you bastard!" she said as she threw a pillow at him.

Chakotay picked up the spread and the pillow and started for the door, but walked back beside the bed and looked Kathryn directly in the eye. "No, Admiral Janeway, you're confused. There was a bastard here tonight, but I threw him out before he could rape you. I'm the nice guy who loves and respects you, remember? Goodnight, I'll check on Naomi before I go downstairs, thank heavens none of this woke her and she didn't see you looking like a drunken dabo girl." He threw the covers over her and left.

The next morning Chakotay awoke early as the sun streamed into the living room. He folded up Kathryn's bedspread and gathered up the glasses and bottle from last night, took them to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Contacting Starfleet again, they told him transporters should be operational by 0900, but, due to the anticipated backlog, only essential personnel would be transported until the backlog had been cleared and they would notify him as soon as it was.

He crept up the stairs to check on Naomi and she was still sound asleep. Anubis did manage to open one eye halfway, but he was obviously not ready to get up either. Chakotay started back downstairs, but turned back to look in on Kathryn as he hadn't shut her door all the way and, considering her condition last night, it was the prudent thing to do. He cautiously pushed the door open just enough to look in, fully prepared to dodge any projectiles that might come his way. One whiff of the air in her room told him she had gotten sick, serves her right he thought as he looked at her, sprawled out on the bed. She had obviously gotten up at some point as she was now wearing a nightgown, a very pretty little one he couldn't help but notice. Chakotay moved close enough to the bed to see that she was indeed breathing, snoring softly in fact, and the mess on the floor revealed she had not made it to her bathroom before she got sick. He started to clean it up, but thought better of it and left her to her misery, went back downstairs and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Uncle Chakotay, you're still here!" Naomi beamed as she jumped into his lap and hugged him a few minutes later. "Does this mean you and Aunt Kathryn are friends again?"

He put her down and went to get her some juice, "Not exactly, Honey, Starfleet transporters had a cascade failure last night and they're still offline, so I couldn't beam back, I slept on the couch. What would you like for breakfast?"

"Eggs! I'll go to the henhouse and get some and I'll feed the chickens and the horses and let them out. C'mon, Anubis, …we'll be right back!"

Chakotay assembled the ingredients for breakfast and barely had time to set the table before Naomi returned, her overall pockets full of eggs, for she had forgotten to take a basket with her. She put the eggs on the counter and fed the dog while Chakotay prepared breakfast.

"Mmm, this is so good; you make the best omelets in the world! Good morning, Aunt Kathryn!" Naomi shouted as Kathryn limped to the table. "Why are you limping, you don't look too good, what's wrong?"

Kathryn sat at the table, "Not so loud, Sweetie, Aunt Katie doesn't feel too good this morning, I have a headache and my stomach is upset, must be something I ate last night."

Chakotay got up, poured a cup of coffee, sat it in front of her and smiled, "I dunno, Aunt Katie, maybe it was something you drank?"

She flashed him a death glare as she tried to keep her head from exploding. "What are you still doing here?"

"And a good morning to you too!" he said, loudly enough to make her head pound even more. "Transporters are still offline; they'll call me as soon as they can transport me." She gave him an incredulous glare, so he tossed his com badge on the table. "Call and check if you don't believe me. What can I get you for breakfast: eggs, cereal, toast, crow?"

The signal for the com link in the den interrupted them before Kathryn could come up with a suitable retort. She struggled to get to her feet and couldn't quite make it on the first try, her tumble down the stairs wasn't going to have pity on her either.

Chakotay got up, "I'll get it, they'd probably die of old age before you got there." Kathryn tried to force down coffee and dodge Naomi's questions about why she was so sick while Chakotay was gone. When he returned he started making some toast as he explained, "That was Richard, he said you left your shoes in his car. Don't worry, I told him to shove them up his…. uh… I suggested he put them where they're not likely to receive any solar radiation and I don't think he'll be calling here again unless he's not too fond of his bal… sports equipment."

Kathryn gritted her teeth as her hands balled into fists, however a glance at Naomi kept her at bay. "You bas… basket case!" she replied as she kept her teeth clamped shut so nothing more colorful would sneak out of her mouth.

Chakotay returned to the table and placed a plate of toast and the butter on it. Naomi took a slice and asked, "Aunt Kathryn, may I have some of your mom's homemade strawberry jam on my toast please?"

Kathryn pushed herself up from the table with considerable effort, "Sure, Sweetie, let me get you some." She looked through the cupboards and in the pantry. "I don't see any, I think we used it all up yesterday, but there's more in the cellar, can you go get a jar? It should be on the second shelf on the back wall, next to the pickles."

"OK, I'll be right back!"

As soon as Naomi had left, Chakotay said, "Kathryn, you look like shit, why don't you go back upstairs and go back to bed and I'll take care of Naomi? I don't think you really want her seeing you hung over, do you?"

She shook her finger at him, "Don't you dare start in on me, you have no right to tell me how to run my life, I'll do whatever I damn well please!"

Naomi came running up the stairs and interrupted them. "Aunt Kathryn, Uncle Chakotay, come quick, there's water coming out of a pipe and leaking all over the cellar!"

As they started down the stairs, Chakotay grabbed Kathryn's arm and she tried to pry herself from his grasp. He whispered to her, "Give up, you can barely walk and you'd probably fall down these stairs too and, quite frankly, I don't feel like cleaning your gray matter up off the floor!" She gave him a look that encompassed all the four letter words known to the galaxy.

When they got down in the cellar Naomi led them to the back wall farthest from the stairs and Kathryn said, "Where's it leaking, Naomi? I don't see any water."

Naomi pointed, "Way back there in the corner, look!"

They bent down to look and, as they did, Naomi bolted up the stairs, slammed the door and locked it as she shouted, "I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you out until you kiss and make up and you're best friends again!"

Chakotay ran up the stairs after her and tried the door, but found it to be very sturdy and securely locked. "Naomi, this is silly, please let us out!"

"No, I'm not letting you out until you're friends again!"

"C'mon, Naomi, be a good girl and let us out."

"NO!"

He tried a different tactic, "Naomi Wildman, let us out and that's on order!"

"Sorry, that won't work either, you can't come out until you're friends!"

An idea occurred to him, "Uh, Sweetie, Uncle Chakotay has to use the bathroom."

"There's one down there, I saw it!"

Kathryn said something to Chakotay, so he added, "Honey, there's no toilet paper!" When no reply came, he went back down the stairs and joined Kathryn, who was sitting on top of an old trunk. "Kathryn, is there another way out of the cellar?" She shook her head, instantly regretting it and the fact Chakotay was still talking. "What are we going to do? That door is very secure, there's no way I could break it down."

She thought for a moment as she held her head in her hands and moaned, "Your com badge, call someone to come and let us out!"

He stood and reached into his pocket. "Uh, it's sitting on the kitchen table." He yelled up to Naomi again to let them out before he sank back to the floor.

