Prompt 40: "I made this for you." (Janeway, Samantha & Naomi Wildman)

Episode: "Once Upon A Time"

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"Good morning, Captain."

"Good morning, Ensign Wildman. Miss Wildman."

Heads turned at every table in the mess hall to watch the mother and daughter stop by the captain's table on their way to breakfast. It was a relief to everyone on board to see the family reunited again after Ensign Wildman's away mission had come so close to ending in tragedy. They took the attention in their stride, however. Naomi lifted her chin and nodded gravely; Samantha smiled over the little girl's head.

Was there anything cuter, thought Kathryn, than a four-year-old trying to look dignified while carrying a doll? Her Flotter doll, no less, bright blue and sparkly, wrapped in a white knitted wool blanket with a pink initial N in one corner.

"You're looking very cozy there, Mr. Flotter."

"We played through the chapter with the snow sprites yesterday," said Naomi. "I had to in … in-su-late his body temperature so he wouldn't turn to ice. He hates that, you know. He can't move when he's ice."

"Good thinking."

"He's part of my crew. A good officer always protects her crew, right? Like Mom. And like you, Captain." Naomi smiled, giving Flotter a cuddle for good measure as she spoke.

Kathryn couldn't help glancing up at Samantha standing beside her daughter. She couldn't help noticing how the ensign tensed up at that remark, and did not meet her superior officer's eyes.

The mutual respect the two women shared was real, but complicated. Kathryn still felt guilty, and probably always would, for every time she had to weigh potential risks to Naomi against the chance of getting Voyager home faster. She knew that Samantha blamed her for those times too. But that didn't negate the fact that both of them would lay down their lives for the child if they had to (as Samantha nearly had done, only a few days ago). Naomi was the future, and they would do anything to keep that future bright.

"We can only do our best," said Kathryn, in answer to both Naomi's words and the look on Samantha's face. "And hope it's enough."

Something about the tone of her voice must have gotten through to the younger woman, because she sighed and gave a small, but genuine smile. "This time it was, anyway," she said. "It's good to be back, Captain."

"And it's good to have you back, Ensign."

"Show the Captain Flotter's blanket, honey," Samantha prompted gently. "She might like to see it."

Naomi moved closer to Kathryn's chair and handed over the wrapped-up Flotter. Kathryn didn't need prompting to recognize the blanket. She still remembered every stitch of it in her hands, even – especially – the dropped and uneven ones.

"I've had it with me since forever," said the four-year-old, contemplating her lifespan with a world-weary shrug. "I like it. It's soft."

"I made it for you, you know," said Kathryn.

"Really?"

"I started when your mother told me she was pregnant. I finished it, oh … two weeks after you were born. Crafts were never my strong point, but I wanted to welcome you on board."

Kathryn still remembered her own mother teaching her to knit. Gretchen Janeway had been a traditionalist, working with her hands as much as possible; no replicator could ever copy her famous caramel brownies. Teenage Kathryn had found this embarrassing and old-fashioned, and adult Kathryn would never be a great cook or a needlewoman, but there were certain skills she never would forget. If – when, please God – she saw her mother again someday, she would tell her about that blanket. Dropped stitches and all, she had a feeling Gretchen would approve.

"I was that little?" Naomi asked, round-eyed with astonishment as Kathryn placed the Flotter doll back in her arms.

"Yes, you were." Samantha smoothed her daughter's strawberry-blond hair down her back with motherly pride. "So little, I could carry you in one arm."

Naomi beamed as, once again, the two adults exchanged speaking glances over her head.

She didn't know the full story yet. She didn't know how her counterpart had died only hours after being born, how Samantha had wept over the empty incubator in Sickbay, or how Harry Kim had escaped the duplicate Voyager with a baby in his arms only seconds before it self-destructed. She didn't know yet what a miracle her life was to everyone on board. Perhaps she never would know, even when she grew up; how do you tell your child a story like that?

"Well, I don't mean to keep you, ladies," said Kathryn. "Enjoy your breakfast."

"Yes, Captain," they chorused, before heading to the end of the lineup in front of Neelix's galley counter.

Kathryn took a sip of coffee and stirred her oatmeal, watching them go, Naomi swinging her mother's hand with one arm and holding Flotter with the other. Quantum signatures aside, it was clear from the way the child moved that she knew at least one thing: she was loved.

That, after all, was what mattered most.