Finite Space
by Liz
chapter 6
in which our heroine dresses up, our hero insults an admiral, and a crew of misfits parties long into the night
Apologies to anyone who thinks I'm too hard on a certain character here. I actually like her a lot; it's just that no family is perfect.
This chapter goes out to Starburst, a woman with the guts to make her dreams really happen. Plus, you gave me that huge beta, early on. Props, lady.
"Do I look okay?" Amanda asked Aaron as they waited in the metro stop near their apartment for the express line to Marin, where they would catch a private shuttle to the Paris family property on the coast. "This dress isn't too nice, is it?"
"For the twentieth time, you look really great," Aaron told her without looking.
"'Really great?' You mean it's too nice. That's what you mean, don't you?"
"You look great."
"You're not looking at me."
"I said you look great." He craned his neck to see if the lights from the train had shown up yet in the tunnel.
"Aaron, did you pick up the phase converter from the Romulan baker with the yellow dog, like I told you?"
"Yeah. Sure." A pause. "Wait, what?"
"You're distracted. What's up?"
He shrugged. "I'm about to the meet the family. That's all."
"They're not my family," she reminded him, smoothing out the skirt of her dress. "It's just the Voyager people. They're, well…"
"Famous."
"Please. Maybe to you."
"Like family?"
"No. They're just… familiar."
"Gotcha. I'm distracted, you're borderline neurotic. We're a good pair. Besides, you do look great." He kissed her briefly on the lips.
"You're pretty handsome yourself," she pointed out. He did look good tonight; his clothes were freshly pressed for once. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't wait to show him off. "Is that a new shirt? You never go shopping."
"No, I go exchanging. My mother gave me some hideous green pants, so I got this instead." He glanced at her. "Don't tell her I said so."
"Cross my heart."
The sounds of an arriving train chugged and echoed through the tunnel. The few passengers waiting to go to Marin on a Saturday night rose from the benches and approached the yellow strip at the edge of the platform. Amanda held down the edges of the skirt on her light green summery dress against the rush of air from the approaching train; it was short enough to let the scar on her leg partly show, and she felt very much that she didn't need to show any more than that.
They boarded the train together and took their seats, Aaron grasping her hand on one side and fiddling nervously with something in his pocket on the other. "Are you sure you want to go?" Amanda said as the train started off. "I know it'll be a party full of people you don't know and it might be awkward and maybe boring, so we can get off at the next stop and go to that tapas place in the Mission instead."
"I'm sure," he said. "Are you sure?"
"No, I'm not sure!" she said. "You're the one who wouldn't let me cancel this week."
"Do you want to get off?"
"But I already told them we're coming!"
He shook his head as if to clear it. "Let's just go, okay? If you hate it, we'll leave."
Amanda took a deep breath. "Okay. Promise?"
"Promise."
They rode in silence for the next few stops. This line had been built only seventy-five years ago, and moved through the city faster than any other public transportation. Before long, they were in the Presidio, where dozens of Starfleet personnel in their uniforms boarded the train. Amanda ducked her head and busied herself pretending to unknot the fringe of her fancy shawl.
"Stop it," Aaron whispered, nudging her. "They'll think you're a spy."
"You stop it. I don't want anyone to see me."
"Who cares?"
"I do!"
"Amanda!" A familiar voice called from the other end of the train. "Amanda Jackson!"
She looked up to see Chell coming towards her, bouncing a little against the seats from the motion of the train.
"Amanda, I am so glad you've decided to come!" he cooed. "How have you been!"
"Uh, fine. Chell, this is my friend Aaron. Jarro Aaron."
"What a pleasure," Chell said. "Now tell me who I am, Mr. Jarro, and no guesses. I want to make sure Amanda has told you everything about Voyager!"
Aaron glanced at Amanda as if to say, You weren't kidding, and smiled at Chell. "Hi, Chell. It's nice to meet you."
