Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager belongs to Paramount Pictures.
~*~
Chapter 2: Betting pool
Hotel, San Francisco, August 14th 2379 (I think)
Chakotay entered the room, looking over at Kathryn. She was sitting on the bed going through a pile of pads, briefly she looked up at him and smiled before returning to what she was reading. "You're not still working," Chakotay sighed unbuttoning his shirt.
Kathryn let out an exasperated groan and nodded, "yes," she admitted, "I should have gotten these done before we left, but I forgot about them," she shrugged, and returned to reading.
"It's not like you to forget," Chakotay was now down to his underpants and looking for a T-shirt.
She laughed lightly and gave him a quirky grin, "you should have seen what I was like while I was pregnant with Tad."
He pulled a shirt over his head, and crawled across the bed to sit beside Kathryn, "does it get any better?" he asked placing his hand gently on her pregnant abdomen.
"No, and this is only the beginning of the third trimester," she teased.
He beamed widely at her, before sliding himself down the bed and lying on his side, placing his arm across her legs. "Thought any more about what I said?" he asked.
She felt his warm breath in her side, but didn't put down the pad, or take her eyes from it. "No," she said distantly and he was beginning to think that she wasn't listening.
"Kathryn," he said a little more firmly.
"I'm listening," she said a little agitatedly.
"So you haven't thought about what I said?"
"No. What? Oh, yes," she let out a sharp breath and put the pad that she was reading on the table by her bed.
"So?" he propped himself up on his elbow.
Kathryn avoided his eyes and picked up the pile of pads on the bed, placing them also on the table. "I thought about it, and decided that it's a bad idea," she said quickly, and encryptedly.
"A bad idea why?" he was quite prepared to keep this conversation going for as long as it had to.
She looked down at him on the bed meeting his eyes, and gave up, this was why she had never become intimate with him on voyager; one look and he had her. "It's just that things are fine the way that they are, at the moment" she tried to explain, "can't we just keep them like that? For the time being anyway."
He looked away from her and lay on his back, folding his arms across his chest, "fine," he said, mock sulking. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he tilted his head back to look up at her, and studied her face. "I do love you, you know."
She smiled, "I know that," then paused, "it's just that I've had so many past relationships that have ended badly after taking the relationship onto another level, and I'm a little reluctant to do that with us."
He sat up, and looked at her square in the face, "I'm not Raphael," he stated, "and I'm not going to give up with you the moment that it gets tough. I'm not your first officer, and people are not going to gossip if we start living together," he paused and a quirky grin spread across his face, "and if you get lost in some quadrant, I'll give you at least two weeks before I start dating again. A month maximum. Nah, three."
He was cut off by Kathryn kissing him, preventing him from digging himself into a whole. She pulled away from him, her fingers running through his hair, "that's more time than I would give you," she returned the joke, and they both laughed.
"We're practically living together already," he leaned against the headboard, "and we'll probably spend more time together when the baby comes, so why not just move in together now?" he put his arm around Kathryn and kissed the top of her head.
"I guess," she said slowly, "but we'd have to stay in San Francisco," she began to set boundaries, not that he minded, he was just happy she was agreeing to move in with him.
They hadn't gotten back to the hotel room until very early in the morning, or very late at night (depending on how you looked at it), because the reunion dinner had gone on so late. They had spent the first hour of the evening talking to numerous admirals and captains that had been invited to attend. Chakotay didn't mind being the charming boyfriend at such events, but his mind was constantly on meeting up with the former voyager crew, and finding out what they had been up to.
Eventually they had gone round the dining hall, speaking to each former Voyager member and meeting their families and friends. Kathryn had been a little wary about speaking to them, as it was the first time that she had seen many of them in a year, and she wasn't sure of what their reactions would be towards her's Chakotay's relationship. But it had gone well, they had been very pleased for the couple, and the child that they were expecting. A few of their old crew had even told them that it was about time, and they were both convinced that there had been some sort of betting pool as they had often been asked specific questions about when they had first gotten together.
