Thanks for reviewing: Dreamer20715, jim hawking jr, just a fan
Pvt-Vasquez: thanks, I actually think most of my flame reviews stem from that.
Kelani2539: You should probably seem Paris pretty soon.
Crashcar9: I agree with you about the emotion part. I've noticed with a lot of my stories that a consistent level of emotion is usually missing. It will definitely be something I'll try to fix for the final copy.
For the Love of a Child
Part Thirteen
Seven had just finished her shift in Astrometrics and had picked up Kaia. She had to get home soon to begin making dinner for everyone.
"Seven do you have a minute?" Janeway asked as she walked in.
"Certainly Captain," Seven said as she shifted the baby bag on her shoulder.
"I was wondering if you wanted to have diner with me, just as friends." Janeway asked. "I don't think we've had a real conversation since we found out you were pregnant."
"Perhaps you would like to join us." Seven said. "Naiomi and Samantha Wildman are coming to dinner tonight as well as Harry Kim."
"I would love to." Janeway said with a smile. "Should I bring anything?"
"No your presence will suffice Captain." Seven smiled. "If you will excuse me I must prepare dinner, it will be at 1700 hours."
"Sure Seven." Janeway said stepping aside, and watched as Seven and a sleeping Kaia walked around the corner.
When Seven reached her quarters and Kaia showed no sign of waking up Seven thought it was safe to leave her alone for a while and put her in her crib.
"Sleep well Kaia." Seven said as she placed a kiss in her forehead.
'What shall I prepare for dinner?' Seven thought to herself as walked to the kitchenette. 'Perhaps I could prepare a stir fry' she thought as she began to replicate the raw ingredients.
Seven took out a large frying pan and added some vegetable oil. After it was heated Seven began to add the meat and vegetables. Before long she had finished. She placed a stasis field around the stir fry as well as the rice she had replicated.
"Hey Seven," B'Elanna said as she walked into the room, careful not to wake Kaia.
"Hello B'Elanna." Seven said as she walked over and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"So she finally got some sleep." B'Elanna said as she and Seven walked over to the crib. "Do you think that's she going to sleep through dinner?"
"That is highly unlikely." Seven said with a smirk. "Kaia has consistently awoken between the hours of 1600 and 1700 and has stayed awake for at least two hours."
"It is so weird how you know everything about her." B'Elanna joked.
"Kaia and I have never been apart since the day she was born." Seven said feeling a little hurt that B'Elanna thought it was weird. "It is only logical that I would understand her habits."
"Oh, come here." B'Elanna immediately picked up on Seven's change in mood as she pulled the younger woman into a hug. "I didn't mean it like that, it's actually pretty sweet." She said as she placed a kiss on her cheek.
"You do not think it is wrong? I do not wish to be a bad mother." Seven remembered the way her parents treated her.
"You're not a bad mother." B'Elanna denied as she sat down and pulled Seven into her lap, a position that they both had grown accustomed to. "I talked to the doctor just after Kaia was born. When I looked out of his office to see you holding our daughter it just looked so right. Even the way you handle her now, it's like you were born to be mother." B'Elanna finished, giving Seven another kiss.
"You are very kind to me. Thank you." Seven said as she rested her head on B'Elanna's shoulder comfortably.
B'Elanna and Seven stayed together like that for a long moment. B'Elanna's hands began to run through Seven's hair comforting her. Neither of them spoke. Words would only have broken the feeling of complete peace they were both feeling.
The moment was broken all too soon by the door chime. Seven reluctantly got out of B'Elanna's lap and answered the door.
She was greeted by Naiomi and Samantha Wildman. "I know you said 1700 hours Seven, but Naiomi wouldn't wait any longer."
"Hello Naiomi." Seven said with a warm smile.
"Hi Seven, where's Kaia?" Naiomi asked excitedly.
"She is asleep in her crib." Seven pointed to a corner in the living room.
Naiomi quietly made her way over to her and peeked at the little girl wrapped snugly in the blanket. "She's so cute. Is she going to wake up soon?"
