AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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"This one's just that button," Kes said, passing Daryl the hypospray. "It's programmed into the computer, so you can request refills from your replicator. The doctor will adjust it tomorrow, if her levels require it. And this one you can control with the dial. One is a very mild dose. Each increment is another unit. The doctor recommends not going over ten units in four hours, so you'll just keep track of that. That's refillable in sickbay."

Daryl's heart had been pounding in his chest for what felt like an eternity. The doctor thought it was better for Carol if she returned to their quarters and had an opportunity to rest. They both had a lot to think about, and they might do it better if they were given some privacy. Daryl had spoken to the EMH for a couple of moments in privacy, and he'd spoken to Kes for a moment. Then he'd taken Carol and they'd returned to their quarters.

Right now, Carol was sitting in their bedroom. She was just sitting there. She'd washed her face, and now she was just sitting on the bed, but Daryl had thought it was best to give her fifteen or twenty minutes to do what she seemed to need to do, even if it was just to sit there.

Daryl had not yet wrapped his mind around everything yet. He'd heard what the doctor said. He'd heard the sound of the heartbeat. There was a baby. Carol was pregnant. She was carrying a baby—his baby.

And he felt no way about it, really, at the moment, because he wasn't there yet.

His only concern, for the immediate present, was to make Carol feel better, and he was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish that.

"You got the other thing?" Daryl asked. "What I asked you for?" Kes nodded. She put a soft smile on her face and produced the small disc. Daryl turned it over in his hand. "How's it work?"

"It's a scanner," Kes said. "You just turn it on with this button, and you hit the button again to turn it off."

"Seems easy enough," Daryl said.

"The doctor will expect to see her tomorrow," Kes said. "Either way."

Daryl nodded his understanding and bid Kes a good night. It was early, and there was still much of the day left, but there wasn't much of a chance that Carol and Daryl would be venturing out of their quarters for a while. Carol felt safe and comfortable in their quarters, and Daryl thought it might be best for her to spend as much time there as she could for the day.

Daryl felt like the whole day had been very long, but they'd realistically spent relatively little time in their room before Kes had come with everything. During that short amount of time, though, they'd already heard Kathryn's message to the crew—she was happy to be back on the ship. She'd missed them all terribly. She and Chakotay—while on the planet—had found a loving relationship with one other, and they hoped to continue that relationship now that they'd returned to the ship. Nobody needed to fear, though. They would still serve the ship in the same way that the crew had come to expect, and Kathryn's door was open to anyone who had any concern that they would like to voice.

She hadn't mentioned their news, either. Everyone needed time.

Daryl slipped the disc into his pocket and carried the hyposprays with him to the bedroom. Carol was calm, at least. She'd left hysteria behind for the time being. The sedative probably helped with that, Daryl was sure, but he thought she was simply settling a little, too.

"We gotta talk," Daryl said. "You ready yet?"

"Sit with me?" Carol asked.

Daryl could hear the fatigue in her voice, but at least the sound of drowning in her tears was gone for a while. Daryl sat down, still holding the hyposprays. He put the one with the dial to the side. He hoped she wouldn't need anything more for anxiety, but he appreciated the doctor having offered it in case the need did arise. He held the other up.

"You were fightin' pretty good in there. You need to take this," Daryl said. Carol eyed the hypospray like it might be a snake. "Just vitamins, remember?" Daryl offered. She nodded her head and Daryl waited until she tipped her head to the side to make it clear she was baring her neck for him. He followed Kes's instructions and found it was easy to administer the vitamins. He put the hypospray to the side when he was done.

"What's in the other?" She asked.

"For if you get worked up again," Daryl said. "Calm you down if you get too bad. But—I'm hopin' you ain't gonna get to bad. Since we're just talking, right?"

He reached and took Carol's hand in his hand, and she tightly curled her fingers around his. He appreciated everything that small gesture said to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed quietly.

