Author's Notes:
Many thanks to Delwin and Izzy for betaing and my husband for his input. Also thanks to Photogirl1890 for catching typos. This story was originally published on AO3 on August 4, 2014.
The 'Admiral Janeway' timeline from Endgame:
2378: Voyager finds a Borg transwarp conduit hub, but passes it by as it is too dangerous to try to use. Miral is born.
2381: Seven dies, at some point before this, she and Chakotay married.
2394: Voyager reaches Earth, Chakotay dies.
2404: The 10th anniversary of Voyager's return home, Admiral Janeway travels back in time to get Voyager home in 2378.
Take Your Child to Work Day
Year: 2382
"Mommy, Daddy, time to wake up!" Miral called out with glee as she bounded onto the bed.
Tom cracked open his eyes, and then let out a short cry of pain as the four year old trampled a sensitive area in her quest to give him a good morning kiss. Wrapping her up into a hug, Tom gently rubbed her back, in the hopes that maybe she would calm down enough to lie quietly with her parents for a few more minutes, at least until the alarm went off.
"Daddy, it's not time to sleep more. It's time to get up," Miral stated, squirming in his embrace. "Mommy, you too!"
Tom heard B'Elanna let out a slight moan and she rolled over to face the two of them. She reached out a hand and stroked Miral's hair. "Honey, it's not time to wake up. Has the alarm went off yet?"
"No," Miral pouted.
"Then it is still quiet time. You can stay in the bed with us, but it's still time to rest."
Miral completed her escape from Tom's arms and sat cross legged between the two of them, trying to stare her mother down. "But I'm too excited to sleep! I get to go with you today!"
B'Elanna sighed as she reached out for her child, trying to get her to lay down again. "I know and I'm excited as well. But today will go better if we all have had enough sleep. That way your dad and I don't get cranky and need to take a nap."
"Mommy, you don't take naps," Miral giggled.
"Oh, Miral, I think some days Mommy wishes she got to take a nap."
Miral giggled again, and it became obvious to Tom she wasn't going to easily settle down for the hour or so until the alarm went off. He looked over at B'Elanna, and in the dim light he could see her eyes were already closed as she tried to still the excited child.
"Why don't I go get the TV and we can watch something here in bed," Tom offered. That should distract Miral and let him and B'Elanna get a few more moments of sleep.
"Yes!" Miral cheered as Tom stood to wheel the TV into his and B'Elanna's sleeping area.
Their quarters were ridiculously small for the three of them, as they still lived in the room he and B'Elanna had moved to after they got married. When Miral was a baby, it hadn't been so bad, but when she was around one, it became obvious that they needed more privacy. Rearranging their quarters yet again, they had walled off an area for their bed and a separate area for Miral's bed. Despite the fact there were no larger quarters available, what they needed was to live in a room that was larger than eight meters by four meters. And if everything went to plan, soon they would need to have a serious discussion with the captain about this.
Tom turned on one of the educational shows that Miral liked and set the volume low. He had put the TV next to his side of the bed, since B'Elanna's side was not actually an option, as they had pushed the bed up against the wall in the reorganizing. He grabbed Miral and nestled her against him as B'Elanna curled up behind him, using his back to block the light from the TV. Tom closed his eyes, savoring this moment, surrounded by the people he loved.
Tom woke to a cacophony of sound and motion, as Miral literally jumped out of the bed when the alarm when off. "Daddy, Mommy, it's time! The alarm is going off!"
He felt B'Elanna wrap herself more tightly around him as she moaned, "Computer, deactivate alarm."
"Come on!" Miral demanded.
B'Elanna sat up, looking at her daughter, "Miral, that is not how you speak to your parents. Do you need to go sit on your bed and calm down?"
"No," Miral said quietly, looking down at the floor.
"Do you have anything else to say to us?"
"Sorry."
"I accept your apology," B'Elanna said, climbing out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
Tom got up as well, moving the television back to its home. Miral had followed him out into the living area. "Miral, let's talk for a minute," he said, heading over to the couch, inviting her to sit with him. "I know you're very excited to come to work with us today, but you have to be on your best behavior. So far today you haven't been making the case that you're ready for this very well. When we are on the bridge, in engineering and in sickbay, I don't want to hear any arguing, and you have to use your quiet voice at all times. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Miral quietly answered.
