Home Sweet Home
The following story line is mine. Don't try to copy it cause I'll get mad
In a like vein, Star Trek: Voyager and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
AN: About 6 months later...so the kids are about one.
"It's a racket, B'Elanna, not a bat"
"What?"
"Backhand, not backhands" Deneb explained, sort of, and removed B'Elanna's left hand from the handle of her racket.
"Only use one arm" she demonstrated. B'Elanna growled.
"I've been playing racket ball since I was five and I swear I've never taught a more stubborn student!" Deneb exclaimed. They were in the holideck. She had conjured up a suitably old fashioned racket ball court to play in. It had become her "without the kids" pastime. With everyone having their place on the ship, there wasn't anyone extra to watch after the children on the ship. So that had become Deneb's job. She took them to all of her rehearsals and she took them on trips to the holideck and she made sure the older ones, of which there were only two, did their school work. She, however, did need some time off once in a while, so she had found a couple of people she trusted to watch her 'darling' children while she did some exercise. Katharine, of course, Chakotay, Kes and Tuvok were her babysitters. The first time she had left her children with Tuvok she had been slightly concerned. How well would an "emotionless" man take care of two human children? Still, Katharine had reminded her that Tuvok had children of his own and so she had followed through. Damia and Damian seemed to accept him as a babysitter and so their mother had also. Kes had actually asked if she might watch the children sometime. Deneb was informed that Kes would live only nine years and would not have any children. Deneb had taken pity and allowed the young woman to help out once in a while, and then whenever no one else was available, which happened rather often. Chakotay had simply fallen into the role after the first night, when she had fallen asleep in his arms after a particularly difficult day. He had come back the next night and cleaned her house for her, and then stayed around while she slept to take care of the kids. He and Katharine had taken turns until the twin's sleeping habits had settled down to something resembling normal. Deneb had found, despite herself, that she had made friends. One night she had been contemplating this, berating herself for being so careless, when Tom and Harry had shown up at her door with a deck of cards in their hand. She had smiled mischievously and decided to give up the fight. She knew it would hurt when it ended, but meanwhile she could make some memories to hold close in some dark and cold future.
Of the command crew, only B'Elanna was still held at a distance. She never performed in any of the plays or musical events Deneb arranged, and she was not a logical babysitter. They're association, therefore, had not grown for there was nothing for it to grow on. Tuvok was tutoring her in her meditive postures again, as well as babysitting, Katharine was firmly entrenched as the mother figure, the children responded best to Chakotay and he provided stimulating conversation for a knowledge starved Deneb and Tom and Harry worked very well as younger brothers to "play" with.
Today, however, Deneb had found herself in need of a racket ball partner. Harry and Tom were running some kind of tests, and Katharine, Chakotay and Tuvok were going over some new security procedures Tuvok had come up with. That had left only B'Elanna and Deneb had given her a "call". The bristly woman had agreed to play a game or two and they had met in the holideck.
"You call this exercise?" B'Elanna retorted to Deneb's prod, "I won't even break a sweat!" Deneb smiled, almost devilishly.
"Just try to keep up with me" she told the other woman and hit the ball.
Two hours later, they walked out of the holideck. B'Elanna was drenched in sweat. The back of her shirt was stuck to her skin and she reeked of an odd half human half Klingon body odor. She was breathing hard and wiping more sweat from her flushed face with a towel. She had finally ended up pulling her hair out of her face and tying it up as Deneb had done.
Deneb was slightly flushed.
"Still think it's a bad way to work out?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Remind me to show you my calisthenics program some day" B'Elanna replied. Deneb laughed.
"Go get cleaned up then come down to my quarters. I have the perfect after-racket-ball meal" B'Elanna nodded and headed off to take a cold shower. Deneb hurried back to her own quarters. Chakotay was supposed to have taken over from Kes after his meeting.
"Hey, how're they?" she asked quietly upon entering. She didn't hear any screaming.
"They're sleeping"
"You're kidding!" Deneb exclaimed, even quieter this time, throwing her equipment on the couch.
"Ko, I don't know how you do it!" she continued, getting some water from the replicator, "You know you're the only one they'll nap for. They didn't take to anyone else so quickly" Deneb remembered that it had taken a couple of tries for them to accept both Katharine and Kes when their mother was away.
