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CHAPTER 25

A WEEK LATER

Standing on a carpet of white snow, a pink pom-pom hat on her head, Adriena clapped her hands in joy as Kathryn wrapped a red scarf around a large snowman they had spent the afternoon building. He had black pebbles for eyes, a carrot for a nose, plastic red-lips for a mouth, and twigs for arms.

"All he needs now is his hat," Kathryn said, turning to the happy little girl beside her. "Want to do the honors?"

Adriena nodded enthusiastically, and picked up a large black top-hat that was on a bench behind her. Raising herself on tip-toes, she carefully put the hat on the snowman's head, and then clapped her hands again as she stood back to admire him.

"The handsomest snowman I ever saw," Kathryn smiled. "What shall we call him?"

"Mr Snow," Adriena declared.

Kathryn took the snowman's twigged hand in hers and pretended to shake it. "Pleased to meet you, Mr Snow."

Adriena laughed and then looked up at her step-mother. "May I take a picture of him, Mommy?"

"Absolutely," Kathryn answered. "I was about to suggest the very thing."

Adriena beamed a smile. "I'll go find my camera."

With that, she made her way into the house as quickly as she could, Goldby in pursuit. Blackie stayed behind and curiously sniffed the new white-object in the garden. He then raised his leg against it and piddled.

"Oh no, Blackie," Kathryn laughed. "You shouldn't have..."

Suddenly a dearly beloved voice spoke behind her.

"Some dogs just have no manners."

Kathryn spun around, her heart racing, and saw Chakotay standing before her.

"Chakotay!" she exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes.

Before she knew it, he had gathered her in his arms.

"I'm home," he whispered. "I'm home to stay."

Kathryn held him tight, tears falling, and for a long time they just clung to each other in the snow. Then, at last, they drew apart.

"How are you?" Chakotay asked. "I've been worried...about you and the baby."

"We're both fine," Kathryn smiled. She gestured to her broad waist. "As you can see, I'm as big as a whale."

Chakotay smiled in return, but there was such a sadness in his eyes. "I wanted so much to be here...to share it all."

"I know," Kathryn replied. "But it isn't over yet. And you're back in time for our first Christmas."

Chakotay put his hand to her cold cheek. "I can't wait."

Kathryn took his hand in hers and asked the question that in her heart she already knew the answer too. "Did you find Marla?"

"Yes," Chakotay said sadly, "but not alive. The Cardassians said she was, but when they took me to her, she was barely more than a skeleton. I could only identify her with my tricorder."

"I'm sorry," Kathryn replied, the cruelty hurting her heart.

"We did find Darkin's nephew, though," Chakotay informed her.

"You did?"

Chakotay nodded. "We found him on our way home. His mother was pregnant with him when she was taken by the Cardassians, so he's not much older than Adriena. Someone took pity on him when he was born, surgically altered him to look Cardassian, and placed him in a boarding house on a planet that doesn't use modern technology. We did some tests when we got to Trebus, and turns out he's the son of Darkin's eldest brother, Vanton, and his wife, Cartina. He's going to be raised by Cartina's sister and her family."

"That's wonderful," Kathryn smiled. "Just wonderful."

"An unexpected blessing," Chakotay answered. "And you can meet him tomorrow. He and Darkin came back with me so they can find a doctor to reverse the surgery. They're staying in a hotel in Mexico."

"A hotel? They could have stayed with us."

"I offered," Chakotay explained, "but Darkin insisted. He's very independent."

Kathryn gazed at Chakotay, hardly able to believe that he was really standing before her, safe and sound. "I can't believe you're really home," she said. "I've hardly dared to dream of this..." A tear ran down her cheek. "I was so afraid I wouldn't see you again...that the Cardassians would imprison you..."

"They did," Chakotay replied. "After they took me to my sister's body, they incarcerated me and captured Darkin. I don't know what would have happened to us if we hadn't of been rescued by a friendly Cardassian woman. In return for helping her family at Lanka, she beamed us out of the prison and gave us a ride to Trebus."

Kathryn squeezed Chakotay's hand. "I can never thank her enough...who ever she was."

Suddenly, the door behind them slid open, and Adriena appeared. When she saw her father standing in the garden, she dropped the yellow camera in her hands. "Daddy!"

Chakotay turned to her and opened his arms wide. Adriena hurried into them and they held each other joyfully.

The following evening, Adriena waited impatiently in the living room for Darkin and Konrak to arrive. They were coming to dinner, and she had spent the afternoon helping her father to cook and her step-mother to decorate the table.

"How much longer?" she asked as Kathryn switched on the Christmas tree lights.

"Any moment now," Kathryn answered.

Adriena sighed and climbed onto a windowseat to continue her vigil. It was already dark outside and snow was falling softly, covering Mr Snow in white lace.