He gathered her up into a hug and continued speaking. "The bridge and engineering can be dangerous places, so you must listen to me and Mommy. You'll have to obey orders just like everyone else on the ship. If you stop behaving, we will come back home immediately, not because we are mad, but because we don't want you to get hurt. So please listen today, okay?"
"Okay."
Tom wasn't sure if any of that had sunk in, but at least he had made the effort. B'Elanna came out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day.
"Breakfast in the mess hall?" Tom asked.
"I need to get down to engineering to get a couple of things done before we start this adventure," B'Elanna said, rifling through a stack of PADDs on the table. "Can you get her ready and fed and I'll meet you on the bridge?"
"No problem," Tom said as he stood to approach his wife. "Do you want me to replicate you something?"
B'Elanna, having finally found the PADD she was searching for, looked up at him. "We don't have the rations, with little miss growth spurt here. I'll just drop by the mess hall on my way to engineering and grab something. I need coffee anyway, if we are going to get through this day."
He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you on the bridge at 08:00."
"See you then. Bye Miral, I'll see you in a little bit," B'Elanna said as she walked out the door.
Tom turned around and looked at Miral. "Alright, let's get ready. What do you want to wear today?"
Once Miral was dressed in her favorite blue outfit, they headed for the mess hall. Tom had factored in an extra fifteen minutes for when Miral inevitably spilled something on herself and would need to change, but this morning breakfast had mostly been crumbly, not sticky, so he had just needed to brush her off. Harry had come in just as he and Miral had finished eating, so he distracted her, allowing Tom to quickly clean their table and the floor around their table. Tom then sat with Miral on his lap while Harry ate, the little girl babbling excitedly about what she was going to do that day. Her agenda included flying the ship, fixing the warp core, and making someone not sick anymore.
At five minutes before eight, Tom and Miral left the mess hall, saying goodbye to Harry, and walked hand in hand to the turbolift. As they waited for the lift, Tom looked down at his daughter, "Miral, do you remember what we talked about this morning?"
"Yes."
"And what was it?" he asked, knowing sometimes she would say what she hoped he and B'Elanna wanted to hear and not the truth.
"Be good or I have to go home."
Tom smiled, slightly amazed that she so neatly summarized the 'take home' message of their talk. The lift arrived and Tom called out for deck one.
When the doors opened, Tom clasped Miral's hand more tightly. He scanned the bridge and saw everyone was already at their stations, Tuvok at tactical, the captain and Chakotay seated in their normal places. He also saw B'Elanna at the engineering station and, after nodding to Tuvok, walked over to meet her.
"Hi, Mommy," Miral said, in a very quiet and restrained voice.
"Hello Miral," B'Elanna took her hand and pulled her onto her lap, so that Tom could relieve Baytart. "What did you have for breakfast?" B'Elanna ask quietly, her attention half focused on the engineering console.
"Toast, cheese and fruit."
"Sounds tasty," B'Elanna replied, noticing that the captain had stood and was walking over to the two of them.
"Good morning Miral, are you ready for your first day training to be an ensign?"
Miral smiled. "Yes, Captain."
"Good. What kind of job do you want when you are an ensign?"
Miral thought for a moment. "I want to be an engineer who flies the ship."
B'Elanna heard Tom laugh at the comment.
"Would you want to be the captain someday?" Janeway asked.
Miral furrowed her eyebrows. "But you're the captain."
B'Elanna wondered for a moment if Miral understood that 'the captain' was not Janeway's name. Janeway took it all in stride, holding her hand out to Miral and asking, "Well, I am for now. But would you like to sit in the captain's chair? Just to see if you might like it?"
Miral twisted to look up at her mom, seeking permission to do what the captain had suggested. B'Elanna nodded, put her down on the ground, and watched as she walked with Janeway over to the captain's chair. Before Miral could climb up into the chair, Chakotay leaned over and turned off the computers built into the armrests, lest Miral hit a button and cause some sort of problem.
Tom had spun around to watch the proceedings, smiling as Miral settled into the chair. "The one time we could actually use the Doc and his holo-cam…" He smiled at B'Elanna before calling to Miral, "Come here, honey, do you want to see my station?"
For the next half hour Tom sat with Miral on his lap at the conn, letting her tap buttons and trying to explain to her how to plot a course and engage the engines. As Tom and B'Elanna had expected, the child soon became bored with the day-to-day operation at conn, and Tom turned over the station to Culhane, who had agreed to take the rest of the shift once Miral was ready to go.
