AN: Here we are, another piece to this one.

I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think! Reviews/comments/etc. are always appreciated for feeding motivation and inspiration! (After all, of course I wrote this to share with you!)

111

"Sorry for the delay," Raffi said as soon as they stepped into Janeway's office. "And for—my outburst."

After Seven had been sick, they stopped for her to brush her teeth with a dispensed dental cleaning pod from one of the latrine dispensers. She'd washed her face, dried it, and decided she didn't look as bad as she felt. Raffi had quickly assured her that she was as beautiful as she always was.

Admiral Janeway—Kathryn, as she insisted that Seven and Raffi think of her when they were off-duty—stood beside B'Elanna. For the moment, the Admiral's expression looked calm and placid, while B'Elanna looked concerned. Raffi recognized, somewhere down deep in her gut, that B'Elanna's concern was over Seven's well-being more than it was over anything that Raffi had said or done since their arrival on the Soñador. It reminded Raffi of the feeling that she'd had when she and Seven had discussed coming and both had felt that this was where their family would be—makeshift as their family really was.

"Commander Musiker," Janeway said, "I would appreciate you keeping your shows of temper to a minimum." Her tone came off as strong and sharp. She wanted to be sure that Raffi felt what she was saying. She was, immediately, an officer that reminded you that she was more than capable of commanding a starship or, as the case may be, a whole fleet of them.

"Yes, Admiral. I will—do my best."

Janeway laughed. Raffi felt relieved to see the stern expression fall away.

"However, Raffi, since I'm accustomed to several people who have occasionally been known to lose their tempers—especially for good reason—I'm willing to forgive the occasional lapse. I do, however, require that we discuss things."

Raffi nodded. She recognized from Janeway's expression that she was expected to speak. She was expected to explain herself. She was supposed to tell Janeway why it was that seeing the sketch suggesting that Seven's regeneration chamber be put in Cargo Bay 1 had sent her into an almost blind fury.

There was a careful line, though, she had to walk of saying enough and not saying too much. The only thing that made it easier was the knowledge that Seven felt so close to Janeway that she was unlikely to feel the need to be too overly private.

"Cargo Bay 1 is a cargo bay," Raffi said. "It's meant for cargo, storage, supplies—I don't feel like it's meant for people, except in extreme circumstances."

"It wasn't meant for people," Janeway said. "Of course, I hadn't thought about what you're saying until you said it. That's one of the reasons that, though I expect my crew to control their tempers, I am willing to accept the occasional outburst. Often, I find that it teaches me something that I had not previously considered. When we chose the Cargo Bay on Voyager for Seven, it was because we didn't have any other area that was equipped to handle the power output necessary to run the regeneration chamber. I guess we thought it was fine for an ex-Borg Drone. We forgot to update that thinking."

"I was comfortable in the Cargo Bay," Seven offered. "I would adapt to spending my regeneration cycles there again."

"No, you won't," Raffi interrupted. "I'm sorry," she said again, though she hadn't actually raised her voice to anyone. "Seven—is not an ex-Borg Drone. She is—Seven Musiker. She likes cheesecake and…she hates certain things that we consider bodily functions, like throwing up. And she is a wife and…an adopted mother…and she is human and Borg. And, like many people, she prefers not to be left entirely alone and isolated. So—Cargo Bay 1 is not going to work. We need to talk about alternatives. Either that or—or we wall off part of Cargo Bay 1, for privacy, and we put my quarters there, too."

"We're not putting anyone Cargo Bay 1," B'Elanna said. "I should have thought about it. I should have realized that we don't have the power limitations that we had on Voyager, and Seven is not—what I thought she would be in the beginning, when we all believed it would fine to just—plug her in in the Cargo Bay."

"If adapting the power supply isn't possible," Seven said, almost interrupting B'Elanna, "I will really be fine regenerating in Cargo Bay 1."

"Seven…"

"Raffi—this is the ship's design," Seven said. "Voyager couldn't handle that amount of voltage in too many locations."

"But the Soñador is a little better equipped than Voyager," B'Elanna said. "I'll change a couple of receptacles, and I'll move the regeneration chamber to your quarters. That's where it should have gone in the first place. It won't take long for me to order in a voltage shield like the one we have on your chamber at home. It'll be set up and going before we leave."

"Thank you," Raffi said to B'Elanna. Maintaining the somewhat formal tone of the moment, since they were technically talking about the mission, Raffi turned to Janeway. "Thank you, Admiral."

