A/N: I wasn't showing at four months, with my first child.It was different with my second child, but this is Picard's first, so I decided that it suited my purposes to go with my own experiences. I'm sorry if this doesn't ring true for you. In further defence, there have been two scenes where Picard had to face the fact that he's got bigger over the years. I don't think a tiny amount of weight gain during a spate of ambassadorial functions would give him too much trouble.

Chapter 2

"Jean-luc, could you repeat that please. I think there might be a problem with the subspace link."

"What do you think I said?"

"It sounded like you said you are pregnant."

"Then the link is stable; that is exactly what I said."

"Seriously?"

Jean-luc sighed. He had no idea what reaction he would get when he called Theich but refusal to accept the news was not amongst his expectations.

"Yes Theich, I am entirely serious. It is also apparently too late to do anything about it."

On the screen, Theich narrowed his eyes at this comment.

"What do you mean "do anything about it"? You can't mean that you looked to end the pregnancy, can you?"

"I considered it, of course. But as I said, it's a moot point."

"Jean-luc, as the point is moot, I am going to put this moment down to cultural differences. Abortion is accepted on your world, on mine however it is considered illegal and immoral. On Nashira, pregnancy is considered miraculous and fated."

"That is due entirely to the low birth rate. It has merely been religified. I am not Nashiran…"

"No, but our child is, fifty percent anyway. I'd like you to consider these cultural differences when you make decisions concerning the baby or the pregnancy. Put it this way, if you had aborted and I became aware of it, I would have had to follow it into death. We believe that a child that has not yet found its way into the world would not be able to find its way in death. I would follow the child in order to lead it to the promiseland. It is a cultural difference, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. I am surprised at you Jean-luc, you are not usually dismissive of other cultures."

Jean-luc ran a palm over his tired face.

"Theich, I am very sorry. I am not myself today. This has all been a huge shock and I don't know what to do with myself. I've been preparing myself for this conversation all day; needless to say, it isn't going to my best plan. You haven't cut the connection yet though, so that is promising."

"I wouldn't run away from this Jean-luc. If you were thinking clearly, you'd have known that already. Look, I'm still on Starfleet time, I need to finish up the exchange period but if you would approve a request to transfer to the Enterprise then I could complete there. I want to be with you, you shouldn't be doing this alone just because I'm posted elsewhere."

Jean-luc sat staring amazedly at the screen in front of him, wondering if this was actually happening.

"You want to come here?"

"Yes. Jean-luc, I know that you are thinking purely about the baby and the fact that you thought that I ought to know about it. This isn't quite the shock for me that it is for you though. You didn't know you could get pregnant. I feel somewhat guilty because I assumed it wouldn't be possible either, Nashiran procreation is difficult enough as it is. I think I'm a step ahead of you because I'm thinking about us as well. The two of us and how our relationship turned out a little different than expected. We both said that we didn't want anything heavy and long term, it couldn't get much heavier or more long term than a baby. Regardless, I wouldn't come just for the baby, I would come for you as well, and for me. If we have a chance to see what we can make of this relationship, then I want that chance. We never actually ended our relationship, we just went back to out separate stations and carried on as before. Well, how about we don't. How about, I come to the Enterprise and we pick up where we left off and see what happens? I don't expect you to make a decision right away. It'll take me four days for my hitched lift to meet up with your ship. I'll let you think about it and I'll wait and see whether I get my own quarters or share yours."

Jean-luc was still staring at the screen where Theich beamed at him like a cheshire cat. He was pleased. He smiled softly but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He had no idea what he thought about this. He hadn't managed to wrap his brain around the "having a baby" portion of events, "having a family" and "living together" were concepts beyond his ability at that moment. Still, refusal would be rejection and he wasn't prepared to do that either.

"I wouldn't be comfortable approving the request myself.."

Theich's face fell, he looked mortified.

"I'll sort out the transfer, you should hear from Starfleet Command today. Theich, I know that we need to talk but can we do it face to face rather than like this?"

Theich agreed readily, willing to take whatever Jean-luc was willing to offer. It would only be four days after all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTNGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jean-luc surveyed his assembled bridge crew with a growing sense of trepidation. So far the meeting had been run of the mill, each giving their report and commenting upon the reports of the others. Once they finished covering the ambassadors' final decisions on the talks, it would be time for Beverley to give her report. At least he would be spared having to say the words again himself.

"…so they agreed to get their energy emissions in line with the current protocols. It's all signed and sealed, so that really concludes the negotiations."

"The last of the ambassadors will be leaving tomorrow when we rendezvous with the Yosemite. We will also be taking on board member of the Nashiran Control, Commander Theich Dal Meritan. He is part of the transfer project and has two years left of his Starfleet conversion, which he will be serving onboard the Enterprise."

Will Riker sat up straight in his chair.

"Where did this come from Worf? I know nothing about this."

Jean-luc explained before the issue became bigger, "I am afraid that that is my fault. I authorised his transfer; I should have mentioned it to you sooner but it is tied up with another matter which I wasn't ready to discuss with you."

