a/n: a alternative universe fic. Assumes that Icheb left with the other Borg children and that the rest of "Imperfection" never happened. Set after the episode 'Drive'
Disclaimer: I don't own it, blah blah blah
Just Another Day
Part One, The Beginning
Ensign Harry Kim, or just Harry, for now, sat on a stool in the bar in the trade station Zeta Betta Six. The bar tender, an attractive woman and member of the race called the Gemili, same up to him. "Whatta you want?" she asked casually.
"Some beer, please," Harry said. The woman nodded and went to fetch his drink. She really was pretty. Her ivory skin looked amazing next to her raven black hair. Her eyes were light violet and seemed to glow with life. She was an alien, of course. Her ears were small and extended more horizontally then they did vertically, and the nails on her graceful hands were much thicker then Harry's, but she was still gorgeous.
"Hello, handsome," said a blond alien as she took the stool on Harry's right.
"Good evening to you, miss," Harry said with a devilish smile. Yet another beautiful woman in his sight. He grinned at her. "And who might you be?"
"Karia," she said as she extended her hand.
"Harry," he offered as he took her hand and giggled. He and Karia started talking about silly things. Soon, Harry was half-drunk. Feeling odd, he left the bar and started heading for Voyager's docking port when he heard some screaming.
"Please, just go away," said a high, terrified voice.
"Not in your life, pretty," said a lower, darker voice. Harry went to investigate. Not far away from him was a small man grabbing a woman's arm, grabbing the bar tender's arm. Though he was short, he was more powerful then the woman. Harry thought he could take him. He walked over and put his arm around the bar tender's shoulders.
"Is there any particular reason why you've got your greasy hands all over my girlfriend?" he asked in an authorities tone of voice.
"Ah..." the man let the woman go. "We was just talkin."
"Good," said Harry nodding. "Because if it was anything more then that, you'd be in trouble." The man nodded. Harry started leading the bar tender away from the hall were the man stood. He still had his arm over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Just keep walking," Harry shot back at her. They were a few more meters before Harry stopped and took his arm off her. She looked at him but said nothing. Harry turned and started going back to Voyager.
"Where are you going?" the woman asked.
"Home," Harry said, turning around to face her. "To my ship."
"And you're just leaving me here?" she asked.
"Well, he's not bothering you anymore...."
"Anymore! He will be in a few minuets when you leave. But that's okay, you go," she said quickly. She started walking the Voyager's direction. "I'll just go with you."
"What?" said Harry, who had reassumed his journey to his ship and was no taking the lead, inadvertently showing the woman the way to Voyager. "You're coming with me?"
"Yes," said the bartender. She stuck her chin in the air defiantly, as if to say that the ruling was final and the decision had been made.
"I don't even know your name," Harry protested.
"Lilika," she offered. "What's yours?"
"Harry," Harry responded. He didn't quite know what to do. As he entered Voyager, he hoped that perhaps Lilika would decide not to follow him after all, but she seemed stubborn and persistent, and wouldn't let Harry out of her sight.
"Don't you think this is a bit awkward?" Harry asked as they entered the terbolift.
"I never asked for your help," Lilika responded.
"And I never asked for its consequences. I was just trying to do the right thing."
"Great," said Lilika with an amused grin. "Then I can stay." Harry and Lilika entered his quarters. Lilika flopped down onto the couch immediately. Still feeling awkward, but unable to protest, Harry hurried into his room.
~~
B'Elanna Torres-Paris woke up softly. She had been sleeping on her husband's chest. What a soothing sleep it had been. She felt more energetic then she had in the past few weeks. Ever since this flu started, she had felt horrible.
Carefully, B'Elanna left the bed and headed for the shower. She did not want to wake up Tom on their day off. When she was finished with her shower, she found that Tom was wake and making breakfast.
"Good morning," she said smiling.
"Good morning B'Elanna," he said casually. We walked up to her and escorted her to the table.
"And welcome to Cafe de Paris. Today we at Cafe de Paris had taken the liberty of making you some first class bacon and eggs." He put some eggs on a fork and raised it to her lips, letting her have a bite. "Perfect, no?"