"Quit yelling, Chakotay, my head feels like it's about to explode!"

"I guess you should have thought about that last night before you drained a liquor store?"

"Bastard!" she spat as she waved a single finger in the air.

"Bitch!" he replied with a smile.

Chakotay jumped up as a roll of toilet paper cascaded down the stairs. "Did she open the door?" Kathryn asked.

"No, there's a little panel in the bottom of the door, she must have shoved it through and closed it back up." He picked up the toilet paper and handed it to her.

"It's a cat door, Mom used to have a kitty and she kept the cat box down here, the cat door opens and locks from the kitchen. Chakotay, why don't we just wait a few minutes and tell her we made up, she'll fall for it and let us out."

"OH NO I WON'T!" came from the other side of the door.

Kathryn pointed up, "There's an old heating grate up there, and you can hear every word in the cellar from the kitchen or the den. My sister and I eventually found out that's how Mom and Dad knew every time we were up to no good down here. Shit!" Kathryn exclaimed as she threw the toilet paper across the room.

"Watch your gutter mouth if she can hear, Kathryn! I doubt her parents would be grateful if you send her home with a whole new lexicon of colorful metaphors."

"Chakotay, quit trying to tell me what to do and stop yelling!"

"I wasn't yelling."

"Yes you were!" They heard another thump at the top of the stairs and Chakotay rushed to see what it was, brought back a bag and took out a thermos of coffee, several pieces of cold toast, a container with the rest of the eggs in it, two forks and a bottle of headache tablets. "Gimme that!" Kathryn said as she grabbed the coffee and used it to wash down a couple headache tablets. She took two bites of toast and put her hand to her mouth as it fought to come back up.

Chakotay looked around, found some camping gear and put a sleeping bag on the floor. "Here, why don't you lie down, maybe you'll feel better?" Kathryn shoved him out of the way as he tried to help her and moaned in her self inflicted agony as she curled up into the I wish I were dead position in the sleeping bag. "You're welcome, Kathryn." He sat a metal basin beside her, "Here, use this if you have to puke, I don't feel like cleaning up after you again, seven years was plenty. If you don't want them, I'm going to eat the eggs, I'm starving, and I'll keep a watch on the door. Maybe she'll open it and, if I'm fast enough, I can get out of here."

Kathryn cracked an eye open, "Good, nothing would make me happier than for you to get out of here, Indiana isn't big enough for both of us! Can't you shut up and stop yelling?"

"Sure, Kathryn, and, if I can get out of here, I'm sure as heck not letting you out, I've sworn to protect Federation space from hostile aliens."

"Argh!" Kathryn moaned as she made another colorful gesture and rolled over so she wouldn't have to look at him. She awoke a little before noon and made a beeline for the bathroom, crawling about halfway there before she was able to get to her feet. She slowly walked back and sat down on her sleeping bag. "Anything out of Naomi?" she asked.

"Not a peep. How long do you think she'll keep us locked down here?"

"Not long, she'll probably let me out of here right after I kill you."

He sat down beside her. "Kathryn, we could try being friends again, you know."

She got up and started rummaging through the bag Naomi had given them earlier. "Not a chance. Damn, you ate all the food, you bastard, I'm starving!"

He threw up his hands, "Well, you said you weren't hungry and there is some coffee left. Here, these shelves are full of jars of food; you can eat one of them. Do you want jam, dill pickles, sweet pickles, green beans, pickled beets, spiced peaches or stewed tomatoes?"

"Ugh!" She yelled up at the grate in the ceiling, "Naomi, Sweetie, please let me out, I'm hungry and I'd like to take a bath and brush my teeth. Naomi, please! Aren't you getting hungry? Let us out and Chakotay will fix you a nice lunch, whatever you want, Honey!"

Receiving no reply, Kathryn laid down again and Chakotay returned to reading the only thing he could find, a stack of fifty some year old Indiana Farm Report journals. After a few more minutes, they heard a thump at the top of the stairs. Chakotay rushed up and grabbed the bags Naomi had shoved through the cat door, brought them back down and moved the bucket he was sitting on over so he could face Kathryn.

"OK, we have some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, two bottles of apple juice, two apples, some cookies and potato chips, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap, a towel and a note that says she'll fill the thermos with coffee if we leave it by the hole in the door and go back down the stairs. She also says she can see us, so don't try anything and all we have to do is kiss and make up to get out of here and she's fine."

Kathryn threw up her hands, "Great, taken prisoner and held hostage by a six year old, won't Starfleet be proud of us?"

Chakotay grinned as he handed Kathryn a sandwich and a bottle of juice, "At least she's feeding us more than ration bars and water!"

"Yeah, and torturing me by making me stay down here with you."

"Could be worse, you could be down here with Neelix or Tom Paris and, by the way, you and your hangover are no joy either."

"At least they shut up and go away when I tell them to."

"Kathryn, I'd gladly go away if I could get out of here, I've had enough of your ingratitude, childish irresponsible behavior, stubbornness, foul mouth and even fouler temper! Good thing you don't usually drink, because you sure are a mean drunk, Admiral Janeway!"

"Me? It's you that's insufferable, Chakotay, always butting in, thinking you know everything, nit picking and your holier than thou attitude, you annoy the hel… heck out of me, I miss Q!"

"Fine, well you'll never have to worry about me annoying you again, if I'd wanted a bit… female dog, I'd have gotten one!" He handed her an apple and put the bag of chips between them. "I'm sure she'll let us out soon enough, she'll get hungry and lonely."

"Gawd I hope so! Whatever could have given her the notion that, if she locked us in the cellar, I'd stop wanting to shove your head down the toilet?"

Chakotay laughed, "Funny you should say that, one of us just had their head in a toilet as I recall, but I don't think it was me, I'm smart enough not to get drunk. This isn't a cellar, it's a dungeon, a torture chamber complete with you to torment me! Dungeon, Kathryn, that's it! I read Naomi Flotter and the Magic Minnows last night, that's the story where Flotter and Trevis have a fight and the Giant Beetle locks them in the dungeon in his castle until they realize they were fighting over something silly and make up and are best friends again."

"Quit yelling dammit! You're right, I remember that one, Flotter got mad at Trevis because he thought he was spending more time playing with the magic minnows than with him, only Trevis was playing with the minnows because Flotter wasn't playing with him or something like that, one of those vicious circle things. I can't remember all the details, but that was the gist of it. Oh, leave it to Naomi to think that something from a Flotter story would work in real life! There is no magic; you and I just hate each other, plain and simple!"

Chakotay packed up the trash from their lunch as he said, "I don't really hate you, Kathryn, I just don't like you very much, you're not the same person you used to be."

Kathryn settled back down in her sleeping bag. "Gee, something we can finally agree on? I don't feel well, I don't think eating was such a good idea, I'm going back to sleep, don't bother me!"

"Fine, I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm going to take a nap too." He grabbed the other sleeping bag and started laying it out.

