When Kathryn and Chakotay returned to the cabin, both in need of the sonic shower to remove the varying amounts of cheesecake that by then was smeared on both of them, they were still fairly well entwined in one another's arms and smiling. But the moment they saw Kavver, their faces fell as each was overwhelmed with guilt at being so happy when he'd just received what amounted to a death sentence.

Kavver looked up and smiled when they came in. All three babies were sleeping in the three storage containers that had been converted to cradles.

"Ah, you two look happy," he said calmly, not even reacting to the mess on them. They glanced at each other, then back at him, uncertainly. He smiled even broader. "Please, friends, do not trouble yourselves on my account. I would rather spend my last days seeing you in joy. If you might indulge me, though, can you tell me what has caused this extreme burst of happiness?"

They looked at one another, then Kathryn said, "We just-well, we're getting married!" She tried to sound happy again, since he claimed that was what he wanted, but it was quite difficult.

He looked surprised. "Really? I had assumed you were already bound to one another."

Chakotay smiled, a little more genuinely than Kathryn had, though he was clearly still troubled too. "In our culture, people often form relationships for a short time. Marriage is our way of turning that into a long-term commitment. We've actually only been-uh, 'mates,' as you put it before-for a few months. For our culture it's not unusual to be together that long or longer without marrying, and some people never do." He turned his gaze to Kathryn as he continued talking. "But we decided to have a sort of commitment ceremony as a way of affirming to ourselves and each other that our love is stronger than just the mating of two people who happen to be the only two of their species on the planet. That we're not simply trying to perpetuate a species, but to fulfill one another, to complete one another."

Now Kathryn's smile was genuine as she beamed up at him. "That was beautifully said." After gazing at one another for a moment, she tore her eyes away to approach Kavver, holding her hand out to show him the ring. "See? In our culture it's customary to give a ring as a symbol of agreement that marriage will take place. So Chakotay gave me this one." She glanced at, twitched her mouth in a sheepish sort of way, and added, "He gave it to me inside a dessert. It'll look better once I've cleaned it."

"Well," Kavver replied, clearly amused at this rather eccentric method of betrothal, "I'm eager to hear more about these marriage rituals of your world, but for now I should probably let you two get cleaned up." With a bemused expression he added, "It looks like you both were completely inside this cheesecake". I'll get out of your way."

""Oh!" Chakotay replied. "Yes, the addition is ready and there's a bed of sorts made up for you. It's not great, but you'll have privacy. Do you want us to keep the babies over here? I mean, with you, um . . . ."

"Dying," Kavver supplied. "Probably within the week. But no, despite the prognosis, I currently feel just fine, and would actually prefer to spend as much time as I have left tending to the needs of my niece and nephews."

"Well," Chakotay said, "Let me just help you carry them over to the addition, since I haven't cut the door in between yet."

"Oh no," Kavver said quickly. "I have absolutely no desire to be washing dessert off these babies and cradles. I can walk around the building a few times. You two head for the shower."

Kathryn's eyebrows arched and she blushed, which made Chakotay's grin spread even wider. He spoke for the both of them with a slightly too eager, "Yes sir!" before pulling Kathryn away with him.

"Chakotay?"

Chakotay started at Kavver's voice from behind. "Oh! I didn't hear you come in!"

"I apologize. I just wanted to talk to you about something alone."

"Certainly." He set down the tricorder he was using for measuring the space, and the pencil he was using to mark where he would cut through the wall, and turned to face Kavver. "I suppose this doorway can wait for another few minutes."

"Marrying Kathryn is very important to you, isn't it?"

"Yes, very. I told you we've only been together-romantically, that is-for a few months, but I've loved her so much longer than that. Marrying her was already something I wanted to do, but now that I know . . . well, it's a long story, but after talking to her last night, yes, it's more important to me than ever. More exciting to me than ever." He smiled distantly for a moment, then drew his thoughts back to the present and cocked his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I have something I wish to offer, which I hope you'll accept."

"What is it?"

"Kavver looked around the addition they were standing in. "This room. I hope you won't delay your marriage for my sake, and I hope you'll accept this room. I won't be needing it much longer, and can easily spend my final days in the smaller room so you two can share a bed-I'm assuming your species shares a bed?" Chakotay nodded. "You can share a bed in here. Since the other room is the wrong shape to even push the beds together in."

"Kavver, that is very kind. But please plan to remain here in the addition for now. We're not quite ready to marry yet."

"What is preventing you?"

"First, we have to decide how to do the ceremony. I hope we can manage that within a couple days, hopefully even to do it while you're stil-l-still with us. Another is that it's very important we learn as much about your people as we can. Once you're gone, we'll have only the knowledge you've given us to guide us in raising the babies."

He paused. Kavver nodded acknowledgement of those aspects, and after another moment's thought, Chakotay continued. "But the other thing is, the wedding night is kind of a big deal in our culture. I want to do something really special for her. And you've just given me an idea. What do you think of . . . ."

"I, Kathryn Janeway, pledge to take you, Chakotay, to be my husband. I pledge to honor you, respect you, love you, and put your needs first. And," she added with a sly grin, "I pledge to treat you as my equal, my partner in everything, and not my subordinate."