B'Elanna swallowed and laughed. Tom was not the best cook, even though she taken his cooking over Nelix's any day. The eggs were a bit runny, and Tom had forgotten to add salt when he fried them. But B'Elanna smiled anyway. "There're perfect," she told him.
Tom smiled. He pulled out a chair from under the two-person table they had in their 'kitchen'. Then he went over to the other side of the table, sat down and took a bit of his homemade eggs. He frowned. "Perfect, ah?" Then he smiled. "Well, if it's good enough for my wife it's good enough for me," he said, grinning as his took another bite. B'Elanna laughed as she too took another bite. Tom always had such a good sense of humor, even when he was the one who had done something comical.
"So," B'Elanna asked. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Well," Tom said. "I figured we could stay home, watch some TV, play a game of cards. You know, just enjoy each others company." He added quickly, "and then you can go to sickbay about that flu that's been bothering you."
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Tom, I'm fine," she said sharply. "I don't need to go to sickbay." Tom continued eating his food as if they were having a pleasant conversation about the weather instead of the heated argument that always sprung up whenever B'Elanna was asked to go tot he doctor.
"I know," Tom said, as he took a sip of orange juice. "You're fine. Perfectly fine.
Now." He stopped eating so that he could look B'Elanna in the eye. "But what about ten minuets from now when you're throwing up all of my wonderful food."
"What wonderful food?" B'Elanna asked. Tom sighed.
"B'Elanna you're sick," he said firmly. "You've been sick for the past few weeks and you'll be sick for the next few weeks unless you go to sickbay."
"Why should I go to sickbay if I'm not sick?" B'Elanna shouted. Tom shook his head.
"Fine," he said. "The customer's always right." With that he threw cleaned his half eaten plate and left the table. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced, not even turning around to face her as he retreated to the bathroom.
B'Elanna heard the door close. Oh, the nerve of that man! Who was he to tell her how she felt? Or what she should do? B'Elanna felt perfectly fine, and Tom had no right to tell her otherwise.
Then again, he had seemed genuinely concerned for her, worried even. And he had been so nice, making her breakfast and everything. Usually they just replicated something on their day off, like blueberry waffles or banana pancakes. Tom never cooked for her, and she never cooked for him. Life was always moving too quickly to do things like that.
B'Elanna's stomach turned with guilt. No, not guilt, it turned with indigestion. B'Elanna ran into the bathroom, moving straight past Tom, who was wrapped in a towel and brushing his teeth.
"All right, you win," she said after throwing up her breakfast. "I'll go and see the doctor."
~~
Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in a meeting on the space station Zeta Betta Six. She, Chakotay, and four other leaders from four other ships were negotiating a trade agreement. Two men, Frodum and Qualmen, were arguing about currency. Janeway rolled her eyes and Chakotay whispered, "Do you think this will ever stop?"
Janeway glanced at the two arguing men. "Not by the looks of it," she said. "This is going to take a long time."
~~
Harry Kim walked into Astrometrics. "You're late," Seven of Nine stated.
"Sorry," said Harry in an annoyed tone. "It's been a long night." To his surprise, Seven said nothing more about his tardiness. Nor did she ask what she had done to earn his hostility. She simply told Harry what their assignment was, scanning the space ahead of them and planning a course for next months travel. A simple two-day job. Harry, having no idea what a rude tone of voice he had just used, simply nodded and began to work.
As Harry scanned the area of space that Voyager intended to travel threw next his thoughts wandered from his work to Lilika. She was still in his quarters. When he had left his bedroom and entered his living room he found her sitting on his couch in a purple robe she had replicated, drinking peppermint tea.
"Morning, Harry," she had said when he entered the room
Harry looked at her. The cloths she had been warring were laying on the floor, and a plate full of half eaten Chinese food sitting on the couch next to her. "What are you doing?" Harry had asked.
"Just making myself more at home," Lilika said. "I've been thinking. You know this room; it's a little too gray for me. Can't we paint the walls orange or something?"
Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "Lilika," he said, "you don't live here."
"Oh, I know that," she said. "But, you never know. Maybe I will someday. I'd at least like to live on the starship. It's a really nice place. What did you call it again? Was it Voyager?"
