It had become a normal part of his routine to walk into her room every morning over the weeks. Janeway didn't even yell at him anymore, she expected him to show up and pester her or comfort her. It really all depended on the day. When he stepped through the threshold of her room he gave a little smile seeing the pup Rowley prance over his way. Over the weeks the puppy had grown quite a bit and wasn't such a small bundle of fluff anymore. If Q hadn't gotten him to learn some basic manners like not jumping on people he could have slowly become a problem on the ship but thankfully the mutt was obedient. Pulling up on his pant legs Q got to his knees and patted Rowley on the head waiting for the pup to roll over onto his back and expose his belly so it could be rubbed. Q spoke to the pup in a higher pitched tone, almost baby talking to what he now considered his furry son. "How is Rowley doing today, oh so happy happy. Belly scritches, you love your tum tum rubbins yes you do. Good boy." Rowley wiggled side by side wagging his tail and panting until Janeway walked out from the bathroom holding her side. Rowley sprang up from where Q was crouching and ran back to his 'mother'. "Good morning my exotic space flower." He tried to be charming after seeing that sort of distant and uncomfortable look on her face. "Are you alright?"

She sat down on her bed, her shoulders slumped over and looking like she was going to curl up into a ball. "Alright? No, I haven't been getting much sleep. I have had a headache since last night that won't go away, the medication the doctor gave me hasn't helped with my nausea, and this morning I started having cramps. I'm also late again this morning. I can't keep making up excuses about my tardiness it's getting out of control." She did look like she needed to lay down and get some rest, in fact she felt like she needed to lay down and get some rest but as Captain there wasn't time for that.

"Have you told the doctor about this? That doesn't seem normal." He got up quickly feeling rather concerned for her. He knew she hadn't been feeling too good for a while now. Mostly it had only been her nausea but the doctor had given her something for that. Didn't seem to be working that well. So far as much as he knew from her few checkups she was fine. Sitting down next to her Q put an arm around her and rubbed her back lightly. "Maybe they can afford to have you tardy again so you can go and make sure everything's alright. Don't need to put on your brave face for me Kathy."

Slowly she sat up straight again and pulled her shirt down a little to straighten it out. "No that's alright, the pain has stopped now I think I'll be fine. I have had worse headaches than this and so long as I avoid the mess hall I shouldn't have any other problems." Getting up from the bed Q grabbed her arm still feeling concern. She couldn't brush everything off like this, for as long as he had been on this ship she did nothing but push herself to the limits. It was only a matter of time before she broke down.

"You should still go to the sick bay just to be safe."

"I'll go tonight how about that?" She leaned forward to kiss him but paused and stepped back. "On second thought I really shouldn't kiss you right now. I wasn't completely successful keeping my breakfast down."

That was thoughtful of her, not that he was germaphobic but some human bodily functions did disgust him naturally. After all he was above a lot of them, sleeping, eating, illness. She was only human, imperfect and yet somewhat perfect in his eyes. "Oh and don't forget I'm making a dinner for two tonight, just you and me, alone, candlelight, classical music playing in the background. No one to disturb us, I'll even draw you a bath afterwards, rub your shoulders..."

"Thoughtful but I'm going to try and get to bed early tonight, I could use the sleep. I won't say no to a nice bath though." Q smiled, at least she was going to let him do something nice for her. The dinner could always wait for another day when she felt better. She made her escape before he tried making her any more late to the bridge than she already was. At least she could be honest about having not slept well the night before but the reality of it was she would need to tell her crew soon about the current situation. As Q had once told her she couldn't hide it for long. A baby was normally something people would notice in time. Some were even starting to question. At least the doctor was helping her cover it up for the time being. Walking the hall to the turbo lift she held her head up high and looked back to Tuvok as he approached her.

"Captain, I would have thought you to be on the bridge already. It is unlike you to fall behind your usual scheduled." His voice was as one toned as always. His face fixed with that stern expression.

"I slept in again, I have been having a hard time sleeping lately, these headaches are driving me crazy." Grabbing at the bridge of her nose she could feel the pain still lingering in the front of her head where it had been swelling the night before. It came and went, sometimes getting to an unbearable pressure and then fading down into a numbness she could ignore. "Walk with me to the bridge?"

Tuvok nodded his head in agreement to accompany her as they made their way to the turbo lift. He had already done his daily meeting with the security crew. Everyone had their tasks delegated and there were no concerns to report. "Perhaps you should have the doctor look at you."

Janeway raised a hand to dismiss his suggestion. "No, he will just tell me the same thing he told me least time I went in. To get more rest. I'm just going to have to deal with this until it goes away." Once at the turbo lift Tuvok reached for the control to open the door. The pair stepping inside as Janeway gave the order. "The Bridge." With the doors closed she put her hands behind her back and waited for the short trip up.

"That may be so but it is better to get his medical opinion than continue on this way. You have not been operating at your optimal performance lately. I have concerns your judgment might be slipping because of these problems."

