10.
The Bridge was eerily silent around him, but right now it didn't bother him at all; there was too much he needed to think about. He and Deanna had agreed to go to Sickbay as soon as his shift was over to find out if her instincts were right, if she was indeed pregnant again.
And if she was…where did that leave them? It seemed almost unfair for a child's conception to be overshadowed by grief, but how could they not grieve? Anna had been their first born; a reward for months and months of fear and disappointment and she'd been such a precious little girl that they'd happily given up nights of uninterrupted sleep. He'd enjoyed watching Deanna take care of their daughter; marvelling how well she fit to motherhood and how just being with Anna made her glow like he'd never seen.
Maybe, in spite of her fear that she was a bad mother, this new baby would give her something to take comfort in. They'd both taken the deaths of Anna, Lwaxana and Barin hard, but he knew that inherently it was different for Deanna. She'd sensed them as they'd died and she had always carried part of their souls within her own, and now they'd been brutally pulled away from her. Part of him was angry at the ones that had taken their lives, not only for tearing his family from him, but also for causing his wife such pain.
Caught up in his, not always coherent, thoughts he did not notice the passage of time until the doors at his left opened to admit his second in command. A wordless nod passed between them and they switched places; she in the captain's chair and him in the turbolift.
His heart started beating faster and faster as he approached their quarters to pick up Deanna, then plummeted all the way down to the pit of his stomach as the doors opened to reveal his wife curled up in a chair, her body shaking with fear. .::.Oh Imzadi, please don't cry.::.
Deanna didn't react, but somehow his attention was drawn to the table on which an activated padd lay. He picked up the rectangular piece of sophisticated technology and read through the words, his heart stopped beating completely once he realized what it was.
"Mommy and Daddy, could you please, please, please give me a little brother or sister for my birthday? I don't want anything else and I will eat all my vegetables. I also thought of names; Anna II or Lizzy or Eric or Mark…" He stopped reading, overwhelmed by the memory of Anna proudly presenting the padd to them and at their words of praise quietly admitting that her Aunt Beverly had written it for her.
Tears spilled from his own eyes as he knelt down next to his wife, resting his head against hers and crying with her until they both calmed down. .::.Deanna, we can wait.::.
She stood up slowly, smoothing her clothes and quickly running a hand through her curls. .::.No, I'm fine…I'm just sad that--.::. She broke off her thought and reached for him, burying herself in his embrace for a short moment. .::.I can't help it, but it feels so wrong, to be so happy about having another baby.::.
"I know Imzadi…no one would've been happier than Anna and we'll make sure her little brother or sister will know that." A weak smile lit Deanna's face as she accepted her husband's offered hand and followed him to Sickbay.
===one to go===
I hope y'all're still reading *g*