"Lilika, if you want to live on Voyager, you have you need to talk with the captain. Not with me. Now, if you could just leave..."
"Oh, I can't leave yet, Harry look at the mess I've made. I'll just clean up while you get ready to do whatever it is you do here." Harry had rolled his eyes and gone to take a shower. When he was done Lilika was dressed in her normal closets again.
"You don't mind if I keep the robe, do you?" she asked.
"Keep it," Harry said. "I'm already late." That was when he left her in his quarters and headed to Astrometrics.
"Mr. Kim," Seven of Nine said, braking his train of thought. "You have already performed that scan three times."
"I know that," Harry shot back as he started on his next scan. What as he going to do about Lilika? He had the odd feeling that she would be sleeping on his couch for as long as she possibly could. How much longer would Voyager be here? One or two more weeks? Harry wished that they would leave sooner. He didn't want to have to deal with Lilika for that long.
The door to Astrometrics opened. "Hi, Harry," Lilika said as she walked in. "I've been thinking. Now, if I'm going to be living on Voyager, I might as well see what it looks like. Could you give me a tour?"
Seven of Nine gave Harry a sideward glance. "Is this a friend of yours?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "She's a friend." He turned to face Lilika. "I'm in the middle of work. Maybe I could give you a tour later...."
"That's all right, Mr. Kim. If you desire to spend time with your friend then you may go," Seven said. Harry gave her an odd look. Well you're no help, he thought.
"Oh that's great, Harry! You can leave!" Lilika grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of Astrometrics. "Come on, let's go." They started walking down the corridor. "So, is this entire ship gray or something? This thing defiantly needs a paint job. So where to first?" she asked.
"Harry, nice to see you bud. Who's this?"
"Hi Tom," said Harry gratefully. "Tom, this is Lilika. Lilika, this is my friends Tom and his wife B'Elanna." Lilika said 'Hi' and started talking about how dully colored Voyager was.
Tom whispered to Harry, "You always fall for the wrong girl, don't you? First the hologram, then the ex-Borg, then the wrong twin, then the forbidden alien, then the terrorist, and now," he looked at Lilika, "the obsessive color fanatic."
Harry sighed. "Not this one, Tom. I didn't choose her, she choose me." Harry glanced over at a talkative Lilika and a rather annoyed looking B'Elanna. "I'll talk to you later, Tom. Come on, Lilika, Voyager's a very big ship."
"Okay. Bye, B'Elanna," Lilika said, smiling.
~~
"Bye," B'Elanna said shortly.
"Remind me never to talk to that woman again," B'Elanna said as she and her husband made their way towards sickbay. "Ever."
"Oh come on, B'Elanna. It couldn't have been that bad," Tom said.
"She makes me ever more nauseous then I already am," B'Elanna said scornfully. "I didn't even think that was physically possible. But apparently it is."
"Whatever you say..." Tom said. "Ah, here we are." He and B'Elanna walked into sickbay. The doctor came to see them.
"You are aware that it's your day off aren't you Tom?" the doctor joked. Tom wasn't amused, neither was his wife. "Well, what seems to be the problem?"
"B'Elanna's been fighting a mild flu for a few weeks," Tom said.
"I'm fine," B'Elanna added. "I'm just coming to save his sanity."
"Well let's see," the doctor said she he scanned B'Elanna with a tri-corder. "Heart rate's normal. Blood pressure's normal. Ah! Here's the problem."
"Well what is it," B'Elanna asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," the doctor said. The couple exchanged confused glances. "B'Elanna, you're pregnant."
"Pregnant?" B'Elanna said sarcastically. "I can't be pregnant. My period just ended a few days ago, and we haven't had sex since then."
"Many woman bleed during the first trimester," the doctor explained. "And you're well into the first trimester. In fact according to my scans, you're already eight weeks in." B'Elanna looked at Tom.
"Let me see that," Tom said as the doctor handed him the tri-corder. He scanned is wife. "You're not kidding," Tom said in a surprised tone. He looked at B'Elanna. "You're really pregnant."
"I am?" B'Elanna questioned softly. Tom held out the tri-corder so that she could see it. "I am." Tom Paris put an arm around his wife's shoulders. She leaned against him and grabbed her husband's hand, taking her other hand and putting it on her stomach, trying to imagine what it was going to look like.
"Oh boy..." she muttered and then thought, but it could be a girl.
"So," Tom asked as he noticed that B'Elanna was at a loss for words, "what's the due date?"
The doctor took back his tri-corder and ran a second scan of B'Elanna. "It's difficult to say, all things considered..." the hologram was lost in thought for a moment. He knew that the average Klingon developed in twenty weeks and the average human developed in forty. Because the mother was half Klingon and half Human, it would take the baby thirty weeks to develop. And because the fetus was already eight weeks old the baby would be coming in.... "Twenty-two weeks. The baby should be here in twenty two weeks."
"That's January 10nth," Tom said. He turned to his wife. "B'Elanna, we're going to have a baby January 10nth." B'Elanna simple smiled.
~~
Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay walked out of the trade meeting. "That was exhausting," Kathryn said. "I'm going straight to my quarters, taking nice, hot bath, and going straight to sleep."
"That sounds good," said Chakotay, "but don't you think you should eat something."
"I don't have the energy to cook tonight, and I'm all out of rations," Kathryn said.
"You could always eat in the mess hall," Chakotay said. Kathryn gave him a side ward glance. "Well, maybe not. I could always bring you something after your finished with that long, hot, bath."
"Really?" Kathryn asked.
"Really."
"That sounds great. I'll see you at my quarters in two hours then?"
"It's a date," said Chakotay.
They were almost to Voyager when someone behind them yelled. "Freeze, I have a weapon."
~~
"Oh," said Lilika as she sat in Astrometrics with Harry Kim and Seven of Nine, "I've got to go."
"Really?' So soon?" Harry said sarcastically.
"Yes. My shift starts in twenty minuets," Lilika responded. "Hey, I have a great idea! Why don't the two of you come with me?"
"I don't think so," Harry said. "I pretty tired, and Seven doesn't like bars."
Lilika turned to Seven. "Is this true?" Seven nodded.
"Ensign Kim is correct," she said.
"Oh, well you'll like this one, come on." Just as she had dragged Harry out of Astrometics earlier that morning, she dragged Harry and Seven to the bar with her now.
"I'm really, really, sorry," Harry whispered to Seven of Nine as they were rushed threw the corridors.
"It's all right," she whispered back.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Harry asked as soon as they had entered the bar. "We don't even know each other. We're not even friends."
"But you saved me, didn't you?" Lilika said.
"I helped you out of a sticky situation, but I didn't marry you are anything," Harry said. "Were did Seven go?"
"She's over there," Lilika said, pointing to Harry's right. "And now she isn't," Lilika continued as Seven disappeared into the crowd.
"I should go follow her," Harry said.
"She's a big girl," Lilika said.
"Yeah, well so are you." With that Harry left the bar.
~~
Tom and B'Elanna were walking back to their quarters from the mess hall. "Hey, Harry," Tom said as he stopped to talk with his best friend. He was a little worried. Harry looked rather annoyed.
"Hi Tom," he said. "Have you seen Seven?"
"No, why?" Tom asked. "Don't tell me that you've fallen for the ex-Borg again?"
"No, Tom, nothing like that," Harry said with a faint smile. "It's a long story, actually. Maybe I'll tell you about it tomorrow." Harry walked away.
B'Elanna cuddled close to Tom as they walked. "Thank you," she said once they had entered the terbolift.
"For what?" Tom asked.
"Not telling him," B'Elanna said. "I don't think I'm ready to tell anyone yet." Tom nodded.
~~
Harry walked into Astrometrics the next morning. He was there early, so he didn't expect Seven of Nine to be there, but he was still surprised when she wasn't. B'Elanna walked in shortly after he did. "Hey, Harry," she said.
"Hey, B'Elanna, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm filling in for Seven," B'Elanna answered.
"Filling in?" Harry asked, knowing that Seven never missed a day of work.
"Yes. Tuvok said that she requested a day off," B'Elanna said.
"That's weird," Harry said.