Chakotay had tried insisting that Kathryn sit down, and take a rest, but she was too set in the idea that she had to take time to speak to everyone. Seeing as such an event would not happen for some time, he didn't object to her staying longer than she really needed to either, but he was going to make his objections to her returning to work the next morning very clear.
"Chakotay are you asleep?" Kathryn gently shook his shoulder.
"Not anymore," he turned over onto his side and faced her. "Is there something wrong?" he hadn't been properly asleep but had been on the verge of dreaming, and so was a little groggy.
"No," she dismissed, "I was just thinking."
"Can't you think in the morning?"
"Chakotay!" she exclaimed a little impatiently.
"Okay, okay," he reluctantly sat up, and turned the bedside lamp on, if she wanted to talk to him at three in the morning then they might as well talk properly. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I was thinking of names for the baby," said Kathryn lying on her back.
"Is that it?" he frowned.
"You make it sound like it's not important," she knew that he was tired and just didn't feel like talking, but she knew an accusation would wake him up properly.
"I didn't mean it like that," he began to defend himself, but she smiled knowing that she had achieved waking him up. "So what names have you thought of?" he relaxed having been properly woken up.
"None," he looked sharply at her, beginning to think that she had woken him up for no reason, "I thought that maybe you'd prefer it if we didn't name our child."
He looked at her confused, "why wouldn't we give our child a name?" he was tired maybe he had misheard.
She gave him an exasperated look, "I thought that maybe you'd prefer your tribe elder to name the baby," she suggested.
Chakotay smiled, although she had very little interest in religion, or traditions, she was very supportive and tolerant when it came to other people's religions and traditions. "Have you heard some of the names he gives children?" he sniggered.
"Don't say that just to please me Chakotay," she scolded, "I know how much all of these things mean to you, I want our children to be brought up with full knowledge of your traditions."
"Children?" he smiled at her slip.
"I'm tired," she excused herself.
"Not that tired," he pointed out.
Kathryn was becoming a little annoyed, "I love you Chakotay, but this is the first and last child that I'm having with you."
"So who do you have in mind to father your forth child then?" he teased.
She looked across at him and glared, "I'm sorry," her tone sarcastic, "I thought that you wanted to sleep in this bed."
Chakotay held his palms up defensively, "okay, okay," he retreated, "just the one child then," and under his breath, but purposely loud enough for her to hear, "and the triplets."
She chose to ignore him, "you're not taking me seriously!"
"I am," he laughed. "Look, these things are important to me, but he does chose seriously bad names, how about we ask him to give our baby his or her second name," he suggested.
Kathryn nodded, "okay," she grinned, "you can go back to sleep now."
As it turned out Chakotay was awake for another few hours as Kathryn went straight back to sleep. Typical, he thought to himself, a while before he did actually fall asleep himself.
~*~
Even Obi shuddered as he entered the room, he was rarely afraid of anything, but this terrified him. It was an unusual feeling when being in the room with her, it was like you were no longer sure if you were alive or not, and many found that they could not handle her presence and broke down crying. Others that did not break down were usually a little depressed for some days after, and those that she touched rarely recovered.
"I don't understand," Obi looked around the dark room, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but he knew she would never let him see her, although he kept trying.
"You want to?" again her voice was flat.
Obi frowned still not understanding what she was on about, "yes, I want to understand," he said a little uncertainly. He found, as always, it was impossible to locate her from the direction her voice came, as there was no direction.
"And you want my help?" although there was no direction, her voice came from every direction, but never raised in volume.
"Yes," Obi stopped looking, the conversation was making no sense.
"You know that he knows, and I know that he knows, but he doesn't know himself that he knows." Her words seemed to circle and still made no sense to him.
"Who?" Obi asked, but she had left already, and so had not heard what he asked, or didn't seem to care that he had asked a question and so did not answer.
Left in the dark, alone, he made his way back towards the door. He had no problem finding his way out, as he was used to the dark, he liked the dark. As he re-entered the room with enough light for those that were not used to the light's absence to see, he realised what she had said, and it all made perfect sense to him.