Waving goodbye to Janeway and Chakotay, the family entered the turbolift and headed for engineering. When they arrived, B'Elanna was assaulted by the usual questions and status updates from her staff. Tom took the opportunity to show Miral around the large room, letting her touch the swirling warp core and climb the ladder that connected the two levels of engineering.
Her staff dealt with for now, B'Elanna was looking around engineering to rejoin her family when she heard a knocking noise coming from above her. Looking up, she saw Miral lying on her stomach, waving at her through the transparent floor of the second level. She smiled, despite herself, and headed up to join them.
"So, what do you have planned for us?" Tom asked as B'Elanna walked up next to them. Miral was still lying on the ground, fascinated by her bird's eye view of engineering.
"Well, I have been saving a relay replacement in junction 39-beta." B'Elanna did not fail to note Tom's reaction to this suggestion. "I know it's grunt work, but that junction isn't too far from the access port on deck 14, so she won't get too tired crawling there and there are no ladders. Plus, since a trained monkey could replace relays-"
"You think our monkey could as well," Tom interrupted.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Yes."
"Alright, I see your point. Let's do it."
Twenty minutes later, they were all crawling through the tube with Miral in the lead, followed closely by B'Elanna. When they reached the junction and after B'Elanna pulled off the access hatch and shut the power off, she began instructing Miral on how to remove the old relays and replace them with new ones.
They were about halfway through the job when the ship violently pitched to one side. Tom caught Miral as she slid into him, the spent relays clattering down the tube. As the ship righted itself, red alert sounded, and Tom heard B'Elanna mutter a stream of expletives as she quickly slammed the final half dozen new relays into place. As she worked, she yelled to Tom, "Get her out of her, I have to get this junction back up and then get to engineering."
"Okay," Tom said as the shipped bucked again.
B'Elanna didn't acknowledge their departure as she focused on completing the repair. Just as she turned the power to the relay back on, the ship lurched and B'Elanna was thrown against the side of the tube. She felt the atmosphere rush down the tube, indicating the hull had been breached, but only for a moment as the emergency forcefields snapped into place. But B'Elanna knew that the breach had come from the direction that Tom and Miral had gone. She suppressed her worry, closed the access hatch, and began to move as quickly as possible back down the tube.
As she turned the corner, heading for the access port, she saw that there was no way she was going to get out this way. In the breach the tube had partially collapsed and she could see Tom's hand poking out from the wreckage, his wedding ring glistening in the amber light of red alert.
No, she thought, momentarily frozen in place. Then her training took over, as she crawled towards the debris. "Tom?" she yelled, as she reached out for his hand to check his pulse.
"B'Elanna?" she heard Tom say before she had touched him.
She sighed in relief and said, "Are you two okay?"
It took a moment for Tom to reply. "Miral is still alive, but she is badly burned. She took the brunt of a plasma conduit breach. I was able to use my body to shield her from the collapse, but I'm stuck now."
B'Elanna's took a deep breath, trying to not let her worry for Miral turn into panic. "Okay. Are you hurt?"
Tom paused again before answering simply, "Yes."
"I'm going to call for a beam out and get you two to sickbay," B'Elanna said as she slapped her comm badge. "Torres to sickbay: emergency transport."
Nothing happened.
"The comms are down?" Tom asked. She could hear in his voice that he was in a great deal of pain.
"Yes. I'm going to dig you out. Miral is unconscious?"
"Yes, I can feel her breathing, but her lungs may be burned," Tom replied.
B'Elanna began to dig and slowly she uncovered more of her family. Mercifully, whatever had happened seemed to have stopped, the ship had not lurched for over five minutes.
"B'Elanna? Promise me something."
B'Elanna didn't like the sound of this. "What?"
"That you'll get Miral out of here. You'll get her to sickbay."
Grunting as she moved a heavy piece of debris, she replied, "I'll get you both to sickbay."
Tom didn't respond. A few moments later B'Elanna removed the last piece of hull that was blocking her view of Tom and Miral. And she gasped.
The whole left side of Miral was charred. She didn't understand how her baby was still alive.
"Get her out of here, get her to sickbay," Tom said, grimacing as he tried to edge out of B'Elanna's way. His torso and legs were still trapped under the wreckage.
"I can't leave you here," B'Elanna said as she tried to free him.