He was starting to sound just like Q now. Internally she was rolling her eyes, exhausted and sick of people always fussing over her. She knew what she could and couldn't handle and once she reached the point she would pull back and calm down. Letting out a heavy sigh a quiet voice caught her attention nearly making her jump. "This guy is dull don't you think?" Turning around Janeway searched for where the voice had come from, her eyes shifting about the turbo lift and then to Tuvok. Perhaps he head heard it as well. "I'm sorry did I frighten you? That wasn't my intention." The voice was clearly female and fairly young but she couldn't see where it might have come from.

"Did you hear that?"

Tuvok titled his head to the side. "Hear what?"

"A voice, a girls voice. Just now."

Her old friend raised a brow showing as much concern as was possible for a Vulcan. "I heard nothing."

"I don't think he can hear me." The young voice echoed inside her head again making Janeway turn to look behind her.

"There it was again you didn't hear it?" Janeway looked at him. Was she losing her mind? Tuvok remained quiet and yet he had heard nothing. Whatever Janeway was experiencing she was alone in it. At least until their eyes both shifted to what appeared as a flash of light. Standing there on the other side of the turbo lift was a small girl, no older than seven dressed in a red starfleet uniform. Her dark curls pulled back into a ponytail with a rather adorable smile. It seemed from the fix of his gaze that at least Tuvok could see the girl there as well. At least she wasn't losing her mind. "Tuvok?"

"I see her as well captain but I do not understand where she has come from."

Continuing to smile the girl looked over to Janeway making her smile a little bigger. "Hi." it was the same voice as before only it actually came from the child rather than inside her own head. The pain in her head increased making the captain press her fingers into her temple and lean forward. She felt sick, her ears were ringing, the lift felt like it was spinning.

"Captain?" Tuvok spoke as he grabbed her to hold her up but his voice seemed like a distant whisper. The turbo still felt like it was spinning wildly out of control and with another stabbing pain Janeway passed out, falling into her security officers arms.

The child at the side of the lift suddenly lost her smile and looked on with wide eyes. "Oops." Just as soon as she had come she had vanished without a trace.

Waking up in the sick bay Janeway felt her headache had gone away now though she still felt a little dizzy. As she tried to sit up Q grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back into the bed. "Easy Kathy, you're in sick bay. You passed out in the turbo lift. I told you we should have come here instead." Squinting her eyes through the bright light's she looked over to the other side where the doctor was standing and taking a few more readings.

He spoke with a a hint of annoyance in his voice. "If you would ever listen to me these sort of things wouldn't happen. You were lucky Mr. Tuvok was in the turbo lift with you." She shifted her gaze to see the security officer standing there. "Fortunately you seem to be alright now but I am curious as to what happened?"

Tuvok spoke up looking towards the doctor and speaking clearly. "The captain claimed to be hearing a voice of which I could not. I felt she might have been hallucinating until a small girl appeared on the turbo lift. She was accompanied by a flash of bright light. It was when the child appeared that the captain started to feel ill. Once the captain had passed out the girl vanished. I can not explain where she came from or where she went but I took readings of the lift and found no trace of an alien being having been there or anything else for that matter."

The doctor seemed puzzled. He turned to Kathryn wondering if she could enlighten him. "Did she say anything to you before she appeared?"

Carefully she sat back up and rubbed her forehead. "At first she told be Tuvok was dull, it was clear she could hear our conversation. I was startled at first and she apologized for frightening me. I asked Tuvok if he could hear the voice and as he said he hadn't. That was when the voice said he couldn't hear it. After that there was a little girl in the turbo lift. She said hi."

Tuvok nodded his head. "I do not think the alien being's intentions were hostile but I could not understand why it's appearing would affect Captain Janeway and not me, nor why I could not initially hear it's voice until it appeared in physical form." Everyone in the room seemed genuinely baffled by the event, mussing over the possibilities. That was all but one. Slowly all eyes shifted over to Q while he sat there clearly trying to keep something a secret. It wasn't until Janeway gave him the death glare that he opened his mouth.

"Well, I think I may know what happened and I can tell you it's nothing you need to worry about."

"If there is an intruder on my ship I need to worry about it." Janeway snapped back.

"I'm not an intruder." The child's voice rang out from the other side of the bed just behind the doctor. Just as before she was wearing the same starfleet uniform, her auburn hair tied back as she stood there with a warm little smile. "I hope you are okay now. I got so excited I couldn't control myself." The child's green eyes turned to Captain Janeway as she rose up on her toes, her voice holding a hint of excitement in it.

"I told you not to start using your powers, you don't know how to control them yet." Q snapped at the little girl. She let her smile fade away again and turned her toe into the floor scrapping it.

"But I was lonely and I really really really really really really really infinity wanted to meet her." The little girl made her eyes wider and looked at Q giving him that puppy face.

Her crossed his arms over his chest and let out a sigh knowing he had already lost the battle. After all he couldn't say no to a face like that. "Well you ruined the surprise." Q groaned back, the rest of the group was completely lost as to what was happening right now.