Just as Adriena was about to complain that no one was coming, two dark figures crossed the window and approached the snowman.

"They're here," Adriena cried happily. "They're looking at Mr Snow."

Chakotay went over to the door and Adriena eagerly followed. As he opened it, Darkin approached.

"We were just admiring your snowman."

Chakotay smiled. "A fine one, isn't he?"

"Very fine."

Adriena squeezed between Chakotay and the doorpost and addressed him. "Mommy and I made him."

"Then you're very talented," Darkin smiled.

Konrak left the snowman and Darkin put his arm around his nephew. The boy no longer looked Cardassian, but fully human.

"I bet you don't recognize this young man," he said to Chakotay. "As it's Christmas, I booked him in for surgery as soon as possible, and we got a slot this lunch time. Turns out all he needed was a simple resequencing, so he was discharged within two hours."

Adriena gazed at the little boy before her as intensely as he was looking at her, and when she smiled warmly, he smiled in return.

"Come in, come in," Kathryn said as she approached the door. "You'll both freeze out there."

Darkin and Konrak gladly stepped into the warm house and Kathryn embraced Darkin. "It's so good to see you again...so good." She then turned to Konrak. "I'm very honored to meet you, Konrak."

The boy smiled at her, and then looked again at Adriena.

"Dinner isn't quite ready yet," Chakotay said. "You can both play for a while."

Adriena clapped her hands and turned back to Konrak. "Come on, let's go to my room. I'll show you my bath and my toys."

Without waiting for a response, she began to walk towards the hall, and Konrak gladly followed.

"Daddy says you're going to live on Trebus," Adriena said, climbing onto her bed after showing Konrak her duck-bath. "If you are, I'll see you when we come on vacation. We visit Grandma Enola and Aunt Sekaya."

Konrak joined her on the bed. "Uncle Darkin's going to bring me to Earth for vacations. He likes me now."

Adriena frowned. "Didn't he like you before?"

Konrak shook his head. "He didn't like Erinada either. He was always mean to her. But he likes me now he knows I'm his nephew. He thought Erinada was lying."

"Did you like Erinada?"

He nodded. "I wanted her to stay with us on Trebus, but she couldn't. She lives in space."

"Will you have a Mommy?"

"I will," he replied. "Aunt Zarin is going to be my mommy and Uncle Pryntax my father. I'll have three brothers and four sisters too."

"Kathryn's my mommy," Adriena said proudly. "And she's having a baby. It's inside her. That's why she has a big tummy. It has to be there to grow and eat."

There was a brief moment of silence, then Konrak spoke. "Want to see a picture of how I looked before my operation?"

Adriena nodded. "Want to see a picture of how I looked before mine?"

Konrak nodded too, and Adriena leaned over to her bedside cabinet. Carefully, she opened a draw and pulled out a picture taken of her at Houston zoo.

"Let's swap," she said, as Konrak pulled out a picture from the pocket of his pants.

They swapped pictures, and Adriena studied the smiling face of a little Cardassian boy before her. "You sure look different now," she commented. "But at least you never looked like a freak."

"I don't think you looked like a freak," Konrak replied, studying the image of Adriena in a pink dress, leaning on pink crutches. "Just different. I've seen lots of people with crutches. I think you looked nice...just as nice as you look now."

Adriena looked up at him and smiled warmly. "I think you look nice too."

Konrak smiled in return and they looked at each other for a while. Adriena then took back her picture, put it in the draw, and got to her feet.. "Come on, I'll show you our holo-room. It's magic."

Konrak popped his picture back into his pocket, and they left the room.

TWO DAYS LATER

On a rug before a roaring simulated fire, Chakotay stacked a mountain of Christmas presents for Adriena. They were all wrapped in cheerful festive paper and were decorated with bows and ribbons.

"I think she's coming," Kathryn said, putting a breakfast tray of bagels, coffee and apple juice down on the table.

Chakotay quickly stacked the remaining presents and then got to his feet. Just as he did so, the living room door opened and Adriena came in, dressed in yellow pyjamas. When she saw the pile of presents before the fire, her eyes widened.

"Who are they for?"

"For you, darling," Kathryn said. "Merry Christmas."

Adriena's jaw dropped open and it was a long moment before she could speak. "For me?"

"That's right," Chakotay reassured her. "They're all yours."

Kathryn picked up one of the presents and read the label. "This one's from Aunt Phoebe."

As though in a dream, Adriena walked over to Kathryn and took the parcel hesitantly.

"Go on," Kathryn urged. "Open it."

Adriena teared off the paper and smiled when she saw a box of artistic delights. "Paints and crayons!"

Kathryn held out another present to the child, but Adriena didn't take it. Instead she looked up at her step-mother. "Are the presents really all for me? Really, truly?"

"Yes, darling," she answered, a lump in her throat. "They're all for you."

"I'm not dreaming?"

