A/N Sorry its taken so long for an update. I was involved in an online training class for work, and have not had time to think about writing, but I have finished the training and now have appox a week before I am able to post for hours, so I wanted to get this done. I want to thank all who have read and reviewed. It is greatly appreciated!

Chapter 10

They had taken time to just be together that morning. Tom was amazed at how Joy had taken to B'Elanna so. She had grown up only in his company and now she was chattering to Lanna as if she'd known her forever. He had to smile as he watched his girls. Lanna was sitting there with a little bundle of energy talking a mile a minute and she was enjoying it. It melted his heart to watch...his Lanna was a born mother and he knew if he had ever mentioned it to her before, he'd of ended up in sick bay.

"And on my birthday, daddy took me swimming and we had a picnic lunch and we swam and had fun and he played monster with me."

Joy was breathless with that sentence but she looked at Lanna with glowing eyes as she told her about her birthday.

"Monster?"

Joy nodded and continued

"Yes he would come up from under the water and grab me! It was fun and then he'd toss me up and let me splash down and then he'd do it again."

She leaned a little closer to B'Elanna and said

"Daddy thought I was scared but I wasn't."

Now Tom grabbed her and began to tickle her and said

"Hey, I worked hard at being scary, my monster didn't scare you?"

Joy was giggling as she said

"No daddy I knew you weren't a monster!"

Now both Tom and B'Elanna began to laugh as they both began to tickle her. She squirmed and giggled even more. It was a picture of pure contentment of a family enjoying each other.

They had decided to take Joy on a tour of Voyager and B'Elanna had volunteered to give her a bath and get her dressed. Tom had contacted the captain and had made an appointment to meet with her after shift in her ready room. He was anxious to start the plans to be married. Now that he was back with his Lanna, he didn't want to waste any time.

When the two came back out to the main room, Joy skipped up to him and said

"Look daddy, mommy put these ribbons in my hair. Do you like them?"

Tom looked at his daughter and saw the red ribbons and smiled. She looked adorable to him. She was dressed in blue jeans and a tee shirt that said on the front 'Daddies Little Girl' and her blond hair, which was shoulder length, was done in pigtails with a ribbon on each. Her bright green eyes sparkled as she then showed him her tee shirt

"And look what mommy made for me. She said it was for you too!"

He knelt down and looked at the shirt and said

"I like it and you truly are my little girl."

He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek and then stood and took Lanna's hand and brought it to his lips and gently kissed it and said

"And my little Joy could not have a better mother."

Joy jumped up and down and clapped her hands and said

"Can we go exploring now, huh, can we daddy, can we..?"

Tom just looked at B'Elanna and shrugged his shoulders before he looked down at his daughter and said

"Okay, Sweet pea lets go exploring."

They all walked to the door, and as it opened, Joy reached to take the hand of each of the adults,one on either side of her and began to skip down the hall. They were met by several crew members who either stopped for a moment or just gave the threesome a broad grin. Joy made sure to tell everyone that she had a new mommy, and most of the crew just nodded, but some actually smiled broadly and congratulated the two. The whole crew knew that they had started a relationship before Tom had been lost and it was just a forgone conclusion that they would pick up again now that Tom was back. As the last pair from engineering left and began to whisper between them, Tom turned to B'Elanna and said

"I wonder who will win the pool?"

B'Elanna looked at him and he continued

"Got to speak to Harry...this has his hand written all over it."

B'Elanna was still not sure of what he was talking about so he explained

"Didn't you see how they were looking at us? After all, Har learned from the best. I'd be quite disappointed if he hadn't come up with this."

Now B'Elanna began to laugh as it hit her too. They entered the turbo lift and were on their way to the mess hall. They encountered more sly smiles from crewmen and by the time they made it to the mess, they were both quite sure that there was a betting pool going on. As they entered the mess, Alpha shift had begun to come for lunch so it was almost half full and most present turned to see who the newcomers were. They all began to whisper to each other and watch the new 'family' as they went to see Neelix.

Joy wanted to go meet everyone, but Tom had yet to let go of her hand, so she looked around at the people and waved with her other hand, which B'Elanna had let go off. The crew waved back at her, and she said

"Look daddy, they are waving at me, can I go say hello to them please?"

Tom looked at her and said

"In a moment first I want you to meet Neelix and say hello."

Neelix came out from behind the counter and said

"My but you're a big girl. How are you liking being on Voyager?"

She looked at the Talaxian and said

"You have whiskers and spots. I like them."

