Two months later…
B'Elanna woke with a start when she felt her bed shaking.
Realizing what was happening, she ran to Miral's room, scoped her out of her crib, and made her way out of the house.
She had experienced an earthquake once before, and it terrified her enough to take a course on earthquake safety. And the first thing she was taught was to get into an open area.
She reached the front door, opened it, and walked out onto the front lawn. Miral had started crying, so she gently started bouncing her to calm her down.
*
Tom was running down the flights of stairs that lead to the main entrance of the apartment complex. Harry was doing his best to keep up with him, but was lagging behind.
Jeez, it's as if he got super speed or something, he thought to himself as Tom started to disappear.
"Tom, wait up!"
He paid no attention to Harry, he was worried about Miral and B'Elanna -he had to make sure they were safe.
*
Once outside, he saw B'Elanna sitting on the curb, patting Miral's back. He slowed down and walked over to them. "Are you two alright?"
"Yeah, a bit shaken, but we'll live."
Harry came out a minute later; he was panting heavily, and flopped to the ground when he reached his friends. "You ok there, Starfleet? You look like you just ran the triathlon."
"I-I f-feel like I d-did," Harry panted. He let his head drop and tried to catch his breath.
Once he did, he noticed that the ground wasn't shaking anymore, but he still lay on the grass to exhausted to get up. He took in several deep breaths, letting the night air fill every crevice of his lungs. "Out of curiosity, what time is it?"
"Who knows? It's probably past midnight." B'Elanna looked over her shoulder at Miral who was now fast asleep. "I should probably put Miral back to bed. Goodnight Harry, Tom."
"Goodnight," they both replied in unison.
"So, are you just going to lie there, or are you coming back inside?" Tom stared down at Harry while he waited for his reply.
"Give me another minute; I'll meet you there."
*
The next morning B'Elanna woke up just as tired as she was when she went back to sleep. When she heard Miral calling her, she groggily got out of bed.
After feeding Miral, she went about cleaning up the kitchen. She was expecting Chakotay in a couple of hours, and she needed something to keep herself busy until he arrived.
Right when he said he would be there, Chakotay rang the door chime trying hard to keep the box he was carrying in his grasp. B'Elanna opened the door and threw her arms around his neck without saying a word. She hadn't seen him in what seemed like ages, and it felt nice to have his company again.
"I missed you too, B'Elanna." He took his free hand and patted her back.
"Oh, sorry. Ah, why don't we go inside and talk over coffee."
"Good idea."
He followed her inside the house, and she motioned him to sit down on the couch. He placed the box on the coffee table, and waited for her to return.
"Here you go." She handed him a cup, which he took gratefully. "How is Seven doing?"
"Fine, but she's a bit nervous about becoming a mother."
Seven was expecting their first child in five more months, and with each passing day, growing more worried about how capable she was of being a parent.
"She will adapt." B'Elanna chuckled a bit at the irony; that phrase was something she heard Seven say plenty of times, and now here she was saying it.
"I'll tell her you said that." He chuckled as well, then he remembered the box. "By the way this is for the baby." He handed her the box, she took it out of his hands and placed it on her lap.
"Ahhh, you shouldn't have."
"Well, are you going to open it?"
"Right." She pulled the top off the box, and pushed back the tissue. Inside the box was a dream catcher, just like the one he had given Miral when she was born. "Chakotay, it's beautiful. Thank you."
"Look further down, there's something from Seven also." He saw her face light up with excitement as she delved further into the box. She pushed back more tissue to reveal a yellow onesie.
"Tell Seven I said thank you when you get back."
"I will, I better get going, it's a long flight back to Arizona." They both got up from the couch and walked over to the door.
"See ya later, Chakotay."
"Same here, and take care of yourself."
"I will, have a safe flight.
"Thanks."
They shared one last hug before he walked out the door. She waved to him right before he entered his shuttle and flew off.