"Thank you for helping us to realize the error of our ways," Janeway said. She stepped toward Seven with one hand out. Whether she intended to squeeze Seven's shoulder or pull her into a hug, Raffi didn't know. Part of her doubted if Janeway knew, either. She would clearly wait on Seven to give her some cue as to what she preferred. Seven went straight for a hug, and Raffi smiled to herself. Janeway embraced Seven without question and without hesitation—smoothly making it look like it had been her idea. "Seven—can you forgive us for being insensitive?"

Raffi knew it as soon as Janeway said it. The question was going to stir up feelings, and the feelings were going to remind the chip that Seven was low—at this point, she was likely to be almost at the point of running dry—on hormones. They were supposed to keep her updated since they didn't want to do anything that might, in any way, disturb the baby's growth.

Raffi's personal device buzzed frantically, as did Seven's.

Janeway backed up and held Seven at arm's length.

"That is my alarm," Seven said quickly. "And—Captain…Admiral…"

"Kathryn, Seven," Janeway said.

"Kathryn," Seven accepted, "I never had any reason not to forgive anyone. My regeneration chamber's placement was in the only logical location onboard Voyager. I would never have expected anything different."

"We're sorry we tried to do it again," Janeway said. "That—we didn't realize."

"There was never any…any…" Seven said. She stopped, and Raffi decided that there was going to be a certain look to Seven's morning sickness—at least until she got used to the idea and the sensation behind vomiting. For the moment, Seven covered her mouth and glanced desperately in Raffi's direction. Raffi couldn't be sure if she was begging Raffi for somewhere to throw up or, in a fit of newly-discovered complete dislike for the act of throwing up, if she was somehow begging Raffi to stop the phenomenon. Raffi rushed over, intersecting Janeway just as the woman was asking Seven if everything was alright, and Raffi pushed Seven toward a chair.

"Are you going to throw up right this minute?" Raffi asked. "Nod or shake your head."

Seven shook her head. Janeway sat down in the chair to Seven's other side and rested a hand on the shoulder that Raffi wasn't currently touching.

"Here—put your head down."

Raffi instructed Seven to rest her head in her hands and to rest her elbows on her knees. She got Seven's head as low as she could.

"I need to use the replicator," Raffi said.

"Of course," Janeway said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Keep her just like that," Raffi said. "And—be ready to move if she looks like she thinks it's a good idea."

Raffi left Seven in Janeway's care for a moment. She went straight to the replicator and, using the pin from her personal device, she requested Seven's hypospray. For good measure, she requested crackers and ginger ale from the replicator and it provided what she needed. Raffi came back and sat the drink and crackers on the table. She found a good spot on Seven's neck, and she injected the hypospray. Almost immediately, both alarms ceased their buzzing.

Seven didn't move from her position for a moment, but nobody was forcing her too, either.

"Seven? I got you some ginger ale and some crackers. They'll settle your stomach." Seven hummed at her, and Raffi rubbed her back. "When you're ready."

Raffi straightened up. She looked at Janeway, who had taken a seat on Seven's other side at the table.

"I hope you know that I require an explanation," Janeway said.

"Is it possible to plead privacy?" Raffi asked. She laughed to herself and, thankfully, Janeway laughed, too.

"Under normal circumstances, maybe," Janeway said. "However—when it involves the health of my crew as we're about to embark on a mission in the Delta Quadrant, I have the right to know what's going on."

Raffi's stomach ached with anxiety at the idea of telling Janeway—not because they didn't want her to know, but because everyone had advised them to wait. Everything she'd read advised that they continue to follow the old rule of thumb and to wait until the first trimester was done to start telling people. Besides that, they had talked about how much they'd like to have something to announce their pregnancy—some kind of gathering where they could experience everyone's reaction together.

Seven spoke before Raffi could figure out what she wanted to say, and before Janeway could order her to speak. Seven sipped her ginger ale at pauses while she spoke.

"I recently underwent an implantation and attachment," Seven said. "As part of one of the experimental trials they're running for a new procedure. We wanted to have a baby, and this afforded us the opportunity to combine that luxury with the ability to contribute to something that could help others hoping to expand their families in the future."

Janeway was holding onto one of Seven's shoulders. Raffi thought she almost looked like she might cry—except she was smiling.

"Seven—are you telling me that you're…pregnant?" Janeway asked.

Seven half-heartedly nodded, clearly feeling better but not wanting to take too many chances.

