This was inspired by "In the Eyes of the Tribe" by janewyck. I like to play with "what-ifs," so I borrowed part of the plot and gave it a decidedly non-J/C twist.
Voyager and its characters belong to Paramount, or someone … I make no money from this.
Kathryn settled back in the lawn chair, just watching the sunlight dance across the waters of Lake George.
"Katie!"
She stifled a groan. "Yes, Mom."
"You have visitors," Gretchen said, her announcement punctuated by the slam of the screen door.
She'd just started to turn when she heard a very male, very familiar voice behind her. She froze. "Can't be," she thought.
But yes, into her line of vision stepped Chakotay, flanked by Seven of Nine. Chakotay was looking nervous … very nervous.
Three years ago, those two had beat it out of San Francisco without a goodbye or a "go to hell," with nary a word since. They must be in a heap of trouble to track her down out here, she decided.
"Well, this is a surprise," she said diplomatically, waving toward the chairs. "Have a seat and help yourself to some iced tea."
"We apologize for our abrupt arrival. We require your assistance." As usual, Seven got right to the point.
"How's that?" She noted that Chakotay was sweating despite the coolness of the day.
"Annika and I are engaged," he said, finally finding his voice.
"Congratulations, though you certainly didn't have to come out ..."
"We were to be married on Chakotay's homeworld," Seven interrupted. "We were unable to do so."
"Well, this should be good," she thought. "That's unfortunate. What happened?"
Chakotay started pulling on his ear, a signal that he was highly uncomfortable. "It seems my sister persuaded the Council of Elders to declare that you and I are married."
Kathryn shook her head to clear it. "I beg your pardon. Did you just say 'married?'"
"That's about the size of it," he said, swallowing hard as both women glared at him.
"And what possessed your sister to do this?"
"Well," he began, pulling his ear again, "she apparently misunderstood our relationship. In one of my early letters, I told her that we'd created a family on Voyager."
"Well, that is true."
"Yes … but I guess I said something about us being the heads of that family. Somehow, she took that to mean that we had bonded. So she proceeded to inform the Council."
Kathryn swallowed. "Bonded … as in married?"
"Yes. Kathryn, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."
"Is your sister prone to these kinds of misunderstandings?"
"No, usually not."
Kathryn did a quick review of that particular timeline. "Are you absolutely sure that you didn't write anything like, oh … you'd hoped we'd marry, or you planned for us to marry … or compare us to a story that would give her the idea?"
"No. I honestly don't know what she was thinking."
She suspected this wasn't quite the case, but he wasn't going to admit it — self-preservation was a strong instinct, after all.
"I see. How long have you known about this?"
"We found out when Chakotay introduced me to his family. His sister was most displeased. She accused Chakotay of "cradle-robbing," which I believe to be inaccurate."
Actually, Kathryn didn't hear hear anything past the "c" word due to a rather violent coughing fit.
"I … assume you set your sister straight," she finally managed.
"I did, but that doesn't change anything with the Council," Chakotay admitted. "And now, she's so angry that she won't talk to me."
"So what is it that you want me to do?"
"The only way the Council will reverse this is if we go to Dorvan and take part in a dissolution ceremony," he said, giving her a pleading look.
"You want me to go to Dorvan?"
"It would be most expedient," Seven chimed in.
"No."
"Kathryn …."
"I have commitments here." By a sheer act of will, she managed to bite back her more, oh, acidic take on the situation. Chakotay could marry Seven, the Borg Queen or the Grand Nagus for all she cared. But the audacity of the situation was stirring up what her therapist liked to call "latent anger."
"You know," she said, trying to keep her exasperation in check, "there are lovely spots for weddings on all the Federation worlds. Why don't you pick one and tie the knot there while you sort this out?"
"We tried that," he said quietly. "We couldn't get a license."
"Oh?"
His response was to put his head in his hands. "I am bound by the laws of my people," he finally said, his reply slightly muffled. "And the Federation recognizes things like, oh, marriage decrees. When we tried to get a license, they ran my name through Dorvan's records. They came up with a valid marriage decree, and I couldn't provide a matching dissolution. So, no license."
Kathryn pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, boy."
"I would take this as a point of information should you ever have the opportunity to marry, Captain," Seven said primly.
Kathryn shot her a dirty look. "For starters, it's 'Admiral.' And by the way, I am married," she said, waving her left hand so they could see the gold band. "We had no trouble getting a license."
That piece of news certainly shocked them, she noted to her satisfaction. She was about to say something more, but the screen door banged again, and she got out of her chair to greet the little girl running toward her.
She scooped the tyke into her arms. "Did you get my ice cream?" The girl grinned and nodded. "You didn't eat it already, did you?" Kathryn teased. "No, silly," the girl giggled as she banged her hand against Kathryn's shoulder.
Kathryn turned her toward their visitors. "Miral, say hello to Chakotay and Annika. They haven't seen you for a long time, but they've come to visit today."
The little girl gave them a small version of her mother's smile and waved.
"She has … grown," Seven allowed.
"Starts nursery school next week," Kathryn said as she put Miral on a chair. The screen banged again, and Tom Paris walked over to Kathryn.
