Part 2 - Symptoms

The pregnancy progressed normally. Normal for Beverly, that is. If it wasn't morning sickness, which struck at any time of day, it was bouts of weeping, and several displays of the legendary Howard temper.

oxo

Jean-Luc entered the holodeck without even looking to see what program she had chosen. After what he'd just heard, the choice would be obvious.

The sun was low on the horizon, and a few stars were already visible in the sky. Beverly stood near the edge of the lake, hands jammed in the pockets of her lab coat, head slightly bowed. He moved up behind her, seeing her tense when she heard him approach. Without a word, he began to massage her shoulders. He worked for several minutes to ease the knots in her neck, upper arms and back. Finally, she leaned back against him with a small sigh. She turned her head to kiss his hand as it rested on her shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be on the bridge or in your Ready Room or somewhere important?" she mumbled.

"I was in my Ready Room. Alyssa called me."

Beverly groaned, turning to hide her face in his shoulder. "She wants a transfer, right?"

He laughed softly as enfolded her in his warm embrace. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head before replying. "It's going to take more than a tantrum - even one of yours -to scare her off. She's worried about you. She..."

"Worried?" she interrupted, pulling back to look at him. "She should be furious, as furious as I was. But at least Alyssa has good reason to be angry. Did she tell you what I said to her?"

He silenced her with a kiss. "Don't work yourself up again. Come on, let's get you off your feet for awhile."

The computer produced a double chaise lounge upon request. Jean-Luc helped her sit down then took his place on the other side. As she settled into his arms once more, Beverly smiled mischievously. "You do realize this is what started this whole mess."

"What?"

"You getting me 'off my feet for awhile'."

"That's not true," he countered. "It started in the shower, remember?"

She blushed. "Oh, yes, that. Well, I still contend I wasn't on my feet."

"I don't care when, where or how it happened," he murmured, pulling her closer, one hand caressing her abdomen and the growing child inside. "I'm just glad it happened." His hand moved abruptly as the baby kicked. "See, she agrees with me."

"That's because he's been disagreeing with me." It was a running joke between them. Since they decided not to know the baby's sex until the birth, whenever one of them used either pronoun, the other made a point of using the opposite one. Beverly and Jean-Luc enjoyed the joke, but it drove the rest of the crew crazy. "He's been kicking me like that ever since I yelled at Alyssa. Even he knows I was wrong." She tried to sit up, but Jean-Luc held on. "All Alyssa did was offer me a glass of water... and I exploded. How ridiculous is that?"

"What happened between the glass of water and the explosion?" he asked quietly. He nudged her when she hesitated.

"I felt sick. Again. I was sick, and I took it out on Alyssa. Damn it, Jean-Luc, I'm six months pregnant and still getting sick. Over a glass of water of all things. It was bad enough when we had to stop going to the arboretum because I couldn't stand the flowers. And how many times have you changed your aftershave?"

"This morning makes three times."

"And where are you? Right back to your original one. It's going from laughable to ludicrous. Besides, it's not fair that I've been feeling rotten for months over food and smells and everything else when Deanna hasn't been sick once!"

"What about that little episode at dinner last week?"

"I hardly got sick on purpose!" Beverly retorted defensively.

"No, but you made sure Deanna caught a little 'empathic backlash', didn't you?"

She rubbed her cheek against his chest as her face flamed again. "Thank you for pointing out my juvenile behavior. See, I'm not even a very good friend any more. If I'm not sick then I'm yelling, taking my bad mood out on everyone. Or worse, crying over the most trivial, idiotic things! Will may have been joking about banning me for the duration, but when I cry over losing one lousy poker hand..."

Jean-Luc's arms tightened around her. "Everybody understands, and nobody cares. We've all been putting up with your "temperament" for years. At least now there's a reasonable explanation for it!"

She swatted him lightly, but his teasing helped dispel the last of her dark mood. They lay together watching the last of the sunset, wrapped in each others' arms and the memories of their honeymoon spent on Setag IV. Those memories were the basis for this program which had become her refuge the last few weeks. Its peace and serenity soothed her in ways nothing else could.

Jean-Luc liked it, too, as much for the memories as for the fact that it narrowed down the places for her to hide.

tbc