"I'm having a hard time talking," Carol said. "About—everything. When I think of saying something it just…"

"Hey," Daryl said, stopping her in case she was about to step off some kind of mental ledge again. "You were fine in there when we were just talkin' about a little alien thing. When it was an alien, you weren't worked up at all. Even though—shit, I'da been freakin' the fuck out if I'da had a whole ass alien takin' up residence in my body."

Carol laughed. She actually laughed. It shook Daryl as she leaned against him. It was the sweetest sound he'd heard since they left the planet.

"I wasn't afraid when it was an alien," Carol said. "I knew—the doctor would take care of things."

"Still will," Daryl said. "However you want, too. You can still trust him. Maybe—for just a lil' bit, we just…talk about the alien?"

There was a soft burst of laughter and Carol sat up.

"OK," she said. She nodded and Daryl moved to face her better.

"OK, we can talk—about the alien?" Daryl asked.

Carol nodded. The smile didn't fully fade from her lips. Daryl was glad to see it there, no matter what, exactly, had prompted it.

"Do you—wanna keep the alien?" Daryl asked.

"What do you want?" Carol asked. "I haven't even asked you what you want."

"I want the same thing I wanted before we knew there was an alien," Daryl said. "I want you to be happy. If it makes you happy, it's gonna make me happy."

"That's not going to be true," Carol said. "Not always. "And—you have an opinion. Would you—want to keep the alien?"

Daryl took a moment to consider it. Carol was looking at him like she wanted a genuine answer. She wanted to hear what he had to say. He nodded at her.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean—if it wasn't hurtin' you? I think I'd like the idea of it." He looked around the little room. "I think Voyager would be an alright place for a little alien. I don't think I—I ever really thought about it before. I mean there was nothin'—nothin' that was ever gonna make me sit down and think I had the right damn life for this. But…if you wanted it, and it weren't hurtin' you?" Daryl laughed to himself. "I don't think I'd mind havin' an alien around. And I certainly wouldn't mind havin' it with you."

Carol nodded. She looked a little pained. If it weren't for everything he was sure she was wading through in her mind, he'd ask her if there was something wrong with her.

"You want it?" Daryl pressed.

"If it's there, I don't want to lose it," Carol said.

"It's there," Daryl offered.

"But I'm afraid to—keep it, because I don't want to lose it. Now there's no way not to lose it," Carol said.

"Unless you just keep it," Daryl said. "Carol—look at me." She did look at him and he held her eyes. They were damp, but she wasn't threatening to grow hysterical again. This pain went far deeper than hysteria. "I don't know that it's ever gonna not hurt for you. Everything—if I'd've been in your shoes? I'd prob'ly still be cryin' on the floor in there. Not gonna lie. And I can't promise you that it's ever gonna not hurt. But I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure that…you don't lose it. Not if you don't want to."

"What if it's not enough?" Carol asked.

Daryl felt like he might actually choke to death as his throat tightened. It wasn't a challenge. It wasn't anything against him. It was a sincere inquiry.

"Then we'll handle that, too," Daryl promised her. "But—we'll handle it together. You won't handle it alone. Because we both gonna—take care of the alien. Right? Love it?"

"While it's here?" Carol asked.

"We gonna do our best to make sure that's—longer'n we're here. Thing's prob'ly got like a hundred and forty years to live," Daryl said. "By then? We'll be good an' gone."

Carol's chin visibly quivered and a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Daryl brushed the tear away and Carol looked up like she was trying to keep from blinking more tears free. Daryl caught her chin and pulled her face back to look at him.

"Don't look away from me," Daryl said. "Don't you be ashamed to cry in front of me."

"I want it—so bad," Carol said. "But I'm—so scared. And it hurts, Daryl. It hurts—so much."

"Somethin' hurts like get the doctor in here?" Daryl asked. "Or you mean…?"

"I mean the wanting and the—not wanting," Carol said.

"Then you gotta let go of one of 'em," Daryl said. "Stop tearin' yourself in half. It's there. Right now. Maybe even listening to this conversation. I don't know how that works. The only thing you gotta decide is if—tomorrow, when I take you down to sickbay—if you want the doctor to give you a full examination and work up all your startin' points for this…for this crazy new thing we got goin' on in our lives…for our future. Or—if you want him to give you a special hypospray and this just goes away…and we don't gotta talk about it no more."