"Attention all senior staff members. Please report to briefing room immediately," Tuvok said over the intercom.
Disclaimer: I don't own it, blah blah blah
Just Another Day
Part One, The Beginning
Ensign Harry Kim, or just Harry, for now, sat on a stool in the bar in the trade station Zeta Betta Six. The bar tender, an attractive woman and member of the race called the Gemili, same up to him. "Whatta you want?" she asked casually.
"Some beer, please," Harry said. The woman nodded and went to fetch his drink. She really was pretty. Her ivory skin looked amazing next to her raven black hair. Her eyes were light violet and seemed to glow with life. She was an alien, of course. Her ears were small and extended more horizontally then they did vertically, and the nails on her graceful hands were much thicker then Harry's, but she was still gorgeous.
"Hello, handsome," said a blond alien as she took the stool on Harry's right.
"Good evening to you, miss," Harry said with a devilish smile. Yet another beautiful woman in his sight. He grinned at her. "And who might you be?"
"Karia," she said as she extended her hand.
"Harry," he offered as he took her hand and giggled. He and Karia started talking about silly things. Soon, Harry was half-drunk. Feeling odd, he left the bar and started heading for Voyager's docking port when he heard some screaming.
"Please, just go away," said a high, terrified voice.
"Not in your life, pretty," said a lower, darker voice. Harry went to investigate. Not far away from him was a small man grabbing a woman's arm, grabbing the bar tender's arm. Though he was short, he was more powerful then the woman. Harry thought he could take him. He walked over and put his arm around the bar tender's shoulders.
"Is there any particular reason why you've got your greasy hands all over my girlfriend?" he asked in an authorities tone of voice.
"Ah..." the man let the woman go. "We was just talkin."
"Good," said Harry nodding. "Because if it was anything more then that, you'd be in trouble." The man nodded. Harry started leading the bar tender away from the hall were the man stood. He still had his arm over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Just keep walking," Harry shot back at her. They were a few more meters before Harry stopped and took his arm off her. She looked at him but said nothing. Harry turned and started going back to Voyager.
"Where are you going?" the woman asked.
"Home," Harry said, turning around to face her. "To my ship."
"And you're just leaving me here?" she asked.
"Well, he's not bothering you anymore...."
"Anymore! He will be in a few minuets when you leave. But that's okay, you go," she said quickly. She started walking the Voyager's direction. "I'll just go with you."
"What?" said Harry, who had reassumed his journey to his ship and was no taking the lead, inadvertently showing the woman the way to Voyager. "You're coming with me?"
"Yes," said the bartender. She stuck her chin in the air defiantly, as if to say that the ruling was final and the decision had been made.
"I don't even know your name," Harry protested.
"Lilika," she offered. "What's yours?"
"Harry," Harry responded. He didn't quite know what to do. As he entered Voyager, he hoped that perhaps Lilika would decide not to follow him after all, but she seemed stubborn and persistent, and wouldn't let Harry out of her sight.
"Don't you think this is a bit awkward?" Harry asked as they entered the terbolift.
"I never asked for your help," Lilika responded.
"And I never asked for its consequences. I was just trying to do the right thing."
"Great," said Lilika with an amused grin. "Then I can stay." Harry and Lilika entered his quarters. Lilika flopped down onto the couch immediately. Still feeling awkward, but unable to protest, Harry hurried into his room.
~~
B'Elanna Torres-Paris woke up softly. She had been sleeping on her husband's chest. What a soothing sleep it had been. She felt more energetic then she had in the past few weeks. Ever since this flu started, she had felt horrible.
Carefully, B'Elanna left the bed and headed for the shower. She did not want to wake up Tom on their day off. When she was finished with her shower, she found that Tom was wake and making breakfast.
"Good morning," she said smiling.
"Good morning B'Elanna," he said casually. We walked up to her and escorted her to the table.
"And welcome to Cafe de Paris. Today we at Cafe de Paris had taken the liberty of making you some first class bacon and eggs." He put some eggs on a fork and raised it to her lips, letting her have a bite. "Perfect, no?"