Kathryn leaned up from hers, "Not there, that's too close, get away from me."

He picked it up and headed over to the other side of the cellar. "I wish I could!" he replied as he settled down into his sleeping bag, considering the irony of what he had just said.

Chakotay only slept for about a half hour. The old farm magazines had long ago lost their charm and there was little to do in the cellar, so he started poking around. The cellar was definitely old and confirmed his suspicions that the original part of the Janeway's home must be at least a couple hundred years old, although it had obviously been modernized and added on to throughout the years. Looking up at the floor joists, he couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship and the way it had endured at least several generations of families, perhaps all Janeways, although he had no idea how long her family had owned the home.

The cellar contained various boxes of essentially useless things, some old broken down furniture, outdated appliances, some very old Starfleet cargo containers that had most certainly belonged to Kathryn's father, a small workbench with a few old tools, a frozen stasis unit, the wall of shelves with Mrs. Janeway's home canned goods, more empty jars and a pile of old camping and sports equipment. Looking through the camping gear it appeared to be about forty or fifty years old, it was undoubtedly what they had used on the camping trips Kathryn had spoken of that she loathed so much.

Chakotay turned and took a look at Kathryn, still asleep in her sleeping bag, the effects of her hangover clearly taking their toll on her face. He had never known Kathryn to be much of a drinker; just a glass or two of wine with dinner every once in awhile or perhaps something a bit stronger at parties or on rare occasions. He had certainly never seen her anywhere near as drunk as she'd been last night and wondered if she even remembered what had almost happened to her. He thought about her ungrateful reaction to him saving her and wondered if it was because she hated him so much and was so stubborn, or it was just because, in her impaired state, she really had no concept of what almost happened. Whatever the case, he was glad that fate had decided he should be there, if it were the last thing he did for Kathryn, at least it was a good one. At this point, it seemed almost certain that there was to be no reconciliation with Kathryn and, since he had seen this very ugly side of her, Chakotay began to wonder if it wouldn't ultimately be for the best?

When she finally awoke Kathryn went into the bathroom, washed up and brushed her teeth, and emerged looking and feeling more like herself. She poked through the remaining food from lunch and ate her apple and cookies as she rubbed at her shoulder and tried to rotate it to get the stiffness out, for it was clearly bothering her. She glanced at Chakotay, who was again sitting on his bucket and tinkering with an old broken vacuum cleaner that her mother had probably relegated to the cellar at least fifteen or twenty years ago. Kathryn had to laugh to herself that she had never seen Chakotay just sit there and do nothing, he always had to be tinkering with something. She finished off the last of the coffee and decided to take the thermos up the stairs so that Naomi could refill it and she could, hopefully, reason with the girl and get her to let them out.

Naomi agreed to fill the thermos, but only if Kathryn went back down the stairs while she retrieved it and she was adamant that they were staying in the cellar and assured her that she was fine. Going up and down the stairs was very painful and Kathryn had to pull herself along the railing and take one step at a time, as she was so sore from her tumble the night before.

Kathryn yelled up to Naomi in the kitchen, "Naomi, Sweetheart, please let me out, I don't feel very well and I'd really like to take a hot bath and lie down in my bed. I won't be mad at you, I promise, I just want to get out." Naomi didn't reply. "Come on, Naomi, aren't you hungry, what about dinner? Let me out and I'll fix you a nice dinner, order a pizza if you want. Please?"

Naomi yelled back, "Nope, no way, not until you and Uncle Chakotay are friends again, that's the deal! You're only sick because you got drunk last night. Yeah, I know about it and it was a really stupid thing to do, Aunt Kathryn. Don't worry, I'm fine and I'll take care of all the animals and I'm fixing you dinner right now." With that, Naomi slipped the thermos of coffee through the cat door and closed it back up.

Kathryn looked at Chakotay, but he was still intently twiddling with the vacuum cleaner and didn't show the slightest indication that he was going to go up the stairs after the thermos, so she again made the trek herself. About half way back down she was in such agony all she could do was sit and slide her bottom down, one stair at a time. She groaned loudly as she reached the last stair and grabbed the railing to pull herself to her feet. Chakotay looked up at her briefly and returned to his project. As she shuffled past him, she turned to him and snapped, "Would it have killed you to go up there and get the thermos? Can't you see I'm in agony here, I'm so sore I can hardly move."

He put the vacuum aside, stood and put his hands on his hips. "I would have been glad to do it for you if you'd asked, but you made it very clear to me that you don't want or need my help, Kathryn. If you would like my help, why don't you sit here, slip your robe off and let me take a look at you, you might have hurt yourself worse than you think. Let's call a truce for now, let me check you out, I can at least massage whatever hurts to get the stiffness out and get something from the freezer to put on any bruises you might have. How far down the stairs did you fall? It sounded like only two or three stairs to me."

Kathryn eased herself down onto the bucket. "I don't remember. I tried to look in the bathroom, but there's no mirror, so I couldn't see my back." She started to slip her robe off then stopped. "Never mind, I'm only wearing a nightgown and it doesn't cover up much."

"I know, I've seen it." She shot him an indignant look, so he went on, "I checked on you this morning when I checked on Naomi and, before you get started, I just wanted to make sure you were alive." He gave her a slight grin, "If you were dead, I figured better for me to find the body than Naomi. Come on, Kathryn, let me check, and anyway, with that dress you were hardly wearing last night, everyone in the restaurant saw more of you than I will right now. You should know me well enough by now to know I'll only see to your bruises and not gawk. Where do you hurt?"

"Everywhere, but my right hip and shoulder seem to be the worst," she replied as she slipped her robe down to her waist. "And that dress I was wearing last night wasn't that bad and I paid a fortune for it!"

"You've got a pretty good bruise here on the back of your shoulder, right along your shoulder blade, and a rug burn too," Chakotay replied as he went to the freezer for something cold. "As for that dress, well I thought it was entirely too revealing and trashy looking, when did you start dressing like a Talaxian trollop, Kathryn?" he asked as he placed a package of frozen peas on her shoulder. "Here, hold this on your shoulder for a few minutes, it should help. Stand up and let me look at your hip."

She stood and then changed her mind and sat back down. "Uh, never mind, I'm not wearing any underwear."

He hauled her back up. "And you hardly were last night, either. Trust me, Kathryn, I've already seen your butt and I imagine, as short as your dress was, half of Indiana has seen it as well. Just lift up your robe and nightgown and keep your back to me, I won't see any more than I've already seen. Too bad your mother wasn't home last night, I doubt she would have let you out of the house dressed like that; my mother certainly would never have let my sister leave the house like that, not at any age! You have a huge bruise on your hip, hold on and let me get something else from the freezer."

"Chakotay!" Kathryn huffed, "I'm forty-five years old, and my mother does not tell me how to dress! You've never even met my mother anyhow."