"Sir?"

"And that would make it time for my report."

"No offence Doctor but I don't think we have finished with this topic yet."

"Will, please sit down. I need to give my report and I would suggest sitting."

The Commander took his seat again. This was unusual. Beverley closed her eyes and accessed her professionalism.

"The Captain called me to his quarters a few days ago, he was feeling unwell and thought that the foreign cuisine might have been to blame. It wasn't. I discovered that the Captain's symptoms were entirely normal, under the circumstances. Captain Picard is approximately four months pregnant. It is difficult to estimate how long the pregnancy will last, as the father is not human and his species has a different gestation cycle to humans. The baby is developing in an unusual way, but considering the genes involved, I don't think that it is anything to worry about; the baby appears to developing well and is completely healthy. The Captain will need to gradually reduce his duties as the pregnancy progresses, but for now, everything is going well."

Jean-luc was refusing to meet the eyes of his crew, he needed to hear how they reacted first. He fixed his eyes firmly upon his steepled fingers and waited out the silence.

"Pregnant? Are you absolutely certain?"

"Yes Will, I am certain. I could show you the scan I took, if that would help."

She flipped a control in front of her and the screen lit up with the image of a tiny well developed baby. A pattern of brownish marks were evident across the baby's skin, like tattooed ripples. Jean-luc couldn't help but stare at the screen. He had replayed the scan repeatedly in his own quarters, it had the same impact every time. It awed him. The markings hadn't surprised him, Theich had exactly the same pattern on his skin. Data was not surprised either.

"Fascinating. I was not aware that Nashiran heritage marks were visible pre-natally. Would I be correct in thinking that Commander Dal Meritan is from the Halsidian line?"

Jean-luc raised his eyes to meet the steady attention of his second in command. Data was of course the one he had to worry least about.

"Yes, I do believe he is. I think he also mentioned the Gerinderin line as well."

"Commander Dal Meritan? Oh! That's why you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry Will. It was purely cowardice on my part. I should have told you immediately."

"No, I understand. Well, I understand how that could be a problem. I'm not sure I understand how it is possible for you to be pregnant. I was under the impression that an entirely different physiology was necessary."

"But not for Nashiran men apparently. Doctor Crusher tells me that there is no known precedent for a Human and a Nashiran being able to procreate."

Deanna smiled as she finally entered the conversation. She felt the Captain relax as he realised that his crew, his friends, were not going to have a problem with the pregnancy. She could sense that he was dealing with it well, he seemed mostly calm. Compared to the emotions that had been rolling off him over the past few days, this was very positive.

"There may not have been a hybrid pregnancy before but there is mention of it in Nashiran sexual history."

Worf raised an eyebrow.

"Sexual history?"

"The Nashira are an extremely sexual race. They have religious texts devoted to the subject. They are similar to Betazoids in the fact that they forge a telepathic link with their partner during intercourse, they feel everything that the other feels, including feeling their partner feeling their own physical and emotional responses. It snowballs from there. It is a unique, if not mentally overpowering aspect of the race and has inhibited interbreeding. Most non Nashirans are not mentally capable of a relationship, several people have been quite literally driven mad."

The Captain took up examining his steepled fingers once again, wishing he had hair so that it would hide his blush. He had not intended to blush in front of his crew. Good Gods, pregnant, vomiting, blushing, having overly erotic dreams that involved nineteenth century style romance. At least the dreams were Wildean enough that they were both dressed as men, if dream-him had been trussed up like Jane Eyre he would probably …well, he was vomiting on a regular basis anyway, so no change there. Deanna gave him a quizzical amused look and carried on, deliberately ignoring the deepening blush. Whip it off quick like a band aid. She wondered where that expression came from, what on earth was a band aid, Data would probably know.

"There is a book, whose title roughly translates as "Book of the Fated Loves" which details unusual and difficult relationships, claiming that the relationships were prophesied. One of them is entitled "The Human Exchange" – it says that a Nashiran man will find his bondmate on foreign soil and that together they will create the first Human hybrid child. The child is supposed to be the first step on a path to restoring the Nashira to their former joy. No-one has ever worked out what joy referred to but all of the loves in the book are meant to be true loves, loves that will make a difference to the history of the race."

"Oh Good God, Theich is going to actually believe that."

"You really think he'll believe THAT?"

"Yes Geordi, I do. His race is very religious; it is tied in to so many other aspects of life. Could you all please do me a favour and not share that piece of information with Theich. He may discover it on his own, but the less hurrying along of that, the better."

"Captain, why would you want to keep this from him?"

"Deanna, he would accept it as true and act accordingly. I would prefer to have a relationship based on mutual feelings than one based on semi-religious writings. If you were in my position, what would you prefer – love….or fate?"

"I understand. No sharing of information then."

"Thank-you. Now, after we rendezvous with the Yosemite, we have orders to collect a terrafirming group that got stuck for a lift. Apparently the moon that they were assessing really is nothing more than a dustball….."