Disclaimer: If you recognize them, I don't own them.
A/N: The focus of this story isn't romantic pairings, but it takes for granted P/T and has tiny hints of K/7.
One Afternoon in Galactic Green Thumbs
Tom shifted from one foot to the other, looking at the mall directory intently. "I don't know, Harry. Where do we start?" He didn't like malls, and as a rule tended to buy his Christmas gifts at smaller stores. But Harry was on Earth for the first Christmas since Voyager's return four years ago, and he wanted to do all his shopping in one place. That was how Tom ended up in the largest mall in New Berlin, trying to figure out some sort of strategy to follow.
Harry found a particularly interesting store on the map and pointed to it. "They specialize in exotic plants. I could get a nice present for Mom there." Since it seemed like her garden already had every plant native to Earth, his chances of finding something she didn't already have were much better in a store called "Galactic Green Thumbs," even if the name was kind of corny. "And Tuvok too," he added. The senior staff of Voyager was having a Christmas get-together as usual, but it was the first time Harry would be able to give his gifts in person instead of sending them. He wanted the gifts to be perfect.
"Aye, Commander."
Having only been a Lieutenant Commander for three weeks, Harry was still surprised when he heard the phrase addressed to him. "You still outrank me," he countered. Actually, Lieutenant Commander Paris was up for a promotion, one of the final two candidates left to take over as head of Strategic Flight Testing at Utopia Planetia when Captain Sokarov retired in January.
Tom shrugged. "This is your away mission." Both of them laughed. "What's the battle plan?"
"Our initial assault begins at Galactic Green Thumbs. From there we head to Treasured Tomes, where we conquer Chakotay's gift."
Tom looked at the path Harry traced on the map. "Can we take over Doll Land in between? B'Elanna and I talked about having a custom doll made for Miral, with faint ridges like hers."
"Sure."
"What about Seven? She's impossible to shop for." Tom never knew what to get her. If Seven needed something, she bought it for herself. If she didn't need it, she probably didn't want it. The last three Christmases he had gotten her books on the latest work being done in stellar cartography, and the tradition was getting old.
"No she's not," Harry quickly replied.
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
He shook his head. "We keep in touch. She's got her own apartment now, you know."
Tom nodded. "She told us. I gather that she and Chakotay broke it off?"
"They'd drifted apart. It was an amicable breakup" Harry confirmed, turning down the appropriate corridor to get to Galactic Green Thumbs. "Anyway, I think she could use a nice art print for her apartment."
"What kind of art do you get for Seven?"
"Not Baroque. It's too chaotic," was Harry's answer.
"I'm not up on art, Harry."
"Something serene. That's what you get Seven."
"Maybe I'll get her a book."
"Again?"
"Well, I don't know what else to get her. I thought of a holoprogram, but I don't know what kind to get her. What else? I can't very well get her chocolate or something." Tom sighed in frustration. "She is the single hardest person to shop for in the universe!"
The friends had reached Galactic Green Thumbs. Harry was immediately drawn to the royal blue flowers of a Betazoid rose. "Mom likes blue," he commented.
"That's it!" exclaimed Tom triumphantly.
"What?"
"Every house needs a plant, so I'll get Seven a plant. Now, what kind of plant would she like?"
"Congratulations, Tom. You just solved your problem." Tom didn't actually hear this, because he was busy hunting for a suitable plant.
Ten minutes later, Harry found Tom in the small plants section. He had chosen the Betazoid rose plant for his mother and a variety of Risan orchid for Tuvok. "Have you found a good plant for Seven yet?"
"It's either the Rigellian t'jus or the Bajoran recha."
"The t'jus kind of looks like a cactus," mused Harry. "She's in Virginia, so she probably doesn't see many cacti."
"Then the t'jus it is." Tom picked up the pot and started weaving his way towards the counter. "She really likes Duke, huh?"
"She's happy there. A lot of promising students in stellar cartography and advanced astrophysics go there, and she gets to do research as well as teach."
"Good for her."
