DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek. That's all Paramount. I'm just borrowing the characters, and I promise to return them by midnight, fed, clean, and unharmed. Mostly.


Q's son appeared in Engineering, sitting atop a console beside the one B'Elanna was working with. She jumped, then growled angrily.

"Now is not the time, Q!"

The young Q leaned forward, a gloating look on his face.

"Not even if I know where the captain is?"

B'Elanna eyed him warily.

"No tricks," she warned him.

He leaned back again, a solemn expression on his face.

"Nope. Thanks to her, I'm a reformed Q! The least I can do for Aunt Kathy is get her home!"

His father popped into the room, his arms crossed angrily.

"Especially if it's your fault she's out there on Picard's ship," he bellowed.

B'Elanna glared at them both and tapped her comm-badge.

"Torres to Chakotay," she hailed.

The elder Q rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Suddenly the three were standing in Janeway's ready room, Chakotay seated behind her desk. The commander looked stunned, stood up quickly and wheeled to face them. Recognition dawned on his face, followed quickly by thinly veiled anger.

"I don't have time for games, Q."

The elder Q rolled his eyes again.

"Neither does Kathy." He nudged his son's shoulder. "Tell him."

Chakotay glared at his captain's God-son.

"Tell me what?"

The younger Q sighed.

"I may have had something to do with Aunt Kathy's disappearance, and I may have..." he trailed off, obviously uncomfortable.

Q sighed, finished his son's sentence for him.

"His antics put her on Picard's ship, in the Alpha Quadrant. They also caused a distortion field that allowed the Enterprise to be boarded by an alien that cannot survive unless it impregnates a female host with itself, and that host carries it to full term." His eyes bored a hole in the back of his son's sheepish head. "Our dear Kathy is pregnant."


Kathryn ran a hand over her abdomen.

"I can't kill innocent life," she told Dr. Crusher for the umpteenth time. "No matter how it happened... I just can't."

Beverly nodded. She knew Kathryn was speaking more to herself than anyone else.

The doors to Sick-Bay opened and the counselor strode in.

"Captain Janeway?" she called lightly.

Kathryn turned round, slowly.

The dark haired woman stood beside her now, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Yes," Kathryn replied. "You must be Counselor Troi."

Deanna nodded.

"I am. In case you're wondering, I'm half Beta-zoid. I can sense what others are thinking and feeling."

Kathryn nodded.

"You're concerned for the baby, aren't you?" Deanna asked carefully.

Kathryn absentmindedly stroked her abdomen.

"I am," she murmured.

Dr. Crusher laid a hand on Kathryn's shoulder, silently reminding her of their recent discovery.

The two red-head's eyes met, and Kathryn steeled herself before looking back at Deanna.

"It's twins, actually," she informed the counselor, who merely nodded.

"You feel that carrying them, parenting them, will significantly hinder your ability to lead Voyager."

Kathryn nodded once.

Dr. Crusher retreated to her office, leaving the two women alone.

Deanna pulled a chair over and sat in it.

"Do you have other children on your ship?"

Kathryn cleared her throat.

"Yes. A little girl named Naomi Wildman. She's the daughter of one of our Ensigns, and our chief engineer has another girl on the way."

"And you feel that this will be different, because as the captain your focus must be on your crew. These children will force you to divide your attention."

Kathryn swallowed tears, threw her hands up.

"I can't be a mother to two infants and be the captain of a starship!" She covered her face with both hands, laid back on the bio-bed.

Deanna stood, came to Kathryn's side.

"It doesn't feel fair to you, am I right?"

Kathryn lowered her hands, raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"You don't feel that you should keep having to choose between who you want to be and who others need you to be."

Janeway sighed.

"That's right," she whispered, then licked her lips.

"Why do you have to choose? Why can't you have both?"

Kathryn sat up.

