Chapter 10 – 40 weeks

A/N: this one in particular is for the lovely BonesBird who helped me weave a whole mess of ideas into an actual chapter. Thank you! 3 Amelia

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"Hi."

"Hey there."

"Everything all settled at the debrief?" she asked slowly easing herself onto the couch. She could feel his gaze on her, lingering as he watched her rest her hands on her belly. She wondered if he saw what she did every morning; the lines around her eyes, the dark circles, the fullness to her face, her swollen ankles, her sore back. She was huge and ungainly, her walk having taken on a waddle a few weeks ago. She saw all of this when she caught sight of herself in a mirror. But she had a feeling it wasn't what Jon saw.

"Oh yeah, it went fine," he said, sitting down next to her. She leaned her head against his shoulders.

"So you're done?" she asked quietly.

"For the next three months."

She grinned. "Now you are all mine."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." He turned to her and pretended to be serious. "So, Erika," he began.

"Yes?" she raised an eyebrow.

"How have things been? Seen any good movies?"

She laughed as he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. It had become a joke of theirs long ago that he would always ask when he got home if she had gone to see any movies without him. She had almost forgotten about it this time, with the all day debriefings for Jon and the baby preparations for her, and the over all excitement of having him home for the first time in so long. She couldn't really remember how it started, but then again, she had what Trip had generously referred to as "pregnancy brain." Her memory and her ability to quickly analyze a situation seemed to have gone out the window when the third trimester started. Jon thought it was hilarious. He loved to play a game where he would try to guess the word she was searching for. It always ended with her in a fit of giggles and Jon reminding her not to have the baby until he got home.

But now he was here. He was home. She didn't have to worry about him missing anything. She was ready. She dropped her gaze to her swollen stomach and sighed. Well, she thought, one of us is ready.

She'd been having false contractions the night before and had just managed to fall back asleep when Jon woke up suddenly. He had had a brilliant idea about the baby's middle name. At two in the morning, her husband, decorated Starfleet captain and renowned diplomat, had decided that their daughter's middle name should be Columbia. Erika had just stared at him, stunned that he would think it was a good idea to name a person after a starship, stunned that he felt the need to wake her at that ungodly hour and stunned that the next words out of his mouth were, "and the next kid'll be Enterprise!"

She had only raised an eyebrow and simply said, "Good night, Jon," before turning over and going back to bed. Jon hadn't brought up baby girl Columbia Archer again.

Now she looked at him as his hands lovingly caressed her belly, feeling their restless unborn daughter's movements. Finally he looked up at her.

"You never answered my question," he said.

"About the movies?" she sighed.

"Yes about the movies," he feigned exasperation.

"No, I didn't go see anything. To tell you the truth, we've all been holding our breath, wondering if the war was going to touch Earth again. And now that things have settled down, there's been a whole flurry of weddings and babies."

"I can see that!" he laughed as the baby gave her father a strong kick. "I was so sure you would have popped by now."

"You and everyone else," Erika rolled her eyes. "My due date is tomorrow. The doctors here are convinced that I was doing everything I could not to go into labor until you got home."

"You didn't…" he started incredulously.

"I couldn't! Luckily, this little one waited. I couldn't imagine what I was going to do if…"

He pressed a finger to her lips. "Never mind all that. I'm home now. And you can tell this one that she can come anytime now," he bent down to kiss her belly. "Her daddy isn't going anywhere for a long time."

Erika smiled and looked to see their dog watching them intently. "Jon, I think you are making someone jealous," she said, nodding her head at Porthos.

"Come on, buddy," Jon patted the couch next to him, but Porthos jumped straight into his lap.

Erika leaned down to rub those little doggy ears. Admittedly, she hadn't been much of dog fan before she met Jon, but now she couldn't imagine her life with out this guy constantly chasing after them. During their separation, she found herself missing hearing the clattering of paws on their old wooden floors or waking up to see that someone had found his way onto the bed complete with his favorite chew toy. Again, she could feel Jon watching as she rubbed Porthos's belly and let him lick her face. She stopped and looked up at him.

"What are you thinking?" she said. She knew that look.

"That we should get another dog," he said, giving Porthos a squeeze.

She gave him a funny look. "Why?"

"Because I know you miss him and once my three months are up, you'll need someone to keep you company," he scratched the dog right behind his front legs, his favorite spot.

"You don't want to leave this one behind with me?" she said, rubbing her nose to their dogs and letting him lick her solidly.

"We went over this when we got married. I have solo custody over the first born," he shook his head in mock seriousness and smiled. "That's why I thought another puppy might be a good idea…"

"A puppy? Jon, I'm going to have a newborn. The last thing I'll need when you are gone is another little one."

"Come on, Rike. Another one, just like this one?" He held Porthos in front of her and she swore the dog was giving her his best 'cute face'.

She folded her arms across her belly. "Maybe. Can we think about it after this one," she rubbed her belly, "makes her grand entrance?"

"Okay," he agreed.

She watched him playing with their dog for a little while and thought about what a wonderful father her husband would make. She watched him until finally she realized what she had wanted to say before.

"You want to get another dog so that you can named it Athos, don't you?"

"Maybe."

"I love you, you know that?" she smiled.