"Got it in one!" Chell clapped his hands. "Oh, Amanda. Can you believe it's been an entire year? I wonder who else will show up. Did you hear about Seven of Nine's new sponsorship deal?" And on, and on, and on. Amanda and Aaron barely got in a word the whole rest of the trip.
When they arrived at the station in Marin, the three of them had to search for the right exit—the very ritzy Marin County wasn't exactly their usual stomping grounds—before they arrived at the docking pay for the private shuttles that would take them to the Paris lodge. There were a few waiting, and they climbed into one, along with Mike Ayala, who had just arrived by transporter from Mexico City.
"Ayala!" Amanda called out in surprise when they saw him looking around for the right docking bay. He noticed her, and the laconic bridge crewman nodded solemnly. Chell showered him with more of his running commentary, but after they entered the transport, Ayala stared down Aaron.
"Who are you?" he said as Chell worked out directions and fare with the driver.
Aaron blinked. "I'm Amanda's friend."
"This is Jarro Aaron, Mike. He's my guest," Amanda said quickly. "He's a vedik."
Mike nodded carefully. Amanda hid a giggle; she knew him well enough to recognize that he had his older brother act going again. "What's new with you, Mike?"
Ayala shrugged with one shoulder. "Ship out again next week."
"Ship out?"
"Pilot on a trade ship. Good money."
They spent the rest of the brief flight catching up in similar fashion, with Chell talking too much and Ayala barely at all.
As they began their descent, Amanda held Aaron's hand. He blinked, as if startled to find himself next to her.
"Hey," she said. "You okay?"
"Yeah!" he said quickly. "Come on, we're almost there."
The four of them climbed out of the shuttle and into the cool evening air to see before them a beautifully designed home—smaller than she'd expected, but still enormous—and a small stone path with lights along either side leading to the doorway. The walls of the house were a light-colored plaster, with the tiled roof and gardens typical of Northern California. It was situated on higher ground; from the smell, Amanda thought the ocean must be not far away.
"Come on," Aaron said, running a hand through his hair. "We're falling behind. Chell and Ayala are already inside."
She took one last deep breath to brace herself, and they walked through the grand arched doorway into Tom Paris's childhood home and were efficiently directed by waiting staff to the grand hallway. She then gaped. "This is…"
"Ridiculous?" finished Aaron, equally confounded by the luxury of the private ballroom. "Who did you say grew up here?"
"Tom Paris, the pilot," Amanda said, gawking at the chandeliers, four of which illuminated the long room. Original art hung on the walls, and a plush, deep red carpet around the perimeter of the room accented the warmth of the space.
"Let's hear it for private property," stammered the vedik who'd grown up in a refugee camp.
"Yeah."
"Will they let us in, do you think?"
"I'm not so sure…"
"Can we help you?" Amanda looked behind them to see an older woman with elegantly styled white hair and a simple, black evening dress approaching them from a back doorway. Catering staff lurked in the background, preparing to descend on the crowd of crewmembers with hors d'oeuvres.
"We're looking for the, um…"
She smiled generously. "The Voyager reunion? You're in the right place, of course. I believe all of your friends are right here."
Of course she'd noticed all the people in the room, but without all the Starfleet uniforms, it hadn't really dawned on Amanda that she was here with everyone again.
"I'm Elizabeth Paris," the lady said. "I'm Tom Paris's mother. And you are?"
"I'm Amanda Jackson," Amanda said uncertainly.
Aaron's social graces saved her once again. "My name is Jarro Aaron, ma'am," he said smoothly. "I'm a guest of Miss Jackson."
"Welcome to you both. Make sure you take some time on the deck—the view is quite nice."
Aaron suddenly took on the look of a man who remembered something he'd forgotten. "That's a good idea. In fact, I think I'll check it out right now." He moved away, leaving Amanda marooned with Tom Paris's mother.
"My, he's a flighty fellow, isn't he?" Mrs. Paris said. "Now tell me about what you did on Voyager. My son tells me nothing about any of his friends, and we're dying to know."
