Summary: Set fifteen years after Endgame, Tom and B'Elanna talk about parent and child relationships. (P/T, Miral, Rated PG)
Author's Notes: All the thanks go to my wonderful betas, R_S_B and Photogirl1890.
Grandfathers
"I hate you both!" Miral screamed before storming out of the room. Moments later, the house shook as her bedroom door slammed shut.
"Now don't you wish we'd installed the modern doors?" Tom asked as he collapsed onto the couch. B'Elanna was still pacing the room, only stopping momentarily to shoot him her 'not now, Tom' look.
Tom sighed. It felt like it had been like this for years… well… maybe it had been. Miral was fourteen and in the height of teenage hormones and rebellion. This latest blowout was because he and B'Elanna would not allow her to go to a concert on a school night… off planet.
Tom silently wondered if he had been as unreasonable as a fourteen year old. He didn't think so, but maybe he just remembered it all differently. After all, at fourteen you're always right.
Maybe he'd ask his parents about that.
Tom's attention was brought back to the moment when a small silver bowl whizzed through the air, making contact with the wall.
Think about how hard it is to live with one Klingon…
The words, spoken fifteen years ago, fluttered back to his mind. Then a crash came from Miral's room.
And I hope that every one of them is just like you…
Well, there was no doubt whose daughter Miral was.
"How can you just sit there!?" B'Elanna demanded, looking as though she wished she had something else to throw.
"Because I'm an old man with a shoddy knee. Come on, sit down." He gestured for his wife to come sit next to him.
B'Elanna huffed, but did plop down next to him on the couch. "What are we going to do with her?"
Tom shrugged. "Wait for her to grow out of it?"
"I don't know how much more of this I can take…" B'Elanna trailed off, putting her head in her hands. "Now she hates us because we won't let her go to Mars on a school night?"
Tom reached out, laying a hand on her back. "I'm sure we were just as unreasonable as kids." Actually, he wasn't sure… "We just have to ride it out."
B'Elanna got a far off look in her eyes, but soon snapped back to meet his gaze. "Yeah… just ride it out."
Tom nodded. "Okay, which one of us should go talk to her?"
A long exhalation of breath followed B'Elanna leaning back into Tom's arms. "You, for sure. I can't say two words to her anymore without starting a fight." Grabbing his arm, she tightened his grasp around her. "But don't go just yet. She'll need some more time to cool-"
B'Elanna was interrupted by a beeping coming from her PADD. Tom released her and she reached over to grab it.
"It's my dad," she said, a bit surprised, before answering the call. "Hi, Dad."
"Hi, Lanna." John Torres paused, looking nervous. Although, even after fourteen years, B'Elanna thought he always looked a little nervous talking to her. "Um, I don't really know how to say this, but Miral just called me."
"Just now?"
John briefly broke eye contact. "Yeah… she said you guys had an argument and asked if she could come stay with me for a few days."
B'Elanna looked up at Tom. His eyes were wide with surprise. Miral had never pulled this trick before.
"Dad, I don't know…" B'Elanna trailed off.
Her father nodded. "I know. I told her I'd have to ask you. But it's okay with me if she comes over. I'll get her to school and everything."
B'Elanna sighed. John had always been a part of Miral's life, since almost the first moment they got back. Although B'Elanna had been hesitant to allow her father back into her life, Tom had pointed out that it wasn't right for them to keep Miral from her grandfather. So they had reestablished ties and slowly let Miral spend more time with him. Long weekends at 'Grandpa John's' had been a regular feature for most of her life.
So maybe it wasn't so strange that she had asked to go there now.
But B'Elanna didn't know if it was a good idea sending her currently 'moody and unpredictable' child off to her father.
"Dad… Miral's not in the best of moods right now. Maybe-"
Her father cut her off. "I know. She told me the story." He paused, as though searching for words. "Maybe some time apart would help?"
B'Elanna looked back up at Tom. She didn't like how this felt, as though she was sending her daughter away because they had an argument. But Tom mouthed at her, 'maybe it's a good idea.'
Lord knew that she and Tom had had little success with Miral of late.
"Okay, Dad."
"Things are going well. She's opened up quite a bit."
"Oh?" It had been two days since Miral had gone to John's house. A nice and quiet two days, B'Elanna had to admit.
"Yeah, I tried to explain to her why you thought going to a concert was a bad idea. She did end up blowing up at me when I…" he paused, a smiling flickering across his lips, "'took your side'. But we managed to talk through it. I think she's starting to come around. She actually mentioned wanting to go home this evening." He paused again. "She really is a good kid. Just a little… moody right now."
B'Elanna felt her heart jump into her throat at that word. "Are you sure you're okay with her?"
John nodded. "Yeah, we're doing great. We're actually going to watch a movie now."
B'Elanna's mind briefly flashed back to snuggling with her father while they watched movies when she was a little girl… much littler than Miral.
He was long gone by the time she was Miral's age.
B'Elanna swallowed, trying to push away the torrent of feelings that threatened to overwhelm her. "Okay, Dad. Have fun. Bye." She quickly ended the transmission.
"Everything's fine?" Tom asked, looking up from his reading.
"Oh, just great. Miral's the apple of his eye." B'Elanna's words carried no small amount of derision with them.
"What do you mean by that?" Tom asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Nothing." B'Elanna tossed her PADD on the coffee table and got up. "I'm going to get something to eat. Want anything?"
Tom sighed, also putting aside his PADD. "B'Elanna, I think in fifteen years I've learned when 'nothing' means 'nothing' and when it means 'something.'" He paused and reached out for her hand. "So, I'll ask you again. What's that supposed to mean?"
B'Elanna allowed him to pull her back down onto the couch. "It's so stupid." She leaned forward, her elbows on her thighs and her head in her hands. "Stupid and childish."
"Us? Having stupid and childish emotional reactions? Never…"
B'Elanna raised her head and shot him a look. After a moment of staring at him, she moved to sit cross legged on the couch, facing him. "Fine. Tell me, then. What's wrong with me?"
A moment of silence passed. When she didn't speak again, Tom ventured, "I'm guessing that was rhetorical…"
"No. I'm serious. What's wrong with me?"
Her eyes bore into him. Tom opened and closed his mouth a couple times. "Nothing?" He finally ventured.
"Well, there must be something about me. Because I don't see why else he can tolerate Miral when he couldn't tolerate me."
Her words hung in the air. "B'Elanna…" He reached out but she brushed him off.
"See? It's so stupid! I'm upset because my dad loves his granddaughter? It's ridiculous!"
"It's not stupid."
She shook her head slightly. "I… I was the same way as Miral and he couldn't take it. And I don't understand..." She closed her eyes for a long moment before uttering, "Even after all these years it makes me so mad."
Tom moved quickly and wrapped her in a tight hug. "I know. I'd be mad still too. But it's not you. People change-"
B'Elanna pulled back from the hug. "It just doesn't seem like he's changed that much. So... I get this irrational feeling that the difference is me. That..." B'Elanna trailed off.
"That what?" Tom asked.
She ran her hand through her hair, the sound of a long breath passing through her lips filling the silence. For a moment it seemed like she was going to finish the previous thought, but instead she quickly stood. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's so petty."
B'Elanna turned and was about to leave the room when Tom spoke. "I've felt the same way."
She spun around. "What?"
Tom took a deep breath. "A couple months ago, at Miral's soccer championship. Remember how she broke away and was about to score, but got too excited and kicked it wide of goal?"
B'Elanna looked confused, but nodded. "Sure."
"Well, after the game, my dad clasped her on the shoulder and told her she'd played well and he was proud of her. And that was it. He didn't tell her how she should have stayed focused. How her error lost the game for her team. Which is exactly what he would have said to me in that situation. Instead... he was just proud." Tom let out a wry laugh. "And God, did it piss me off."
B'Elanna walked back over and sat next to him on the couch. "We're a pair, aren't we?"
Tom laughed. "So, you can tell me how you feel, B'Elanna. Because I've probably felt that way too."
A wry smile danced across B'Elanna's mouth. She inhaled deeply, and then spoke, "I feel like I wasn't good enough. That I was too hard to love."
"There's no way you were 'too hard to love'." Tom reached out, grabbing her hand. "In fact, I don't think I could stop loving you, even if I tried."
"Is that so?" B'Elanna asked with a smirk.
"It is. Besides, being a grandfather is different. You get to be the good guy all the time. And maybe..." Tom paused, trying to find the right words. "Maybe our parents see what crappy parents they were to us, and are trying to do better with Miral. Your dad's told you how he regrets what happened."
"I know."
"So..." he clasped her hand harder. "Nothing's wrong with you. Nothing's wrong with Miral. You're both perfect the way you are."
"Thanks. And, you know, you're kind of perfect too," she said with a small grin.
"I know," Tom replied, flashing her a devilish smile.
B'Elanna playfully punched him. "Now I remember why I don't tell you things like that. Your head is big enough the way it is."
"Well, as long as I can still get through the doorways, I think we're okay." There was a pause as the two took a long look at each other, both still smiling. Finally, Tom broke the silence. "So, we've got an empty house for one more night. What do you say to one more round of loud sex before the kid is back?"
In lieu of an answer, B'Elanna stood, grabbed his hand, and led him to their bedroom.
Fin