B'Elanna swallowed and laughed. Tom was not the best cook, even though she taken his cooking over Nelix's any day. The eggs were a bit runny, and Tom had forgotten to add salt when he fried them. But B'Elanna smiled anyway. "There're perfect," she told him.
Tom smiled. He pulled out a chair from under the two-person table they had in their 'kitchen'. Then he went over to the other side of the table, sat down and took a bit of his homemade eggs. He frowned. "Perfect, ah?" Then he smiled. "Well, if it's good enough for my wife it's good enough for me," he said, grinning as his took another bite. B'Elanna laughed as she too took another bite. Tom always had such a good sense of humor, even when he was the one who had done something comical.
"So," B'Elanna asked. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Well," Tom said. "I figured we could stay home, watch some TV, play a game of cards. You know, just enjoy each others company." He added quickly, "and then you can go to sickbay about that flu that's been bothering you."
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Tom, I'm fine," she said sharply. "I don't need to go to sickbay." Tom continued eating his food as if they were having a pleasant conversation about the weather instead of the heated argument that always sprung up whenever B'Elanna was asked to go tot he doctor.
"I know," Tom said, as he took a sip of orange juice. "You're fine. Perfectly fine.
Now." He stopped eating so that he could look B'Elanna in the eye. "But what about ten minuets from now when you're throwing up all of my wonderful food."
"What wonderful food?" B'Elanna asked. Tom sighed.
"B'Elanna you're sick," he said firmly. "You've been sick for the past few weeks and you'll be sick for the next few weeks unless you go to sickbay."
"Why should I go to sickbay if I'm not sick?" B'Elanna shouted. Tom shook his head.
"Fine," he said. "The customer's always right." With that he threw cleaned his half eaten plate and left the table. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced, not even turning around to face her as he retreated to the bathroom.
B'Elanna heard the door close. Oh, the nerve of that man! Who was he to tell her how she felt? Or what she should do? B'Elanna felt perfectly fine, and Tom had no right to tell her otherwise.
Then again, he had seemed genuinely concerned for her, worried even. And he had been so nice, making her breakfast and everything. Usually they just replicated something on their day off, like blueberry waffles or banana pancakes. Tom never cooked for her, and she never cooked for him. Life was always moving too quickly to do things like that.
B'Elanna's stomach turned with guilt. No, not guilt, it turned with indigestion. B'Elanna ran into the bathroom, moving straight past Tom, who was wrapped in a towel and brushing his teeth.
"All right, you win," she said after throwing up her breakfast. "I'll go and see the doctor."
~~
Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in a meeting on the space station Zeta Betta Six. She, Chakotay, and four other leaders from four other ships were negotiating a trade agreement. Two men, Frodum and Qualmen, were arguing about currency. Janeway rolled her eyes and Chakotay whispered, "Do you think this will ever stop?"
Janeway glanced at the two arguing men. "Not by the looks of it," she said. "This is going to take a long time."
~~
Harry Kim walked into Astrometrics. "You're late," Seven of Nine stated.
"Sorry," said Harry in an annoyed tone. "It's been a long night." To his surprise, Seven said nothing more about his tardiness. Nor did she ask what she had done to earn his hostility. She simply told Harry what their assignment was, scanning the space ahead of them and planning a course for next months travel. A simple two-day job. Harry, having no idea what a rude tone of voice he had just used, simply nodded and began to work.
As Harry scanned the area of space that Voyager intended to travel threw next his thoughts wandered from his work to Lilika. She was still in his quarters. When he had left his bedroom and entered his living room he found her sitting on his couch in a purple robe she had replicated, drinking peppermint tea.
"Morning, Harry," she had said when he entered the room
Harry looked at her. The cloths she had been warring were laying on the floor, and a plate full of half eaten Chinese food sitting on the couch next to her. "What are you doing?" Harry had asked.
"Just making myself more at home," Lilika said. "I've been thinking. You know this room; it's a little too gray for me. Can't we paint the walls orange or something?"
Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "Lilika," he said, "you don't live here."
"Oh, I know that," she said. "But, you never know. Maybe I will someday. I'd at least like to live on the starship. It's a really nice place. What did you call it again? Was it Voyager?"