"Just because we don't talk about it…"

"I know," Daryl confirmed when Carol broke off. "I think, sometimes, that's been one of our biggest problems. Maybe we haven't talked about half the shit we shoulda talked about. Like if we don't talk about it, it didn't happen. But that ain't worked so far. Not for neither one of us."

"So, you want to talk about it?" Carol asked.

"I want you to close your eyes," Daryl said. "Just do it. Don't look at me like that. Jesus—if you don't trust me enough to close your eyes, what the hell am I even doin' here?" Carol closed her eyes in response. Daryl worked her hand in his. "I know we're gonna be workin' through it all for ages. Maybe forever. And I know it's gonna hurt—an' it's OK to cry if you want to. But—just for now—what was the best thing when you were…when you were pregnant? With Sophia. What was the best thing?"

Carol made a sound of discomfort.

"Just the good," Daryl reminded her.

"There wasn't as much good as I wanted," Carol said. "Ed was…"

"Ed," Daryl offered. "Ed was Ed. And I'm sorry for that. I swear to you—if it's me? It's gonna be different. I'ma do everything in my power to just…make it different. But—I just wanna know what was the best thing."

"I only really got to enjoy her when we were alone," Carol said.

"How'd you enjoy her?" Daryl asked. "What'd you enjoy?"

Carol smiled to herself.

"Her kicks the most," Carol said. "When she would get the hiccups or she'd kick me. Sometimes she'd just roll around."

"And you liked that?" Daryl asked.

"I liked just feeling close to her," Carol said. "Knowing she was growing. Nothing her daddy had done had…hurt her. She was just OK."

Daryl slipped his hand into his pocket. The other hand held Carol's just as it had. With his thumb, he pressed the button that would activate the disc. He palmed the disc and pressed it against Carol's body. For a moment, it found nothing. It hissed out static and she jumped—distanced from everything, for just a moment, as she'd retreated into a place, in her mind, where she'd been happy with Sophia. Daryl moved the disc. He heard the sound as the disc found what it needed to find. Carol opened her eyes to him and there was nothing he could do to stop himself. He kissed her because she looked so beautiful, and because the sound—a sound that almost made his heart beat just that fast—was undeniable and, for the first time, he could simply listen to it.

Carol returned the kiss, her hands going to his face. He let her hold the kiss as long as she wanted, and he held the disc in place.

When the kiss broke, Carol didn't break her eye contact with Daryl.

"It sounds so strong," she said.

"Perfect," Daryl said. He laughed to himself. "At least that's what the doc said. Perfect lil' alien…heartbeat. I had Kes replicate this for me. It's for you to keep. Figured you might like somethin' around to just…be reminded it's there. Whenever you want. If we keep it, of course."

Carol glanced down at the disc. She put her hand over Daryl's hand, and she gently rubbed his fingers.

"My heart's beating as fast as it is," Carol said, laughing a little.

"Mine, too," Daryl said. She kissed the side of his face, quickly and impulsively. She leaned her head against him and nuzzled him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sound, and the affection, and the slightly lightheaded sensation that came with trying to take it all in. It wasn't reality—not yet. It felt more like some kind of sweet fantasy.

But then, everything had felt like some kind of dream since they'd first come to Voyager.

A few times, Daryl had wondered if they'd actually died when the Araulians beamed them up. If they had, though, this was certainly heaven and he had no desire to be anywhere else.

"Daryl," Carol said, nuzzling his neck.

"Hmmm?" He asked, not daring to move because he didn't want to risk shattering the moment.

"I want it," Carol said.

Daryl smiled to himself.

She sounded calm—and not artificially calm. She sounded confident. She sounded happy, again, with the same kind of sweet and sanguine sound she'd had on the planet. She sounded like it would take only a long, lazy kiss and the promise of a nap later to coax her to bed for the rest of the evening—especially if he promised to bring the disc to keep tabs on their little alien.

Daryl sighed with satisfaction.

"Good," he said. "Because I want it, too."