"Oh, I wasn't… I mean, we weren't—Tom was an officer, ma'am. I was just a, well, sort of enlisted," Amanda stammered.
"Oh, no," Elizabeth Paris said, laughing. "I know my son better than that. He's always been social. Come on. He and his wife are so close-lipped! I want to hear about what they were up to all that time!"
"Well, I only worked with B'El—I mean, Lieutenant Torres for a few months at the end. She was a good officer." Actually, B'Elanna was a dragon then, and she still was now, Amanda reflected. But she was fair, and she never hesitated to help the people working for her.
"Yes?" said Mrs. Paris, obviously expecting to hear more.
"Mother," called a voice that Amanda recognized. She turned to see B'Elanna coming in through the doorway with a restless baby in one arm. Amanda felt her ears turning red to be caught between them.
Except they seemed very cordial. Elizabeth Paris embraced B'Elanna and at once took little Miral from her. "Meemaw!" said the infant, shaking her head. A thin layer of dark curls caught the light.
"Hello, dear!" Elizabeth said to her daughter-in-law and kissed her granddaughter, whose forehead ridges were accented by an expression of astonishment at the crowds of people around them. "It's so good to see you. Where's Tom?"
"Parking the shuttle out back. There's a big crowd."
"Will you be staying the night?"
"Can we? I'd like to do that rather than take Miral home late."
"That's just fine, of course. Now, why don't we go see what's keeping your Daddy?" Elizabeth said to her granddaughter, who responded by stuffing a hand into her mouth as far as it would go. They left the room in search of Tom.
B'Elanna breathed deeply in the way of a mother who had just relinquished her small child into the care of grandparents, and smiled. "Hello, Amanda. We didn't mean to be rude."
Amanda just shook her head, a little embarrassed, as B'Elanna led the way into the rest of the room. "I did tell you to take tomorrow off, right?"
"Yes, you did, but I was going to finish recording the modulator specs into the new file, and it would be easier if—"
"Just take the free day, Amanda," B'Elanna said. "Nobody will mind."
"Thanks."
"So was that someone special I saw coming in with you?" B'Elanna asked. "You didn't mention you were seeing anyone."
"Oh. Sort of," Amanda said, blushing again.
"If you are, then watch out. Here come the Delaney twins."
Amanda turned to see the voluptuous Jenny and Meghan approaching at twelve o'clock. "Amanda!" one of them shrieked and gave her a great big hug as B'Elanna made her escape.
"Hi," Amanda responded, unsure who was hugging her. Over the shoulder of one twin, the other mouthed "Meghan" and pointed to herself. Amanda nodded gratefully.
"So how are you guys doing, Jenny?" Amanda asked.
"We're so wonderful. We're stationed together again, out on Deep Space Two—which is so funny, because it's not even Deep Space anymore. Anyway, we love it. You wouldn't believe the hotties they've got stationed there, and we've made so many new friends!" Amanda could guess what kind of friends Jenny was talking about.
"We're studying plasma tradeoff emissions from a nearby dual solar system," Meghan explained.
"Sure, whatever," Jenny said. "You should come and visit us, Amanda! We could so hook you up with one of our friends. You'd love it! There are parties almost every week. It's like we don't sleep, and nothing is sexier than an astrophysics post-doc with a travel grant."
Amanda blinked. "Thanks. I guess."
"No, seriously," Meghan said. "You really should drop by. Jenny's not kidding about the great supply of single men. It's a great change from Voyager."
Amanda smiled. "Maybe I'll visit, but it's okay about the men."
"Oh, come on, Amanda," Jenny complained. "It's not like you dated anybody on Voyager. Let us help you out. Ouch!" She massaged her upper arm where her sister had given her a deserving pinch.
"Actually, I'm seeing someone right now," Amanda said evenly.
"No way!" Meghan said. "Who?"
"He's a Bajoran vedik named Jarro Aaron. He's around here somewhere—he keeps drifting away."
"Where did you meet him?" Jenny said, wide-eyed.
"We sort of collided when I was walking down the street one day. You know."