"Hi there," he said warmly. "Hello yourself," Kathryn replied with the same warmth. "Get everything?"
"Finally," he sighed. "The store had problems replicating that part for the grill." He leaned in and gave Kathryn a solid kiss on the mouth. When they parted, Kathryn nodded toward the chairs, and he looked over to see Chakotay and Seven gaping at them.
"Oh, hi! Didn't realize we had company," Tom said, his eyes shifting back to Kathryn.
"Let's sit down," she murmured to Tom. "Hey, Mom, can you come out here?"
Gretchen came out, wiping her hands on a towel. "What's going on?"
"Well, I'm about to tell Tom that apparently, I'm a bigamist."
The news brought a snort of laughter from both Tom and Gretchen. "This I have to hear," Gretchen said as she sat down.
"Did you forget to mention something?" Tom asked, obviously amused.
"It's the first I've heard of it."
"Who is this other husband?" Gretchen asked, though the look on Chakotay's face told the tale.
"Him," Kathryn said, pointing to Chakotay, as Tom tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a smirk.
"And how the hell did this happen?" Gretchen asked, giving Chakotay an oh-so-familiar glare.
"Well, let's see if I have this straight," Kathryn said. "Basically, Chakotay's sister misconstrued our relationship. Chakotay says he'd written to her that we'd created a family on Voyager, and that we were the heads of this family. Unfortunately, she somehow interpreted that as a marriage announcement. So she went to Dorvan's elders and had them make it official."
"Can't your sister explain the situation, get them to reverse that?" Tom asked. Chakotay just shook his head.
"Apparently the Council insists that I go to Dorvan to participate in a dissolution ceremony."
"Wait a minute," Tom and Gretchen said in unison.
"Don't worry, I'm not going," Kathryn said flatly.
"Sorry, Chakotay, but Kathryn's my wife; I'm not giving her up," Tom said. His tone was light, but Gretchen could see the challenge in Tom's eyes, and a flash of anger — or was that jealously — in Chakotay's. Must be quite a story between those two.
"Excuse me, but I am confused," Seven said. "Lieutenant Paris is now married to the Admiral? Where is Lieutenant Torres?"
Tom looked at them, amazed. "Haven't you talked to anyone in the past few years?"
"And by the way, it's Commander Paris," Kathryn added.
"B'Elanna and I split about six months after we got back. She'd gone to visit her mother's family, which convinced her that she'd be better off with a Klingon husband. So I filed for dissolution and got custody of Miral. Kathryn was wonderful to us during the whole mess. And ..."
"One thing led to another and we got married," she said, finishing for him. There was certainly no need to tell anyone — especially Chakotay — that they'd rekindled the brief affair they'd had on Voyager.
Kathryn sighed. "Look, Chakotay, I'm sure your sister meant well, and I'm sorry this has crimped your marriage plans, but I'm not participating in any ceremonies — dissolution or otherwise.
"The best I can suggest is that you get a lawyer. Maybe a Federation court will set this aside, considering that neither of us knew about or consented to this decree. I'll be happy to sign any legal documents or give a deposition. But that's as far as it goes."
After Chakotay and Seven left … or rather, fled … Gretchen poured a round of adult beverages for all.
"Well, Chakotay's family ties with B'Elanna's for 'most-meddlesome' honors," Tom said.
"That was bizarre," Gretchen said. "Katie, it just doesn't end with that mission, does it?"
"Apparently not," Kathryn allowed as she sipped her drink.
"You know, I've never understood that relationship," Tom said. "I'm surprised they're still together."
"Well, if I were that young woman, I'd take this as a sign to get out," Gretchen said.
"Actually, his sister might have done him a favor, considering how Seven was yelling at him on the way out," Tom said.
"Maybe if he tells his council that you're married to Tom, that will take care of the problem," Gretchen offered.
"That would be nice," Kathryn admitted. "But I don't think that I should be cast as the villain here. I definitely will call our lawyer when we get back."
"So I guess we should cancel our vacation on Dorvan, then," Tom deadpanned. That brought a chuckle from Kathryn, followed by a smack on his arm.
"Well, never a dull day, it seems," Gretchen said as she stood up. "I need to finish the potato salad, and Tom, if you want dinner, you need to fix that grill."
"So I assume we are legally married," Tom asked as he dismantled the grill controls.
"I'm pretty confident about that," Kathryn murmured. "Why, you looking to get out of it?"
"Not at all. Just enjoying the idea that I'm part of your harem."
"I have my hands full with you," she retorted, then gave him a sly grin. "On the other hand, perhaps I should devise a competition between you two … winner takes the wife."
"What sort of competition?"
"Oh, maybe flying a shuttle in a straight line for 20 meters; best ancient legend; barbecue tongs at 20 paces ..."
"Barbecue tongs? Tell you what," he said in a low voice. "There's something that I bet I can do better than him."
"If it's what I'm thinking, I have no basis for comparison." She raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you could demonstrate. Oh, but wait, you have to fix the grill."
"All fixed," he said, snapping the repaired control into place. He stood up, then took her by the hand and led her toward the lake. "Come on … the boat shed is still open. I think we can have an … appetizer … before dinner."