He sat in his office. He sat reading a padd at his desk. But he didn't really see the words, anxiety was still gnawing at the back of his mind. Sighing, Chakotay rubbed his eyes. If he didn't hear from Kathryn soon, he thought he might as well quit his job. He wasn't getting anything done.
He looked up tiredly as the door beeped. "Come in," he called, and the doors slid open. He sat upright slowly and looked at the woman standing there. "Good evening," he said, trying to keep the questioning tone from his words.
Kathryn obliged, stepping in slowly and letting the doors hiss closed behind her, her hands once again fidgeting. "Good evening," she said, her smokey voice quiet.
"Something wrong?" he asked, unease growing.
She pursed her lips a bit and shook her head, sitting on the edge of his desk. "Actually," she said, "I wanted to run something by you."
He recognized those words. They were the same he'd used to propose. "Shoot," he said, quoting her.
"Let's just say, hypothetically, I had an answer to your question..."
He nodded a bit, going along again. "Okay."
"And let's say, hypothetically...that the answer was...yes..." A smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Chakotay wasn't sure if his eyes were as wide as he thought they were as he stared at her. "What?" he asked, stupidly.
The hiding smile broke out, and she grinned at him. "You heard me. I'm accepting your proposal."
"Kathryn, I..." He continued to stare at, standing from his chair and walking around the other side to face her. As she got up, too, and looked up at him, he took her head in his hands gently, wondering if the exhileration floating around his stomach was evident on his face. "Oh, Kathryn!"
Her smile widened as she laughed a little. "I'm sorry it took so long...I had to think things through completely...With a little help from my father."
"Your father?" he asked, now confused.
She shrugged and looked slyly up at him. "Holodecks are wonderful things."
This time he laughed too, lowering himself to press his lips to hers. The reality of it hit him as she returned it. She had accepted. He had proposed to her, and she had accepted. They were going to be married.
He drew back, still holding her head. "Kathryn..."
She smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he let go to return the embrace. "I love you, too," she said.
He closed his eyes and put a hand to the back of her auburn head, feeling as though he might never let go. But then, if he did that, it'd be a little hard to marry her, he mused. This thought made him chuckle audibly, and he felt rather than saw her grin over his shoulder.