"Kaia should wake when the rest of the guests arrive." Seven said as she placed Kaia's toy monkey beside her.
"Where did you get that?" Naiomi asked as she pointed to the stuffed monkey.
"Through my research I found that most children had a variety of stuffed animals at this stage of development. Kaia and I looked through the database and this was the one she reacted to most." Seven explained.
"She isn't kidding either." B'Elanna said with a rye smile. "I tried to giver a teddy bear to her but she didn't even look twice at it, just hugged that monkey of hers and looked away." B'Elanna said with a laugh.
"Kaia is very particular about her toys." Seven agreed.
"So how are you handling the early morning feeding?" Samantha asked.
"It is going well. Kaia and I have established a schedule of sorts. She will wish to eat as soon as she awakes, then once again at 2200 hours." Seven said.
"I remember those days. I barely got a wink of sleep." Samantha reminisced.
"Seven does okay. she's usually up before me." B'Elanna said.
"My nanoprobes allow me to function with less sleep." Seven explained.
"I think she's waking up." Naiomi said, having never taken her eyes off of Kaia.
"I believe that you are correct." Seven said as Kaia began to cry. She picked Kaia up, which immediately stopped her crying. "What has woken you up so early?" Seven asked as she looked at the clock witch only read 1645 hours.
Kaia let out a sniffle as she looked towards the people she had never met before.
"It is alright Kaia." Seven said in a soothing tone. "Please forgive her. She is not comfortable around strangers." She said to Naiomi and Samantha.
"We understand Seven, I'm sure she'll get used to us in no time." Samantha said.
"If you will excuse me, Kaia appears to be hungry." Seven sat as she walked to the sofa and sat down to feed Kaia.
Samantha and B'Elanna continued to talk as Seven fed Kaia. Naiomi decided she would rather talk to Seven, sat down beside her and filled her in all the things she had missed recently.
At 1700 hours sharp the chime ringed, just a few minutes after Kaia finished eating.
"I'll get it." B'Elanna said as she went to the door.
"Glad you could make it," B'Elanna said as she stepped aside to let the captain and Harry in.
Seven put Kaia in her play pen and served dinner to everyone.
"Wow Seven that smells great." Harry complemented as he sat down.
"It sure does. Did you make it yourself Seven?" Janeway asked.
"The ingredients were replicated but I prepared them myself." Seven said as she took a bite of her dinner.
"When did you learn how to cook?" Naiomi asked curiously.
"I decided to learn shortly after I became pregnant. It was a sort of piece offering between B'Elanna and me." Seven explained.
"And boy did it work." B'Elanna said as she took a big bite of her dinner. "I don't think I've ever eaten this well." B'Elanna complemented.
"Thank you." Seven said with a smile.
"I should be thanking you. I don't know what you do when you make banana pancakes but it is SO much better than the replicator." B'Elanna said.
"We have to come by for breakfast sometime." Harry said as he finished off his plate.
"I agree." Janeway said with a smile. "You're a lucky woman B'Elanna."
"I really am." B'Elanna said as she finished her plate as well, causing Seven to blush at all the compliments she was receiving.
When everyone had finished eating they went into the living room again. Seven picked up Kaia who was happily holding onto her stuffed monkey and hadn't noticed everyone else yet.
"Kaia is really well behaved." Samantha complemented. "She only cried once the entire time we were here."
"Did I cry a lot when I was little?" Naiomi asked curiously.
"Well you did, but I think it was mostly because of your spikes coming in." Samantha said thoughtfully.
"Seven are you going to talk to anyone from earth?" Naiomi asked referring to the ten minutes they all got at the end of the month.
"Yes, B'Elanna and I have decided to combine our time to talk to her mother. We believe that it will be easier to explain Kaia if she could talk to us directly.
"That's a good idea. I really don't think a letter will have quite the same effect." Janeway agreed.
"I couldn't agree more captain." B'Elanna agreed wholeheartedly. "But it's time for me to make dessert."
B'Elanna walked to the replicator and prepared a large chocolate cake with fudge icing. She cut a piece for everyone and handed them out.