~*~
End of Chapter 2
~*~
Chapter 2: Betting pool
Hotel, San Francisco, August 14th 2379 (I think)
Chakotay entered the room, looking over at Kathryn. She was sitting on the bed going through a pile of pads, briefly she looked up at him and smiled before returning to what she was reading. "You're not still working," Chakotay sighed unbuttoning his shirt.
Kathryn let out an exasperated groan and nodded, "yes," she admitted, "I should have gotten these done before we left, but I forgot about them," she shrugged, and returned to reading.
"It's not like you to forget," Chakotay was now down to his underpants and looking for a T-shirt.
She laughed lightly and gave him a quirky grin, "you should have seen what I was like while I was pregnant with Tad."
He pulled a shirt over his head, and crawled across the bed to sit beside Kathryn, "does it get any better?" he asked placing his hand gently on her pregnant abdomen.
"No, and this is only the beginning of the third trimester," she teased.
He beamed widely at her, before sliding himself down the bed and lying on his side, placing his arm across her legs. "Thought any more about what I said?" he asked.
She felt his warm breath in her side, but didn't put down the pad, or take her eyes from it. "No," she said distantly and he was beginning to think that she wasn't listening.
"Kathryn," he said a little more firmly.
"I'm listening," she said a little agitatedly.
"So you haven't thought about what I said?"
"No. What? Oh, yes," she let out a sharp breath and put the pad that she was reading on the table by her bed.
"So?" he propped himself up on his elbow.
Kathryn avoided his eyes and picked up the pile of pads on the bed, placing them also on the table. "I thought about it, and decided that it's a bad idea," she said quickly, and encryptedly.
"A bad idea why?" he was quite prepared to keep this conversation going for as long as it had to.
She looked down at him on the bed meeting his eyes, and gave up, this was why she had never become intimate with him on voyager; one look and he had her. "It's just that things are fine the way that they are, at the moment" she tried to explain, "can't we just keep them like that? For the time being anyway."
He looked away from her and lay on his back, folding his arms across his chest, "fine," he said, mock sulking. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he tilted his head back to look up at her, and studied her face. "I do love you, you know."
She smiled, "I know that," then paused, "it's just that I've had so many past relationships that have ended badly after taking the relationship onto another level, and I'm a little reluctant to do that with us."
He sat up, and looked at her square in the face, "I'm not Raphael," he stated, "and I'm not going to give up with you the moment that it gets tough. I'm not your first officer, and people are not going to gossip if we start living together," he paused and a quirky grin spread across his face, "and if you get lost in some quadrant, I'll give you at least two weeks before I start dating again. A month maximum. Nah, three."
He was cut off by Kathryn kissing him, preventing him from digging himself into a whole. She pulled away from him, her fingers running through his hair, "that's more time than I would give you," she returned the joke, and they both laughed.
"We're practically living together already," he leaned against the headboard, "and we'll probably spend more time together when the baby comes, so why not just move in together now?" he put his arm around Kathryn and kissed the top of her head.
"I guess," she said slowly, "but we'd have to stay in San Francisco," she began to set boundaries, not that he minded, he was just happy she was agreeing to move in with him.
They hadn't gotten back to the hotel room until very early in the morning, or very late at night (depending on how you looked at it), because the reunion dinner had gone on so late. They had spent the first hour of the evening talking to numerous admirals and captains that had been invited to attend. Chakotay didn't mind being the charming boyfriend at such events, but his mind was constantly on meeting up with the former voyager crew, and finding out what they had been up to.
Eventually they had gone round the dining hall, speaking to each former Voyager member and meeting their families and friends. Kathryn had been a little wary about speaking to them, as it was the first time that she had seen many of them in a year, and she wasn't sure of what their reactions would be towards her's Chakotay's relationship. But it had gone well, they had been very pleased for the couple, and the child that they were expecting. A few of their old crew had even told them that it was about time, and they were both convinced that there had been some sort of betting pool as they had often been asked specific questions about when they had first gotten together.
