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.
"I need to talk to you" Katharine looked up from her work. Deneb looked distraught, which was only slightly unusual. She paced into the room and flopped on the couch. Then she got up and paced in front of it.
"He asked me to marry him" she said. There was no need to ask who.
"What did you say?" Deneb snorted.
"What the hell could I say? I told him I needed time to think about it!" She stopped pacing, rolled her eyes and flopped back on the couch. She sighed and it seemed to shake her entire being. She dropped her head into her hands and rested her elbows on her knees.
"I just don't want to rush into it again" she admitted. She closed her eyes and shook her head a little. "Jim and I only dated for about three months before we got married. I was so young. Barely 18" This was the first time she had ever mentioned her age. Katharine did some quick calculations.
"Are you so much older now?" she asked. Deneb smiled at the floor and straightened up a bit.
"Raising two children tends to make one age a bit" she said.
"True." Katharine agreed, "But you're still young, aren't you?" Deneb sighed again, completely perplexed.
"Yes. I'm still young" She was silent for a moment.
"That's not what's bothering you though, is it?" she said. Deneb shook her head.
"I'm what? Twenty two now? And he's at least a couple decades older than me, but...that's never quite mattered. I mean...I don't know"
"I do" Katharine told her with a small nod to assure her.
"Well good. At least one of us understands what's going on inside my head" Deneb said with her usual buoyancy, "But you're right it's not that. It's..."
"You're afraid you're going to hop again" Katharine finished the sentence. Deneb nodded.
"I mean, is that so wrong? Lately I've been wondering. It's been so long, it's almost like a dream. But in the back of my mind, in the back of my heart, I know. I know it wasn't and I know it could happen again any time. I don't know if I could go through losing another husband. And what about the kids?"
"What about them?" Katharine realized she was being used as a sounding board for Deneb's doubts. But what were mothers for?
"How're they going to feel when we get ripped away?"
"And if they don't go with you?" Deneb snapped her head up and stared at Katharine. The idea was shocking in her mind. No being in the universe would be so cruel as to separate her from her children! But she knew it was possible.
"If you marry Chakotay, they'll have a legal father here. They'll be protected, and they'll have someone to care for them. Someone who loves them and will keep you alive for them, I might add" Katharine told her.
"And if they do come with me?" Deneb wanted to know. Katharine shrugged.
"They'll feel pain, just as you will. But he'll be a good father to them while he can, and they'll appreciate that when they're a bit older. They'll have someone to remember and cherish in their memories. And they won't feel as if they never had a father" Deneb took all of this in and realized it was true. Katharine looked at her.
"You're still not sure, are you?"
"It's just...very hard to put myself in that situation again" Deneb admitted. Katharine took another tact.
"Were you happy with Jim?"
"Of course. Very, in fact" Deneb answered immediately.
"And are you sorry that you loved him, sorry that you married him, now that you've faced the pain of separation?" Katharine asked.
"No" Deneb answered, although she seemed a little surprised herself.
"Do you love Chakotay?"
"Yes. Very much" Deneb answered softly.
"Love is worth all the risk, Deneb" Katharine told her just as softly. The girl looked at her. And smiled.
Later.
"Hey" Chakotay swallowed. Deneb was standing outside of his door, smiling hesitantly in her jeans and t-shirt.
"Hi" he replied and moved back so she could come in. What news was he about to get? He subconsciously prepared his heart for a tragic demise.
"I thought. And I talked. And I thought some more" she started, "The truth is I'm terrified out of my mind. I was only eighteen the first time I got married Chakotay and that all happened so fast. And I was deliriously happy for a while, until it all got taken away from me" He got the feeling he was just supposed to listen, so that's what he did. He couldn't tell where she was going with this.
"I'm still pretty young. Twenty-two, just. And there are so many other things to think about! My kids and how they'd take it, what will happen to them if we hop, if they don't and I do. And if we don't what happens when we get back to Alpha quadrant? Will you be tried as a criminal and imprisoned? Could I handle that? But could I make it by myself in that world if you don't? And if we don't get back, what kind of life is wandering around uncharted space for children? I'm swamped with questions that I don't have answers to" She paused. She had delivered the whole speech without actually looking at him. She did that now. She stood right in front of him and looked into his eyes. He took a breath and held it.
"But the truth is that I love you. So it's worth the risk"
He almost didn't understand. He almost started to say "I understand" when his brain stopped him and told him that she'd just said yes, amid all those contradicting words. It took a full second for him to comprehend that.
And then he crushed his lips down on hers. She kissed him back and he could almost taste his happiness.
In a like vein, Star Trek: Voyager and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
"I need to talk to you" Katharine looked up from her work. Deneb looked distraught, which was only slightly unusual. She paced into the room and flopped on the couch. Then she got up and paced in front of it.
"He asked me to marry him" she said. There was no need to ask who.
"What did you say?" Deneb snorted.
"What the hell could I say? I told him I needed time to think about it!" She stopped pacing, rolled her eyes and flopped back on the couch. She sighed and it seemed to shake her entire being. She dropped her head into her hands and rested her elbows on her knees.
"I just don't want to rush into it again" she admitted. She closed her eyes and shook her head a little. "Jim and I only dated for about three months before we got married. I was so young. Barely 18" This was the first time she had ever mentioned her age. Katharine did some quick calculations.
"Are you so much older now?" she asked. Deneb smiled at the floor and straightened up a bit.
"Raising two children tends to make one age a bit" she said.
"True." Katharine agreed, "But you're still young, aren't you?" Deneb sighed again, completely perplexed.
"Yes. I'm still young" She was silent for a moment.
"That's not what's bothering you though, is it?" she said. Deneb shook her head.
"I'm what? Twenty two now? And he's at least a couple decades older than me, but...that's never quite mattered. I mean...I don't know"
"I do" Katharine told her with a small nod to assure her.
"Well good. At least one of us understands what's going on inside my head" Deneb said with her usual buoyancy, "But you're right it's not that. It's..."
"You're afraid you're going to hop again" Katharine finished the sentence. Deneb nodded.
"I mean, is that so wrong? Lately I've been wondering. It's been so long, it's almost like a dream. But in the back of my mind, in the back of my heart, I know. I know it wasn't and I know it could happen again any time. I don't know if I could go through losing another husband. And what about the kids?"
"What about them?" Katharine realized she was being used as a sounding board for Deneb's doubts. But what were mothers for?
"How're they going to feel when we get ripped away?"
"And if they don't go with you?" Deneb snapped her head up and stared at Katharine. The idea was shocking in her mind. No being in the universe would be so cruel as to separate her from her children! But she knew it was possible.
"If you marry Chakotay, they'll have a legal father here. They'll be protected, and they'll have someone to care for them. Someone who loves them and will keep you alive for them, I might add" Katharine told her.
"And if they do come with me?" Deneb wanted to know. Katharine shrugged.
"They'll feel pain, just as you will. But he'll be a good father to them while he can, and they'll appreciate that when they're a bit older. They'll have someone to remember and cherish in their memories. And they won't feel as if they never had a father" Deneb took all of this in and realized it was true. Katharine looked at her.
"You're still not sure, are you?"
"It's just...very hard to put myself in that situation again" Deneb admitted. Katharine took another tact.
"Were you happy with Jim?"
"Of course. Very, in fact" Deneb answered immediately.
"And are you sorry that you loved him, sorry that you married him, now that you've faced the pain of separation?" Katharine asked.
"No" Deneb answered, although she seemed a little surprised herself.
"Do you love Chakotay?"
"Yes. Very much" Deneb answered softly.
"Love is worth all the risk, Deneb" Katharine told her just as softly. The girl looked at her. And smiled.
Later.
"Hey" Chakotay swallowed. Deneb was standing outside of his door, smiling hesitantly in her jeans and t-shirt.
"Hi" he replied and moved back so she could come in. What news was he about to get? He subconsciously prepared his heart for a tragic demise.
"I thought. And I talked. And I thought some more" she started, "The truth is I'm terrified out of my mind. I was only eighteen the first time I got married Chakotay and that all happened so fast. And I was deliriously happy for a while, until it all got taken away from me" He got the feeling he was just supposed to listen, so that's what he did. He couldn't tell where she was going with this.
"I'm still pretty young. Twenty-two, just. And there are so many other things to think about! My kids and how they'd take it, what will happen to them if we hop, if they don't and I do. And if we don't what happens when we get back to Alpha quadrant? Will you be tried as a criminal and imprisoned? Could I handle that? But could I make it by myself in that world if you don't? And if we don't get back, what kind of life is wandering around uncharted space for children? I'm swamped with questions that I don't have answers to" She paused. She had delivered the whole speech without actually looking at him. She did that now. She stood right in front of him and looked into his eyes. He took a breath and held it.
"But the truth is that I love you. So it's worth the risk"
He almost didn't understand. He almost started to say "I understand" when his brain stopped him and told him that she'd just said yes, amid all those contradicting words. It took a full second for him to comprehend that.
And then he crushed his lips down on hers. She kissed him back and he could almost taste his happiness.