Chakotay chuckled slightly at the little addition she'd put on the end. Kavver, seated to tend the babies while facing the very happy couple, smiled too, though suspecting that there was more to that jest than he fully understood. Still, there was something so pleasing about seeing these two so determined to pledge their love even if, soon, no one else in the universe would know they had done it. Well, the babies would grow up knowing it but they certainly wouldn't remember it. And standing there looking so in love under a flower-laden arch of branches Kathryn had prepared for the day, in front of a wooden bench Chakotay had made by hand and then carved intricate designs into with a phaser. It was all absolutely beautiful and endearing.

"I, Chakotay, pledge to take you, Kathryn Janeway, as my wife. I pledge to honor you, respect you, love you, and put your needs first. And," he added with that smirk that melted Kathryn's defenses every time-and she had no defenses right now-"I pledge to always offer you my hand, even when you can do it yourself."

Kathryn released one of her less-than-ladylike bursts of laughter that Chakotay clearly found absolutely endearing. Kavver smiled again. Even for an inside joke, this laughter seemed perhaps more than was necessary, but he was quite certain it stemmed more from their overwelling emotions on this very happy day, than from actual amusement at their little jests.

The couple managed to sober to recite their personal vows, written in secret for the other to hear only on the wedding day. Kavver watched closely for their reactions, already knowing what they were going to say. They had both run their vows past him, apparently more out of excitement than any actual desire for input.

"Tay, I will always love you. I know things may become difficult at times. We certainly both know we've had our share of difficulties already. But I have lived and will always love you through them. It feels like a lifetime ago that you voluntarily destroyed your ship and became my first officer. I feel like I've known you and loved you for my whole life. So for the rest of our lives, for the rest of our life together, I promise to always weather every difficulty with you, and revel in every joy that much more."

Chakotay blinked away tears, and swallowed a few times before he could speak to share his own personal vows. "Katie-kat, you are my precious little imp, my wokchaw. I wouldn't have you any other way. Every day I have known you, I have loved you a little more. It's hard to imagine ever loving you more than I do right now, but I hope, in 50 years, to be standing beside you saying that when I look back at this day I see love that was still in its early stages and will have, by then, blossomed to heights I can't even yet imagine. I promise to include you in every sorrow, every joy, every hope, and every dream for the rest of our lives."

They gazed at one another for a moment, both smiling widely and fighting tears, before Kathryn finally said in a husky whisper, "Rings."

"Right," Chakotay replied, barely louder than she had been. Kathryn pulled a ring off the stem of one of the flowers she held in a small bouquet, then turned to place the bouquet on an intricately-carved bench Chakotay had surprised her with that morning, which sat beneath the arch. Chakotay produced the other ring from his shirt pocket.

Kathryn held up the one in her hand first. It was broad, with a flat outer surface rather than a rounded one. On that surface were very faint engravings. "On your ring are symbols of your people which-assuming the computer told me correctly-mean, 'One life, one heart, one love.'" She slid it onto his left ring finger while saying the only words they'd chosen to keep exactly as they'd known them to be traditionally. "With this ring I thee wed."

Chakotay held his ring up. "I designed your ring at the same time as your engagement ring. They fit together, just like we fit together so perfectly. Together the etchings match up to form traditional Celtic knot designs, in honor of your Irish heritage." He slid the ring on her left ring finger while speaking his own, "With this ring I thee wed."

And, as they'd agreed, they said together, "We now pronounce us husband and wife."

He bent to her as she raised on tip-toe, and they shared their first kiss as a married couple.

When they pulled back, they turned to Kavver and the babies and stood side-by-side, hands clasped together. Kathryn spoke first. "Kavver, babies, I would like to present my husband, Mr. Chakotay Janeway."

Chakotay followed those words with, "I would like to present my wife, Mrs. Kathryn Chakotay-Janeway."

Kavver assured them that this simple and sparsely-populated ceremony was more beautiful than any bonding ceremony of his own people that he had ever witnessed.

That evening, after Chakotay helped Kavver put the three babies to bed (and, for some mysterious reason, refused to let Kathryn help) and Kavver also retired, Kathryn and Chakotay sat on their bench outside, watching the stars. The next day would be filled with more lessons from Kavver about everything he knew to tell them regarding growth and development of his species, and general information about their anatomy. It struck Kathryn that Kavver hadn't looked very sick. In fact, he almost seemed healthier than a week ago when they'd discovered his detached transnublier. But she had just done another check up on him the day before, and the transnublier was definitely still detached.

As they sat, Kathryn leaned back against Chakotay's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. She placed her left hand over his, laced their fingers together, and lifted both their hands to see their rings side-by-side.

"Admiring our work?" Chakotay asked softly.

"Admiring our life," she replied. She let their hands drop and snuggled back, content to let his warmth surround her.

After a few moments thinking over all their time there, she asked, "What do you think the others are doing?"

"Kavver and the babies? Probably sleeping right now. How old did Kavver say the babies in their culture usually are before they're named?"

