Heads turned as three young girls ran down the corridor with a disgruntled young woman running after them.
"Hazel! Imogen! Amanda! Come back here NOW!"
The heads turned back to their conversations, and the girls kept running.
Ensign Harper Grey ran after the girls to take them back to the childcare centre in Starfleet Headquarters.
The door to an office leading to the corridor opened and Admirals Janeway and Paris stepped out just as the girls ran past, and bent down to pick one up, stopping the trio in their tracks.
"Andy, honey, what are you doing here?" she asked her daughter. "And you too, Hazel and Immy. Why are you running away from Harper?"
Ensign Grey gave the Admiral a thankful smile.
"Want to find Mummy,"Andy simply said, giving Kathryn a hug.
"Me too!" said Hazel, cuddling her mother's leg.
"Gwampa Owen! Cuddle!" Immy said, running to Admiral Paris.
"Hello, Peanut, why did you run away from Harper?" Owen asked his younger granddaughter.
"Don't like day care. Want to play with Mummy. Nothing to do with Harper. Harper boring,"
Three year old Amanda Phoebe Janeway and her twin Hazel Gretchen Janeway looked into their mother's eyes, the guilt glare fully hitting her. It was only a matter of time until Kathryn gave in to her youngest daughters.
"Well, girls, Grandpa Owen and Mummy still have lots of work to do, and Daddy, Uncle Tom and Aunt B'Elanna are at work, so you have to stay and play with Harper." Kathryn gave the stressed babysitter a reassuring smile. The poor woman was only fresh out of the Academy, still on training before being posted on a starship. It was just her luck to have one of Starfleet's most famous admiral's children in her care, and it wasn't helping that the girls were behaving like little brats.
"Taya?" Hazel asked, hoping their older sister could play with them.
"No, love, Taya is at school. So is Ethan, so you can't play with them. Why don't you just go back with Harper, I'm sure she can find something fun to do." Admiral Janeway was quickly running out of options, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.
"Girls, do you want to go to the park?" Ensign Grey asked hopefully.
"No!" All three replied at the same time, with the same force.
"Starship!" Two year old Imogen Annika Paris asked, hope in her voice.
Grey gave the admirals a questioning look, and Kathryn mouthed one word to her – Holodeck. Owen nodded in approval to Kathryn's suggestion.
"Girls, if you come with me, I know just where we can go, and yes it is in space. But you have to promise me you'll be good, and close your eyes until we get there, OK?"
"Yes, Harper," the three girls said together, obvious submission and boredom in their young voices.
The doors to a holodeck in Starfleet Headquarters opened to reveal the bridge of the old USS Voyager, Admiral Janeway's famous starship. It was there she met her husband, then her first officer, Commander Chakotay, and four of her other senior officers each made their pairings too. Imogen's parents, Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, were the first couple to marry aboard the starship in the Delta Quadrant. The other couple, Harry Kim and ex-Borg Seven of Nine, were pregnant with their second child, a girl they had named Elizabeth Irene Kim. James Harry Kim was their first child, and now they had been married for five years.
Imogen, Hazel and Amanda recognised the bridge instantly after they opened their eyes. They had been there so many times, it was hard not to.
"Mummy's chair! Daddy's chair! Look Harper, look!" Hazel cried out. Immy just ran to the conn, her father's chair, and Andy just stood at the top of the well-known bridge, wondering where all the people were.
"People?" she asked the babysitter inquisitively, an unsure look on her face. After all, it wasn't a real bridge if there wasn't any action happening.
"Andy, who do you want to see here?" Ensign Grey asked the toddler. For two- and three-olds, all of them sure talked well.
"Mummy, Daddy, everyone! Want action!"
"OK then, Pumpkin. Computer, activate program Janeway-Alpha-246-Kids."
With a complying 'beep', the holodeck shimmered for a second, then officers appeared, and the bridge sprang into action.
"Come on children, why don't you say something?" Harper knew exactly how this program worked.
"Mummy!" Hazel screamed, and ran to the holographic representation on Captain Kathryn Janeway.
"Daddy!" Amanda screamed, the holographic Commander Chakotay looking around at the other staff.
"Daddy!" Imogen jumping on her holographic father, sitting in his chair at the conn.
This was going to be an eventful day, Harper thought, as the holograms looked at he children running towards them, with instant recognition.
Kathryn and Chakotay walked into the park outside of Headquarters where she knew Harper had taken the kids earlier that day, after they had finished in the holodeck. Taya and Ethan walked behind them, each interested in their own things. Kathryn knew Tom and B'Elanna would soon be meeting them at the park to pick up their own child. She also hoped they would bring their other children, since it had been a while since anyone had seen Miral, Scarlet, Ryan or Phillip. The Paris family was a large one, but everyone was making up for the time lost on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, so big families were to be expected.
A door behind the Janeway's opened, and the Paris clan stepped into the park from the protective insides of HQ. Tom, B'Elanna, Miral, Scarlet, Ryan and Phillip. The happy parents had always wanted big families, so it was only a matter of time before B'Elanna announced another pregnancy. But, I suppose, Kathryn thought, it's the same with me and Chakotay. He doesn't even know that I'm pregnant again.
The Janeway children spotted the Paris children as soon as they walked in the door, and they all ran straight from their parents sides to the playground their younger sisters were playing at.
"Kathryn, hi," came a voice from behind her, breaking the train of thought from within she was so encompassed. It was B'Elanna.