"Sort of like an upper and lower quark in the creation of a new partial hydrogen atom," Meghan mused.
"Awww!" Jenny cooed.
Amanda smiled a little. "We just moved in together into his place here in San Francisco. I'm going to be living there while he's away this fall traveling."
"What part of the city is the apartment?" asked Meghan.
"Potrero Hill."
"Rent?"
"If I told you, you'd have to kill me."
"Is it that guy over there? Wow, Amanda. That's hot. Has he got a brother?" Jenny asked.
"Afraid not."
"You're so lucky, Amanda," Jenny said, her lower lip sticking out in self-pity. "I wish I had your life."
Amanda had no idea anyone could be so shallow. "Thanks, Jenny," she said. Tell me that the next time you share a holiday meal with your family, she thought.
Meghan sighed. "Jenny, for crying out loud," she said to her twin. "I can't believe you sometimes."
"I was only trying to be nice!"
"It's okay, really," Amanda said and made an excuse to leave the conversation. She did allow herself one disgusted look at Jenny before heading to the veranda, though.
Sue Nicoletti, who had arrived with her girlfriend, grabbed Amanda's arm as she walked by. "I overheard that," Sue hissed. "Want me to take her down for you?"
"You sound like a Maquis, Lieutenant," Amanda said. "Hi, Sue. How are you these days?"
Sue's partner laughed. She was a short and stocky woman, an amusing compliment to Sue's wiry figure. "We're great, now that we're in the same Quadrant," the woman said, squeezing Sue's hand and offering the other to Amanda. "My name's Allison."
Amanda shook it. "Oh, you're Allison!" she said. "We heard a lot about you during the last few months."
"Oh, stop," Allison said bashfully.
"No, really!" Amanda said. "She practically announced every letter over the com system. How's the season going?" Amanda had resented Sue's happiness at the time, feeling her own absence of loved ones even more acutely. She thought it was wonderful now, though, especially since the two women had reunited.
Allison grinned proudly. "That new thoroughbred I took a gamble on is incredible. He's won me three races this year."
"Show her the ring, too," Sue insisted.
Allison beamed and lifted her left hand for Amanda to see. "Sue says she got it on Gamma-Zeta-Oober-Goober—"
"It was Uuberia Beta," Sue said. "Remember, the second-to-last way station before we got out of the Delta Quadrant?"
"Whatever," Allison said.
Amanda giggled. "Yeah, we so knew she did that. The whole engineering section pitched in on the credits."
"Sue! You didn't tell me that!"
"What? I paid them back." Sue turned red in the face.
Amanda jumped to her defense. "No, she really did. Please, don't think—"
Allison chortled. "Oh, I don't mind. It's pretty romantic, in a strange, crowd-scene kind of way. But I'm afraid I'll have to go solo when I get yours for the wedding next month."
Sue slapped herself on the forehead. "That's right! Amanda, did you want to come? The ceremony will be out in Kentucky on Allison's ranch. I should have brought the actual invitations with me, I'm worried I'll leave someone out."
Amanda felt pleasantly surprised. "Oh! Well, just tell me when. I bet I can make it."
Sue smiled. "Good. And bring a date."
"A who?"
Sue and Allison both laughed. "Don't tell me that guy who came here with you isn't some kind of special," Allison said.
"Oh, y'know…" Amanda said, but she didn't get to finish her thought.
"Good evening, everyone." It was Chakotay. Amanda started slightly upon seeing him. The last time she'd seen him was when he'd bought her a burrito and some cheap shoes and sent her on her way back home from the Starfleet psych ward.
"Commander!" she said.
"Actually, it's just Chakotay, now," he said easily. "It's good to see you, Miss Jackson. How has the year treated you?"
It took her a moment, but then she caught on. He wouldn't let anyone know what had happened.
"I've been… I'm doing well. Thank you," she told him. He nodded casually, but he also gave her a small smile of recognition.
"I was just talking to someone out on the veranda," he said. "Fellow by the name of Jarro?"