"We went this morning to our appointment," Seven said, "to check the progress of our embryos. We learned that one has attached entirely and appears to be thriving. However, we also learned that…our other embryo is gone."

"Oh—Seven!" B'Elanna said. "I'm sorry…Raffi…you, too…I didn't mean."

Raffi smiled at B'Elanna's genuine concern. Her words had nearly drowned out Janeway's apology for their loss entirely.

"It's OK," Raffi said. "If you didn't take my yelling at you personally…"

"You didn't want Seven to feel alone," B'Elanna said. "To be alone. To be—put in a holding place for supplies and spare parts. I should have realized that, and you have every right to yell at me about it."

"I would prefer if nobody did any yelling," Seven said from her chair. "It appears to stir up the nanoprobes, and they seem to use a lot of hormones to try to make themselves feel better."

"Now who has an intimate understanding of your nanoprobes?" Raffi teased.

Seven laughed quietly.

"We've been together for a long time," Seven said.

"Are you feeling better?" Raffi asked. Seven nodded, this time like she didn't expect to be sick from the simple movement.

"Seven—I won't stop you from making any decisions, but…are you sure that you want to go on a mission to the Delta Quadrant in your current condition?" Janeway asked.

"Other than my current condition of feeling unwell," Seven said, "I have no reason to believe that my pregnancy will affect my ability to do my job in any way."

"The Doctor can give you a hypospray for the nausea," Janeway said. "When I was pregnant with Kaya and with Kol, too, I took it twice a day. It was the only thing that kept me going sometimes."

"Excellent," Seven said. "I am anxious to add more hyposprays to my routine."

"Speak to the Doctor," B'Elanna interrupted. "He can probably combine that with your hormones. In fact—I'll send him a message now."

"Kathryn—as I was saying—my current feeling of being unwell, aside, there should be no difficulty in completing my work," Seven said.

"I'm not worried about your work, Seven," Janeway said. "I'm worried about your happiness. Will you be as happy having your baby on a starship as you would at home?"

"With all due respect, Kathryn," Seven said, glancing toward Raffi, "my home will be on this starship. I will be immensely happier having our baby wherever Raffi is, then I will be to have our baby anywhere without her."

"That's not even to mention that Elnor will be here," Raffi said. "Our favorite Doctor, psychiatrist, and the only engineer willing to work on Borg systems."

Janeway looked around, her eyes settling on each of them for a moment.

"Then—I welcome you onto this ship," Kathryn said. "All three of you," she added with a wink. "There will be physical examinations the first day. I suppose the Doctor already knows about this, but…make sure it's in your record."

"Understood," Seven said.

"I'll have to make sure he understands it's a priority to me, personally," Janeway said with a somewhat dreamy, yet sincere, smile. "And Seven, Raffi? Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Seven said. Raffi's thanks fell almost into perfect unison with Seven's words.

Raffi reached and rubbed Seven's back. She caught Janeway's eye.

"We thought we'd have a party, when the first trimester passes and it's supposed to be safe to tell everyone. We thought we'd surprise everyone, you know? See their surprise and—share their congratulations. As many people as we've told, though, and as many as it seems that we'll be required to tell as we go along—I don't imagine there will be anyone left to surprise."

Kathryn smiled at her. She reached her hand across and found Raffi's hand. She squeezed it.

"Though the surprise may not be genuine," Kathryn said, "the congratulations always will be. Rest assured about that. And—if you need anything? I expect to know. I don't want to be out of the loop now."

Raffi and Seven both thanked her again.

"For now," Raffi said, "all I need to know is that—the regeneration chamber will be moved. Seven doesn't care for being alone and…the nanoprobes are taking up a lot of her energy. Even with the upgraded regeneration chamber, she's having to regenerate nearly every single day."

"Don't lose any sleep over it," Janeway said. "Or regeneration time, as the case may be," she added, winking at Seven. "The best engineer that Starfleet has to offer is on the job."

"I've already got a team updating the receptacles in your quarters to handle the voltage of the chamber," B'Elanna said, working from her device. "I've put in an order for a voltage shield to be made to the measurements of the chamber and to be installed as soon as possible. I'll check it as soon as they tell me it's in. And the doctor reports that—your prescription has been updated to include an anti-nausea medication at regular intervals along with the hormones. He also reports that—I'm to schedule time to be present at Seven's intake physical for implant and node care."

"See?" Raffi said, shrugging her shoulders at Janeway, and biting back the slight tinge of amusement she unexpectedly felt over everything, "we had no choice but to come along. But—we're happy for the family adventure, too."