"One month. Whatever a month is on their planet. But no, I meant our friends on Voyager. I wonder how far away they are, if they've maybe even made it home by now. If B'lanna is still thriving as chief engineer under Tuvok. How much Harry has grown up. How big Ensign Wildman's baby is now. If Kes has explored her telepathic abilities anymore." She sighed as she snuggled in closer. "I just really miss them. I wish they could have shared this day with us. Or that we at least had some way to get a message to them, tell them that we miss them but how happy we are together."

Chakotay kissed her hair and rubbed a thumb across the back of her hand. "I know, beloved. I miss them too."

She turned to face him slightly. "Some good has certainly come of this disease stranding us here. If we were still on Voyager we probably wouldn't be married, or even be pursuing any sort of relationship. I doubt that I would have ever allowed it to happen."

Chakotay laughed. "Hey, I don't know. I hope I would have worn you down eventually."

She laughed a little, but then it turned into another sigh. "I really do miss it. Space. The exploration. There's only so much exploration we can do here."

"I disagree. We've only explored a very small part of this planet, Kathryn. There's a whole lot more planet out there that we haven't even seen yet."

She sighed. "I guess that's what's bothering me. However much I might seem like I've adjusted to this lifestyle, I still feel trapped sometimes." She felt him stiffen a little. "Not by you!" she quickly assured him. "I'm so happy to be with you! Just . . . by the land. Not being able to be up in the stars. From up there you can survey a whole planet from orbit, and very quickly. Down here it's this one tiny bit of a planet. We can't even know if anything is happening on the other side. From what Kavver has said, I think their ship crashed near us because they were specifically looking for signs of life, someone who could help them. But a ship not looking for people, or not in as much control, could land on the other side of the planet, a whole other culture could rise up over there, and we might not even know it was happening."

"True," he said, "but on the other hand, surveying this planet from orbit wouldn't have shown us your little monkey friend that likes to come around."

"Strictly speaking, I don't think Neelix is technically a monkey. But something similar."

"You named him Neelix?" Chakotay laughed. "When did you do that?"

Kathryn looked embarrassed. "Uh . . . oh, I don't know, it just slipped in there somewhere along the way. It seemed to fit him."

He chuckled again. "Well, anyway, you never would have interacted with him by doing an orbital survey. You never would have found that one little island. You can't swim in the river of a planet you're surveying from a starship. Picnics on the holodeck aren't quite as romantic as picnics in real life."

"But they do have fewer bugs!"

He smiled. "My point is, even if you and I had overcome our qualms and formed a real relationship on Voyager, it would have been with a very different life than we have here. And I don't mean it would be better or worse. I just . . . I don't want to sacrifice my appreciation of what we have thinking of what might have been."

"Oh, me either," she agreed, turning slightly so she could look up into his face. Her brow was furrowed into her very serious face. "Chakotay, I don't regret it at all. I sometimes feel like I should, after being so focused on getting back to Earth for so long. After so many years devoted to developing my career in Starfleet. But I don't. Not at all. I was being serious when I said I probably never would have allowed a true romantic relationship to develop between us on Voyager. It wouldn't have been appropriate, no matter how much I wanted to, and you know how stubborn I am. If we weren't here, we wouldn't be married right now." She snorted. "Or the unsuspecting sudden parents of three alien babies." Her face was clearly amused but adopted serious facade. "I've always wanted babies, but it never seems to happen the way I expected. First I ended up with alien babies with Tom Paris, then alien babies I'm going to be the adopted mother of." She smiled at her husband. "Good thing they're so adorable, or I might feel put out."

He smiled back, recognizing the jest in her voice. She never felt put out helping anyone. In fact, she rather thrived on it. It was one of the many things he loved about her. And he was eager to raise the babies together. But he had another thought on the subject. "Kathryn, when they're older . . . do you want one of our own?"

She grinned. "One, two, three. Our time isn't taken up by meetings and first contact situations-provided people stop crash landing in our new home! We can have as many as we want."

He smiled, then slid out from behind her. "Hey!" she said. "Where are you going?"

He took her hand, drew her to her feet, and whispered, "Mrs. Chakotay-Janeway, if we're going to make that many babies, I do believe we should practice."

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh really, Mr. Janeway? Is that what you think?"

He swiftly bent and scooped her up into his arms, emitting a small shriek of surprise from her. "I do," he assured her, "and as three infants might keep us from getting much practice for our first year of marriage or more, I do believe we ought to get some practice in right now!"

And he carried her away to the doorway of the addition.

"Chakotay! What areyou doing? Don't go in that way, we'll wake Kavver or the babies!"

He smiled. "No, beloved. They're sleeping in our old room. Kavver has given this to us for our new room, and there's a surprise in there for you."

"A surprise? What is it?" She asked, while silently marveling at his strength as he continued carrying her without faltering.

"You'll see."

They approached the door and she reached her hand out to open it, since his were occupied by holding her. She gasped when she saw what was inside. A beautiful queen-size wooden bed, with a new headboard for both of them. "So that's what you've been working on in secret all week. And I thought it was just the bench."

He kicked the door shut behind him and laid her on the bed. "All for you, my beloved. Always for you."