He handed her a package of frozen fish fillets, "Yes I have, I met her at one of those receptions at Starfleet, she walked up and introduced herself. She's a lovely woman and she was beautifully dressed, she looked so nice, the way you used to when you got dressed up and you're forty-seven, Kathryn, not forty-five! C'mon and lie down for a few minutes and let the cold packs do their work. You're too bruised, a massage wouldn't do you any good right now, it would hurt too much, but maybe tomorrow it will help… if Naomi lets us out by then."

She flopped down on her sleeping bag on her belly and slapped the fish onto her fanny as she sighed, "I wouldn't hold your breath, Chakotay, I think she got her stubbornness and tenacity from a very good teacher. Anyhow, if she lets us out of here today, I guarantee you won't be here tomorrow."

He placed the bag of peas back on her shoulder. "I just heard a thump at the top of the stairs, it's probably dinner, I'll go get it." He tried to reason with Naomi through the door, to no avail, before he brought the bags down and unpacked them. "Well, we have um… I think they're tacos, uh, they look like spaghetti tacos? There's salad that looks edible, and some, eww… creamed corn, cold creamed corn, cookies, corn chips, bananas, peanut butter, two packages of gummy targhs and two chocolate milks. Here's a note: she's fine, the doors are locked, she fed the horses, chickens and the dog and she's playing kadis-kot on her computer and she sent us a deck of playing cards."

Kathryn sat up, tucking the frozen fish into her sleeping bag so it would be comfortable to sit on, as Chakotay divvied out the food. "That sounds like quite a feast, I can't say that I've ever had a spaghetti taco before. I guess she'll be OK on her own, there's plenty of food and I did show her how to take care of the animals. I just hope she gets lonely and lets us out before she goes to bed."

"Me too, maybe she will when she realizes there's no one to tuck her in and read her a story?" Chakotay took a bite of a taco and quickly spit it out, "Oh, gawd, don't eat the tacos, they're awful, this is the worst crap I have ever had in my life, Neelix included, I think Naomi's trying to kill us!" Kathryn picked up a taco and Chakotay tried to take it from her. "I'm serious, Kathryn, don't eat it, I think it's spoiled or she put something weird in it!"

"Chakotay, there's nothing wrong with the spaghetti, I made it the other night, it was just a little… sticky. Pass the corn chips, my appetite's back."

They ate Naomi's idea of dinner and, with nothing else to do, played cards for a while, conversing only when necessary for the game. After an hour or two they heard the cat door open and the thermos of coffee rolled down the stairs as Naomi said, "Oops, sorry. I'm going to bed now, I'm tired and don't worry, I'll take a bath and brush my teeth then I'm going to read Anubis a story."

Kathryn eased her way to her feet and yelled up the stairs to Naomi's face peeking through the cat door, "Sweetie, this has gone on long enough, we appreciate what you're trying to do, but this isn't the right way to do it. Aren't you lonesome? Let us out and we'll both read you a story and tuck you in, how would that be?"

"Sorry, I can't let you out, you're hardly talking to each other and, when you do, it isn't nice. I'm fine, I'm not lonely, Anubis is here."

"Please, Naomi," Kathryn begged, "We can't sleep down here, it's cold and damp!"

"Then, I guess you'll just have to snuggle! Goodnight!" Naomi said as she slammed the cat door shut. They yelled to her and pleaded, but got no reply.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay and wrapped her arms around her body, "It really is cold down here and I don't think she's going to give in."

"Neither do I, but I have an idea, there's an old insulated tent over there, let's set it up, it'll be much warmer. Why don't I do that and you go through some of those trunks and boxes? Maybe there's some old clothes or blankets or something we can use as a mattress? It's should be warmer and more comfortable and we have the coffee too."

Kathryn put her hands on her hips. "I don't want to spend the night down here, go take a look at that door, there's some tools down here, maybe you could somehow get it open?"

Chakotay spoke as he tried to figure out how to set up the tent. "I did, it's not an old door, it's a modern one, there's no way to get it open and it's way too strong to break down. I'm sure I could bust open the cat door, but, unless you could get through it, that wouldn't do any good. I looked at that old heating vent she's listening through, but it's too small for a person to fit through. Help me with the tent, will you? It's really tiny, how did your family fit in it?"

Kathryn grabbed it from him, "Here, let me, it just pops up. Phoebe and I slept in here, my parents had a larger tent, but they gave it away once Phoebe and I'd left home." Kathryn grabbed her sleeping bag and tossed it into the tent along with some old towels and carpet scraps to use as a mattress beneath it. Chakotay grabbed his sleeping bag as well, but Kathryn put her hand on his chest and stopped him. "If you think you're going to share this tent with me, think again!"

He sidestepped her and threw his sleeping bag in too. "Kathryn, it's freezing down here, we'll be much warmer if we share and, unlike some guys, I won't try to take advantage of you. Fact is, there's nothing the least bit appealing about you right now. Quit being stubborn and come on, once some body heat builds up inside the tent, it'll be toasty warm. Don't worry, the only fantasy I have about you anymore involves laryngitis, so I don't have to listen to you ever again. You really are a bitch, Kathryn, all you can do is bark out orders, snap at people and whine when things don't go your way."

She dragged her sleeping bag from the tent. "I'd rather freeze to death than share a tent with you!"

Chakotay crawled in and shut the tent as he shouted, "Fine, suit yourself, Captain Canine!"

Kathryn set up her sleeping bag at the foot of the stairs, since she couldn't get farther away from the tent than that, and the small rug there might offer a bit of comfort from the cold hard damp cellar floor. As she snuggled down into her sleeping bag as far as she could get, she thought about the family camping trips she had hated so much and how the only good part was sharing the tent with her sister… and how the high tech fabric of the tent retained all body heat and kept them warm on even the coldest of nights. As she shivered, she thought about Chakotay, once her best friend, definitely large, very trustworthy, and probably shedding lots of succulent warm body heat!

Chakotay's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Hey, Kathryn, could you stop your teeth from chattering? The noise is keeping me awake! Why don't you quit being so stubborn and come in here, it's nice and warm and I promise I won't bother you. You know you're going to be even more sore and stiff tomorrow, do you want to catch a cold on top of it?" Receiving no reply, Chakotay rolled over and fell asleep, but was awakened after a bit by Kathryn's cursing and thrashing. He yelled at her through the tent, "Kathryn, what's wrong? Are you OK?"

"Damn, I need to use the bathroom and I can't get my sleeping bag open, the fastener's stuck and I can't get it open!"

He smiled, "Sounds like you have quite a problem there, Miss Katie."

"This isn't funny, I drank all that coffee to get warm, I need to go, now!"

"Well, Kathryn, I guess you have two options, you could either ask for my help or just pee in your sleeping bag."

Kathryn cursed and fumbled awhile longer before she finally conceded, "Chakotay, I can't wait, I really need to go NOW!" When she didn't hear any movement on his part, she added, "Can you get me out of here? Please?"

