Delara

By Eydie Munroe

Disclaimer: It's been 11 years, but somehow Paramount (and now CBS, apparently) still owns them. Since they don't want to seem to do anything with them anymore, I'm taking the Voyager crew out to play. But I promise to give them only cookies and milk, and to have them home by eleven.

Note: This story was heavily inspired by the story "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" by Mindy.


With shaking hands, he pulled the zipper down on his jacket and reached into the inner pocket where he'd stored his communicator. "Chakotay to Voyager." There was no answer. "Chakotay to Voyager!"

"Voyager here, Commander," Tuvok's voice finally came back.

"Tuvok, I need an emergency transport to Sickbay," he ordered, trying to hold her up and keep her from falling. "The captain's gone into labour."

On the bridge, Tom's head had snapped up so fast from his console that it would end up giving him a headache. "I'm afraid we are unable to transport you at the moment. The orbital platform is currently on the other side of the planet," Tuvok reported, "and we would cause a catastrophic shear that would remove half of the outer ring if we disengage now."

Kathryn crumpled against him again, crying out in fear more than anything as her body started to override her commands. "How long?" Chakotay questioned, holding onto her as he looked around for a place where he could lay her down.

"Another twenty-two minutes," Harry's voice came through.

He finally spied a large flat-topped boulder sticking up about half a meter out of the ground off the side of the path, which would give her something to sit on. "What about the Flyer?" he suggested as he eased Kathryn down onto it.

"It'll take fifteen minutes to launch the Flyer," Tom broke in. "And at least another twenty to get to you."

"I don't care what you do," he snapped. "Just find a way to beam us up."

"Aye Commander. Voyager out."

Chakotay knelt down in front of Kathryn, who was laying on her side, half-curled into a ball. "Hang on, Kathryn," he told her. "Cavalry's on its way."

The urge to push took her over again, and she grabbed onto his arm as her body tried to double over. "Not soon enough," she gasped.

He reached for his tricorder, but found only empty pocket instead. "What the…" He patted and reached into every pocket, but the device was nowhere to be found. Then he remembered the last time he'd had it in his hand, back in the meadow when she decided to start a snowball fight. He had specifically folded it shut to put it back in his pocket, but he realized now that he must have missed it. "Oh great…"

"What?" she questioned, raising her head off the stone a little to try and see what was going on.

Cursing under his breath, he tried to make sure he didn't look worried, even though it was all he was right now. "Looks like I lost our tricorder."

"Great…" she muttered. Her head dropped again, her cheek coming to rest against the back of a hand that was stretched out across the stone's freezing surface. "Just great…"

"That's what I said." He watched her brows knit together as another contraction hit her, hard enough that she cried out again as the effort to push the baby out took over her entire body. Chakotay was a little unsure of what to do – it was all going so fast. "Tell me what's happening."

Gasping for breath, she told him, "I can feel her moving…on her way out…"

It took a moment for him to realize what he had to do, and another to remind himself that there was no choice in the matter. He got down face to face with her, brushing back the hair that had fallen in her eyes as he tightly grasped her hands. "We're going to have to do this here, Kathryn. But it'll be alright. You're going to be okay." He kissed her forehead. "I'm right here."

Her knuckles were white around his other hand, and she felt close to panicking. This was nothing like anybody had ever told her about. There was no warning, no signs, just her body's now uncontrollable urge to push the baby out. "Not exactly…a vacation highlight…"

His smile demonstrated all of his feelings for her at once. "You say that now."

She looked at him, focusing on his face. "I'm scared."

The compassion that he felt for her was nearly enough to break him. "I know. Just hang on." Her face contorted at the onset of another huge contraction, and again she used him to help her push. "You're doing great," he told her as he continued to stroke her hair. "Just hang on – it's almost over…" When it passed she rested her forehead on his arm as she tried to get air back into her lungs. "You're okay," he repeated to her. "You're okay..."

"She's…" She swallowed hard as she tried to grab more air. "She's almost…"

He immediately understood what she meant. "Okay. I'm going to check and see if I can see her yet. I'll be right back." He kissed her forehead again, then let go of her hands to move. After quickly undressing her lower half, he could see that the baby's head was already starting to appear, and it wouldn't take much for it to completely crown. "Listen to me, Kathryn," he told her as he hurriedly pulled his jacket off, setting it down on the ground beside him. "She's almost out. I need you to sit up so that I can help you and Delara at the same time." He stripped off his sweater and laid it out on the stone, shivering as the cold air bit through his thin shirt. Then he helped her to sit upright, moving her forward so she was sitting on his sweater at the edge of the boulder top. Resting back down on his heels in front of her, he took her hands in his. "Some first date, huh?"

