AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
There's a two/three day time jump, but nothing major.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Nobody was going to complain when they faced nothing but clear skies following their encounter with the Kazons. Kathryn was certainly happy for the lull. For a few days, it allowed everyone to pay attention to repairs that needed to be made and to get rest that everyone greatly deserved. Kathryn spent a good deal of time catching up on reading that she'd been meaning to do and making sure her logs were up to date.
Chakotay had spent most of his time off the bridge and Kathryn had allowed him all the time and space that he needed. He did rounds occasionally checking on things around the ship and he was always available via combadge, but there was simply no need to have the both of them always present on the bridge.
She assumed that he needed time to think. He needed some time to himself. And she was more than willing to allow him whatever he needed. She didn't take it to heart.
She did find it a little odd, though, when one evening Chakotay asked her to meet him in their quarters instead of going to the mess hall to meet him for their evening meal. She was starving and bordering on growing grumpy about it, but she diverted her steps and went to meet him instead of going to eat.
"Chakotay?" Kathryn asked, coming through the doors of their quarters. He was standing and waiting for her. Instead of being dressed in his uniform to go to dinner, he was wearing a simple button down shirt and pants. "What's going on?"
He smiled at her.
"I thought you might like to spend some time with me," Chakotay said. "Just—relaxing."
Kathryn smiled. He offered her a hand and she took it. She let him pull her to him and she gladly accepted the kiss that he offered her.
"I would love to spend time with you," Kathryn said, placing her hands on his chest to feel the warmth of him beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. "But—if that's not going to involve something to eat? You're going to have to talk to your child because I'm starving. I really am. And—I would skip the meal, but if I get too hungry then I'm going to get sick again and you're probably not going to find that very attractive."
Chakotay laughed to himself.
"It absolutely involves food," Chakotay said. "I know you need to eat. And it involves both of us having the night off. I've already taken care of everything. The only thing you need to do is change your clothes and come with me. I put something on the bed for you."
Kathryn made her way to the bed. Folded there was a simple cotton dress in a faded red color. It was lovely. It was soft to the touch and Kathryn wasted no time working her way out of her uniform, fully aware that Chakotay was watching the show.
"Are we eating in here?" Kathryn asked.
"No," Chakotay said.
"Where then?" Kathryn asked. "Since we're not in uniform."
"Just get dressed," Chakotay said. "We're not on duty. We're free to be civilians for the time being."
Kathryn didn't argue with him. She slipped into the dress and slipped on the comfortable shoes that he'd put out for her. They were roomy enough that she considered keeping them, rather than recycling them later, so that she could wear them whenever she was lounging around their quarters.
"I'm dressed," Kathryn said. "You picked it out, do you like it?"
"I love everything on you," Chakotay said. "But it's a nice color. I've seen you wear it before. At least, I've seen you wear something similar. Are you ready?"
Kathryn nodded her head and she stepped forward when he offered his arm to her. She looped her arm in his.
"I don't get any sort of hint?" Kathryn asked.
"You'll get all the hint you want," Chakotay assured her. "Just as soon as we get there."
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Kathryn couldn't help but smile to herself as Chakotay held his hands over her eyes. She walked carefully forward, a little reluctant to take one step after another.
"I'm not going to trip over anything?" She asked.
"I wouldn't let you fall, Kathryn," Chakotay informed her.
"I know you would never let me fall on purpose," Kathryn said, "but I might trip over my feet."
"There's nothing to trip over right now," Chakotay said. "Just walk straight forward. A few more steps. Keep your eyes closed."
Chakotay dropped his hands from Kathryn's eyes and turned her around. She felt him holding her by the upper part of her arms and she smiled at him, sure that he was looking at her because she could practically feel his eyes on her.
"I want you to remember that—it might not be perfect," Chakotay said. "And it's not entirely finished yet."
"I don't even know what it is," Kathryn said, bringing her hands up to rest on his arms. "But I know it'll be perfect."
Chakotay pulled away from her and turned her body just a little more.
"Open your eyes, Kathryn," he commanded.
Kathryn looked around her, immediately overwhelmed.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. There were birds singing and there was the rustling of something moving around in a small wooded area nearby. The most beautiful thing that Kathryn saw, though, was a simple cabin. In front of it, in the grassy area nearby, there was a picnic blanket that was spread out with food.
"Chakotay," Kathryn breathed out.
"I couldn't recreate it exactly," Chakotay said. "But I asked B'Elanna to help me with the programming of the cabin. It's almost exactly what ours would have been. I furnished it. Simply. A lot like it would have been on New Earth."
Kathryn felt like she was practically choking. She felt warm tears rolling down her cheeks and she turned around to face him.
"Chakotay," was all she managed to get out before he'd wrapped his arms around her and hugged her against him. She rubbed her face against his chest and he rubbed her back with his hand.
"Maybe I didn't quite do what I set out to do," Chakotay said. "Because I absolutely didn't set out to make you cry. I thought it would be a nice holoprogram for the two of us to share. You said you have trouble relaxing because you're on the ship. You're the captain and you're always aware of that. I understood, or at least I thought I did, exactly what you were talking about. I thought this could be a place where we could go and relax."