Tom was about to admonish his daughter but Neelix just said

"Yes, on Talaxia the spots are considered very handsome and my whiskers are too!"

Joy giggled and said

"Can I touch them?"

She then looked at her daddy to see if she could. But Neelix just said

"Sure you can."

He leaned down so his face was in reach of the child and she lightly stroked his whiskers. He laughed and that made Joy giggle too.

"Oh they are so soft. I like the feel of them."

Joy looked at Neelix and continued

"And I like you too!"

"Well, I like you. And your daddy is a good friend of mine too."

Neelix smiled at her as she grinned at him. Joy took B'Elanna's hand and said

"And this is my new mommy...see she put these ribbons in my hair this morning and she made this shirt for me...see?"

She showed him her ribbons and then showed him her tee shirt. He smiled again and said how much he liked them both. Neelix then looked at Tom and said

"So, what would you like for lunch?"

When Tom hesitated, B'Elanna said

"You know Tom, Neelix has broaden his menu..."

"Yes...yes, while you were gone, I have learned how to prepare many AQ dishes. Today I've prepared a nice vegetable soup with lots of good ingredients."

Tom had smelled the aroma and had thought it smelled pretty good, but he was still a little skeptical of it but B'Elanna said

"No leota root in it."

Neelix now laughed and said

"No I don't use that anymore! We have been able to grow a lot of the vegetables from the AQ and I find they are loaded with all the nutrients you need."

He went back into the kitchen and began dishing up the soup.

"Go ahead and find a table, and I'll bring it to you."

Tom looked at Lanna and she smiled at him. They had not noticed that Joy had moved among the crew and was busy chatting with them all. She was so happy to meet them all that she went to each table excited to show them her hair ribbons and new tee shirt. They had all commented on her new things and she had been thrilled that they had. Now as they turned to find a table, Tom saw that Joy was now at the captain's table happily chatting with both the captain and commander Chakotay. She had perched herself on a chair and kept up an almost non stop chatter. At first Tom was a little nervous that she had gotten that far, but one look at both the captain and Chakotay had eased his worry.

They came over to the table and hear Joy say

"She's my new mommy and look, she fixed my hair with these ribbons and..."

She stopped in mid sentence when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see the face of her father looking down at her. She sweetly smiled at him and said

"Daddy, I was just telling the captain and Kotay about my hair ribbons!"

Tom smiled at her and said

"I'm sure the captain and...Kotay are very interested in your hair ribbons, but its time for lunch and I'm sure that they would like to finish their lunch so..."

Before he could continue, Kathryn said

"Why don't you join us. I was enjoying this conversation."

She winked at Joy who just grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes, join us this is getting to be an interesting talk."

Chakotay also winked at Joy. B'Elanna sat next to Joy, and Tom just pulled another chair up so they were all sitting around the table. Neelix brought the soup and he had also added some freshly baked bread too. Joy was the first to taste the soup and she turned and said

"Thank you Neelix...this is good..."

Once Neelix had gone back to the kitchen, Joy turned to Tom and said

"But I like your soup better Daddy."

Tom looked around to make sure Neelix wasn't close enough to hear her although he could hear a few chuckles from around him. He looked at her and said

"Thank you sweet pea, but what have I told you about being polite?"

He eyed her and she became quiet and then said

"To always say nice things and never say mean things...I'm sorry daddy."

He took and lightly brushed his fingers along her cheek and said

"I know you didn't mean anything about it, but we must always remember to say nice things. Neelix works hard and we want to appreciate his efforts. "

"I will daddy, I promise."

"I know you will sweetie, now finish your lunch."

She smiled at him and began to eat again. They all ate in silence and when Joy had finished she looked at her dad and said

"Daddy, can I go visit everyone please?"

Tom knew that she was anxious to meet everyone and that she truly enjoyed talking to the crew. And they seemed to enjoy talking with her. He looked around and saw that the place was full and then he said

"Okay, but remember be polite and don't hog the conversation, let them speak too!"

He was smiling as he said this, knowing full well how much his daughter could talk.

"And before you go, stay in the mess, no wondering around and take your bowl back to Neelix and thank him for the soup, okay?"

She had stood and now she carefully picked up her bowl and said

"Yes daddy, I will."

He watched as she carefully took the bowl to Neelix. She talked to him a few minutes and then she began wondering through the room stopping and talking to everyone, a sparkle in her eyes and a grin plastered on her face.

TBC