"We went over this already, I'm-"

"The captain of a starship. I know. But even captains have personal lives," Deanna pointed out. "You can be a woman, too." She rested a hand over the trembling one beside her. "It's alright to be happy, to have a life outside of Voyager and the Delta Quadrant."

Kathryn shook her head.

"You feel responsible for them," Deanna mused.

Kathryn snorted sarcastically, pursed her lips.

"Voyager will be traveling home for a long time, Captain. You may not get another chance at motherhood," Deanna observed. "This is your opportunity to be happy in life. You should take it."


Two Months Later...

When it became clear that Kathryn was going to be aboard the Enterprise for some time, Captain Picard arranged for her to stay in guest quarters, supplying her with everything she would need to properly care for herself and her unborn children.

Kathryn sat in a chair in her temporary quarters, reading a book. Her back ached, and she reached behind herself to adjust the pillow she had stuck there. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the armchair, took a deep of breath of salty sea air.

Her eyes snapped open. She was sitting on the edge of a cliff, an ocean roaring below her. She threw herself backwards, rolled over and noticed how much larger her belly was suddenly. She wondered if she was experiencing one of those accelerated pregnancies, as she had rapidly progressed onto what would normally be approximately the fourth month. She scrambled in the dirt, trying to get away from the edge, found herself pulled upright by -

"Q!" Kathryn's eyes flashed dangerously. She straightened her now too-tight tunic, and stepped away. She would always think of this one as 'Picard's Q'. His son was standing not far behind him, looking very sheepish.

"I should have known," she growled over the waves.

"Junior has something to say, Kathy."

The younger Q stepped forward, could hardly meet her fiery gaze.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Kathy," he mumbled.

Janeway stiffened, shock rolling over her.

"You did this?"

Picard's Q looked down at her.

"Yes, and he's gotten us both into a lot of trouble over it. I told the Continuum that we were a package deal, and they told me they'd had enough! Return to sender!"

He rounded on his son again, pointing back at Kathryn.

"Now you explain to your Aunt Kathy why we ended up on this dreadful planet, and why we haven't managed to get her back to Voyager yet!"

Q's son looked up at his God-mother.

"I may have-"

"You 'may have'?" she interrupted.

"I ... well...the wave that hit Voyager? It cloaked Voyager in a shield of sorts. It's sort of...hidden from the Continuum."

Kathryn set her jaw.

"I see," she replied simply.

"And?" Q prompted his son impatiently.

"And I..."

Q poked him roughly.

"Go on!"

"I didn't damage the ship or anything, and the crew is all fine, but..."

Picard's Q cut him off, turning to Kathryn.

"B'Elanna's not pregnant anymore."

Kathryn felt like she was going to be sick.

"You mean to tell me that she's walking around Voyager mourning the loss of her daughter?" She roared.

"No!" Q's son replied, panicking. " she doesn't even remember-"

Kathryn's exasperated cry shut him up.

"Q!" They all turned. Q's ex-partner stood a ways behind them, her hand on her hip.

"Q?" Picard's omnipotent being called, his jaw dropping. "What are you doing here?"

The female Q sauntered over, her features warped into a malevolent mask as she looked Kathryn up and down.

"The Continuum sent me," she snapped to her ex-partner, ripping her eyes from Kathryn's form and glaring at him. "This has gone too far." She snapped her fingers and they were standing in the hall outside of Voyager's mess hall.

Kathryn breathed a sigh of relief. She. Braced a hand against the bulkhead and collected herself, before turning to the female Q.

"Thank you," she managed, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

"Don't thank her yet," Picard's Q shot back, darkly. "She isn't done."

Kathryn narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I hope she plans on fixing B'Elanna," Kathryn replied. Three pairs of omnipotent eyes looked over at her. She found an expression of pure disgust and impatience in Mrs. Q's, sympathetic turmoil in the eyes of Picard's Q, and sheepish, ashamed guilt in Q Jr.'s.

"Not quite," the youngest Q informed her cryptically.