"I'm crying because—it's perfect," Kathryn said. "That's our house."
Chakotay smiled to himself.
"It's a pretty close holographic version of our house," Chakotay said. "Your garden is over there, too. Just around there. So you can tend to your sprouts and—hum to them. Whatever it was you did to make them grow so well. It's not done yet. There's plenty more to add, but I thought that maybe I could add a bath tub. If you're interested in that. You don't have to decide right away."
Kathryn slipped her hands behind Chakotay's neck and pulled him to her for a kiss. He readily came, not making her do anything more to request it. He returned her kiss, too. He smiled at her when he pulled away from her.
"Am I to assume this means you like it?" Chakotay asked.
"I love it," Kathryn said. "And I love you—so much. Chakotay, I..."
She broke off and Chakotay laughed to himself.
"You don't have to say anything else," Chakotay said. "The look on your face means more than anything you could say. Come on, Kathryn. I replicated this food just before you came to our quarters, but we should eat it before it's had too long to sit here."
Chakotay gestured toward the picnic that was laid out and Kathryn took his hand when he offered it to her to support her while she sat down on the ground and folded her legs under her. He joined her, sitting on the blanket, before he handed her a mug of soup and a plate with a sandwich on it.
"The best thing about eating here is we can replicate whatever we want," Chakotay said. "No faulty replicators like ours."
Kathryn laughed to herself.
"Is this—chicken soup?" She asked.
"It was the closest thing I could find to the soup that I made for you," Chakotay said. "And I remembered you talking about liking soup and—you said peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When you were little. I thought you might like to combine a few nostalgic moments." Kathryn couldn't help but laugh when her stomach growled at the suggestion and Chakotay laughed too. "Apparently the baby supports my idea."
"I have to admit, Chakotay, it looks delicious, but I'm torn between not knowing if I want to eat first or if I—want to tear your clothes off make love to you right here on the grass."
Kathryn saw a rush of color come to Chakotay's face. As though they hadn't made love countless times and in countless ways, the suggestion made his cheeks change their hue. He smiled at her, though.
"I want you to eat your food, first," Chakotay said. "I thought—I had a plan for how this night would go."
"I'd love to hear it," Kathryn said, already sure that she'd do anything in her power to make sure that Chakotay's evening went as he desired.
"I asked for the night off—no disturbances unless there was an emergency," Chakotay said. "And I thought we could have a nice dinner. I thought, afterwards, we could take a little tour of the house. I could show you what I dreamed it would look like for us. I thought we might—relax. Make love in the bed that I would have built for us. Spend the night there. We're not on duty until after breakfast."
"Sleep on the holodeck?" Kathryn asked.
"Why not?" Chakotay asked. "That's what the program was designed for. I wanted you to have a place, Kathryn, where you can go and just let it all go. We'll build this to be our own little paradise."
"Our home away from home?" Kathryn teased.
"Exactly," Chakotay confirmed. "You needed somewhere to relax and, well, I've got a pretty good feeling that I'm going to enjoy it, too."
Chakotay set about eating his own food, reminding Kathryn to eat hers.
"What did you decide to have?" Kathryn asked.
Chakotay hummed.
"A vegetable soup with one of your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Chakotay said. "I have to admit, it's not bad."
"It's comforting," Kathryn said around a mouthful of the comfort food. "You built us a bed?"
"I always intended to build us a bed," Chakotay said. "Something nicer than what we had. A nicer table. I was able to design all of that for the program in a lot less time than it would have taken me to build it."
Kathryn looked around her.
"The worst part about it, Chakotay, is that I'm never going to be able to give you anything that's going to impress you. You set the bar too high. I'm not creative enough to come up with something to top this."
"I've got everything I need," Chakotay assured her. "You married me. I have you. Forever."
Kathryn rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't help but smile. Her face ached a little over how much time she'd spent smiling. He could do that to her most any day, though. It was a sensation that he was teaching her to consider familiar.
"That doesn't count," Kathryn said. "There has to be something you want. Something—special."
Chakotay swallowed through half his sandwich in one bite and washed it down with some of his soup before he wiped his mouth on his napkin and leaned forward, toward Kathryn.
"Kathryn," he said, his features void of any sign that he was joking and his tone steady and serious, "you are—the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. Loving you? It gives me a something to look forward to when I get out of bed every morning. You are dedicating yourself to being the mother of my child—maybe even my children, depending on what the future holds. And you're taking on everything that comes with that. That's the greatest gift that you could give me. So, if you think about it that way? It really makes designing a holoprogram where you can get a good nap and...and support the growth of our child...a really simple and not very extraordinary thing to do."
"Let's just get one thing straight," Kathryn said. "I think everything you do is extraordinary, Chakotay. I don't want to hear you call it otherwise."
Chakotay smiled at her. He nodded his head.
"Fine. Eat your food," Chakotay said. "I want to show you the house."
