"The ABC's of Parenting"
A Star Trek: Voyager Story By Lal Soong
Part A: First Comes Marriage
Even Harry had found it amazing when the question suddenly popped out of his mouth. "Will you marry me?" He and Seven had not been dating for that long. Hell, they hadn't even been on a date when the moment hit him.
There they had been crawling through a Jeffries tube, trying to repair damage to the power relay, when Harry began thinking about how well they worked together, both on and off duty. Thank God Chakotay had insisted that they team up to solve problems!
Anyway, as they made their way across, Harry had casually mentioned the possibility of them spending some shore leave together. Then wham! The words had come out and there had been no way to take them back.
Seven had stopped, twisted around to face him. He had expected her to react in one of two ways: either dismiss the proposal as impetuous and continue on as though it had never been suggested, or fill his ears with a few choice words.
Instead, she responded, "Yes Harry. I will agree to that affiliation."
Something about her response nagged at him. A voice in the back of his mind told him, he was rushing. Seven was still figuring out how she fit into the human universe. Or was it just Tom Paris admonishing him every chance he had? "Harry, she was a Borg for eighteen years! The doctor may have removed her mechanical parts, but she can't so easily shed the emotional link to the collective."
Although he understood where his friend was coming from, the simple truth was that Harry was already hooked. He was infatuated with Seven of Nine, former Borg, and he didn't want to fight his desire for her. On a small starship with a crew of less than one hundred and fifty moving in one direction, his choices for a mate were rather slim.
And he loved Seven. Didn't he?
They originally had made plans to have the wedding ceremony in the mess hall as Tom and B'Elanna had done for their's. However, Voyager happened on a welcoming beacon from a resort planet known as Haldik P'rim only days before the wedding ceremony. The signal turned out to be much more than a beacon, containing a large data stream of information on the pleasures Haldik P'rim had to offer, and the couple quickly changed their minds about where they wanted to be married.
"I've often thought about being married," Harry told his best friend as Tom helped him prepare for the ceremony. They were inside Tom and B'Elanna's quarters, while B'Elanna was with Seven, offering the bride assistance. "But I'd never actually given much thought to how I would get married. Why am I so nervous? I've had weeks to prepare!"
"Harry, from my experience, it doesn't matter how little or long you have to prepare for a wedding," Tom replied. "The event changes your life forever and that's a pretty scary thing."
"Thanks for making me feel better," Harry said sarcastically as he undid his tie for the third time. "Maybe we should have opted for wearing casual clothes to the ceremony. It's suppose to be a pleasure planet, anyway."
Tom grabbed his friend by the shoulders and gently spun him around to assist with the tie. "When it's all over with, you'll be glad you wore this monkey suit. Besides, think about Seven walking down that aisle or rather beach wearing a long white gown. She'll smile at you, perhaps shed a little tear."
"Seven?"
"Don't underestimate the power of love, Harry. As she's walking toward you, closing the gap between your mutual destinies, you may become a bit emotional yourself. But you'll cherish the memory of that moment for the rest of your lives. Not to mention the one of stripping that gown off her after the celebration."
"Tom!"
"B'Elanna to Tom," the lieutenant's wife came over his commbadge. "Is the groom ready to beam down to Haldik P'rim."
"Of course, he is," Tom replied with a smirk. "Give us five minutes to make it to the transporter room ahead of you. We don't want the bride and groom accidentally meeting in the corridor and jinxing their marriage. The groom's nervous enough."
"So's the bride." When Seven of Nine had first come aboard Voyager, B'Elanna had openly demonstrated mistrust and hatred of the former Borg, but since Seven and Harry had started dating, the chief engineer had reevaluated her relationship with her. Even so, Tom had been surprised when his wife offered to serve as Seven's matron of honor. "All right. I love you and I'll see you down on the planet."
The P'rimarian beach was crowded not only by Voyager crew members, but many natives as well, waiting for the bride to arrive. Most P'rimarians, it turned out, were quite romantic and they would probably add this wedding ceremony to the data stream in their welcoming beacon.
A soft P'rimarian melody began playing and Tom and B'Elanna strolled arm in arm down the beach to take their places on opposite sides of the groom. The tempo of the music picked up and the crowd turned expectantly.
The moment Harry saw Seven walking in the Doctor's arm along the beach toward him, his fears dissipated with the calm breeze of Haldik P'rim. She loved him. They were really going to spend the rest of their lives together. Pausing only a few meters before Harry, the Doctor leaned forward and kissed Seven on the cheek. He'd been a great influence in Seven's life since she'd been severed from the Collective and he was the closest man she had to a father in her life. She joined Harry and after sharing a knowing smile, they turned to face the captain.