"I've been on better…" was her moaned reply.

"Oh come on. This is much more interesting than just a boring old dinner." She fixed him with the nastiest, most dangerous death glare he had ever seen her issue, and he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "Okay. No more jokes." Another contraction took her over, and she pulled against his hands as she bore down again. "Okay Kathryn, push. Push!" He was correct when he guessed that it wasn't going to take much more for the baby to crown. "Here she comes!" Her last effort went from a stifled groan to an unbridled cry of agony, but it was enough to force the head out. He saw that she only had a moment to try and breathe before another contraction followed. "Come on, Kathryn," he coached. "Another big push." She tried again, but it wasn't enough to move the shoulders out. "Kathryn, come on," he coached her. "You've got to give me a big push."

"You push!" she snapped at him.

"One thing at a time." He saw the sign of another contraction. "Come on, Kathryn! Push!" This time it worked, and the shoulders finally appeared. Then with one final effort, the baby slipped out and into his trembling hands. Chakotay let out a held breath, then started to laugh in shock when Delara let out a loud, healthy wail. He looked up to see the astonishment on her face, chest still heaving as she tried to catch her breath. "You did it," he told her, still holding the squalling newborn in both his hands. "You did it, Kathryn!"

Kathryn started to reach forward, so he rose up on his knees again in order to pass the baby to her. Delara was still wailing as she pulled her to her chest, shaking fingers brushing over the top of her head. "Oh wow…" A stray tear started to run down her face. "Oh Delara…"

Chakotay climbed up and sat down beside her, wrapping his jacket around the two of them from the front to try and protect them from the cold. "She's so beautiful," he whispered as he pulled Kathryn close, reaching around her and tucking as much of his jacket under her as he could.

The baby was still slippery, so she lifted an arm out from under the jacket and used it to wrap under the baby so she wouldn't drop her. Steam was rising off the crying newborn's head, so together they tried to tuck the jacket in around Delara as best they could to keep her warm. "She's…incredible…" she breathed.

His heart was beating at about double time, so filled with love for her now he thought he'd burst. Fighting back his own tears, he gave her a kiss on the temple and told her, "Just like her captain." She started to laugh, mixing with a high flood of emotion as they gazed down at what she had just done. "I love you, Kathryn," he whispered to her, kissing her cheek.

Kathryn collapsed back against him, eyes sliding shut for a few moments to catch her breath. She eventually asked him, "Help me take my scarf off." He carefully pulled the shawl-like garment out from under her collar, handing it to her in a bundle. She then set to work wiping away as much of the blood and fluid from Delara's face as she could. "Shhh…" she tried to calm her. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay…"

"Voyager to Commander Chakotay."

He looked around, trying to remember what he had done with his communicator after the last call. After being hailed again, he realized that he had stuffed it back into the interior pocket of his jacket. "Sorry, little one," he apologized to the baby as he reached in past her and fumbled around until he fished the communicator back out. "Chakotay here. Where are you?"

"We have completed our previous task," Tuvok advised, "and we are enroute to your position. What is your status?"

They looked to each other, then down to the infant that had started to quiet down some. "You're a little late to the party, Tuvok," the captain told him as she continued to try and clean Delara up.

There was a long pause, and then eventually Tom's voice. "Captain?"

She smiled, instinctively looking up toward the stars. "We're alright, Tom."

Chakotay held her just a little bit tighter. "Tuvok, how long until you can transport us?"

"Six minutes, Commander."

"Have the Doctor standing by. We'll need to be beamed directly to Sickbay as soon as you're in range."

"Understood. We will contact you when we are ready to transport. Voyager out."

He looked down at the baby again, now noticing the faint brow ridges that were revealed when Kathryn wiped the blood from them. "You must have been in some hurry to meet your mom and dad," he told her softly, tracing the ridges with his fingers. Delara's eyes were wide open now and her voice quiet, and he pulled the jacket up a little more tightly around her. They didn't say much for a little while, until he heard Kathryn sniff loudly as a fresh wash of tears had spilled down her face. "You okay?"