"Ko?" Chakotay repeated, completely ignoring the rest of her comment. She looked up at him, startled out of her thoughts.
"Oh. Do you mind? It's a nickname, it just kind of slipped out. It probably will again, unless you don't like it. Do you know you're the only one with a name that doesn't roll off of your tongue? Compare, Harry and Chakotay. Katharine and Chakotay. Neelix and Chakotay. Tuvok and Chakotay. I mean, really" She was rambling. He had noticed that she did that when she was comfortable. She subjected her friends to a running inner monologue.
"I suppose I don't care" he answered carefully, still not really sure if he did or not, "I've never had a nickname before" Deneb acknowledged this with a nod and headed for the bathroom.
"Do you want to stay for lunch?" she asked, "B'Elanna's coming over"
"B'Elanna?" Chakotay asked, surprised. He turned toward the replicator, pretending to study the panel. He couldn't actually see Deneb undressing, but the sound of the shower reminded him that she was. She didn't reply immediately, not wanting to wake the kids, but she was a quick showerer and was fully dressed and toweling her hair off eight minutes later when she told them about her trip to the holideck with B'Elanna.
"You've made yourself another friend" he told her, helping her put all the food on the table. She scrunched up her nose.
"I know. I decided to give up trying to fight it" she answered, "It's too much work and Damia and Damian take up too much energy" Chakotay smiled.
"Good" he said, just as the door chimed to let them know B'Elanna had arrived.
"Hey! Shhh! The kids are actually sleeping, thanks to Chakotay" Deneb greeted her. B'Elanna looked suspiciously at the food laid out.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Carbs!" Deneb replied happily, taking a seat, "There's spaghetti and fettuccini alfredo, bread and garlic mashed potatoes. But you're half Klingon, so I suppose you need to replenish some proteins too, so there's steak too" B'Elanna gave Chakotay a look. Chakotay shrugged. They had all thought the woman's strange eating habits had been due to her pregnancy. They'd been proven wrong.
"I'm starved" he said and sat down. B'Elanna sat, and reached for the steak.
In a like vein, Star Trek: Voyager and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
AN: About 6 months later...so the kids are about one.
"It's a racket, B'Elanna, not a bat"
"What?"
"Backhand, not backhands" Deneb explained, sort of, and removed B'Elanna's left hand from the handle of her racket.
"Only use one arm" she demonstrated. B'Elanna growled.
"I've been playing racket ball since I was five and I swear I've never taught a more stubborn student!" Deneb exclaimed. They were in the holideck. She had conjured up a suitably old fashioned racket ball court to play in. It had become her "without the kids" pastime. With everyone having their place on the ship, there wasn't anyone extra to watch after the children on the ship. So that had become Deneb's job. She took them to all of her rehearsals and she took them on trips to the holideck and she made sure the older ones, of which there were only two, did their school work. She, however, did need some time off once in a while, so she had found a couple of people she trusted to watch her 'darling' children while she did some exercise. Katharine, of course, Chakotay, Kes and Tuvok were her babysitters. The first time she had left her children with Tuvok she had been slightly concerned. How well would an "emotionless" man take care of two human children? Still, Katharine had reminded her that Tuvok had children of his own and so she had followed through. Damia and Damian seemed to accept him as a babysitter and so their mother had also. Kes had actually asked if she might watch the children sometime. Deneb was informed that Kes would live only nine years and would not have any children. Deneb had taken pity and allowed the young woman to help out once in a while, and then whenever no one else was available, which happened rather often. Chakotay had simply fallen into the role after the first night, when she had fallen asleep in his arms after a particularly difficult day. He had come back the next night and cleaned her house for her, and then stayed around while she slept to take care of the kids. He and Katharine had taken turns until the twin's sleeping habits had settled down to something resembling normal. Deneb had found, despite herself, that she had made friends. One night she had been contemplating this, berating herself for being so careless, when Tom and Harry had shown up at her door with a deck of cards in their hand. She had smiled mischievously and decided to give up the fight. She knew it would hurt when it ended, but meanwhile she could make some memories to hold close in some dark and cold future.