"Harry, Seven," Janeway began, "it gives me great pleasure to stand here today and unite two of my best crewmen in marriage. Most starship captain's are fortunate to perform a marriage ceremony once or twice. At least the Delta Quadrant has afforded me one luxury in that this is the third I've been asked to perform." She glanced over at the other two married couples, first Tom and B'Elanna standing with the bride and groom, then Walter Baxter and Susan Nikoletti. Susan was holding their infant son in her lap. The entire crew smiled back at her and she was certain there would be more requests in the coming months.
"Harry, will you honor, cherish and obey Seven in sickness and in health?" Janeway asked.
"I will," he responded.
She asked the same of Seven. "I will," the bride responded.
"Harry and Seven have opted to write short vows to one another," Janeway informed her crew. "Harry?"
Having practiced before an amused Tom, Harry hoped he could tell Seven how he felt about her without choking on any of his words. "Seven, when you first came aboard Voyager, you were like a lost child. You didn't understand how to be an individual or how to interact with people who were not collectively linked to you. Since then, you've not only learned to accept a new identity, but new friends as well. You opened yourself up to me and allowed me to share your joys, your sorrows, your triumphs and your defeats. You've grown into a remarkable young woman and I promise to you now before all these people, our crew mates and our friends, that I will stand by you from this day forward."
Silence fell between them as the former Borg took in her husband-to-be's words. She glanced inquiringly toward their captain and Janeway nodded her encouragement. "Harry," Seven began with a deep sigh, "in the beginning of our relationship, I was both rude and presumptuous toward you. Others warned you about becoming involved with a former Borg. Yet despite all that, you encouraged me to search within myself for my individuality. For a long while, I felt as though I had no home. While I had no desire to return to the Collective, neither did I share the crew's enthusiasm to make it back to the Alpha Quadrant. Although I'm still uncertain about where I want to be, I know with whom I wish to make my home. Wherever Voyager and time takes me, I plan to remain loyal by your side."
Both bride and groom turned expectantly toward their captain. "With the power vested in me," Janeway said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Harry, you can now kiss your bride." As Harry leaned forward and planted his lips firmly on Seven's, the crowd clapped and whistled to cheer them on.
Neelix was the first to get up from his chair. "Let the celebration begin!" he exclaimed. Of course, Neelix had insisted that they leave the details of the reception up to him and they were not disappointed. Even the food tasted good. The natives of Haldik P'rim were delighted to host the celebration.
Instead of spending one festive night there, Harry and Seven had made a honeymoon out of Haldik P'rim, with the captain's permission . Haldik P'rim had proven itself the perfect pleasure planet, and most of their fellow crew members partook in its luxuries right along with them. One of their council members, Derax, helped Neelix select the perfect location off the shores of the Great Haldik Ocean.
"Thank you, Mr. Neelix for giving us this excuse to take a day away from our duties and enjoy ourselves," the council representative said to the Talaxian as he handed Neelix a drink.
"Derax, I was under the impression that your people celebrated many holidays." He took a sip of the drink and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet liqueur flavor. "Delicious. I'll have to obtain the recipe before we leave Haldik P'rim. Back to the subject of holidays, though, I hear quite a few of them center around your children."
The two men turned toward a group of children running and playing nearby. Naomi Wildman and Jeremy Paris were among them and Neelix waved when Naomi met his gaze.
We must take pride in our children," the councilman said. "They are our future."
"That they are. Voyager has only three children on board, but I have a feeling there will soon be more."
"Yes. Your newlywed couple Harry Kim and Seven. I do not believe they will wait long either."
"I babysit the Voyager children often while their parents are on duty. Naomi and Jeremy love the holodeck adventures. Andrew is still a baby, but he loves spending time in the mess hall listening to me bang my pots and pans while I cook."
"You cook as well?"
"Ah yes. I have many duties aboard Voyager. I've been their guide, morale officer, and adviser. Tuvok has taught me a bit about security and Captain Janeway even appointed me as her official ambassador."
"Ambassador! That's impressive."
"Much about our Talaxian friend is quite impressive," Janeway said as she and Tuvok walked up to them.
"Indeed," the Vulcan said wryly. "Even I must admit that he has made considerable strides in tactical defense."
"Why thank you Mr. Vulcan," Neelix said. "Coming from you, that means quite a lot."
"Wonderful party you two have assembled," the captain said, smiling as she looked toward the beach where the newlyweds were dancing to the native music. "Harry and Seven not only seem to make a great couple, but along with Tom and B'Elanna, I believe we have ourselves the beginning of a couples social group forming among Voyager."