He grabbed her wrist. "Stop wasting time," he snapped. "Even if you uncover me, I can't crawl out on my own. You can't drag us both out. She's free now. Get her to sickbay. Send a team after me. I'll be okay."
She feared he was hiding something from her, that he was worse off than he was letting her know. But she knew what she had to do. She squeezed his hand firmly and kissed him. "I love you."
"I love you too. And Miral."
B'Elanna cleared her throat and crawled to the other side of the debris before hoisting Miral awkwardly onto her back. "Keep trying your combadge," B'Elanna said.
But Tom did not respond.
"Vorik to Lieutenant Torres."
B'Elanna breathed a sigh of relief and leaned her head against the rung of the ladder. "Vorik, for the love of god, tell me transporters are functioning."
"They are not, Lieutenant."
"Turbolifts?"
"Above Deck 11," the Vulcan responded, in his damned cool voice.
"Fuck," B'Elanna muttered, knowing she would have to haul herself and almost 20 kilos of four year old up another two decks.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant?"
B'Elanna sighed, "Nothing, make transporters your priority. I'll get back to you." She slapped her combadge again, "Torres to Sickbay."
"Sickbay here," the Doctor's voice responded.
"Doctor, I have Miral with me, but she is badly burned. Tom was also injured, but I don't know his condition. He passed out right as I left him. He's on Deck 14 near junction 39-beta."
"I'll send a team to get him. You should come to sickbay with Miral," the Doctor replied.
"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" B'Elanna grunted and she pulled herself up another level.
There was a short pause before the Doctor said, "Good, sickbay out."
She then tapped her combadge and said, "Torres to Paris."
Only silence responded.
"Torres to Vorik"
"Vorik here."
"Tell me what happened."
"We hit a series of subspace mines. The hull is breached on deck 14, emergency force fields are in place. Primary systems are offline including-"
"Vorik, stop. I'll be there as soon as I can. Until then, you know what to do. Torres out," she said as she pulled herself and Miral up onto Deck 11. Finally in the corridor, B'Elanna started to run to the nearest turbolift. Once inside she called out for Deck 5 and, as she had dozens of times since this nightmare began, checked to make sure Miral was still breathing. Once the doors finally opened, B'Elanna rushed to sickbay, laying Miral down on the biobed and calling for the Doctor. As he scanned her daughter, B'Elanna slumped against the adjacent bed. After anxiously watching the Doctor for a few moments she said impatiently, "Well? Is she going to be okay?"
"I believe so, but I will need to perform surgery and prepare skin grafts." When B'Elanna failed to respond or move, the Doctor turned to face her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be fine. But there is nothing you can do here."
B'Elanna was pushed back into motion at the Doctor's words. She leaned down and kissed an unburned portion of Miral's forehead. "Mommy loves you… so does Daddy. It will be okay," she whispered, looking down at Miral, her charred form limp and lifeless on the bed. The emotions she had been keeping buried tried to surface, but with a breath and years of practice, B'Elanna stuffed them back down. She rose again turning to the Doctor, "You'll keep me informed? And Tom..."
"I will let you know."
B'Elanna had gone to engineering after leaving Miral with the Doctor, knowing the best way to help Tom was to get the transporters back online. Forty-five minutes into working on them, sickbay had informed her that Tom had arrived and was stable, and that Miral was in surgery. For a moment she considered dropping everything to check on them, but reason won out.
About six hours into the new candidate for 'the worst day of her life,' most of the main systems were back online and B'Elanna's stomach was growling. Closing up the ground level access panel where she had just been working, she slumped back against the bulkhead, and, just for a moment, rested her head on her drawn up knees. She hadn't heard anything from sickbay since they had informed her that Tom had arrived. Was Tom okay? Was Miral still in surgery? Had they just forgotten to tell her what the hell was going on with her family?
Lost in thought B'Elanna did not hear the approaching footsteps her until a hand squeezed her shoulder. Startled, B'Elanna glanced up to see the captain looking down at her.
"Captain!" B'Elanna yelped and quickly stood. "I'm sorry, I just-"
The captain raised a hand to stop her. "Don't worry. I was just coming down here to relieve you."
"Why?" B'Elanna asked, and her heart thudded in her chest. "Is… are they-"
"The Doctor is still working on Miral. But Tom is awake and doing well. He is asking for you."
The Doctor is still working on Miral… echoed around in B'Elanna's head. It had been over five hours.
When B'Elanna didn't respond, Janeway continued, "So, go get something to eat, change your uniform, and go be with your family. I'm sure your team can handle things down here."
B'Elanna nodded in agreement before processing all of what the captain had said. "Change my uniform?"
The captain motioned to her left shoulder. "You're covered in blood."
B'Elanna raised a hand and felt the dried blood of her daughter on the shoulder and collar of her uniform. Her hand slowly fell and she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "I'll coordinate with Vorik," she said softly.
The captain reached up and squeezed B'Elanna's arm, giving her a reassuring smile before turning to leave.
After a quick stop at their quarters to clean up and change, B'Elanna found herself outside the doors to sickbay. Taking a deep breath she entered, to find a holographic barrier blocking off the surgical area and Tom sitting up in bed, a half-eaten sandwich on the table next to him. He smiled when he saw her.
When she walked over to his bedside he reached out and grabbed her. "B'Elanna," he mumbled into her hair.
Hugging him back, B'Elanna asked, "Why is the surgical bay blocked off?"
Tom replied, "The Doc didn't want me to see her like that."
Pulling back from Tom, B'Elanna looked away as she said, "I don't know if you remember, but she… she, uh-"
"I remember," Tom said.
They were both silent for a moment before B'Elanna spoke. "No one told me what happened to you…" she trailed off.
"My femur was broken, but was a simple fracture, and I had some internal bleeding, a couple of busted ribs, a concussion, some minor plasma burns... But Sam was able to patch me up." Tom paused for a long moment and then said, "B'Elanna… will you… will you come sit with me?"
She nodded and Tom scooted over on the bed. Once situated, she rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. Tom looked at the half-eaten sandwich next to his bed. "If you're hungry you can have the rest of my sandwich, my stomach is still a bit queasy from… everything."
"What kind is it?"
"Peanut butter and jelly," he answered.
"Sure," she said, taking the sandwich from him. "I am actually pretty hungry."
As they sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the Doctor operating, B'Elanna began to imagine a world where her daughter had just died.
About half an hour after B'Elanna arrived, the Doctor emerged from the holographic barrier. Tom had dozed off with B'Elanna still in his arms, his head resting on hers. As the Doctor walked over, B'Elanna gently shook Tom, waking him.
"How is she, Doc?" Tom asked as he yawned.
"She will make a full recovery. I want to keep her here overnight at least, but I hope to be able to release her to you tomorrow."
Feeling a wave of relief, B'Elanna asked, "Why did the surgery take so long?"
The Doctor looked uncomfortable for a moment before answering, "Her skin was damaged beyond what the dermal regenerator could repair, so she currently has skin grafts covering about 60 percent of her body. Removing the damaged skin and replacing it is… time consuming."
Tom and B'Elanna were both silent for a long moment, taking in the information. "Can we see her?"
The Doctor nodded in response to B'Elanna's question. "Yes, but be aware, she looks… different… right now. But once she is healed I expect there will be little to no scarring."
B'Elanna hopped off the biobed and turned to steady Tom as he slowly rose. The Doctor lowered the holographic barrier and Tom and B'Elanna approached their daughter's bedside.
The sight of Miral caused B'Elanna to gasp, despite her mental preparation. Miral looked like a patchwork quilt, with large areas of her face, chest, arm, and leg covered in the new pink skin. Her hair had been singed off, and portions of her scalp replaced. B'Elanna felt Tom's arm wrap around her, each steadying the other and they looked down at their daughter.
The Doctor had, in the end, convinced them to return to their quarters for the night, assuring them that he would stay with Miral and alert them if she woke. Knowing that her godfather would be with her was reassuring to B'Elanna, but what had finally convinced her was that this was probably their last chance to get a decent night of sleep for a while. She thought back to when she had suffered from plasma burns, the intense pain that had remained for days, the inability to get comfortable and sleep. How the slightest touch on her new skin sent shockwaves of pain through her body. Knowing what Miral was about to endure twisted B'Elanna's stomach into knots, knowing that there would be nothing she could do to make her daughter feel better.
Arriving in their quarters, Tom slowly moved to the bathroom to take a shower as B'Elanna changed for bed. Sitting cross legged on the bed, in the tiny cubicle laughingly called her bedroom, B'Elanna saw Toby the Targ half burrowed in the sheets, where Miral had left him that morning. Laying down, she grabbed Toby and held him close to her chest, and remembered holding Miral like that when she was just slightly larger than the stuffed toy. She had done everything she could to protect her baby the last four years, but it hadn't been enough. And now we are trying for a second? What are we thinking? she wondered, clutching Toby even tighter.