She nodded uncertainly, trying to convince him that she was fine when she wasn't. Hearing what he said about meeting her parents had thrown her back into the sadness that had been with her the past few days. "She's not mine," she eventually murmured. The tears increased as the realization finally hit her. She had tried to keep from becoming attached to Delara, telling herself that it would be relatively easy to do. But now, with the moment to give up the infant she'd been carrying for five months looming, it hit her full force. "She's not mine…"

"Oh Kathryn…" Chakotay pulled her even closer, kissing her temple again and holding her as she cried it out. "I know. I know."

"Voyager to Commander Chakotay. We are in range. Awaiting your order to transport to Sickbay."

"Acknowledged. Stand by." He chuckled. "Never fails. Interrupting when we're in the middle of something important." She burst out in laughter, mixed with a few more tears. He drew a deep breath, and reached up to wipe some of her tears away with his thumb, leaving a small streak of blood across her cheek. "We'll be here again, Kathryn," he told her softly, reassuringly. "We will." He kissed her again, and when he pulled back, she looked into his eyes and saw everything that was going to see her through the rest of her life. "Are you ready?" he asked her.

Kathryn looked down at Delara again, a heavy weight on her chest as it all became more real. She drew her own deep breaths, blowing them out slowly through pursed lips. She thought back to the day the Doctor had asked her that very question, and just how much her answer had changed her life. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Savouring the last private moment he was going to get with her for a while, Chakotay put a finger under her chin and turned her toward him so he could kiss her once more. "Okay, let's go." He activated the communicator again. "Chakotay to Voyager. Three to beam directly to Sickbay."


The captain, first officer, and Voyager's newest crew member appeared in the middle of Sickbay's floor a few seconds later, where the Doctor was waiting for them. He immediately knelt down beside the shivering captain, his hand making circles around each of them with the tricorder's detachable sensor. The feeling of being transported startled Delara, and she started crying heavily out of fear. "It's okay," Kathryn tried to calm her again. "You're okay, honey." She noticed when the Doctor finished scanning both of them. "Is she alright?"

He smiled at her, reaching down to cradle the little girl's head. "She's just fine, Captain. You did a remarkable job." He got up and retrieved a laser scalpel, and was just about to cut the baby's cord when he thought of something. Looking to Chakotay, he offered, "Would you like to do it?" The suggestion caught Chakotay by surprise, and he looked a little flummoxed as he knelt down, following the Doctor's instructions with the instrument until the cord had been cut clean through. Taking the scalpel back, the hologram said, "Please get her up on the bed."

Kathryn handed Delara off to the Doctor, then was picked up by Chakotay and carried over to the diagnostic bed in the surgical bay. The baby's crying was somewhat muted when the Doctor took her into the lab, where he exchanged the first officer's bloody jacket for a clean blanket, wrapping her in it before returning to the main ward. "I'll wait to do her weight and measurements," he told them, "as I'm sure that Tom and B'Elanna will want to be here for it." Kathryn was sitting up, so he gently handed the baby back over to her so she could spend some last moments with her. He then grabbed another blanket for the captain, and while Chakotay tucked it in around her legs and feet, picked up his tricorder and started to scan her again.

Chakotay stood next to Kathryn with one arm around her shoulders while he reached down to touch Delara again, his heart melting when a little first curled around his finger. "How is the captain?" he asked.

"In fairly good condition, considering the circumstances." The Doctor snapped the tricorder shut. "Why didn't you contact the ship when you went into labour?"

She looked up from Delara, who was finally back down to whimpering now. "I didn't know I was, until she was already on her way out."

The hologram frowned. "What do you mean, you didn't know? Didn't you feel the contractions?"

"No. I didn't feel anything. The first sign I had was pressure from her head descending, and an overwhelming urge to push."

He flipped the tricorder open again, concentrating over what was left of her belly. "Hmmm…"

They both looked up at him. "What?" Chakotay questioned.

The Doctor made a couple of adjustments, then scanned the area again to be sure. "I cannot say for certain, but it looks like the salaematin that kept you from rejecting Delara also managed to desensitize the walls of the uterus." He finished the scan. "You could have been in labour for days and never known it."

The couple exchanged looks of shock. "How is that possible?" she asked. "I could feel her moving and kicking all the time."

"You could feel it because the motion would transfer through the rest of your body – the muscles and skin, and that's where your nerve endings would pick it up."

"What about her water breaking?" Chakotay asked. "She never felt that either."

"Well, there are a couple of possibilities there, Commander. Either her water never did actually break until Delara was born, or sometimes it does, but the baby's head acts like a sink stopper and keeps it from leaking out." He closed the tricorder again, looking very pleased with himself. "Something to definitely write a paper on."