He had already gotten out of his sleeping bag as he was going to help her anyhow, so Chakotay quickly crawled out of the tent, got her out of the bag and to her feet as she ran to the bathroom as fast as she could and slammed the door. "All you had to do was ask, Kathryn! You're welcome."

"Thank you!" came from behind the bathroom door, along with a sigh of relief.

When she came out, she was shivering in her thin silk robe, so he gave her his vest. "Here, wear this, it might help, it must be really cold outside tonight. Kathryn, why don't you share the tent with me? It really is warm in there and you know you can trust me, I swear I won't try to mess with you; you should know me well enough to know by now I'm not that kind of guy. If you sleep out here where it's cold and damp, you know you'll be twice as stiff tomorrow. Please, Kathryn?" he asked as he extended his hand to her and smiled warmly.

"Well all right, you do have a point," she said as she went to collect her sleeping bag.

Chakotay beat her to it. "Here, let me, bending over isn't exactly your strong point right now." He took her sleeping bag into the tent and spread it out. "C'mon in, it's warm in here, this tent really holds in the heat, it's even better than those Starfleet survival tents and I have an old scrap of carpet spread out under your sleeping bag to cushion it."

Kathryn crawled into the tent, her teeth chattering in earnest now. Chakotay got her into her sleeping bag, fastened it and tucked it around her. "Gosh, you really are cold, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm frrrrrreezing, I caught a chill in the bathroom I think!"

Chakotay opened his sleeping bag all the way, moved next to her and spread it over the both of them. "Here, let my body heat warm you up, I'm sure you'll be fine in a few minutes, as soon as your body warms up and, don't worry, Kathryn, I'm just trying to get you warm."

She snuggled into his embrace, "I know you are, I've never known you to be disrespectful or try to take advantage of someone, …unlike one guy I know."

Chakotay just held her for a few minutes until she was warmer and relaxed. "Feel better, Kathryn?"

"Yes, I do, thank you." She lay quietly in silence for a few more minutes before she spoke, "Thank you for last night too, I'll be honest and I don't remember all of last night too well and I swear I'll never get that drunk ever again, but I do remember what almost happened and that, if you hadn't been there…" She started to sob quietly, she was trying to do it silently and hide it, but couldn't.

He slipped his arm over top of her sleeping bag. "It's OK, Kathryn." She snuggled into him and became quiet. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here. If you wouldn't feel comfortable talking to me, I'd understand, but you really should talk to someone, maybe go see a counselor; even though you might not remember all the details, it was a traumatic experience. You were pretty mad with me when I threw him out and then told him off when he had the gall to call you this morning. He's damn lucky, I came within a centimeter of reprogramming his face, I was just so angry he'd treat you that way I almost lost it. Kathryn, you have every right to date whomever you want, but you aren't going to see that guy again, are you?"

"No, absolutely not, boy did I misjudge him and here I thought I was a good judge of character! Well, I suppose it's partly my fault though, I told him that I… wanted to. Well, I think I did, but then he wanted to do some things I wasn't comfortable with and started getting rough with me, but I had said yes, at least I'm pretty sure I did."

"Kathryn, that doesn't matter, you had every right to change your mind and say no. I don't know if you ever said yes, but I most definitely heard you say no, more than once. I wasn't eavesdropping, I was in the rose garden, but I heard you yelling no and telling him to stop and I couldn't just sit there and listen to that, if it had been two strangers I would have done the same thing and I'm sure you would have too. He probably just got you that drunk so he could take advantage of you."

"No, that part I do remember, I'm afraid that was my fault, I'm the one that kept ordering drinks and then insisted we stop for liquor on the way home. He'd been drinking too, but not as much as me. I'm the one responsible for being so drunk, he wasn't trying to get me drunk, but I'm sure he took advantage of the fact once I was. If you want to know the truth, I didn't like Richard that well anyhow, he was pretty boring and we had almost nothing in common, but I wanted to move on. I thought if I, well, that I'd be able to move on, but I didn't really want to deep down, so I got drunk, I thought it would make it easier for me to do it. Oops!" she giggled, "poor choice of words!" She was silent for a moment, "On second thought, as long as it's been, maybe not. It was a really stupid thing to do and I'm pretty disgusted with my behavior too. I do remember you yelling at me last night about being irresponsible and you were right about that too, I didn't even think about Naomi. I was trying to reinvent myself, only now that I've had time to think about it, I don't think I like the new Kathryn Janeway very well."

Chakotay gave her a hug and smoothed her hair. "Truth be told, I don't like her very well either. I was shocked when I saw how you were dressed last night. Kathryn, that's just not you, you have too much class to go around looking like a… like that and you certainly don't need to dress that way to attract attention, you're a beautiful woman.

"Thank you. I don't know what I was doing; a friend of mine took me shopping and talked me into buying some clothes that I shouldn't have. She said I was turning into a dowdy old admiral, but I just wanted a change, a new look; I really thought it would help me to move on."

He smiled, "At least you didn't cut your hair again!"

She giggled and snuggled into him, "No, I'm letting it grow out, but I have an appointment to get it dyed, I'm going blonde, getting breast implants too!"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "Oh, no, Kathryn, please don't, there's nothing wrong with your figure and your hair is such a pretty color!"

"Don't you think it would make me look younger?"

"No, I don't. I think your hair is a beautiful color and suits you perfectly; you're a redhead and you have a redhead's complexion and personality."

Kathryn grinned and lowered her lashes. "And a redhead's temper too lately, I'm afraid. Chakotay, I owe you an apology, well, probably about a hundred. I had no right to get mad at you and I think I was really just mad at me and took it out on you. I couldn't love you, so I had to hate you, I just couldn't deal with any middle ground and I'm really sorry."

"It's OK, Kathryn, I owe you an apology too, I'm afraid I lost my temper with you last night and I guess I don't have to tell you I was mad at myself for getting involved with Seven. It was stupid in hindsight, and cost me my friendship with you and I'm very very sorry about that. I was being honest when I said nothing happened. We had some dinners together, did some Earth simulations in the holodeck, I tried to prepare her for what it would be like on Earth, and that's about it. It was awkward and I think she misinterpreted it as something more, but I never had any feelings for her beyond friendship. She wasn't even on Dorvan a week, she and my sister didn't get along, the people there didn't like or trust her, they've changed a lot since the Cardassian attacks and are very hostile towards outsiders now. They consider me an outsider and I'm not even sure I'm going to go back, I'm thinking seriously about just staying in San Francisco. In short, the whole thing was a total fiasco and I'm very sorry if I hurt you, that was never my intention."

"Well, it never was mine either. So, Chakotay, where do we go from here?"

He sat up on his elbow, looked into her eyes and gave her a smile. "Well, Kathryn, I suppose we could kiss and make up?"

She returned his smile. "I suppose we could."

"If nothing else, maybe it would make Naomi happy and she'd let us out of here?"

Kathryn gave him a grin, "She just might!"