"I'm glad to see he hasn't left yet," Amanda said, craning her neck to see where Aaron was now.
"A nice guy," Chakotay commented. "He seems very deserving."
"What do you mean?"
Allison interrupted, nudging Sue in the side. "The wedding, Sue."
"It's okay," Chakotay said, laughing. "The admiral has our invitation already. Congratulations to you both."
"It seemed only fair to send one ahead to Admiral Janeway," said Sue, "after all she's done for us."
"Speaking of that," Chakotay said, "Amanda, you should talk to the admiral. There's something I think you'll want to ask her about."
"What is it?"
"You'll see. Try her when she doesn't have a mob of people around her."
Amanda turned around to see Admiral Janeway in her uniform, standing among a cluster of people near the buffet table. Just then, Janeway turned and stepped away, as if to get a breath of fresh air.
Amanda looked at Chakotay, who nodded discreetly before turning back to Sue and Allison. Confused, Amanda excused herself and made her way to where Janeway stood.
Janeway looked up and smiled perfunctorily as Amanda approached. The admiral then frowned just barely as Amanda stopped in front of her to speak.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Admiral Janeway," Amanda said, a little nervous as she spoke directly to her former captain for the first time. Well, the first time when it wasn't over the com system as the ship threatened to explode at any moment.
"Thank you very much," Janeway said graciously. "I'm sorry, could you remind me with whom you came?"
Amanda blinked. "Well, I came with a friend. But my name is Amanda Jackson. I was a crewman in the weapons bay."
Janeway held a hand to her mouth in dismay. "Crewman Jackson! I'm sincerely sorry that I didn't recognize you!"
Jackson wasn't sure how to react. "Well. That's all right. You know, with most of us not wearing Starfleet uniforms, it's a little hard…"
"Yes, of course it is," Janeway said a little too quickly.
Just then, Amanda put two and two together. Chakotay had told her to ask Janeway about something… Janeway was her most senior officer during her time as an "enlisted" personnel…
"It was you, wasn't it?" Amanda said.
"I'm sorry?" Janeway said. But from a twitch of her eye, Amanda knew she was right.
"You failed me on the psych eval."
Janeway looked down at her drink then back at Amanda. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? Please."
"Miss Jackson, I amsorry if my judgment has caused you difficulty."
"Difficulty?" Amanda could barely get her mind around what the Admiral said. "Cause me 'difficulty?' You've got to be kidding."
Janeway obviously didn't care to be addressed in that manner by a former crewman. "Miss Jackson, if you would like to discuss this at another time, I will try to accommodate you."
"Admiral," Amanda said definitively, "you do not even know me. I had to introduce myself to you tonight. And you gave me a black mark on my psych eval. I deserve some answers right now."
"Miss Jackson, I don't believe this is the time or place."
"I saved that ship half a dozen times. You owe me this!"
"Every person on Voyager saved the ship half a dozen times or more," Janeway pointed out sternly. "You don't take credit. That is what it means to be part of a Starfleet crew."
Amanda nodded. "And you're going to suggest that if I don't understand that, then perhaps I shouldn't have applied to the Academy?"
"I do suggest that."
"And that gives you the right to give a black mark to someone you didn't even know? What was it, B'Elanna's section reports? Is that what you based your decision on?"
"The reports did matter. There were significant comments." The Admiral sighed. "Miss Jackson, I truly am sorry. I did what I thought was best for you."
Ironically, it was then that Amanda suddenly felt the disappearance from her shoulders of a weight she hadn't realized was there. The failing evaluation had come not from someone who knew her or who had the right to judge. It didn't mean a thing.
Out of ignorance, her former captain had liberated her forever from a system that would indeed have ruined her—because it would never have recognized her full potential. Some people could live a life and excel by those rules. Despite what she'd believed, Amanda nevershould have been one of those people.
"You didn't think I could handle the psychological pressures of a life in Starfleet," Amanda said to Admiral Janeway. Despite herself, she began to smile. "That's a joke."