"Lilika, if you want to live on Voyager, you have you need to talk with the captain. Not with me. Now, if you could just leave..."
"Oh, I can't leave yet, Harry look at the mess I've made. I'll just clean up while you get ready to do whatever it is you do here." Harry had rolled his eyes and gone to take a shower. When he was done Lilika was dressed in her normal closets again.
"You don't mind if I keep the robe, do you?" she asked.
"Keep it," Harry said. "I'm already late." That was when he left her in his quarters and headed to Astrometrics.
"Mr. Kim," Seven of Nine said, braking his train of thought. "You have already performed that scan three times."
"I know that," Harry shot back as he started on his next scan. What as he going to do about Lilika? He had the odd feeling that she would be sleeping on his couch for as long as she possibly could. How much longer would Voyager be here? One or two more weeks? Harry wished that they would leave sooner. He didn't want to have to deal with Lilika for that long.
The door to Astrometrics opened. "Hi, Harry," Lilika said as she walked in. "I've been thinking. Now, if I'm going to be living on Voyager, I might as well see what it looks like. Could you give me a tour?"
Seven of Nine gave Harry a sideward glance. "Is this a friend of yours?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "She's a friend." He turned to face Lilika. "I'm in the middle of work. Maybe I could give you a tour later...."
"That's all right, Mr. Kim. If you desire to spend time with your friend then you may go," Seven said. Harry gave her an odd look. Well you're no help, he thought.
"Oh that's great, Harry! You can leave!" Lilika grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of Astrometrics. "Come on, let's go." They started walking down the corridor. "So, is this entire ship gray or something? This thing defiantly needs a paint job. So where to first?" she asked.
"Harry, nice to see you bud. Who's this?"
"Hi Tom," said Harry gratefully. "Tom, this is Lilika. Lilika, this is my friends Tom and his wife B'Elanna." Lilika said 'Hi' and started talking about how dully colored Voyager was.
Tom whispered to Harry, "You always fall for the wrong girl, don't you? First the hologram, then the ex-Borg, then the wrong twin, then the forbidden alien, then the terrorist, and now," he looked at Lilika, "the obsessive color fanatic."
Harry sighed. "Not this one, Tom. I didn't choose her, she choose me." Harry glanced over at a talkative Lilika and a rather annoyed looking B'Elanna. "I'll talk to you later, Tom. Come on, Lilika, Voyager's a very big ship."
"Okay. Bye, B'Elanna," Lilika said, smiling.
~~
"Bye," B'Elanna said shortly.
"Remind me never to talk to that woman again," B'Elanna said as she and her husband made their way towards sickbay. "Ever."
"Oh come on, B'Elanna. It couldn't have been that bad," Tom said.
"She makes me ever more nauseous then I already am," B'Elanna said scornfully. "I didn't even think that was physically possible. But apparently it is."
"Whatever you say..." Tom said. "Ah, here we are." He and B'Elanna walked into sickbay. The doctor came to see them.
"You are aware that it's your day off aren't you Tom?" the doctor joked. Tom wasn't amused, neither was his wife. "Well, what seems to be the problem?"
"B'Elanna's been fighting a mild flu for a few weeks," Tom said.
"I'm fine," B'Elanna added. "I'm just coming to save his sanity."
"Well let's see," the doctor said she he scanned B'Elanna with a tri-corder. "Heart rate's normal. Blood pressure's normal. Ah! Here's the problem."
"Well what is it," B'Elanna asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," the doctor said. The couple exchanged confused glances. "B'Elanna, you're pregnant."
"Pregnant?" B'Elanna said sarcastically. "I can't be pregnant. My period just ended a few days ago, and we haven't had sex since then."
"Many woman bleed during the first trimester," the doctor explained. "And you're well into the first trimester. In fact according to my scans, you're already eight weeks in." B'Elanna looked at Tom.
"Let me see that," Tom said as the doctor handed him the tri-corder. He scanned is wife. "You're not kidding," Tom said in a surprised tone. He looked at B'Elanna. "You're really pregnant."
"I am?" B'Elanna questioned softly. Tom held out the tri-corder so that she could see it. "I am." Tom Paris put an arm around his wife's shoulders. She leaned against him and grabbed her husband's hand, taking her other hand and putting it on her stomach, trying to imagine what it was going to look like.
