Stage III Chapter ii

By: AW

Pairing: J/C, P/T Rating: M Genre: Drama/Romance Length: 1516 words Date: June 2009 Setting: Endgame rewritten

Kathryn lay on the couch between Chakotay's legs. It was 8pm and they were both relaxing after hard days of teaching. She never remembered being so content. As Chakotay rubbed her abdomen and as their children moved within her she fell into a tired and sated sleep.

And then at 22 weeks everything changed and the dream was shattered.

She was standing in front of a class of third year Academy cadets, teaching them about the Borg and thoroughly enjoying the experience when a pain shot through her abdomen and stopped her dead in her tracks: She fell to her knees and let out a pain-filled groan.

She stopped mid-sentence and grabbed her stomach, alarming the class. One of the students sitting in the front row came forward and asked if everything was alright. She had shaken her head 'no' and that student had called for and emergency transport to Starfleet Medical.

Upon her arrival, her Doctor – former EMH of the Voyager – came running up to her, "Admiral, is everything okay?" He paused looking at the woman who had save them all in Delta Quadrant more times than he could count. "What's wrong?"

Kathryn shook her head unable to answer, but indicating to him that everything was far from okay and that something was indeed very wrong. He scanned, starting with her abdomen where the children were housed.

The doctor looked at her, the sadness and the anguish in his eyes telling her something was not right. "I'm sorry Admiral, one of the babies has died." He stared at her with pity and regret colouring his eyes as the door to her room burst open and Chakotay came rushing in.

"My god Kathryn, what happened? I got a call from one of your students saying you'd collapsed. I was so afraid...are you and the babies okay?"

Kathryn felt tears clouding her vision. She tried to blink them away and looked at the doctor, pleading with him to say something.

The Admiral is fine, and one of the babies is okay...for now." He paused collecting his thoughts, "I'm sorry one of your children has passed away."

Chakotay began to let silent tears course down his cheeks when he approached Kathryn and held on to her for dear life. He finally found his voice amid the sadness and the pain. "Is the other twin okay?"

The doctor looked saddened. "Baby B is fine for now, but both children have to stay in the womb for the duration of the pregnancy."

Chakotay looked at the doctor appalled. "So Kathryn is going to have to walk around with a child inside of her until she delivers?"

The doctor looked uncomfortably at Chakotay. "Delivering on foetus right now, even with a foetal transport could cause problems with the second baby. Since they are identical twins and they come from the same egg, removing only one right now could cause significant problems for the other one."

After looking at the holographic image of Baby B he looked to his wife and said the only thing he could think of. "Congratulations Kathryn, it's a girl."

Kathryn laughed nervous laughter, "I guess one is better than none."

Chakotay nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Can she go home then Doctor?"

"I want to give the baby steroids to help develop the lungs of the live child in case of an emergent and early delivery...the child should be fine though."

Chakotay looked at the Admiral: his wife: the saviour of Voyager, "I'm so sorry Kathryn."

He turned to the doctor, "Why did this happen? Did we do something wrong?"

"Commander –" by the doctor's slip he realized how distraught the hologram was. "Twin A moved around so much in your wife's womb that she ended up tying a knot in her umbilical cord, cutting off her oxygen supply. It was just bad luck. And Kathryn will have to stay on complete bed rest until the babies are born."

"Can't she do that at home? We're both on medical leave until they're born anyway."

The EMH hesitated, "I'd prefer if she stays here Chakotay."

Chakotay sighed, "We'll keep a monitor on the baby, I'll make sure she stays in bed and rests, but don't make her stay here."

The doctor considered it, and realized with these two he would not win a war of wills. "Fine Chakotay, but I am going to pay her a house call twice a day to make sure everything is okay with the second child."

"Very well doctor. I think Kathryn can deal with that."

"...And Admiral, if you should have any bleeding, cramping or if you feel the child stop moving: I expect you back here immediately."

Chakotay nodded his understanding, "She'll listen doctor."

"Very well," He filled a hypospray and injected it into her belly. "You may go Admiral...and good luck."

The couple left Starfleet Medical and went home. Kathryn sat on the couch and stared at a book, not really seeing it, and not reading it either. She hadn't said a word to him since they had left Starfleet Medical. Her hand simply kept rubbing her stomach as if making sure the baby was still there.

Then on the fifth day she turned her ocean blue eyes to Chakotay and said, "I am so sorry Chakotay."

He pulled her into a hug, "Hey...hey Kathryn listen to me." He tilted her head up, "It's not your fault. It was just bad luck."

Kathryn was sobbing and holding onto Chakotay when she let out a moan, and her waters broke: soaking the bed beneath her.

"Oh my god! Call the doctor Chakotay!"

The doctor had answered the call he had hoped he would not get for a few months yet. He had told them to rush to Starfleet Medical immediately, and so they did. There was an emergency team waiting for them, their doctor among them. He escorted them to a private room where monitors were attached to Kathryn. After studying the many readings, the doctor informed them. "I need to induce labour Admiral.

She looked at him with terrified eyes. "But doctor, I'm only 23 weeks pregnant...its too..."

"Admiral, listen to me. If you want any chance for twin B to survive, we must get these two delivered."

She nodded and he administered her a dose of the drug to induce labour, as well as yet another shot of steroids for the live baby's lungs.

Kathryn looked to Chakotay, scared, and that's when the induced labour pains began.

The first ones according to Kathryn 'weren't that bad'; by the fourth hour they were just about coming on top of each other. The doc entered the room, "You're fully dilated Admiral. On the next contraction I need you to bear down.

Kathryn nodded, and when she felt the urge: she pushed. Chakotay watched a head appear: It was blue and tiny and they eyes were closed never to see the world.

The doctor piped up, "Baby A will be here on the next push; I'm sorry this is the dead twin."

Kathryn cried out against the injustice of the world and the pain and her stillborn daughter was brought into the world. "It's a girl."

Kathryn looked up, "Talie Miranda."

The doctor nodded and noted that Talie Miranda Janeway was born at 1846 on March 10th.

Kathryn let a tear slide down her cheek as she looked one last time at the child who would never know the world.

The doctor ran his tricorder over Kathryn's tummy and saw the regular heartbeat of Baby B.

Kathryn got up and started pacing in the hoped of speeding up her labour. Two hours later, the baby had dropped low in the birth canal, and Kathryn once again felt the urge to push. She crouched and bored down. Chakotay in horrow saw the baby's head beginning to crown, but the cord dropped first. "Doctor she's crowning."

The doctor lifted Kathryn onto the bed and watched as she delivered twin B. The baby was born breathing hard, but erratic. "Kala Marissa."

The doctor finished working on little Kala and placed her on a respirator. Her heart was pumping and her blood was flowing. After making sure the baby was as good as she was going to get, the doctor moved to Kathryn's bedside. A nurse had delivered the placentas and was now working on fixing the tears that Kathryn had suffered during the delivery.

Kathryn took Chakotay's hand and walked over to the two bassinets. She picked up Talie and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I hope your journey in heaven is better than your journey on Earth was."

Chakotay kissed his wife and bent over to kiss Talie on the cheek, hoping she was going to a better place.

They both walked over hand in hand to Kala's incubator. Janeway looked at the little blond baby and said: "Fight it Kala, that's an order."

END Chapter ii