Chakotay took Kathryn's face between his palms and kissed her delicately on the lips. "That was nice, Kathryn."

She linked fingers with him and returned the kiss. "You're right, Chakotay, it certainly was, maybe we should have damned parameters and protocols and tried that years ago? C'mon, lets put our sleeping bags together, it'll be warmer." She undid her sleeping bag and they put the two together to form one large one and snuggled up together.

Chakotay put his arm around Kathryn and held her close as he sighed, "This is nice, cuddling is highly underrated, but at least we can be assured Naomi will let us out of here tomorrow morning."

Kathryn put her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder as she said, "You know, Chakotay, I'm not so sure I want to get out of here now!"

He slid his arm across her and slowly snaked it around her body. "Well, I'm sure Naomi's asleep upstairs and we'll be here until morning, I have a few ideas about what we could do to pass the time and stay warm, are you interested?"

Kathryn giggled, "Well, somehow I think you may not have exactly the same things in mind I do, but we'll have to at least be good enough at kissing to convince her we're friends again, won't we?" Kathryn asked as she planted another kiss on Chakotay's lips.

He returned the kiss with a bit more passion. "Yes, and she's a smart kid, we'll have to be really good to convince her, we might have to practice all night long, maybe even go on some training maneuvers," he suggested as he slid his hand towards her hip. "Permission to begin reconnaissance, Kathryn?"

She slid his hand back to her waist and smiled. "I'm sorry, you were about to reconnoiter on my bruise, it hurts. What do you say we keep this mission above the equator? I still don't feel that good and I'm really sore and I just don't think I'm quite ready for anything in the southern hemisphere." Kathryn gave him a grin. "I just got over hating your guts, give me a little time, OK?"

"Of course." He slid his hand up a little towards her chest and asked playfully, "Kathryn, does the northern hemisphere include the mountain ranges?"

She laughed hysterically as she slid his hand back to her waist again. "No, and they're more like foothills than mountains, I'm afraid."

Chakotay gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Well, you just let me be the judge of that and, by the way, that's another thing I like about you just fine the way it is. I'm sorry, Kathryn, I wasn't trying to rush you, I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable, you just sounded like you were in the mood for a little affection."

"Not at all, I'm really very tired and I don't feel all that good, I'd just like to cuddle and get some sleep. When we get out of here we can talk more and decide where we go from here, I think we still have a few things to talk about, Chakotay. Maybe we could go out to dinner tomorrow night?"

He gave her a gentle hug. "I think that could be arranged and normally I think three's a crowd, but I believe we both owe young Miss Wildman a debt of gratitude and an apology. We've only had to deal with one another's sniping and foul tempers the last couple of days, but she's had to deal with both of them. Are you warm enough now?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I hadn't thought about that, poor child! I suggest we take her somewhere she would enjoy and you and I can sit down and have a long talk after she goes to bed. Chakotay, you're more than welcome to stay here, in the guest room I mean, if you decide not to go back to Dorvan."

"Thank you, Kathryn, that would be nice and I can help you with that list of home repairs. We used to work well together, maybe we can once again?" When Kathryn didn't answer him, he looked down to see she was asleep on the crook of his arm. He brushed his lips against her forehead and whispered, "Goodnight, Kathryn, I love you," as his eyes slid shut as well.

"I love you too," drifted from her lips as softly as the scent from a rose, yet it wouldn't have had any more impact on him if she'd hit him with a phaser.

"Oh gods but I love you, Kathryn Janeway; you couldn't have said any other words that would have made me happier! Sweet dreams." She didn't reply, but her face told him she had heard his words.

In the morning, Kathryn awoke before Chakotay and quietly tried to extricate herself from the sleeping bag, but only succeeded in waking him. "Sorry. I need to get up. Do you know what time it is?"

He opened the sleeping bags and folded them back. "Nope, not a clue, my watch is on the end table in the living room. Can you get up OK? When we get out of here you'd better beam out to sick bay and get yourself fixed up."

Kathryn moaned and groaned her way out of the tent as Chakotay helped her. "Nope, I'm letting this heal on it's own as a punishment, I deserve to feel like this considering what I did. Oh my but I'm stiff and sore, what I wouldn't give for a hot bath right about now!" Kathryn yelled to the ceiling, "Naomi, Sweetie, Chakotay and I are friends again, please let us out! Naomi, are you up there?"

Chakotay helped her to the bathroom, "I wouldn't worry, for all we know it's 5am and she isn't awake yet, I'm sure she's fine. Do you still hate camping?"

"More than ever!" Kathryn exclaimed as she rubbed her hip and slammed the bathroom door. She cracked the bathroom door back open a little, "If it's any consolation, I don't hate you anymore."

"I'm glad for that. Boy is it cold down here, it must really be cold outside, and that's odd as it was so warm night before last. We still have some food left over from last night, are you hungry?"

Kathryn emerged from the bathroom and sought out the warmth of the tent. "All yours, I left the toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink, help yourself. I'm not hungry, I just want to get warm again and wait for Naomi. The dog thunders around in the morning so we'll hear him for sure and know she's up. Hurry up, I'm cold!"

Chakotay finished up in the bathroom and slid back into the sleeping bag next to Kathryn, who immediately sought out his warmth. "So, Kathryn, we may have to rethink this relationship, now that I know you're only interested in my body!"

She snuggled into him. "Body heat, Chakotay, body heat! It really is odd it would be so cold this time of year. I hope Naomi is warm enough, I never showed her where the environmental controls are in the house, but Anubis sleeps with her, he'll keep her warm. So, Chakotay, what are your plans, you're staying with Starfleet I take it?"

"Yes, I plan to. Paris said I'd get my orders in about a month. He hinted around I'd probably be assigned to teach at the academy or may get a posting as the exec or second on a Galaxy Class starship. For the time being, I have sixty days of leave and I intend to enjoy them. What about you?"

"Well, I'm heading up the new Delta Quadrant project at the academy, but that's all I know. Mom won't be back for a month and of course Naomi will be here for a couple more weeks, so I'll be here and probably spend another two weeks with Mom when she gets back before I head out to San Francisco to look for a house and all. Did Paris give you any hints about which ship?"

"No, but I think I'd rather teach at the academy if I get a say, seems there's this really cute little admiral I've had my eye on and I thought I might ask her out and, who knows, maybe we'd start dating, seeing a lot of each other." His dimples rallied as he smiled and rubbed noses with her.

"Is that so? And what makes you think she'd go out with you?"

"Winter is coming and she really likes my body heat!"

Kathryn snuggled up and closed her eyes. "Well, that admiral of yours must be a lucky woman, you certainly are very warm and snuggly and kinda cute too! Let's go back to sleep, I'm still tired."

"OK, and, yes, she's an amazing woman; she's intelligent, brave and very very beautiful. She has pretty blue-gray eyes and gorgeous soft red hair and a wonderful figure, a natural body like a woman should have, and I like her just the way she is."