"Could either of you please explain to me who you are?" Janeway looked over at the girl who was now all smiles again.

"Kathy." Q spoke up glaring over at the child. "I would like you to meet our daughter." He crossed his arms over his chest again and stuck his nose up. "See i told you I could surprise you, you thought we would have a boy. Admit it you did."

The little girl wanted to run and hug the captain but Janeway got up from the bed and looked between Q and the little girl. "That's impossible she hasn't been born yet."

The doctor looked back at his scans. "According to this Captain you are still very much pregnant, hormone levels, fetal heartbeat, everything is reading normal."

Janeway looked back at the child again and rested her hand over her stomach feeling like her headache was going to come back. The child stepped forward ready to say something when Q cut her off. "Let me explain to them, I fear you don't have the capacity for that just yet." Rolling his eyes he took one of Janeway's hands in his. "Yes Kathy it is very possible. After all our child is only half human, she is also half Q. Ordinarily Q's exist above the physical, we live in a state of pure energy and can take a corporeal form to interact with species like humans. Unlike the rest of us this little, thing has a permanently fixed physical form, the one you are carrying now. She also does have a form of pure energy but very limited, a metaphysical form, the one you see standing there. She is able to project herself as pure though outside of her physical body it seems. One of the few things I didn't foresee about this sort of hybrid. You really can't comprehend with your smaller limited minds but I can try to explain it."

The little girl jumped forward and rocked back on her heels. "I can come out and play when I am sleeping."

"She's limited as I said, when she reaches a deep enough sleep she can project her thoughts, her mind, into what you see before you. A little like how the doctors holographic body works. At first it seemed she was developing like a normal human baby but a few days ago she became self aware. Her mental ability rapidly developed almost overnight and she was able to start...talking to me. I told her she couldn't project herself because she doesn't know how to use her powers properly yet. Besides I can't say what it might do to her frail little body. There has never been a hybrid like her before. For all I know it could disturb fetal development or worse, leave you brain dead." Q let out a sign, she got it from her mother. They were both stubborn, neither of them ever listened to him but what did he know he was only an omnipotent being.

Even Captain Janeway looked a little concerned now as she looked back at the girl. "But it's okay now, I know how to control it, I'm not going to hurt myself and I wanted to say hi. I can't project my thoughts directly on someones mind outside of yours, it hurts them just like it hurt her. I'm still sorry about that I didn't want to hurt you I just wanted to meet you so bad. Daddy told me all about you and I was so excited. I couldn't wait. Besides daddy the doctor man said I'm okay." The girl looked back at Janeway and smiled again twisting her toe into the floor. She was a little shy, possibly because she hadn't expected to actually make this work. "What do I call you anyways?"

"What?" Janeway turned her head trying to wrap her mind around this, all of it. When she had realized she was pregnant she had told herself she had nine months to figure everything out. That was plenty of time to figure out how to be a good parent and a good captain. Her time had been cut short, in fact her time seemed to be up.

"Do I call you Captain Janeway like everyone else or Kathy like daddy?" Despite seeming to have a rather extraordinary ability it didn't seem the child, her daughter had a full understanding of the 'outside' world."

"You can..." Captain Janeway paused for a moment. She hadn't thought this was a conversation that would ever have come up in her life. Talking to her unborn child, giving herself a title to be called by. "call me mother I guess." The word just rolled out of her mouth feeling strange at first.

"Mother? Okay, mother." It was scary hearing the girl say that word at first but by the second time she found herself smile. A warm sensation filling her chest to see the wide eyes little girl call her mother for the first time. That look of complete innocence on her face. Now that she wasn't about to have a panic attack she could see the resemblance in the little girl. They certainly looked alike in many ways. As Q had said the child had her smile, her eyes, her chin. There was no mistaking the little girl standing there was most certainly hers, more or less. The little girl looked down at the floor again and put her hands behind her back much the same way Janeway did when she was walking the halls of her ship. "Can I um, can I give you a hug?"

"I don't see why not." No sooner had the words left her mouth she felt the little girls arms around her waist, face pressed against her side. It took her a moment to relax and rest a hand on the girls back, a warm smile crossing Janeway's face before Q broke up the little moment.

"Well now you met her, it's time for you to go back. You shouldn't exhaust yourself until you have some better control of these abilities you are acquiring."

The girl didn't let go of Janeway, instead just looked up at Q with those sad puppy eyes again. "Aww but daddy..."

"Don't but daddy me, go on." The child slumped her shoulders looking like a kid who was just told to go to their room. With a flash of light the girl was gone again. Q nodding his head in satisfaction.

Tuvok had remained quiet during this event though he now knew about the secret Q and Janeway had been keeping and with this latest development Janeway knew the secret wasn't going to be so easy to keep. Turning to the security officer Janeway put her hands on her hips. "Well, I suppose it's time I tell the crew. Tuvok, tell the senior officers I have a bit of an announcement to make."