Chakotay had tried insisting that Kathryn sit down, and take a rest, but she was too set in the idea that she had to take time to speak to everyone. Seeing as such an event would not happen for some time, he didn't object to her staying longer than she really needed to either, but he was going to make his objections to her returning to work the next morning very clear.
"Chakotay are you asleep?" Kathryn gently shook his shoulder.
"Not anymore," he turned over onto his side and faced her. "Is there something wrong?" he hadn't been properly asleep but had been on the verge of dreaming, and so was a little groggy.
"No," she dismissed, "I was just thinking."
"Can't you think in the morning?"
"Chakotay!" she exclaimed a little impatiently.
"Okay, okay," he reluctantly sat up, and turned the bedside lamp on, if she wanted to talk to him at three in the morning then they might as well talk properly. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I was thinking of names for the baby," said Kathryn lying on her back.
"Is that it?" he frowned.
"You make it sound like it's not important," she knew that he was tired and just didn't feel like talking, but she knew an accusation would wake him up properly.
"I didn't mean it like that," he began to defend himself, but she smiled knowing that she had achieved waking him up. "So what names have you thought of?" he relaxed having been properly woken up.
"None," he looked sharply at her, beginning to think that she had woken him up for no reason, "I thought that maybe you'd prefer it if we didn't name our child."
He looked at her confused, "why wouldn't we give our child a name?" he was tired maybe he had misheard.
She gave him an exasperated look, "I thought that maybe you'd prefer your tribe elder to name the baby," she suggested.
Chakotay smiled, although she had very little interest in religion, or traditions, she was very supportive and tolerant when it came to other people's religions and traditions. "Have you heard some of the names he gives children?" he sniggered.
"Don't say that just to please me Chakotay," she scolded, "I know how much all of these things mean to you, I want our children to be brought up with full knowledge of your traditions."
"Children?" he smiled at her slip.
"I'm tired," she excused herself.
"Not that tired," he pointed out.
Kathryn was becoming a little annoyed, "I love you Chakotay, but this is the first and last child that I'm having with you."
"So who do you have in mind to father your forth child then?" he teased.
She looked across at him and glared, "I'm sorry," her tone sarcastic, "I thought that you wanted to sleep in this bed."
Chakotay held his palms up defensively, "okay, okay," he retreated, "just the one child then," and under his breath, but purposely loud enough for her to hear, "and the triplets."
She chose to ignore him, "you're not taking me seriously!"
"I am," he laughed. "Look, these things are important to me, but he does chose seriously bad names, how about we ask him to give our baby his or her second name," he suggested.
Kathryn nodded, "okay," she grinned, "you can go back to sleep now."
As it turned out Chakotay was awake for another few hours as Kathryn went straight back to sleep. Typical, he thought to himself, a while before he did actually fall asleep himself.
~*~
Even Obi shuddered as he entered the room, he was rarely afraid of anything, but this terrified him. It was an unusual feeling when being in the room with her, it was like you were no longer sure if you were alive or not, and many found that they could not handle her presence and broke down crying. Others that did not break down were usually a little depressed for some days after, and those that she touched rarely recovered.
"I don't understand," Obi looked around the dark room, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but he knew she would never let him see her, although he kept trying.
"You want to?" again her voice was flat.
Obi frowned still not understanding what she was on about, "yes, I want to understand," he said a little uncertainly. He found, as always, it was impossible to locate her from the direction her voice came, as there was no direction.
"And you want my help?" although there was no direction, her voice came from every direction, but never raised in volume.
"Yes," Obi stopped looking, the conversation was making no sense.
"You know that he knows, and I know that he knows, but he doesn't know himself that he knows." Her words seemed to circle and still made no sense to him.
"Who?" Obi asked, but she had left already, and so had not heard what he asked, or didn't seem to care that he had asked a question and so did not answer.
Left in the dark, alone, he made his way back towards the door. He had no problem finding his way out, as he was used to the dark, he liked the dark. As he re-entered the room with enough light for those that were not used to the light's absence to see, he realised what she had said, and it all made perfect sense to him.
~*~
End of Chapter 2