"Hey, B'Elanna, how are you doing."
"Oh, well, you know. Life as a Captain is stressful, but I suppose you know that. How are you, and the twins, how are you coping with them?" Her four year old twins Ryan and Phillip were a handful, and having to look after Immy didn't help.
"Same old, same old. Life as an Admiral isn't like as a Captain, it's stressing, but in different ways. My twins are good, how about..." Kathryn stopped suddenly, a wave of dizziness and nausea overcoming her. It looks like everyone's going to find out now, she thought, since the doctor will turn up any minute now. Slowly, Kathryn slipped from her position, resting on Chakotay's hip, to end up on the ground.
"Kathryn, what's wrong?" Chakotay asked, alarm present in his voice. He could see his wife trembling on the ground, and immediately tapped his comm badge.
"Captain Chakotay to Starfleet Medical."
"Chakotay, now there's a voice I haven't heard in a while," the Doctor was his usual friendly self. "I hope this is just a social call?"
"Doc, we need you to come down to the park out in front of Headquarters. Kathryn's collapsed and she's trembling on the ground. B'Elanna's with her now, but I think she's sick. How soon can you be here?" Chakotay was worried about his wife, and their four kids. They wouldn't be able to cope without a mother. Hell, he wouldn't be able to cope without her.
"I'll be right there. EMH out." And with that, the comm line closed and the doctor appeared moments later, medkit in hand, faint whine of a transporter in the background.
The children were all occupied in the playground, Tom Paris joining in the fun by playing a game of hide and seek. B'Elanna, though sitting with her former captain and friend, envied her husband's ability to keep all the children occupied during a crisis. She also wished Kathryn wouldn't work so hard, the stress was really starting to catch up on her and perhaps... Wait, this amount of stress only started showing when... "Kathryn, are you pregnant?"
Everyone looked at Captain Torres with weird looks on their faces. "What? Her stress only shows this much when she's pregnant, we all know her well enough to have figured that out by now!"
"Yes, B'Elanna, I'm pregnant. I was going to tell you all today," Kathryn whispered. She smiled weakly up at Chakotay. "I'm sorry for not telling you, I only found out yesterday. That's why I was with Owen today, I told him and..."
"It's OK, Kath, I forgive you. I just wish you told me first," Chakotay looked into Kathryn's eyes with the same forgiving look she had grown to love.
"She's about 14 weeks along, the baby is healthy and you, Kathryn," the Doctor looked directly at his patient, "need to limit your caffeine intake, and stay on LIGHT duties, which means no deep space missions, no fighting wars or getting involved with the Borg again, and no stressful assignments." The Doctor looked Kathryn directly in her eyes and made her promise.
"Fine! Alright then, I promise, but can I atleast take a teaching job at the Academy? Owen offered me one today, teaching the cadets about the Borg."
Everyone looked at Kathryn again, it seemed today was the day for revealing secrets. The children were getting bored of playing hide and seek with Tom, so they ran over to see what their parents were doing.
"Hey," Tom said, trying to catch his breath. "What's happening? Why are you on the ground, Kathryn?" Tom had a puzzled look on his face when everyone else looked up at him, as if they were saying 'You should have been here'.
Taya and Amanda ran to Kathryn's side, Ethan and Hazel standing next to their father.
"Mum, what's wrong?" 7 year old Taya asked.
"Mummy tired?" Amanda asked. "I'm tired too."
Everyone laughed at Andy's innocence and defusing statement. 5 year old Ethan started to tug Chakotay's uniform pant leg. "Daddy, what's wrong with Mummy?"
"B'Elanna, why is the Doc here? Has he chosen a name?"
B'Elanna just looked at her husband and rolled her eyes at his stupidity.
Just then, everyone heard the HQ front door open, and Commander Harry Kim and a heavily pregnant Lieutenant Commander Annika Kim walked through the doors with their son, James.
"Kathryn, Chakotay, Tom, B'Elanna, Doctor, how are you?" Annika asked. It had been six years since she had changed back to her Christian name, and everyone had appreciated that, not only her.
"Hi, Annika, Harry. Hey James," Tom said. "Why don't you join us?"
"What's going on?" Harry asked, spying Kathryn Janeway sitting on the ground, both the Doctor and Chakotay's protective arms around her.
"I'm pregnant, restricted to light duties, and am now a professor teaching 'Borg 101' at Starfleet Academy." The last statement made everyone laugh. "Actually, the course is called 'Inside the Hive Mind – Assimilation and the Borg', and I was chosen because of our time in the Delta Quadrant, but other than that, everything else is true. Baby number five is on the way."
Everyone cheered, Kathryn and Chakotay made a great couple, as did Tom and B'Elanna and Harry and Annika. Children suited them all, so did the family life. It was a pity, though, that everyone didn't get together as often, the Doctor thought, and everyone lived so far away. Atleast nature was being kind to them, even too kind, as both the Janeway's and the Paris' had five children each, so the Kim's had some catching up to do. It wouldn't be long until Elizabeth would be making her grand appearance.
The EMH watched as Kathryn and Chakotay disappeared inside Starfleet Headquarters, their four children around them. Then he saw out of the corner of his eye Tom and B'Elanna walk off down the road towards their home, all of their children running around them. Harry put James on his hip and put his free arm around Annika's waist, guiding her pregnant body into the Headquarters. Nice, he thought, how all of his friends were in couples, and he was the only one not. Atleast Denara Pel was still waiting on Vidiia for him, hopefully.