"As morale officer, Captain," Neelix began, "I am pleased to note that several more crew members have paired up. I wouldn't be surprised if we had three or four more weddings to attend in the next year."
Janeway smiled. Although she'd once had her doubts about her crewmen pairing up and attempting to raise families this far from home, she know realized that nothing could help get them through the journey that still lay ahead more than a soul mate and the knowledge that they could live on through their children.
"This reminds me of a pleasure planet in the Alpha Quadrant called Risa," Harry told his new wife during their second day on Haldik P'rim. They were sitting on lounge chairs, sipping exotic drinks served to them by natives.
"Oh? And who did you take to this planet of pleasure?" she asked with a hint of jealousy.
"No matter who I've loved in my past, you do know that I love only you now?" As he spoke, Harry thought about his time with Libby. It now seemed a lifetime ago. He thought about his feelings toward B'Elanna and wondered if Seven doubted his infatuation for her was over.
"Of course," she responded just as Tom and B'Elanna came to join them, sipping at their own drinks.
"The service here is wonderful," Tom told them. "If we were to settle down in the Delta Quadrant, this would be it. What do you think, Lanna? Could you see us raising our children on this world?"
"As relaxing as this is," she responded, "I think I would miss Voyager and her engines, and I know you'd miss having a ship to pilot. I don't think either of us were meant to settle down-not on a planet."
"There's an old saying about having too much of a good thing," Harry mused. "I think we've come pretty close to that kind of perfection. And I don't mean just here on this planet. I mean the four of us. We've done good."
Tom tilted his head back and closing his eyes, grinned widely. "Leave it to Harry to get sentimental on us."
A figure stepped up from behind them, and Harry craned his neck to get a good look at the man. He was wearing a hooded robe that obscured most of his features, but his narrow crystalline eyes burrowed through Harry's repose. He was not one of the natives, but the citizens of Haldik P'rim extended their hospitalities to many off-worlders. "You are the newlywed couple from the starship Voyager?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"Yes, we are," Harry replied.
" For the good of my people and their enemy, I would like to present you with a gift as a symbol of a truce." He pulled a small stone statue out of a voluminous pocket.
Graciously, Harry accepted the token. "Thank you, but who exactly are your people?"
The alien ignored Harry's question. "I wish you continued luck in your journey and long health to your children." With that, the figure walked away from the foursome.
"Very odd," Seven said, studying the small stone statue in her husband's hands. "He does not know us and yet he generously shows us goodwill with this...thing."
Harry furrowed his brow, replaying the strange alien's words inside his mind. 'We're not at war with anyone. So what did he mean by a symbol of truce?" He flipped the statue over and studied it from all sides. A face was carved into one side, its mouth formed in a solemn expression. Harry could barely make out the outline of hands below as though the carver had not yet finished his work.
"What was that about perfection, Harry?" Tom asked. "I think you just jinxed us."
"Well, Tom, if you really believe that, then why don't you hold on to this little talisman," Harry said, tossing the statue into his friend's lap. "I think I can live without it's luck."
A few weeks after leaving Haldik P'rim, Seven went to the Doctor complaining that Neelix' food was giving her worse indigestion than normal. She suggested that maybe she had given up her bio-nutrients too soon and was surprised when the Doctor informed her she was pregnant. Seven was carrying Harry's daughter.
Harry had once gone to Tom Paris for advice on how to approach women. These days, he asked Tom countless questions about being a parent.
"How do you hold something as delicate as a baby?" Harry asked as they stepped onto the turbolift after bridge duty. "How much do you feed it? How often do you change it?" he asked before his friend had a chance to answer the first question.
"Harry, it'll all come to you naturally." He instructed the computer to send them to the mess hall. "Raising a child is a day to day learning experience. I don't have all the answers. No parent does. But I'm sure your daughter will be in good hands with you and Seven as her parents to guide her." Tom sighed heavily. "Besides, as you recall, Jeremy didn't stay at the infancy stage very long. Tom was also a bit anxious, for he had learned only days ago himself that B'Elanna was pregnant with their second child.
The turbolift doors opened and they stepped out and across to the mess hall. They found Neelix in the kitchen supervising while his two little helpers cleaned up the dinner mess.
"Jeremy, your Daddy's here to pick you up," Neelix said.
The boy turned around to rush into his father's arms. "Daddy!"
Harry watched as his friend scooped the boy into his arms and knew in that moment that he couldn't wait to embrace his daughter and hear her call out excitedly to him.