"You're not going to give Kaia a piece?" Naiomi asked.
"She doesn't have any teeth." B'Elanna said with a laugh. "I don't think she can even eat solid foods yet."
Kaia seemed to disagree with B'Elanna because she reached into Seven's plate and scooped up a big chunk of the icing. She didn't seem very interested in eating it because she smeared it all over her face and stuffed monkey in an imitation of everyone else.
It had all happened so quickly no one had even noticed until Seven looked down and noticed a pair of tiny sticky hands on her blouse.
"Kaia?" Seven asked as she looked down at the smiling chocolate covered face of her daughter.
This brought the attention of everyone else, who couldn't help but laugh at the situation.
"You were saying B'Elanna?" Naiomi asked smugly.
"No Kaia." Seven admonished gently. "You may not have any more chocolate." She said as Kaia reached for another piece of cake and Seven had to put it on the coffee table out of reach.
Kaia only gurgled happily, content to smear what was left of the chocolate on Seven's blouse.
"If you will all excuse me I have a very dirt little girl to clean up." Seven said with a smirk as she took Kaia into the washroom.
"Kaia seems like a handful," Harry observed still grinning.
"Don't I know it." B'Elanna agreed. "She has so much energy for such a little girl. Most babies her age couldn't even get into half the stuff that she does."
"This isn't the first time she's done something like this?" Janeway asked.
"Well it's the first time she was able to do it, not necessarily the first time she tried something like this. Seven and I usually keep a close watch on her, I guess we were both distracted and didn't catch her in time."
"What else has she tried to do?" Naiomi asked with curious excitement.
"Well, she's always trying to pull on Seven's hair, it's actually why she wears it differently now. There was also the time she tried to get into the pancake batter a couple of days ago. Seven set her down on the table next to the batter so she could put on Kaia's socks. As soon as Seven looked away from Kaia she grabbed onto the bowl. If I hadn't walked in just then she would have tipped the bowl over her and Seven."
B'Elanna's guest couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing. From what little they had seen of Kaia she seemed like a perfect angel.
"I have to say its a little strange Kaia's only a couple of weeks old. She should barely be able to move let alone do half the things I've seen her do." Samantha said.
"Well it has something to do with the fact that it only took a month for Kaia to be born. Seven's nanoprobes were inside Kaia's body, speeding everything up. When Kaia was born one of Seven's nanoprobes entered Kaia's body and had to shut down all of the nanoprobes in Kaia's body down individually before shutting itself down. Kaia had a good two to three days of the nanoprobes speeding up her growth before they were stopped." B'Elanna explained.
"Do these nanoprobes pose a risk to Kaia?" Janeway asked, afraid that the Borg queen may be able to re-activate them remotely.
"No, it's perfectly safe. Before the nanoprobes shut down they entered Kaia's digestive system. The last of the nanoprobes left Kaia's body days ago." B'Elanna reassured Janeway.
"No more chocolate for you." Seven smiled to Kaia as she walked out of the washroom. She had replaced the white shirt she was wearing with a dark green one, and had put a light yellow t-shirt on Kaia.
Kaia seemed to have lost interest in the cake because she snuggled close to seven and closed her eyes.
"Is she asleep?" Naiomi asked.
"No, she is testing me." Seven responded.
"Testing you?" Samantha asked in amusement.
"Kaia does not wish to sleep when I am gone. She has taken to pretending to sleep for approximately 20 minutes before actually sleeping. If I were to even walk near her crib now she would begin to cry." Seven explained.
"Naiomi was kind of the same way after the first four months." Samantha said. "She understood things a lot faster than I thought she would."
Naiomi's face reddened slightly in embarrassment, but didn't say anything to her mother about it.
"We should probably get going." Samantha said as she realized the time.
Seven had fed Kaia for the second time that night and had already put her to bed long ago.
"I didn't realize it was so late." Harry said as he noticed the time was 2325 hours.
Harry, Janeway, Samantha, and Naiomi left shortly after thanking Seven and B'Elanna for a wonderful dinner, and of course a promise from Seven that they would be joining them for breakfast very soon.