"No, darling. I promise." She gestured to the child's beloved bean-bag. "So sit down and open them all."

Adriena did as she was told and then looked up at her step-mother again. "If I am dreaming, I never want to wake up."

Kathryn smiled and kissed the little girl's forehead. "Neither do I, darling. Neither do I."

When they were finally in bed, after a day of Christmas festivities with the family, Chakotay presented Kathryn with a long slim box wrapped in gold paper and decorated with a silver bow.

"Oh Chakotay," Kathryn said. "You've given me so much already..."

"I like to spoil you," he smiled.

Kathryn carefully removed the paper and found a black-velvet box beneath. She opened it gently and gasped when saw a sparkling necklace of many precious stones nestling in white-satin.

"Oh Chakotay...it's so beauitful."

"And over five-hundred years old," he informed her.

Kathryn touched the necklace reverently, her eyes moist. "It's amazing. Thank you."

Chakotay smiled. "Want to try it on?"

"I hardly dare," Kathryn smiled in return.

Chakotay took that as a yes and slowly lifted the age-old neckace out of the box. Kathryn turned to him and he put it on her.

"Feels exquisite," Kathryn said when it was in place. She looked at herself in a distant wall mirror and the stones glistened at her throat. "Looks exquisite too."

Suddenly, she felt little kicks inside her and she put her hand to her abdomen. "It certainly gets Hanara's approval," she smiled. "Which means our darling must be a girl."

Chakotay laughed softly and put his hand on her bump to feel their child kick.

"I thought this was going to be the most miserable Christmas of my life," Kathryn said, leaning against him, "but it's turned out to be the greatest. Thank you."

Chakotay slipped his arm around her. "Thank you, Kathryn...for everything. But most of all for loving me."

Kathryn kissed his bare shoulder. "It's my privilege. And I'll never stop. You're in my heart forever."

SIX WEEKS LATER

Sitting up in a hospital bed, Kathryn cradled her new-born daughter. At Chakotay's persuasion, Hanara Shannon Janeway had been born by fetal transport half an hour earlier, and was now fast asleep in her mother's arms. Chakotay was sitting beside his wife, and he gazed at their baby in awe.

"She's so beautiful," he said. "So perfect."

"Except for her hair," Kathryn teased.

"I love her hair," Chakotay replied, tenderly stroking a bundle of red-fluff on the baby's head. "It's just like yours."

"Exactly," Kathryn laughed. "Our darling should have had your dark locks...genetics were on her side. "

"Janeway's aren't suppressed easily," Chakotay smiled. "And that goes for their genes too."

Kathryn looked up from her precious daughter into her husband's face. "I'm so happy, Chakotay."

"Me too," he said, tenderly brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face. "Just when I think I can't possibly be happier, I find that I am."

Kathryn smiled and then raised her lips to his in a tender kiss. When they drew away, the door opened and Gretchen and Phoebe came in with Adriena.

"Let me see my granddaughter," Gretchen said, hurrying over to the bed.

"And me my niece," Phoebe demanded.

Chakotay got to his feet and passed his baby-daughter from Kathryn's arms to Gretchen's. Hanara woke at the disturbance and began to cry.

"Oh bless my heart," Gretchen exclaimed when she saw the child's red curls. "She has the Janeway hair."

"Kathryn's nose too," Chaktotay smiled. "And her mouth."

"She sure is the image of you, sis," Phoebe remarked. "And I can see she's going to be a fiery one."

As her mother and sister fussed over the new-arrival, Kathryn noticed that Adriena was standing in the doorway, a haunting sadness in her eyes. Kindly, Kathryn held out her hand to the child.

"Come sit by me, darling, and say hello to your little sister."

Adriena's dull eyes lit up at Kathryn's attention, and she hurried over to the bed. When she reached it, she climbed onto it and snuggled up to her step-mother. Kathryn wrapped her arm around the little girl and kissed her dark hair. "Would you like to hold her?"

Adriena nodded and Kathryn smiled. "Then sit back and open your arms like this..." She showed the child how to position her arms, and Adriena dutifully copied. Kathryn then addressed her mother. "I'll have my daughter back now," she said. "There's a very important person she needs to meet."

Gretchen kissed her crying little granddaughter and passed her back to Kathryn.

"This is your big sister, Adriena," Kathryn said, carefully putting the baby in Adriena's arms. "She wants to say hello."

Adriena gazed at the baby in her arms and Hanara stopped crying in her big sister's relaxing embrace.

"Our Hanara clearly loves you," Kathryn told her.

Adriena smiled happily and kissed her little sister's forehead. "I love her too."

Phoebe reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a small camera. "Mom, Chakotay," she said. "Get in frame. Let's have a picture."

Gretchen and Chakotay did as she asked, and on the count of three, Phoebe took the first picture of the new Janeway family.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE