Star Trek Voyager Characters are the property of Paramount Pictures
BEFORE THE DAWN
(PG:13)
Chapter Ten
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
Sitting up in bed in a pale blue nightdress, Kathryn watched as Chakotay cradled a beautiful baby boy in his arms. The baby was wrapped in a soft white blanket and had a mop of black fluffy hair.
"He's going to look like you," Kathryn said, gazing at her baby in adoration. "I can see it already."
Chakotay smiled, his eyes also on the child. "He certainly has my lips. But I think he has his mother's nose."
"Do you think?"
"Absolutely." He looked up at Kathryn. "How are you feeling by now?"
"Sore still," she answered, "but the Doctor says I will be for a couple of days." She smiled. "But with all ten pounds of him to push out, I'm lucky I didn't burst an artery."
Chakotay laughed softly, and then looked at her tenderly. "You did really well. I'm really proud of you. What you went through it was...it was very humbling."
"You did well too," Kathryn said sincerely. "If you weren't there, I think I would have decompiled the Doctor. Or at least done some serious damage to his personality subroutines."
Chakotay laughed again. "Maybe we should change his gender and program a pregnancy. It might make him more sympathetic."
"What an excellent idea," Kathryn teased. "But it would have to be the most difficult and painful birth in the history of difficult and painful births."
Chakotay smiled. "How about twice over with twins?"
Kathryn laughed. "Better still."
Chakotay reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of gold velvet.
"This is for you."
Kathryn took the box and carefully opened it. Inside, nestling in white satin, was a gold chain with a beautiful round blue-tinted glass pendant. Inside the glass was a lock of black hair.
"It's our son's hair," Chakotay explained. "I cut off a little bit when he was born and preserved it in the pendant."
Kathryn ran her hand over the pendant, tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful, Chakotay. Thank you." She looked up at him and smiled warmly. Chakotay smiled in return, and for a moment they lost themselves in each other's eyes. Then Chakotay broke their gaze and looked again at his son.
"Now that Junior's here," he said, "we're going to have to decide on a name."
"Yes, we are," Kathryn said, closing the box in her hand and putting it down on the bed. "And I think I've found the perfect one. Bilarka."
"A tribal name?"
Kathryn nodded. "He's going to have the Janeway surname but I'd like him to have some of your heritage too."
"Thank you," Chakotay replied, "but it might be better to give him a name more typical of the culture he'll be living in."
"Which is why Bilarka is so perfect. We could call him Billy for short, but as he grows up he could use Bill, if he preferred, or his tribal name."
"Good thinking," Chakotay smiled. "Sounds perfect."
Kathryn smiled in return. "Then Bilarka it is."
Chakotay was just about to speak when Tuvok's voice sounded over the comm.
"Tuvok to Commander Chakotay. Please report to the bridge."
Disappointment filled Chakotay's eyes. The bridge was the last place he wanted to be. He'd hoped to have at least a couple of hours with Kathryn and their new born son.
"Looks like duty calls," he said sadly. He looked again at his baby and then kissed the child's tiny forehead. Then he got to his feet and handed the child to Kathryn. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Kathryn smiled. "We'll be here."
Chakotay gently put his finger to his son's warm cheek and stroked it affectionately. "See you later, Billy."
He then left, leaving Kathryn alone with their son.
When he was gone, Kathryn carefully put Billy down in an incubator that was conveniently placed at the right side of her bed, and then got to her feet. Slowly, stiffly, she made her way over to a small set of draws in a corner of the room and opened the top one. She reached inside, pulled out a holo-emitor, and then closed the draw.
"Computer," she said, making her way back to the bed. "Lock my quarters."
The computer responded in seconds. "Quarters locked."
Kathryn sat down on the right side of her bed, fiddled with the emitor, and then put it to the floor. Moments later, the Admiral appeared.
"Welcome back," Kathryn said, getting to her feet again.
"You were able to reactivate my program," the Admiral stated.
"Yes," Kathryn answered. "There was a short circuit. I fixed it."
"Good work. Now, you've got to listen to me, Kathryn. You can't freeze the embryo."
Kathryn smiled. "Quite some time has passed since you were last here. He's not an embryo anymore." She gestured to the incubator at her left. "See for yourself."
The Admiral looked in the direction of Kathryn's hand, and her face lit up with infinite joy when she saw a beautiful baby boy sleeping soundly amidst white blankets.
"He was born this morning," Kathryn continued. "10lbs 2 ounces. Not exactly a light load to push into the world."
The Admiral stepped closer to the incubator and gazed at the baby in total serenity.
"I did it," she said happily. "I saved our Billy."
Kathryn flinched at his name. "How do you know his...?" Then she paused. "Of course. If we chose it now, then we chose it in your timeline too..."
The Admiral reached out and brushed her finger against the baby's cheek. "Hello, Billy. Hello my darling, precious, boy." She then leant forward and tenderly kissed the baby's forehead. "Everything is going to be just fine now. Just fine." She gazed at the baby for a moment longer, then drew away from him and turned to Kathryn. "I said it would be ok, didn't I? I said you could do it."
"Yes," Kathryn replied, her eyes moist. "You did."
"And Chakotay? Is he happy?"
"Very happy."
"I knew he would be. And he will be a fine father. The best father there is."
"We're sharing custody," Kathryn said, stepping closer. "We've had our quarters modified to include two more rooms inbetween us. One is a nursery, which can be accessed from both our quarters, and the other is a room for Celes, which has private access. She's going to be our nanny."
"A satisfactory arrangement," the Admiral replied, her eyes twinkling. "On a temporary basis."
Kathryn smiled at that and the Admiral then turned to look at the baby again.
"Goodbye, my darling Billy. I won't be seeing you again. My mission is complete."
"Not quite complete," Kathryn said.
The Admiral turned to her. "How do you mean?"
"I'm going to need your help in about two years time to destroy the Borg transwarp hub."
The Admiral smiled, totally comprehending. "Of course."
The door chime sounded and Kathryn glanced in the direction of the living room. "That will be Sam and Naomi. They said they would come to see me this evening. I'm going to have to deactivate you."
"No need. I can deactivate myself." She held her hand out to Kathryn. "See you in about two years time."
Kathryn took her hand and shook it. "I look forward to it."
The Admiral then deactivated herself, and the emitor fell to the floor.
END OF CHAPTER TEN