"Alright, Chakotay, I'll cancel the appointments, what you see is what you get and you can't have any of it now. Contrary to my recent behavior, I'm not really that kind of girl!"

"I know you're not and I like that about you too. Sweet dreams, Kathryn."

The tent shaking and Mrs. Janeway's canned goods in the shelf rattling awoke them. Chakotay wrapped his arms tightly around Kathryn, "Do you have earthquakes in Indiana?"

She laughed, "No, silly, I told you Anubis thunders around in the morning, this is an old house and he's a big dog, the earth shakes! C'mon, lets' see if Naomi will let us out, I could really use a decent breakfast and a hot shower." Kathryn crawled from the tent and shouted up the stairs, "Naomi, good morning, Sweetie! Chakotay and I are friends again; could you please let us out? I'll fix you breakfast."

The cat door opened and her little face peeped through. "How do I know you're really friends? You could be lying just to get out, you guys are sneaky!" Chakotay started up the stairs, but she slammed the cat door shut and yelled, "No, stay down there, stand where I can see you and let me see you kiss."

"OK," Chakotay replied, "We'll stay right here." She peeked through the cat door again, so he took Kathryn's hands, leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "See, Naomi, we're friends again! You were right and we were being silly like Flotter and Trevis in the minnows story, we stopped fighting and talked to each other and we're friends again. Will you let us out now, please?"

She poked her head farther through the cat door. "I didn't see you kiss, do it again!" They grinned at one another, shrugged their shoulders and kissed again, this time on the lips. Naomi shook her head, "No, that's not good enough, you're just pretending so I'll let you out."

Kathryn grabbed Chakotay's shoulders, stood on her toes, gave him a more decisive kiss on the lips, and smiled at Naomi. "See, Naomi, that was real, we're not pretending, I swear. Honey, I smell coffee, it was so sweet of you to make coffee! Please let us out, I really would like a cup of coffee and I'll fix you breakfast."

"Nope, you're just pretending, if you really liked each other you'd kiss like Mommy and Daddy do. I'm going to go and dump the coffee out and send you apple juice for breakfast, it's much better for you than coffee anyhow! Neelix always said you drank too much coffee and it made you 'witchy' sometimes."

Kathryn started up the steps, then caught herself, and begged, "No, Sweetheart, don't throw the coffee out! Here, look!" she exclaimed as she grabbed Chakotay, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately on the lips. She caught him by surprise, but is was a good one and he responded with equal passion as he embraced her and flirted with her tongue for the first time.

Naomi cheered, "OK, OK, I believe you now, I'll let you out, but there has to be one condition."

Kathryn finally broke the kiss and came up for air, however her eyes never left Chakotay's. "What is it, Honey?"

"Chakotay has to fix breakfast!"

Kathryn put her hands on her hips and frowned. "All right, he will, maybe he's a little better cook than I am. Will you unlock the door now?"

Naomi giggled, "He's a lot better cook than you are, Aunt Kathryn. Oh, I unlocked the door last night, right after you got all mushy and started kissing. I made coffee and I'll go get eggs, maybe you two can do some more kissing, it might take me a long time to gather all the eggs!" With that, she slammed the cat door shut and ran out the kitchen door.

Kathryn's hands returned to her hips. "Didn't you think to check the door last night? We spent the night freezing our asses off down here for nothing!"

He clamped his hands firmly to his hips as well. "No, I never went up the steps again after I got our dinner and it was locked then, I did check. She must have been listening and watching us after she said she was going to bed. That kid's sneaky, we had better be careful!" He slipped his arms around Kathryn and nuzzled her neck, "Besides, I wouldn't say we spent the night down here for nothing, would you, Kathryn?"

She tilted her head to the side, "Mmm, decidedly not! We'll have to be careful, any six year old who managed to hold us prisoner and trick us like that is dangerous, Neelix obviously taught her quite a few things besides how to play kadis-kot!" Kathryn started up the stairs and reached back for Chakotay's hand.

"I guess we will, Kathryn!" He looked up, silently mouthed, "Thank you, Neelix!" as he followed her up the stairs, and touched her lightly on the fanny. "You know, Kathryn, these mountain ranges in the southern hemisphere look pretty good too!"

"Thank you, but those are foothills, Chakotay, the mountain ranges are in the northern hemisphere on the other side of the planet, got it?" she giggled.

"Yes, Ma'am, and I really like your planet!" he laughed as he followed her through the door into the kitchen. "Have a seat, I'll get you some coffee and get breakfast going, I'm starved. Kathryn, it's warm in here and the windows are open. How come it was so damn cold in the cellar last night?"

"You're right! I'll be right back." Kathryn went into the hall and quickly returned. "Well, it seems someone set the enviro controls to deep chill in the basement; I wonder who could have done that?" She sat at the table and took a long slow sip from the cup of coffee Chakotay handed her. "Ahhh! That kid is really starting to scare me!"

He took her hand. "I wouldn't worry; after all, she is on our side! Why don't you go take a nice hot shower and I'll have breakfast ready when you come down? I'm sure it'll help with the stiffness, you're moving pretty slowly. Maybe I could give you a massage later, while Naomi takes her nap?" he asked as his eyebrows danced in wicked anticipation.

She gave him a grin, "OK, but just a massage, I'm on to you, so no more reconnaissance missions to explore planet Janeway, OK? I bet you got an A in geography, didn't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did, but I'm really more interested in topography than geography; you have some very interesting natural formations there, Kathryn! Refill for the road?" he asked as he eyed her appreciatively and offered more coffee.

She let him top off her mug and eased herself up from the table. "Rhetorical question, my dear! I'll be back in about fifteen minutes," she advised as she turned to leave. Kathryn stopped and shook her finger at him. "I'm looking forward to that massage, but you'd better behave yourself and just you remember, I kicked the Borg Queen's ass, so you had better watch yours!"

"I'd much rather watch yours, Kathryn!" he replied as he grabbed the coffee pot to defend himself from Kathryn's advance. "Stop right there, Kathryn, or the coffee dies! I was just kidding, I'm on my best behavior, I promise. You set yourself up for that cheap shot, you backed right into it and you know it. Go on, I'll see what's keeping Naomi and make breakfast."

After breakfast, Chakotay showered and changed while Kathryn and Naomi cleaned up from breakfast. The three went down to the stable, but Kathryn's sore back side wasn't quite up to sitting in a saddle yet, so she stood and watched while Naomi and Chakotay rode the horses around the paddock. Chakotay certainly wasn't lying when he said he knew his way around horses and Naomi's first riding lesson proved that she would soon be a competent rider as well.

Naomi was very tired from staying up late to eavesdrop the night before, so she and Anubis went upstairs for a nap after lunch without any prompting on Kathryn's part. Kathryn and Chakotay settled on the sun porch for the promised massage and, save for one slight incursion into the 'mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere' which Chakotay claimed was accidental, he was true to his word and behaved himself; he always was a better liar than Kathryn gave him credit for! Their poor night's sleep in the cellar got the best of them and they curled up in the sun on the double chaise for an afternoon nap as well.