"Well keep my name out of it," she told him. "I don't want my mother thinking she has grandchildren before I tell her what really happened."

"It's incredible that you couldn't feel anything," Chakotay said to her.

"Well Commander, as I said a few weeks ago, this is still a highly experimental procedure. One that, thankfully, has a happy ending." He pulled back the edge of the blanket, grinning at the sight of new life. "Captain, we need to deliver the placenta," he said, returning to business, "and then I'll perform some minor touch-up surgery on you." He activated the forcefield around the surgical bay, implementing the privacy screen to turn it opaque in case anybody wandered into Sickbay.

Chakotay took Delara from Kathryn so she could lie back, making sure to stay up near her head. Though he just delivered the baby she'd been carrying, he felt the need to give her a little bit of privacy – during delivery she needed his help, whereas now she really didn't. He pulled up a chair and sat down, which let her still see the baby as he held her. "They're going to be thrilled," he told her.

"I hope so," she murmured, reaching an arm out to run a finger along Delara's cheek. "I don't have a return policy."

Once the Doctor was finished, he gave her some green patient togs to change into, moved her over to one of the recovery beds, and wrapped her in a couple of warmed blankets to help calm her shivering. And when she was ready, he made the call. "Doctor to Lieutenant Paris and Lieutenant Torres. Please report to Sickbay."

Tom and B'Elanna both arrived outside Sickbay at the same time, finding each just as nervous as they were. "Are you ready?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I think so," he mumbled in contrast to his pale face and shaking hands. You?"

"Yeah." They hugged each other for a moment, then made their way into Sickbay. B'Elanna hesitated when she saw Kathryn sitting on the bed, a small bundle clutched in her arms. "Oh my god."

While Tom tried to convince her to get her feet to move, Chakotay spoke quietly to Kathryn for just a second before he walked over to B'Elanna. "There's somebody here that wants to meet you," he told her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Come on."

Between the two of them, they managed to convince her to make the trip over to the bed, where an exhausted and somewhat melancholic Kathryn sat waiting for them. She reached a hand out to B'Elanna, gently pulling her close enough to see. "I have a surprise for you," she said softly. Tom stood behind his wife, his hands on her shoulders as they both peered down into the blanket. Chakotay resumed his place at her side, resting a hand on her back to let her know that he was there. Kathryn blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall again, then turned back to Delara. "Well little girl, this has been fun," she murmured as she stroked the baby's fine hair. "I'll never forget our time together." She leaned down and kissed her head, then turned and moved the bundle into B'Elanna's arms before she could start crying again.

Delara started to fuss when she was handed off, which was music to the new parents' ears. They went through the same gambit of emotions that Kathryn and Chakotay had been through shortly before, with the added bonus of knowing that theirs was for life. B'Elanna's mothering instincts seemed to kick in immediately as she tried to calm her, while Tom stood beside them with the dumbfounded look that only a new father could wear. After a while B'Elanna looked up at Kathryn with tears brimming in her eyes. "Kathryn, I –" She cleared her throat and tried again. "Thank you. Thank you so – so much." With her free arm, she hugged Kathryn as tightly as she could.

"You're welcome," Kathryn said to her, rubbing a comforting hand along the younger woman's back.

When she straightened up, B'Elanna turned to her old friend. "And you…" She grinned. "Thank you for everything. I can't imagine a better person to bring my daughter into the world." Chakotay didn't say anything, but took her into his arms and hugged her just as tightly.

Tom stepped up to the bed, and in a not-often-seen moment of sincerity, he told his captain, "You keep saving me, Kathryn..." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. When he stepped back he was teary-eyed, so to fend it off he quickly added, "Maybe I can convince B'Elanna to give up the leftover pizza after all." Everyone started to laugh, Chakotay clapping his hand on Tom's shoulder.

The sound of laughter brought the Doctor out of his office. "I see you've all met," he said happily, offering his congratulations to the young couple. He knew that without a little prodding they could have drawn this moment out forever, so he decided to intervene in order to give the captain some closure. "B'Elanna, Tom, if you'd like to come with me, we can weigh Delara and measure her, and enter all the information for her birth certificate."

They started to follow him into the lab, but not before B'Elanna remembered something. "Kathryn, did you come up with a name?"

She had been considering names for weeks, but nothing had seemed right. But now, after this experience, there was only one choice. "Alkira."