"Oh boy..." she muttered and then thought, but it could be a girl.
"So," Tom asked as he noticed that B'Elanna was at a loss for words, "what's the due date?"
The doctor took back his tri-corder and ran a second scan of B'Elanna. "It's difficult to say, all things considered..." the hologram was lost in thought for a moment. He knew that the average Klingon developed in twenty weeks and the average human developed in forty. Because the mother was half Klingon and half Human, it would take the baby thirty weeks to develop. And because the fetus was already eight weeks old the baby would be coming in.... "Twenty-two weeks. The baby should be here in twenty two weeks."
"That's January 10nth," Tom said. He turned to his wife. "B'Elanna, we're going to have a baby January 10nth." B'Elanna simple smiled.
~~
Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay walked out of the trade meeting. "That was exhausting," Kathryn said. "I'm going straight to my quarters, taking nice, hot bath, and going straight to sleep."
"That sounds good," said Chakotay, "but don't you think you should eat something."
"I don't have the energy to cook tonight, and I'm all out of rations," Kathryn said.
"You could always eat in the mess hall," Chakotay said. Kathryn gave him a side ward glance. "Well, maybe not. I could always bring you something after your finished with that long, hot, bath."
"Really?" Kathryn asked.
"Really."
"That sounds great. I'll see you at my quarters in two hours then?"
"It's a date," said Chakotay.
They were almost to Voyager when someone behind them yelled. "Freeze, I have a weapon."
~~
"Oh," said Lilika as she sat in Astrometrics with Harry Kim and Seven of Nine, "I've got to go."
"Really?' So soon?" Harry said sarcastically.
"Yes. My shift starts in twenty minuets," Lilika responded. "Hey, I have a great idea! Why don't the two of you come with me?"
"I don't think so," Harry said. "I pretty tired, and Seven doesn't like bars."
Lilika turned to Seven. "Is this true?" Seven nodded.
"Ensign Kim is correct," she said.
"Oh, well you'll like this one, come on." Just as she had dragged Harry out of Astrometics earlier that morning, she dragged Harry and Seven to the bar with her now.
"I'm really, really, sorry," Harry whispered to Seven of Nine as they were rushed threw the corridors.
"It's all right," she whispered back.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Harry asked as soon as they had entered the bar. "We don't even know each other. We're not even friends."
"But you saved me, didn't you?" Lilika said.
"I helped you out of a sticky situation, but I didn't marry you are anything," Harry said. "Were did Seven go?"
"She's over there," Lilika said, pointing to Harry's right. "And now she isn't," Lilika continued as Seven disappeared into the crowd.
"I should go follow her," Harry said.
"She's a big girl," Lilika said.
"Yeah, well so are you." With that Harry left the bar.
~~
Tom and B'Elanna were walking back to their quarters from the mess hall. "Hey, Harry," Tom said as he stopped to talk with his best friend. He was a little worried. Harry looked rather annoyed.
"Hi Tom," he said. "Have you seen Seven?"
"No, why?" Tom asked. "Don't tell me that you've fallen for the ex-Borg again?"
"No, Tom, nothing like that," Harry said with a faint smile. "It's a long story, actually. Maybe I'll tell you about it tomorrow." Harry walked away.
B'Elanna cuddled close to Tom as they walked. "Thank you," she said once they had entered the terbolift.
"For what?" Tom asked.
"Not telling him," B'Elanna said. "I don't think I'm ready to tell anyone yet." Tom nodded.
~~
Harry walked into Astrometrics the next morning. He was there early, so he didn't expect Seven of Nine to be there, but he was still surprised when she wasn't. B'Elanna walked in shortly after he did. "Hey, Harry," she said.
"Hey, B'Elanna, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm filling in for Seven," B'Elanna answered.
"Filling in?" Harry asked, knowing that Seven never missed a day of work.
"Yes. Tuvok said that she requested a day off," B'Elanna said.
"That's weird," Harry said.
"Attention all senior staff members. Please report to briefing room immediately," Tuvok said over the intercom.