When they awoke from their naps, they discussed potential locations to have dinner and decided upon a family oriented restaurant where the food was served by holographic storybook characters of the child's choice, which Kathryn and Chakotay were certain would be Flotter and Trevis. They really couldn't argue the choice; after all, they owed the denizens of the Forest of Forever a debt of gratitude. Chakotay and Naomi sat on the sofa in the living room and waited for Kathryn to come downstairs as Chakotay complained about her lack of customary punctuality.

"Naomi, can you go see what's keeping Aunt Kathryn? She said that place is crowded and, if we're late, we may lose our reservation and have to eat someplace else."

Naomi sidled up to Chakotay, "Don't worry, she's just making herself pretty for you, Mommy says the older you get the longer it takes. We'll get there on time; Aunt Kathryn can drive really really fast. In fact, the last time we went to the store, a police officer stopped her and gave her a commendation for being able to drive real fast! It was cool, that's never happened to Mommy or Daddy."

Chakotay rubbed his chin and chuckled. "Thanks for telling me that, Sweetie, somehow Kathryn forgot to tell me about it."

"Forgot to tell you what?" Kathryn asked as she entered the room.

Chakotay stood to meet her. "Oh, nothing. Kathryn, you look beautiful, turn around and let me look!" She twirled around and modeled her simple but elegant maroon dress. Chakotay gave her a kiss on the cheek and asked, "I take it you didn't get that at the same place as those other almost dresses?"

She returned his kiss and hugged him, "No, I borrowed it from Mom's closet. Don't worry, I'm getting rid of all those other awful dresses, but…," she gave him a squeeze and whispered in his ear, "but I'm keeping the sexy underwear!"

"Oh, Kathryn!" he sighed as their lips met and latched on to one another so perfectly that it was obvious they belonged that way.

Naomi pulled at Kathryn's hem, "C'mon, quit kissing and hurry up, we'll be late, I'm hungry! What were you two whispering about?"

Chakotay took Naomi's hand as Kathryn got her purse. "Quit complaining, young lady, you were the one that wanted to see us kissing, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's a lot better than watching you fight. You didn't tell me, what were you two whispering about?"

He picked Naomi up and started heading for the door. "Uh, nothing, Aunt Kathryn just has something that I hope she'll show me someday soon, that's all, something really pretty! There you are, Kathryn, let's get going, mind if I drive?"

She gave him an odd look. "Well, no, I guess not. What's wrong, afraid of my driving?"

He belted Naomi into the back seat, helped Kathryn into the front passenger seat and smiled, "Not at all, Kathryn, in fact I hear a nice police officer just gave you a 'commendation' for your driving the other day!"

Chakotay moved into the guest room and they thoroughly enjoyed the rest of Naomi's stay, with time to both complete all the repair projects on Kathryn's list and have a lot of fun on the farm. The laid back rural atmosphere suited Kathryn and Chakotay and they both finally totally relaxed after their seven year ordeal and had plenty of time for long walks and a little kissing and snuggling every now and then too. Every night when they tucked Naomi in and read her a story, they were grateful that the little girl had managed to bring them together, thanks to her love for them and the wisdom she had gained in the Forest of Forever.

"Sam!" Kathryn exclaimed as she opened the door. "It's so good to see you, welcome back! Come have a seat in the kitchen, I just made coffee and we have fresh baked cookies. Naomi is still packing, she insisted on saying goodbye to the horses one more time. I should warn you, she'll probably want a dog and a pony now!"

Sam sat and laughed, "A dog, maybe, a pony, we'll have to think on that one! It's good to be home, trust me, you never want to attend a Ktarian funeral, what an ordeal! Oh, Kathryn, you look marvelous, just wonderful and I know that look, you must be in love, that Richard must be some guy!"

Kathryn slid a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies in front of Sam. "Love, yes, but Richard is history, I have a new man in my life these days, a good one."

Sam leaned in and hugged her. "Oh, congratulations, Kathryn, do tell, what's he like?"

She sipped her coffee and smiled. "He's just wonderful, tall, dark and handsome and he's intelligent, thoughtful and we like all the same things. Oh, Sam, I just can't imagine spending a day without him… and here he comes now."

"CHAKOTAY!" Sam exclaimed as she dropped her cookie. She looked at Kathryn, "Chakotay? You and Chakotay?" Kathryn grinned and nodded as Sam jumped up and hugged him. "Oh, this is wonderful, you two together, this is just wonderful!"

"Yes, it is," Chakotay replied as he put his hands on Kathryn's shoulders, "and we have your daughter to thank, she got us back together. Her methods may have been a tad unorthodox, but they worked. She'll be right back, she said she forgot to go say goodbye to the chickens. I brought her bags down and put them by the door. That's quite a special young lady you have there!"

"Yes, she is, and I missed her so much, but I know she was in good hands while we were gone and Greskrendtregt and I want to invite you to dinner to thank you the next time you're in San Francisco. There's my baby!" Sam shouted as Naomi came in the door and Sam ran to her, picked her up and hugged her. "Oh, Naomi, Daddy and I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, but I had a real good time here with Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay!"

"I'm sure you did. Well, Honey, we have to get going, Daddy is waiting at home to see you, so say thank you, OK?"

She hugged them and thanked them as tears came to her eyes. "I had the best time ever, thank you so much, Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay, I love you!"

Chakotay sat and placed her on his knee. "I love you too, Sweetheart, but I'd like to ask a favor of you before you go."

She wrapped her arms around him as she replied, "Sure, anything!"

Chakotay stood and placed her back on her feet as he moved beside Kathryn's chair. "Naomi, would you please be the flower girl at my wedding? That is, if this pretty lady here will marry me?" he asked as he slipped the ring on Kathryn's finger, knelt, and smiled. "Kathryn Janeway, will you marry me?"

Taken totally by surprise, all Kathryn could do was stare at the ring in disbelief as tears marched down her cheeks.

Naomi went to Kathryn, hugged her and looked at the ring. "Wow, that's the sparkliest ring I've ever seen!"

Kathryn finally composed herself, dismissed her tears and spoke, "Yes, it is, isn't it? Chakotay, oh my, I certainly wasn't expecting this! Well, Naomi, I think he wants an answer, what do you think I should say?" Naomi gave her another hug and whispered in her ear. Kathryn stood, smiled and took Chakotay's hands. "My special assistant advises me that I should marry you, therefore my answer is yes." He picked her up and twirled her as she shouted, "Yes, yes yes! I love you! Oh yes, I'll marry you, Chakotay!"

"Talaxian group hug!" Naomi exclaimed as they all cried and hugged together. "Oh, Mommy, don't you just love stories with a happily ever after ending?"

THE END

(The Babysitter's Club book series is © to someone or other, you may have it back now, I've never read them, it just seemed like an appropriate title.)