oOo

Dinner having come to a satisfactory conclusion, Picard and Crusher bade Wesley and Robin good night before strolling off together. Some of the younger couples' friends had entered Ten-Forward and were obviously waiting for the captain and CMO to leave before descending on the other two.

They walked down the corridor without speaking, ending up before Picard's door. "Would you care for a nightcap?"

Crusher nodded, then followed him through the door. They still hadn't done anything official as far as moving into a single set of quarters, although the senior staff was discreet enough not to enquire as to their whereabouts if either's presence was required in the middle of the night.

Picard moved to the bottle of wine standing ready on the small table in front of the sofa as Crusher stretched and settled herself into the corner of the seat, legs curled up beneath her and head resting pensively on one hand.

Picard recognized the pose. Something was on her mind, something from dinner, no doubt. She accepted the glass he offered and sipped distractedly as he settled himself next to her. "Penny for your thoughts?" The saying was archaic but the sentiment remained the same.

"Have you thought about having children?"

Picard stared at Crusher, completely taken aback by the unexpected question, and hoping the shock he was feeling was manifesting itself on his features as nothing more severe than surprise. He'd been preparing himself for an evening of discussing Robin and Wesley, but not in this particular fashion. "Should I have been?" was all he could find to ask.

Crusher shrugged, her eyes not quite meeting his. "It's not a physical impossibility," she pointed out. "And we have been discussing marriage..."

"Do you want children? More children, I mean?" Picard fought to keep the growing panic from his voice and eyes, but had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't being very successful.

Crusher looked at him steadily. "Do you?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I haven't really thought about it."

Crusher's eyebrow rose in disbelief. "In spite of the fact that we've been immersed almost daily in Robin's pregnancy?"

"We've also been immersed daily in the beginnings of our own relationship," Picard reminded her. "I have been thinking a great deal about Robin and Wesley and the baby, yes, and I have been thinking a great deal about us, but I haven't thought about the possibility of us having a baby of our own. But it's obviously been on your mind."

She nodded. "I've been wondering how to approach the subject," she admitted. "But I wasn't sure how you'd react to the question."

"It is just a question, isn't it?" Picard asked as a sudden worry flared in his mind. "You haven't discovered any faulty contraceptive implants, have you?"

Crusher laughed. "No, of course not, Jean-Luc, but really--!" She broke off to laugh even harder at the outrage on his face. "Oh, if you could see your expression," she gasped, struggling to bring herself back under control. "You don't have to answer the question, I can see it on your face. Don't worry; I'm willing to reserve this conversation for a later time."

She laid a private bet with herself--would he say "much later" out loud, or keep the thought to himself? Starfleet discipline apparently won out as he spoke not a word, merely grunted an acknowledgment before leaning over for a warm--and, she fancied, grateful--kiss.

"I wonder if Wesley will be using those quarters I arranged for him," she murmured, suppressing the urge to tease Picard about his obvious relief at her willingness to put aside the topic she'd originally brought up.

"Time will tell," Picard replied. "After all, if you really want to know, all you have to do is ask…the computer, that is," he added blandly. "Shall we find out?"

Crusher shook her head. "I'm not a prying mother, you know that," she replied virtuously. "If I need to find him, then I'll ask. Otherwise, it's none of my business."

"Admirable," Picard murmured as he headed for the bathroom. "If not particularly honest." With that, the door shut behind him, and Crusher found herself regretting her earlier self-restraint for a moment before allowing herself to laugh ruefully at his accuracy. Picard was right; she was dying to know if Wesley would be part of Robin's life as well as part of the baby's; the topic had been deliberately avoided at dinner, at least on her part, no matter how difficult it had been to hold her tongue. And of course Jean-Luc had noticed.

"That man is getting to know me entirely too well," she muttered as she moved into the bedroom and began stripping off her uniform. "I'd better start cultivating some new habits." Of course, she mused happily as she sat on the edge of the bed to remove her boots, there was always the subject of children to bring up again…

oOo

When Wesley tried to say good-night to Robin at her door, he was met with unexpected resistance. "What's the sense of you staying here if you're just going to use guest quarters?" she demanded. "Wes, I'm six months pregnant; I promise your virtue will remain intact."

"Since you're the one who unintacted it in the first place, I don't see the logic in that argument," he retorted, but the happy grin on his face told Robin that asking him to stay with her was the right choice. They slept, side by side, comfortably nestled together in her bed, and it felt so right that she wished they'd been able to do that from the start. She squashed the thought mercilessly; now was not the time for wishful thinking and might-have-beens. He was here, now, and that was what counted. And when he felt their daughter kick for the first time, the wonder in his eyes told her that he wasn't just telling her what she wanted to hear when he said he was happy about the baby. He truly felt it.

The next morning, when Wesley woke up, Robin was already out of bed. He stretched lazily, thinking it had been a long time since he'd taken the luxury of sleeping late, but rejected the thought of rolling over and continuing his sleep-in. If he was going to stay on board, he needed to make himself useful, talk to Captain Picard about a temporary assignment, if such a thing was still possible. Maybe he could call himself an outside contractor...

There was a note on the table for him. Robin had the early shift today, and would be able to meet him for lunch if that was all right. He left a note for her as well, feeling pleasantly old-fashioned and domestic as he picked up her padd and wrote down his acceptance, told her his plans for the morning, then headed out to find the captain.

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A/N: Yup, two chapters in a row, I'm on a roll! So keep me rolling and roll in those reviews! :)