Of the command crew, only B'Elanna was still held at a distance. She never performed in any of the plays or musical events Deneb arranged, and she was not a logical babysitter. They're association, therefore, had not grown for there was nothing for it to grow on. Tuvok was tutoring her in her meditive postures again, as well as babysitting, Katharine was firmly entrenched as the mother figure, the children responded best to Chakotay and he provided stimulating conversation for a knowledge starved Deneb and Tom and Harry worked very well as younger brothers to "play" with.
Today, however, Deneb had found herself in need of a racket ball partner. Harry and Tom were running some kind of tests, and Katharine, Chakotay and Tuvok were going over some new security procedures Tuvok had come up with. That had left only B'Elanna and Deneb had given her a "call". The bristly woman had agreed to play a game or two and they had met in the holideck.
"You call this exercise?" B'Elanna retorted to Deneb's prod, "I won't even break a sweat!" Deneb smiled, almost devilishly.
"Just try to keep up with me" she told the other woman and hit the ball.
Two hours later, they walked out of the holideck. B'Elanna was drenched in sweat. The back of her shirt was stuck to her skin and she reeked of an odd half human half Klingon body odor. She was breathing hard and wiping more sweat from her flushed face with a towel. She had finally ended up pulling her hair out of her face and tying it up as Deneb had done.
Deneb was slightly flushed.
"Still think it's a bad way to work out?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Remind me to show you my calisthenics program some day" B'Elanna replied. Deneb laughed.
"Go get cleaned up then come down to my quarters. I have the perfect after-racket-ball meal" B'Elanna nodded and headed off to take a cold shower. Deneb hurried back to her own quarters. Chakotay was supposed to have taken over from Kes after his meeting.
"Hey, how're they?" she asked quietly upon entering. She didn't hear any screaming.
"They're sleeping"
"You're kidding!" Deneb exclaimed, even quieter this time, throwing her equipment on the couch.
"Ko, I don't know how you do it!" she continued, getting some water from the replicator, "You know you're the only one they'll nap for. They didn't take to anyone else so quickly" Deneb remembered that it had taken a couple of tries for them to accept both Katharine and Kes when their mother was away.
"Ko?" Chakotay repeated, completely ignoring the rest of her comment. She looked up at him, startled out of her thoughts.
"Oh. Do you mind? It's a nickname, it just kind of slipped out. It probably will again, unless you don't like it. Do you know you're the only one with a name that doesn't roll off of your tongue? Compare, Harry and Chakotay. Katharine and Chakotay. Neelix and Chakotay. Tuvok and Chakotay. I mean, really" She was rambling. He had noticed that she did that when she was comfortable. She subjected her friends to a running inner monologue.
"I suppose I don't care" he answered carefully, still not really sure if he did or not, "I've never had a nickname before" Deneb acknowledged this with a nod and headed for the bathroom.
"Do you want to stay for lunch?" she asked, "B'Elanna's coming over"
"B'Elanna?" Chakotay asked, surprised. He turned toward the replicator, pretending to study the panel. He couldn't actually see Deneb undressing, but the sound of the shower reminded him that she was. She didn't reply immediately, not wanting to wake the kids, but she was a quick showerer and was fully dressed and toweling her hair off eight minutes later when she told them about her trip to the holideck with B'Elanna.
"You've made yourself another friend" he told her, helping her put all the food on the table. She scrunched up her nose.
"I know. I decided to give up trying to fight it" she answered, "It's too much work and Damia and Damian take up too much energy" Chakotay smiled.
"Good" he said, just as the door chimed to let them know B'Elanna had arrived.
"Hey! Shhh! The kids are actually sleeping, thanks to Chakotay" Deneb greeted her. B'Elanna looked suspiciously at the food laid out.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Carbs!" Deneb replied happily, taking a seat, "There's spaghetti and fettuccini alfredo, bread and garlic mashed potatoes. But you're half Klingon, so I suppose you need to replenish some proteins too, so there's steak too" B'Elanna gave Chakotay a look. Chakotay shrugged. They had all thought the woman's strange eating habits had been due to her pregnancy. They'd been proven wrong.
"I'm starved" he said and sat down. B'Elanna sat, and reached for the steak.