Author's note: This ficlet is part of the Kathryn's Rainbow universe (AO3 exclusive series), but was inspired by Tumblr headcanon from the brilliant mind of LauraW. (Because the muse couldn't resist jumping ahead to fulfill this prompt...)

Legal B.S.: Star Trek Voyager and all canon elements are property of Paramount/CBS. Kearstin Janeway and the alternate timeline this vignette takes place in belong to me.

Thanks: to LauraRoslin and Katesfire for the beta look-over!

Little Explorer

"Ahh, perfect!" Tom Paris grinned as he scooped the small bundle of fabric out of the replicator and unfolded it, examining it carefully and ignoring, for the moment, the little hand tugging on his pant leg. "Let's see...correct size, correct color..."

After another moment of tugging, the hand changed tactics to patting on his knee in an insistent manner.

"Just a minute, honey." Checking the collar out of the outfit, he was happy to see that the replicator had performed to his exact specifications. B'Elanna would not be happy with him if she had to replace their replicator's power cell for the second time in a month.

A harder tug on his pant leg. "Unc' Tom!"

Chuckling, he finally looked down at his companion as if just noticing she was there. "Yes?"

The small face staring back up at him was fixed in a half-frown, big brown eyes filled with a mixture of exasperation and impatience. "Dress!"

He couldn't stifle his grin as he allowed the little girl to lead him into the bedroom. Babysitting the command team's two-year-old daughter, a job he happily volunteered for whenever time permitted, was always an adventure. Kearstin had Chakotay's quick mind, the captain's temper and the bull-headed tenacity of them both. Most of the crew was already wrapped around her little fingers; they were all family to her, though of course, she had her favorites—Tom himself being one of them. Tuvok was another, much to the Vulcan's consternation, though most of the crew suspected that he secretly loved it.

He helped her into the miniature uniform-style jumpsuit, no easy task when she was bouncing in anticipation and trying to look around him to see herself in the mirror. "Hold still, Kearstin. We don't want to get your hair caught up in the seam—" Cupping one hand around the back of her head to protect her hair, he used the other to press the fasteners in the back of the jumpsuit closed.

"Looking good," he teased her, sitting back on his heels so she could look in the mirror.

Kearstin admired herself in the mirror, a gleeful smile forming as she touched a fingertip to the four round gray decals printed on the jumpsuit's collar. "Like Mommy!"

Tom choked back a laugh when Kearstin's smile faded and her hands went to her hips as she challenged her reflection with her best attempt at a glower. "Yup, just like your mommy."

After helping her put her shoes back on, Tom led the little girl into the fresher. Snagging B'Elanna's hairbrush off the counter, he carefully brushed out the auburn curls, curling stubborn ends around his fingers and using water to smooth down flyaway wisps on top. "Much better." He set the brush down. "Ready to go, my little explorer?"

"Go!" Kearstin thrust her arms upward in anticipation of being picked up.

Lifting her into his arms, Tom headed for the door. "Now remember, Kearstin. When we get up to the bridge, we have to be quiet. Everyone is busy studying that binary star and we don't want to interrupt their work."

Kearstin nodded, her face solemn. "Quiet."

He worked to keep a straight face once out in the corridors; Kearstin had taken his directive to heart and, while she waved to each crewmember that they passed by, she did so in complete silence. The recipients of her greetings, on the other hand, had no such qualms and stifled laughter followed in their wake all the way to the lift.

"Unc' Tom?" Kearstin asked once they were in the turbolift and Tom directed it to deck one.

"Hmm?"

"Why laugh?"

"It's because of how cute you look."

Kearstin's forehead wrinkled in confusion but she didn't press the subject further as the lift slid to a stop and the doors swished open.

Tom stepped onto the bridge on silent feet, thankful that the brilliant colors from the binary star spilling across the viewscreen had immediately grabbed Kearstin's attention and kept her from any impulse to call out to her parents. The added advantage was that the bridge crew's attention was also firmly fixed forward and none of them had turned around to see who was exiting the turbolift.

Well, almost none of them. Tuvok's gaze met Tom's and the pilot struggled not to snort at the way the security chief's eyebrows rose several centimeters at the sight of Kearstin in his arms. Turning the opposite direction to face Ops, he was unsurprised to find Harry fighting back laughter as he wiggled his fingers in a brief wave at Kearstin before turning back to the readings he was monitoring.

The captain was pacing slowly back and forth between the command chairs and the nearby railing, but her primary focus was on the stellar spectacle outside. Tom leaned against the Ops console, waiting to see how long it took her to notice them...or if Kearstin would announce their presence by calling out to either of her parents. He silently bet that the latter would win out first due to natural toddler impatience.

"Temperature of the secondary star is fluctuating again," Wildman commented from the science station. "Same decrease as before. Looks like it may be moving towards exceeding its Roche lobe."

"And mass transfer has already begun," the first officer commented from his chair, looking from the viewscreen down to the center console. "From the readings, I'd say it began not too long ago."

"So accretion is in the beginning stages," Janeway murmured, pacing away from Wildman across the bridge in a slow walk, her gaze still focused forward. "Commander, see if you can get a fix on when the mass transfer began if possible," she added over her shoulder.

Chakotay glanced up and nodded in response, then his gaze shifted to her left and landed on Tom and Kearstin. His eyes widened and a grin spread across his face when she waved to him. He lifted a hand to wave back, his shoulders shaking in an effort to hold back his own laughter; despite his best effort, a snicker slipped out.

Janeway turned to him, brow furrowing in puzzlement. "What's so amusing?"

Chakotay nodded in Tom's direction, still smiling. She turned around to look and the sight before her made an unbidden laugh burst free. Her laughter triggered Harry's and soon everyone but Tuvok was overwhelmed by amusement.

Shaking her head, the captain pasted a mock stern look on her face that was completely ruined by her bright smile. She reached up to tuck a stray auburn curl behind her daughter's ear, then touched the pip decals on the collar. "Now I don't remember assigning you a promotion, young lady."

"Shhhhh." Kearstin pressed little fingers to her mother's lips, and pointed first to Harry, then to the ensign manning the mission ops station with her free hand. "Quiet work, Mama."

Janeway's eyebrows rose and her smile grew, before she straightened her spine and once again attempted to put on a serious face. "Yes, sir." She held out her arms. "Permission to return to my station?"

Kearstin nodded and allowed Tom to pass her into her mother's embrace. The captain returned to her chair, settling her little girl into her lap and gesturing between the viewscreen and the central console. Kearstin listened raptly, nodding often and the soft murmur of their voices soon blended with the typical background noise of a bridge crew busy at work.

[fin]