Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I had, the characters would've been much happier (though Tom and B'Elanna would disagree with that).
Author's Note: A New Path started out as a random vignette but my muse insisted on continuing it. I can't say how often it'll be updated (my muse is a fickle brat, it seems) but this is chapter two. This is, as always, unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.
It's been a long day and he's completely exhausted. Teaching at the Academy is a dream job, one he never thought he'd have again, and while it's been rewarding and fulfilling to pass his knowledge on to cadets just beginning their journey in life, he's also a lot older than he was the first time he did this. Apparently he'd forgotten the long hours and stressful meetings and time-consuming lesson plans; he's totally beat but it's such a great job. The biggest perk, in his mind, is that his office is close to his wife's; he's still able to make sure she remembers to eat. Being an admiral is hard work and she's as forgetful now as she was on Voyager.
They usually make the trip home together but Kathryn's aide says she left early today. A quick check at the childcare center in her building tells him that she's already been there and left; the ensign informs him that the baby was sick and that the admiral came to get her around 1500. Chakotay thanks her and heads for the transporter in the Academy's lobby, hurrying at the thought of Kathryn alone with Miral. It's not that he doesn't trust her with the ten month old (she brought the Borg to their knees, for crying out loud) but he knows that she's been overwhelmed with the change of having the baby.
His thoughts turn to Tom and B'Elanna as he waits for his turn at the transporter. The call from Admiral Paris changed everything; Tom and B'E were suddenly gone, lost in an experimental shuttle accident. He knows, just like they did, that life is Starfleet is dangerous but even now he finds the situation unfair. They spent seven years on Voyager fighting for their lives only to come home and die within six months.
And then there's Miral. Admiral Paris stiffly informed him that Tom and B'E had a will and that if anything happened, Miral was to go to Chakotay and Kathryn. It was funny, really, to think about Tom having the last word in his relationship with his father; they'd never gotten along and being flung across the galaxy didn't help the two men find common ground. Owen and Tom didn't get along and when his son and daughter-in-law died, Owen didn't even show up at the funerals. That'd been hard for Kathryn, seeing her former mentor snub his family in such a harsh way. Chakotay held her quite a few times as she cried out her frustration.
It didn't help that Kathryn was terrified of being a parent under the circumstances they found themselves in. They'd only been married for two weeks before the accident and they'd never really talked about having kids. He knew they both wanted them but they had one suddenly thrust upon them under such terrible conditions and it'd been a shock. Kathryn hasn't been truly alone with Miral yet because she doesn't really trust herself to know what to do.
The lieutenant working the transporter motions to Chakotay and he gives the woman the coordinates to their house in Indiana before moving to stand in the proper place. Kathryn's promotion to admiral had its advantages; they'd had a private transporter set up in the study and used it to avoid the traffic of Bloomington's public transporter station. Nodding at the woman, Chakotay feels the tingle and momentary disorientation as the beam takes hold.
Silence greets him as he beams into the study. Throwing his coat over the back of the nearest chair and setting his briefcase down, he listens for a moment before frowning and heading toward the door. He takes two steps into the living room and stops, his heart leaping into his throat at the scene before him; Kathryn's sound asleep on the couch, Miral sleeping on her chest. Kathryn's hand is on the baby's back, making sure she doesn't move, and it's the most captivating thing Chakotay's ever seen. Moving quietly, he grabs the holoimager from its place on the mantle and snaps a few shots of his wife and Miral, tears burning at his eyes as he saves the moment forever.