"Miss Jackson, the requirements are very rigorous."
"No, no." Now Amanda began to laugh. "I understand. You don't, but I understand."
"Excuse me?"
Amanda just shook her head blithely. She wondered if this was what it was for other people when they became adults and suddenly realized that they knew as much as their parents. Amanda had withstood the psychological pressures of seven years on Voyager, of a stint in the Maquis, of losing her family and home at a young age: average Starfleet service was probably peanuts compared to that. "Admiral, you don't even know me," she repeated. "You have no idea who I am."
"I hope that's not true," said a new voice. Amanda turned to see Aaron standing beside her. "Seven years, one ship—you'd have to be pretty stuck on yourself if you didn't know every last person there."
Amanda delighted in the admiral's discomfited expression. "This is Admiral Janeway, Aaron," she told her lover.
"Really? I thought they were just giving out admiral's uniforms at the front door to everybody but us!"
Amanda took Aaron's hand in hers. Briefly distracted by his sweaty palm and blatant nerve, she smiled blithely at the admiral.
"Well, tell me about yourself, Mr…" Admiral Janeway said, struggling to control the situation politely.
"Jarro Aaron," he told her. "Mr. Jarro is a little too formal for me, though, Admiral. Please. Call me Aaron. And I'll reintroduce myself a little later, if that will help."
"Very well, I suppose that was deserved. Now, Aaron, what is it you do?"
Amanda could hardly believe what she was hearing. He'd get himself arrested!
Then again, he didn't have seven years of Starfleet service packed into his memory. There was no automatic respect for a captain or an admiral drilled into him by necessity. He could say whatever on earth he wanted to say.
And was doing a very good job of it, too.
Amanda reached out a hand to stop him from going too far. After all, this time she did not need revenge.
"Amanda?" She heard a woman's voice behind her. "Amanda Jackson, is that you!"
Amanda turned around, and promptly forgot all about the admiral. It was Jor. And then some.
Jor was unbelievably pregnant. Amanda stared, horrified that she was only just discovering this now. "Jor!" she said, her jaw near to the floor.
"Don't drop your wine glass, sweetie," Jor said, and gave Amanda a hug. It was a very sideways sort of hug, given the baby stuck between them.
"Oh my goodness," Amanda said, allowing herself to be pulled away from Aaron and Janeway.
"Yes, I'm due in about two weeks. Tabor was about to throw a fit when I told him I wasn't going to miss this reunion, but I won of course. And here I am!"
"I can't believe it."
"He's over there somewhere." Jor scanned the crowds of mingling faces. "Oh, well. He'll be along soon, I'm sure. He's been hovering over me for the last month. I'm about to kick him out of the house."
"Jor, I'm so sorry I didn't stay in touch, it wasn't that I didn't want to, it's just that I got so busy, and then I—"
Jor waved her off. "Oh, please. I understand. You had to make it on your own. You didn't need all of us to ask you if you were sure about what you were doing, did you?"
Amanda felt completely transparent. "Um, I guess not."
"Now what about you? Spill the beans," Jor said, wiggling an eyebrow. "I got here just after Sam Wildman—Sam's pregnant too, by the way, you just can't tell yet. Anyway, she told me you'd shown up with the handsomest man in the room. You're the talk of the party!"
"I'm what?"
"I swear, I always wondered if you were deaf. Who is he? What's his name? And good choice, by the way. Bajorans are wonderful in the sack."
"Jor, shut up," Amanda said. This was all getting to be too much for her. And to think she had stayed awake half the night, worried that no one would even remember her name.
"Ooooh," Jor said, looking around the room. "He's not that one, talking to Admiral Janeway, is he?"
Amanda looked. "Yes, that's him," she said, wondering how the conversation was going, and if they'd be booted from the party before dinner was served. "His name's Jarro. Jarro Aaron. He's a vedik, he went to seminary in Berkeley.
