7.
Instead of telling his wife via the ship's comm-system that they had established orbit around Betazed, Captain Riker chose to tell her in person. At first glance their quarters appeared empty, but after looking in their bedroom he found Deanna in Anna's room. His heart stopped beating for insane seconds as he took in the room.
Deanna sat on the antique rocking chair; the covers of their daughter's bed wrapped around her shoulders and the rest of the room was utterly bare. All Anna's toys, her clothes and the pictures and paintings that had decorated the walls were gone. Most likely disappeared in the three standard storage boxes standing in the middle of the room. "Dea?"
So many emotions raged inside him that he couldn't move. Anger seemed dominant; at her for taking away the precious belongings of his daughter without even telling him. Damn it, she was his daughter too! "Why!" His anger flared and it wasn't until she'd jumped out of the chair and nearly stumbled against the bed that he realized she'd been asleep.
"Will? What?" Confused Deanna glanced around her, her body objecting to her sudden movements and her mind recoiling from the anger she sensed. "What's wrong?"
"Why did you do this?" He spoke through clenched teeth and nodded at the now-bare walls.
"I…I just thought…" Flustered, she didn't dare to look at him and kept her eyes locked on the floor.
"Damn it Deanna! She is *my* daughter too!!!"
"No Will! She *was* your daughter! She's dead remember! DEAD!!!"
"Don't you think I know that?! Everything I do, every single thing reminds me of her! You don't have to tell me that she's gone!!!"
"Well EXCUSE me!!!" Deanna leapt forward, brushing past him. She didn't get far however; his hand shot out and grabbed her arm, yanking her to a halt. "Let me *go*!" Her features, reddened with anger, were set in fury and her eyes blurred with tears. She pulled herself free of his grip and within seconds had run out of their quarters.
Stunned Will stayed in the room and dropped himself on his daughter's bed. His marriage with Deanna was a series of up's and down's these day. One moment they sought comfort in each other's present, the next she wanted to be alone.
And then there was the fear. The terrible fear that she would, like her mother, force herself to suppress her memories. He would do everything in his power to prevent that and he could only hope that was enough.
===tbc...===
So far so good?