"Well, that went pretty well." B'Elanna said as she climbed into bed. "Harry and the captain didn't seem that upset when you turned them down."
""I believe that the captain has realized that a relationship between the two of us would never have worked, especially with Kaia." Seven agreed.
"What do you mean?" B'Elanna asked.
"For the captain Voyager will always come first. She does not have the time to deal with family." Seven explained.
"I guess I see your point." B'Elanna conceded. "Truth be told, I don't think a relationship between the two of you would ever have lasted anyway."
"Why is that?" Seven asked curiously.
"It's because I love you Seven, and there's no way I'd let the Captain have you." B'Elanna admitted as she kissed Seven.
"I care about-" Seven began to say, but was silenced by a finger on her lips.
"It's okay Seven. I don't want you to say those words until you're sure about them. The fact that you know I love you is enough." B'Elanna said as she pulled Seven closer and closed her eyes.
Seven soon followed B'Elanna's example and the pair were asleep almost right away.
Seven awoke the next morning to the cries of Kaia, her advanced hearing able to detect it before it woke B'Elanna as well. She slipped out of B'Elanna's arms and went into the living room, where they had placed Kaia's crib.
"You are up rather early." Seven said as she picked Kaia up and began to feed her.
When Kaia had finished eating Seven played with her for a few moments before placing her monkey in her arms and preparing breakfast. She decided on something simple this morning. She prepared two serving of scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice.
As soon as she finished she looked over at Kaia to see her watching intently.
Seven placed a stasis field around the breakfast and picked up Kaia again. "I have read that it is good for children to be read to at an early age. Would you like to hear a story?" Seven asked.
The only response from Kaia was a happy gurgle as she reached out for Seven's hair.
"I will take that as a yes." Seven said as pushed her hair behind her ear, and out of Kaia's reach.
Seven sat down on the sofa with Kaia in her lap and pulled out a data pad. "I have been saving this since before you were born Kaia. It is a data pad that shows pictures as well."
Seven activated the data pad and brought up the story Green Eggs and Ham. It was a classic children's story that was not recreated on the holodeck. The images and text were scanned from one of the original hard cover books.
Kaia was immediately drawn to the pictures and reached out to touch them with her hands as Seven began to read the story to her and go through the pages. Kaia happily touched the pictures and let out a happy gurgle whenever they changed.
B'Elanna woke up a few minutes into the story and went to find out what Kaia was so happy about.
"...I like green eggs and ham. I like them Sam I am." Seven fished the book.
"Is that what I think it is?" B'Elanna said as she looked over Seven's shoulder. "My aunt used to read me that story when I was little."
"It is a good first story for Kaia." Seven agreed. "I have downloaded many others." Seven said as she handed B'Elanna the data pad.
"Wow, you certainly have a lot here." B'Elanna was impressed with all of the stories Seven was able to download.
"We have to read Kaia this story tonight though." B'Elanna said as brought up the Curious George series.
Kaia looked up at the picture of the monkey and then down at her own stuffed toy.
"Yes Kaia." B'Elanna said with a laugh as she kissed the top of Kaia's head. "It's a story about a monkey just like yours."
Seven put Kaia back in her play pen so that Seven and B'Elanna could have breakfast. They had the earliest slot to talk to B'Elanna's mother.
After a relatively quiet breakfast Seven, B'Elanna and Kaia set out to the Astrometrics lab. It was the easiest place to send and receive messages using the Midas Array.
B'Elanna activated the view screen and was greeted by the sight of her mother.
"Mom, it's been a while." B'Elanna said, not sure how to address the woman she hadn't seen or spoken to in years.
"B'Elanna, it is good to see you." Miral greeted. "I knew that you would have survived."
"I have something important to tell you." B'Elanna said as she pulled Kaia and Seven closer. "I'm sending you a data file explaining everything because it takes a lot more than twenty minutes to explain this but, you're a grand mother. This is my daughter, and her mother."
To Be Continued...
Cliff hangers rule!! You all know what you got to do for the next part. Come on those reviews won't write themselves.