EPILOGUE

December 25, 2380

"Maya, look at the camera," Kathryn encouraged as she and Chakotay struggled with their squirmy little girl.

Chakotay held Maya up and shook a little rattle in front of her. She giggled in delight and tried to grab the toy from her daddy. "You're not going to get her to look at the camera, Kathryn. We should just send the message."

"All right," she sighed. "Computer, record subspace transmission."

"Recording," the computer replied.

"Hello and Merry Christmas to all of you!" Kathryn said. "Chakotay and I wanted to send a special holiday message to our crew, since we were unable to attend the Voyager reunion this year."

"As you can see," Chakotay said, bouncing the little girl in his arms, "we've been a little busy."

Kathryn wrapped an arm around her husband and touched the ten-month old baby's belly. "This is our daughter, Maya. We would have liked to introduce her to you in person, but the adoption was only finalized last week, and we're still getting settled with her here on Deep Space Three."

"Fortunately," said Chakotay, "Maya is doing great, and she's adjusting well to her new family and her new home. She's probably taking it more in stride than her parents are."

"We are so grateful for her, and we wanted to share our gratitude and love with the rest of our Voyager family," said Kathryn. "We can never thank you all enough for all your support and friendship over the past year, and you know, even though we're far away, you can always call on us if you need anything. And," she added conspiratorially, "we do have some pull here on Deep Space Three and can arrange excellent guest quarters for anyone who wants to come and visit."

"We hope that next year brings us all together again," Chakotay said. "And until then, we look forward to sharing many subspace communications with all of you."

They looked at each other and smiled, then looked back to the computer terminal. Maya let out a loud squeal, and they both laughed. "Merry Christmas!" they said together, and ended the message.

"Do you think that was all right?" Kathryn asked, looking up at her husband.

"I think it was perfect. Our crew will love it."

"They'll probably laugh at us."

"They'll think it's wonderful." He leaned over and kissed her. "I think you're wonderful."

"You're a sentimental old fool," she teased.

"Probably. Do you want to take her for a minute?" He handed Maya over to her mother.

"Sure." Kathryn took their daughter in her arms and walked over to the Christmas tree they had set up in their quarters. She started pointing out the different ornaments to the little girl, who was mesmerized by the brightly colored lights and shiny decorations.

Chakotay watched them as he walked over to the kitchen counter to finish preparing their Christmas breakfast. The past year had brought huge changes for both of them. After they had spent the previous Christmas together, it had not taken them long to decide that they wanted to be married. Kathryn's dissatisfaction with her job had led her to seek other opportunities within the admiralty, but they had struggled to find a post where they would be able to stay together.

A few months later, Admiral Holt had called Chakotay into his office, knowing of his recent marriage to Admiral Janeway and having heard of her desire for a new post. "It's well past time for me to retire, my boy," he'd said in his typically gruff manner. "I don't suppose that admiral of yours would like to command a space station." Kathryn had accepted the position immediately.

They had discussed the idea of children in depth, and had decided, without too much debate, that there were so many needy children in the galaxy that it made more sense for them to adopt than to try to have a biological child of their own. They had met Maya in an orphanage on Dorvan Five and had immediately fallen in love with her. It had taken time for the adoption to be finalized, and while they had hoped to bring her home weeks earlier, they hadn't been able to bring her back to Deep Space 3 until the day before the Voyager anniversary party. So, this year, they had decided to have a quiet Christmas at home, just the three of them. Chakotay pulled the muffins out of the oven and set them on the counter to cool, then went over to join Kathryn and Maya by the tree.

Kathryn nuzzled her daughter's head and watched her tiny hand reach for a glowing tree ornament. "Just look," she said softly. "Don't touch." She felt Chakotay's arms encircle them both, and she looked up at him, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Breakfast is ready," he said.

She nodded. "We have everything we need right here, don't we Maya?"

Chakotay chuckled and kissed each of them on the forehead. "My girls," he said.

"My family," Kathryn replied, snuggling into his embrace.

"Our family," he amended.

"Yes." She looked up at him. "Last year on Christmas, do you remember I told you something was missing?"

"I remember."

"For the first time in a long time, I don't feel like anything is missing."

He smiled. "You found the Christmas you were looking for."

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. "I found you. I found home."

He wrapped his arms around her, and they stood, their daughter nestled between them, looking at their Christmas tree. It had been a long journey, longer than the journey of the Wise Men in the original Christmas legend, but standing there on that Christmas Day, they knew in their hearts the peace and love that were the true meaning of Christmas.