Jor's jaw dropped. "Jarro? As in, the Jarro family from the Kirandi continent, the ones who ran one of the most important supply lines under the occupation for ten years? Amanda, his family are heroes!"
"Yeah, I guess that's him. Not that it's any of your business."
"Of course it is. I'm about to be dealing with nothing but babies and diapers for the next two years of my life at least," Jor declared. "I'm going to gossip as much as I can while I'm still awake enough to enjoy it. So, a vedik, huh? Lucky you."
Suddenly, she grabbed Amanda's arm. "Oh my goodness, Amanda! Oh my goodness!"
"What is it!" Amanda said. She was glad to see Jor, but this was a bit too much.
Jor was looking straight at Aaron. "Is that thing in his hand what I think it is?"
Amanda sighed. "I don't know. He's been fidgeting with something all night. I don't know what it is."
"Sweetie," Jor said, "he has an extra earring with him. I mean, one of his family earrings! See there, in his hand?"
Amanda glanced over again. Aaron was indeed fingering something silver with a little chain. Up until now, she hadn't really noticed it. "So?" she said. Aaron looked up at her from across the room and gave a little smile.
Jor grabbed Amanda by the arm. "Don't you have any clue what that means, you idiot?"
"No. Why should I?"
Tabor came along, interrupting whatever it was Jor was about to say. "Amanda!" he exclaimed. "You showed up!"
"Why is everyone so surprised?"
He laughed. "It's great to see you. Here, give me a hug, Amanda. Did you see that Jor is pregnant?" he said.
Jor rolled her eyes. "The way he says it," she said to Amanda, "you'd think he only just noticed it himself." She rubbed a hand over her very swollen belly. "Right now I'll be very glad to get unpregnant, Prophets willing."
Jor just handed his wife a drink. "Here. I even put in a splash of tikki juice, just the way you like it."
"I don't remember you being so accommodating when we were in on Voyager, Tabor," Amanda commented. "You were always the last one to give up any of your rations, back in the day. Unless it was a game of poker."
"Just goes to show what married life will do to a man," he said with a shrug. "Speaking of which. That's your date there, with the earring in his hand, isn't it? Talking to Lieutenant Kim and the blonde woman?"
"You mean Aaron?" she said. "Yes, that's him. Everybody keeps asking about him. Why?"
Tabor and Jor exchanged a look. "Oh, nothing," Jor answered for her husband.
Good grief. Amanda was about to demand what the big deal was when she felt a hand on her arm. It was Aaron this time.
"Hi," she said, surprised. "Thanks for showing up. We were just talking about you."
"Oh?" He glanced at Jor and Tabor. "I hope I'm passing the review."
"It's not our opinion you should be worried about, Vedik Jarro," Jor said coyly, then linked a hand through her husband's arm and led him away.
"What was that about? She never acted that way before," Amanda said. "Do Bajoran women get crazy when they're pregnant or something?"
"Not any crazier than when they're not pregnant."
"I'll be sure to tell your sister you said that. And by the way? I don't know how much you heard with the admiral…"
"I heard enough," he confirmed. "That's why I put on the act. Are you okay?"
"See? Both my shoes are still on."
He looked around the room and laughed stiffly. Amanda ignored his odd mood swing and nudged him gently with her elbow. "Thank you for talking to her like you did. I couldn't believe it."
"Don't have to thank me."
"Don't have to," she corrected. "Want to. I love you."
"Hey, can I see you outside for a minute?" Aaron asked suddenly. "I have something I want to, um, talk to you about."
"Sure," Amanda said. "But relax, will you? You're as tense as a Bolian fiddle string. You have been all night."
He didn't answer, but instead led her through the clusters of mingling friends and out the doorway onto the veranda. The view was gorgeous: the Golden Gate Bridge shone in the darkness, and the glitter off the Pacific was beautiful. Amanda shivered in the cold night air.
"It's beautiful," she commented. "Though I wouldn't mind if San Francisco added a warm summer night or two to its list of attractions."