"I'm glad that she's found a place where she is challenged." He paused to reflect on how hard Seven had worked to find her niche. "Speaking of challenges," he resumed, "what are you getting B'Elanna, anyway?" Harry knew that Tom always spent hours thinking about what to get his wife.
"We're going on a second honeymoon to Risa. Mom's been offering to take Miral so we could have a vacation, and I thought that we better go before the baby comes."
Harry almost dropped both of his plants on the floor. "Baby?" he managed to get out after a moment, as he repositioned his plants. It wouldn't do to give broken and dying plants as Christmas gifts.
"Damn! I wasn't supposed to tell you that," Tom said quickly. "So when we announce it at the party, act surprised."
"When?"
"July," replied Tom with a grin.
"Boy or girl?" Harry had progress to multiple-word questions.
"Another girl," Tom beamed. Harry doubted that Tom really cared whether his second child was a boy or a girl, so long as it was healthy. "But remember, act surprised."
"Right. Surprised."
"So we're going to have a week on Risa. Plus a few days traveling, but that isn't really vacation. Civilian transports are always a nightmare." Tom was clearly looking forward to the trip.
"Does anyone else know about the baby?"
"Just the Doc. And B'Elanna, of course."
"However did she find out?" teased Harry.
"I even talked to Captain T'Kal to get B'Elanna the time off." B'Elanna was currently climbing the ranks at Research and Development and enjoying every minute of it.
"Wow. You've got all of this planned out."
"Oh no. Once we get there, the schedule goes blank."
It was Harry's turn at the checkout, and he pushed his thumb down to transfer the credits. "Sounds like fun," he smiled.
"It will be," confirmed Tom. He looked at Harry's two containers. "You know, Commander, this battle plan wasn't very well planned out. We should have saved the large gifts for the end of our mission."
"I didn't hear you complain when we started."
"I didn't think of it, but at least I got a small plant." He held up his much smaller container as proof.
"Live and learn," quipped Harry, who did at least get a large bag that held both plants, tucked in their containers for safe travel. "Ready for Doll Land?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm telling you, Harry, the salespeople know that I don't know much about dolls, and they love it! Do I want the additional raincoat for only five more credits? I don't know! Miral doesn't like rain at all, so I think I'll pass. But then she loves to have complete wardrobes, so maybe I should get it." He sighed, but it was the sort of sigh that signaled mild irritation overwhelmed by love. "I liked her teddy bear phase better. Teddy bears I understand, more or less."
"And then there's going to be round two."
"Don't I know it. But you should see her adorable little face when I take her and Josie to the park and push them on the swings."
"Josie?" Harry was confused.
"Her favorite doll. Miral dresses her up to go to the park, and she always has so much fun. Kids are a lot of work, but Miral's the second best thing that's happened to me, right after B'Elanna."
"I'm happy for you, Tom." Harry truly was happy for his friend, although he had to force back a momentary bout of jealousy. When he thought of that kind of future for himself, he was slightly surprised to almost simultaneously think of a certain blonde-haired professor at Duke University. He resolved to find the perfect art print for her new apartment.
"Coming, Harry? Doll Land awaits us, and then it's off to Treasured Tomes. I've got to find something for my sisters, too."
"I'm coming. Do you think the Doctor would like that new opera holoprogram that's been advertised?"
"I think so, but B'Elanna beat you to it."
"Okay, I'll find something else. I can't begrudge your lovely pregnant wife getting him the perfect present." His tone was light and teasing.
"If she heard you talking like that, she would threaten to break a finger or two," laughed Tom. B'Elanna didn't like to be treated differently when she was pregnant.
"Only two fingers? She's mellowed."
"Hah. It only looks that way." Suddenly Tom found himself caught on the branch of a Vulcan vine. "Please tell me that I can get out of this thing's clutches without breaking it and having to pay for it," he pleaded. "We don't have room for a massive, malicious plant like this one."
"Just take one step backwards," answered Harry. Once Tom had done so, he chuckled. "Now go out to the left more, and you can avoid that malicious, evil plant."
"Thanks."
"Anytime," smiled Harry, and he followed Tom in the direction of Doll Land.