She was still staring blankly at the wall when Tom climbed into bed next to her. Laying down, he settled in so close their foreheads were nearly touching. He lightly caressed her face before telling the computer to dim the lights.
In the dark, she could feel his breath on her face, the scent of the toothpaste he had just used. "Tom," she said.
"Yes?"
"I want to go back on the shots."
There was a long pause before Tom said, "Okay… is this because of what happened today?"
"Yes."
Tom sighed and wrapped B'Elanna up in his arms. "B'Elanna, I know today was scary, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have another baby." Tom idly stroked B'Elanna's back as he waited for her response. When she remained silent he kissed her on the forehead. "Come on B'Elanna, talk to me."
After another long pause B'Elanna began, "Tom, this is no place for a baby. I know we had this discussion before we had Miral, but… I just don't want to bring another child into the universe knowing what can happen."
"Naomi-"
B'Elanna suddenly jerked away from him, sitting upright on the bed, feeling fear and anger she had been holding in all day suddenly rush over her. "Fuck Tom, this is the same bullshit you used to convince me to have Miral."
"Convince you," Tom said, disbelief in his voice. "I didn't convince you to have Miral. We discussed it and came to a decision."
"No, what happened was you had been dropping hints about having kids since before we got married. And once we did get married you started talking about it nonstop. And I relented, despite my reservations."
Tom sat up, calling out, "Computer, lights." He looked at his wife, shaking his head. "B'Elanna… that is not what happened. You said you wanted kids too."
"Wanting to have a baby and thinking it is a good idea are two separate things."
Tom looked away from his wife, trying not to yell and make things worse. "Well, it's not like we can put her back in now that she's here..."
There was a long pause before B'Elanna answered in a soft voice, "No… and I love her so much, she makes me so… happy."
Tom looked back over at B'Elanna, "Me too... and so will the next one."
He saw B'Elanna stiffen. "I had always known it was a possibility, one of us dying. It's almost happened enough times that I would be a fool not to have thought about it. Especially after Joe, and Seven-" B'Elanna's voice cracked and she turned her face away from his gaze. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "So I've thought about what I should have prepared in case one day I don't come home… and what I would do, if one day you-" her voice caught again and this time Tom reached out for her, taking her into his arms.
"I know, I've thought about it too. I've been in love with you for most of my adult life and thinking about going on without you-"
"But I never thought about going on without her!" B'Elanna said in a frustrated growl. "I knew we could all die if the ship was destroyed… but justher..."
Stroking her hair, Tom said, "Look, it's been a rough day. Let's not make any rash decisions when you're upset over Miral-"
B'Elanna jerked away from him. "You're damn right I'm upset! Our daughter could have died today, Tom! And it was our fault! We're the ones who took her down there. We're the ones who wanted to show her what we did all day. Hell, we're the ones that thought having a baby on a fucking starship was a good idea! It wasn't! Any one of us could die at any moment, Tom. Just because we've been lucky thus far doesn't mean our luck is going to hold out. I can't bring another baby on to this ship after today, knowing what it is like to see them almost die."
"Okay."
B'Elanna's head snapped around and looked at Tom. "Just, 'okay'?"
"Yeah. Look, I still want another baby, but if you still feel this way when this is all over, then okay, but I don't want to argue about it any more tonight. Tomorrow when we go to sickbay to be with Miral, we will have the Doctor give us the shots. We can always come off them later if you change your mind when things get back to normal."
B'Elanna watched as Tom laid back down, groaning slightly with each movement, indicating that the pain medication was wearing off. "I'm sorry. We should be getting some sleep. Computer, dim the lights," she said and curled up next to Tom, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
She felt his arms tighten around her, and he whispered, "I love you, B'Elanna. No matter what we decide, no matter what happens, I love you."
"I love you too."
Soon Tom started to snore. Normally she would have nudged him to get him to roll over, but tonight she didn't want to hurt him. Carefully, B'Elanna extracted herself and Toby from the bed and went to Miral's room. Laying down, B'Elanna wrapped herself up in her daughter's blankets and held the toy close to her chest. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.
But charred children haunted her dreams.
Fin