"I like it," Aaron said. "I'm even thinking of sticking around, maybe for the long run. That is, after I get back from Cardassia."
Amanda looked from the ocean back to him. "I'm glad," she said quietly.
"That's good." He seemed so nervous tonight, for some reason. Enough was enough. "Aaron," she said. "What's going on? You've been jumping around like nobody's business tonight. People have noticed!"
He laughed guiltily, then took the suspicious earring from one of his pockets. He fingered it carefully, staring at it in his hands. "Listen, Amanda. I… Um, I don't know how to do this. But I really want you to have this."
Amanda was touched. "Oh, Aaron. Of course I'll have it! That's so sweet of you. People will wonder why I'm wearing a Bajoran earring, of course, but…"
He was staring at her. "No, no. Amanda, on Bajor, we only give one of our family earrings to someone if… If we want them to become part of our family."
Amanda froze. He wasn't saying what she thought he was saying.
"Here," he said. "I want you to be my wife. So, if you want to, take it." He held it out between them, where the starlight and the light from inside glinted off the carefully wrought metal.
Amanda stared at him in shock. Her throat had gone so dry. And he just stood there, trembling.
"Aaron," she choked out. "Me? You're asking me here?"
He blinked. "Well, yeah."
"Why?"
"Because it's a big event for you, and I thought, with the beautiful veranda and the view and everything…"
"No, I mean why!"
"Oh, that!" He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "You want me to tell you why I'm proposing to you? You've got to be kidding me. Okay, I love you. You are a strong, good person. I become a better man when I'm with you. You make me want to be even better than that. I want us to share our future. I want you to have my children. I want us to grow old together. I'm asking because of the way you started laughing the first day I met you with that stupid replicator on the stairs of your apartment. And I've got a lot more reasons than that, but I'm kind of nervous so it's hard to think of them all." He held her hand. "Please. I love you."
Amanda felt a tear trickling down one cheek.
The side of Aaron's mouth curled up just a bit. "Plus, you're great in the sack."
"Hey," she heard a man's voice from the doors of the veranda. "Everything okay out here?"
Amanda looked over. It was Tom Paris, drink in one hand and a concerned look on his face. Amanda realized that this must look terrible from where he stood.
And she didn't care.
She looked Aaron in the eye. "Okay," she told him.
It took him a moment to digest her answer. But once he did, she could see a smile spread slowly across his face. There it was: the dimple beneath one eye. He was happy.
"Good," he said, and placed the earring in her hand. Then he grabbed her in a tight embrace, swinging her around and laughing. Amanda hugged him back.
Aaron took her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. "We are going to have one hell of a life together," he said when he pulled back.
"Okay," was all she could say.
Over Aaron's shoulder, she saw Tom Paris still standing there dumbly, drink in hand. B'Elanna had noticed from inside and tiptoed through the door, an alert baby Miral in one arm. She grabbed Tom by the arm and jerked her head toward the door, urging him inside. But before she followed him, she caught Amanda's eye. And smiled.
Amanda turned back to face the man she had just agreed to marry. "Aaron?" she said.
"What?"
"I love you."
He smiled beautifully. "I'm a very lucky guy."
"Maybe so."
"Hey, let's go call my sister," he said. "She made me swear that I'd let her know how it went."
"You told your sister you were going to propose? How long have you been—"
"We can come back right after, I promise." Without waiting for her approval, he grabbed her hand and started towards the door.
They couldn't get in, however. Practically the entire crew of Voyager had assembled at the doors to the balcony, looking out at them. Amanda was horrified to be the center of attention, especially now! "Oh my god," she whispered. Beside her, Aaron was speechless. His arms tightened around her waste a bit, as if to shield himself from the onlookers.
Jor shoved her way through the crowd and moved as quickly as she was able to surround Amanda with another sideways hug. "Sorry, sweetie," she said. "We're your people. We have to make you feel like an idiot." To Aaron, she said, "Welcome to the family."
Finis.
No really. I am finis. Promise!
Thanks for reading. I hope you had fun.