Present Day

A loud squawk issued from the baby monitor. Not an angry one, Tom noted as his eyes blinked open, and he took in the dim light of a Mars dawn. Maybe she'll go back to sleep. He stretched his arms up with a yawn before rolling onto his side and throwing an arm over his wife.

"Why," B'Elanna moaned into her pillow, "did we stay up so late?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he murmured into her neck. B'Elanna had been more than ready for bed after they'd finished decorating the tree, but Tom had asked her to stay up for one more thing.

"Maybe in the morning or during her nap," she said with a yawn. "I'm exhausted."

"Not that," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I mean, I wouldn't say no, but that wasn't what I was getting at." He stood and pulled out the box he'd gotten from John from it's spot under the tree. "I meant this. Your present."

B'Elanna knelt on the floor next to the metal crate, reenergized by the promise of a surprise. She turned the box this way and that, searching for the opening mechanism. "What is it? It so big, I can't even guess-" She whipped her head around to glare at him. "If this is another Arachnia costume…"

Tom laughed and lowered himself onto the floor next to her. "Just open it, will ya?"

It took some fussing to get the case to open, and John had packed plenty of foam on top to protect the contents, but once B'Elanna uncovered her gift she let out a little gasp and turned again towards her husband. "Tom… How did you get this? How did you know?"

He reached over to release the Virgin Mary from where she lay nestled next to her tiny ceramic baby. "I asked your dad what would most say 'Christmas' to you. And he told me about your grandmother's Nativity set. Your Uncle Carl's been keeping it, but your father's the one that got it for me."

"He did?" Her voice was little more than a whisper now. She reached out with her hand and closed it gently around his knee. "Tom, thank you. I love it."

"I love you," he murmured, then leaned in to kiss her. Together they then set up the Nativity, on a roomy shelf well out of Miral's reach, then retired to bed.

Where they hadn't gone to sleep, after all - not right away, anyway. Best way to welcome in a holiday Tom had ever found. He nuzzled his wife's neck now, his more optimistic side hoping for an encore, before being interrupted by another squawk. Tom smiled. The only girl that could pull him away from his wife. "You stay in bed," he told B'Elanna. "I'll get her."

"Bring her here," was the muffled reply. "My boobs are going to explode."

Tom climbed out of bed and pulled on his robe. As he moved into the hallway, he could hear his daughter's calls increasing in intensity. He paused outside her door, his hand hovering over the knob. He hadn't shared his EMH-induced anxiety with B'Elanna - that their baby had forgotten him during his two weeks away. Although, he supposed, if she didn't recognize him then his wife would find out soon enough. That third lung translated into impressive volume when Miral was upset.

Another loud squawk, this one decidedly annoyed, and Tom knew he needed to bite the bullet. She was going to start screaming her head off one way or the other in a minute. He twisted the knob and pushed in the door.

Miral had pulled herself to standing and was bouncing up and down. The second she spotted Tom she stilled, her eyes growing wide. He bit his lip and slid the rest of the way into the room.

"Hi Kitten," he whispered, bracing himself for her reaction.

"Da!" she cried, bouncing again. "Da! Da!" Miral extended her arms towards Tom, and his cautious smile grew broad. He crossed over to her crib and pulled his baby daughter into his arms, his homecoming finally complete.

He brought Miral to his still dozing wife as requested and informed her that their daughter had spoken her first word. "And it was 'Da'!" he told her, the joy and pride he felt only slightly tempered by guilt that Miral had named him before B'Elanna.

His wife just snorted at him as she adjusted the pillows and lifted up her tanktop. "Tom, she's been doing that for almost a week. She says 'da' for everything. Me, Toby, a sunbeam, a piece of lint. It's the only recognizable sound she can make right now."

"Oh." He slipped back under the covers, eyeing his wife. I'd probably say the same thing if she had said 'ma' first, he considered, then smiled at her.

"I like this," B'Elanna murmured, gently stroking Miral's soft brown curls as she suckled. "Lazy mornings in bed, just the three of us. All holidays should be like this."

Tom just smiled again and placed his hand over hers.

He'd tell her about New Year's tomorrow.

The End


A/N: Thanks so much to everyone that read and reviewed, to my tireless betas Sareki02 and Photogirl 1890, and to Delwin for coming up with the idea of writing stories for the holidays!