AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!
111
"Good morning, Commander," Chakotay said, offering out a cup of coffee in Raffi's direction.
Raffi had already had a cup of coffee with Beverly Crusher while Seven had regenerated. Then, she'd had a cup with Seven. She'd also had a cup of coffee with Naomi Wildman in the mess hall while they'd discussed whether or not there should be some celebration of Baby Musiker's arrival before she actually made her debut—something along the lines of a traditional baby shower.
Still, Raffi smiled at the gesture and thanked Chakotay for the cup of coffee as she made a show of drinking a few sips of it and wondering just how jittery she'd be when all the caffeine she'd consumed finally hit her bloodstream.
"You certainly are cheerful this morning," Raffi said. Admittedly, she appreciated the cheer that Chakotay was wearing on his features with absolutely no attempt to hide it. It was contagious and, though she wasn't in low spirits at all, she felt like it helped her spirits soar just a bit higher.
Raffi glanced around the ready room. She picked up bits and pieces of Chakotay's personality from the decorations that he chose. Every captain's ready room was, in many ways, an extension of themselves. Even in the ones where Raffi had seen relatively few "personal" touches, she'd found the details of simplicity or nothingness to be just as telling as the items they chose to display.
Raffi imagined that Kathryn had at least had some hand in making Chakotay's ready room comfortable and inviting.
"Sit down a moment, please?" Chakotay said, gesturing to one of the chairs on the opposite side of his desk. He walked around his desk and sat down. Raffi did what he asked, and she sank into one of the chairs. She smiled to herself as her eyes skipped over the collection of images, as Seven would call them, that Chakotay had selected for the area all around his desk.
"I'd feel like I was in trouble for something," Raffi said, "but—most of the time my superiors don't look so ebullient when they're about to punish me for something."
Chakotay's smile didn't fade at all. He leaned on his desk casually, his hands clasped in front of him.
"Have you done anything for which I need to reprimand you?" He asked, his voice heavy with teasing.
Raffi drank a little of her coffee and shrugged her shoulder.
Being asked to go to the ready room the moment she'd arrived on the bridge was, admittedly, a little unnerving. It was especially unnerving when she'd spent much of the night awake, and the morning had seemed to already last long enough to qualify as a full day.
"I may have been involved in a little scheme involving the Vice Admiral over the past few days," she said.
"And our human Chief Medical Officer," Chakotay said with a laugh. "Though…don't mention to the Doctor that Starfleet makes any distinction between our co-CMOs." Raffi laughed quietly and shook her head. "The Admiral informed me of what happened," Chakotay finished, letting her know that he knew about the little scenario they'd created.
"So—word gets around on the ship," Raffi said.
"More like—Kathryn couldn't help but be curious about the Vice Admiral's sudden joviality."
Raffi laughed quietly. Her face burned a little, understanding exactly what Chakotay was talking about. Still, she was happy with a job well done. The decision to try to spread a little cheer, here or there, was one that seemed to be coming back on her three-fold. Though she had nothing to complain about at all, for the moment, a feeling which had led to her desire to help others be as happy as possible, she was finding that being greeted by so many genuine smiles only elevated her own enjoyment of everything.
"Just for the record," Raffi said, "Doctor Crusher is not innocent. She was in on the whole thing."
"I'm sure she was," Chakotay said with a laugh. "She hasn't been in the worst of moods, either. I had a meeting with her this morning as an update on everything we need to know about the crew."
"Anything I should know for planning duty rosters?" Raffi asked.
"Actually, that's the reason I wanted to see you," Chakotay said. His smile faded, but only just enough, as he located and passed a PADD over to Raffi. She glanced at it, but didn't take in any of the information. He would tell her what she needed to know, and she'd have plenty of time over her duty shift to go through the whole thing with a fine-toothed comb. "These are duty roster change-requests for the next seven days. I've marked which ones are approved. I think you'll find that most of them have been approved—there wasn't anything that was too outrageous, so I think we can accommodate most of the requests. You may have to move some people into different shifts. If that's the case, be sure to give them proper rejuvenation time in between their active shifts. But—you're always excellent at that kind of organization."
Raffi glanced at the PADD in her hand again. It was standard. Every first officer worked on duty rosters. Chakotay had likely spent most of his time as a first officer shifting people from one job to another. It earned you both the benefits of everyone being nice to you, just in case they should need or desire a certain shift, and the scorn of those who didn't get what they wanted—something that was bound to happen from time to time.
"Anything big that I should keep in mind?" Raffi asked.
Chakotay's smile grew, but he quickly and obviously swallowed it down.
"A few things," he said. Raffi nodded, unable to hide the smile that came to her face in a simple response to his expression. "I talked to Dr. Crusher, and she said that…we're really on a day-to-day basis with a few things. So—I'm going to need you to work on having alternate duty rosters for a few people."
"For how long?" Raffi asked.
"Indefinitely, but at least for the next two or three weeks," he said. He licked his lips. Raffi's stomach fluttered, full of butterflies. Realization settled over her. It felt warm, oddly embarrassing, and a little exhilarating. "Doctor Crusher tells me that we may have an exciting new arrival on the ship far more quickly than we originally anticipated."
Raffi's smile made her face ache, then.
"We had her up in the middle of the night," Raffi admitted. "Making house calls. It seems that the nanoprobes are, I guess, doing what nanoprobes do best. They're learning, and adjusting, and becoming as efficient as they can be. As a result, things seem to just be moving at a…a super-fast pace. We keep gaining speed, instead of losing it."
"Full steam ahead," Chakotay teased. "Doctor Crusher said that, physically, all is well. May I ask how Seven is handling things emotionally?"
"She's fine, really. Better than expected. She's—tired," Raffi said. "The nanoprobes use her energy to do the work they need to do, of course. She's burning through energy and hormones pretty quickly. She's excited. Happy. Overwhelmed. At 0200 hours this morning, Doctor Crusher was in our room, telling us that we may meet Baby M within two weeks…maybe even within the week, if everything continues to progress like it is."
"How is my first officer doing?" Chakotay asked. "You know—I've been on your end of things before, a couple of times. Even though it didn't happen as quickly for Kathryn and I, I do remember some of the feelings that you go through. I remember, too, feeling like I had to be somewhat alone in handling my feelings. It was all about Kathryn."
Raffi smiled and nodded.
"I've been on both sides, now," she said. "This is the side I'll stay on, though. Even with the next one, Seven intends to carry our little ones, and I fully support that decision. I'm fine, though, right now. I'm—excited. I'm terrified, too, but…"
"It's to be expected," Chakotay said. "You're facing so many unknowns. Even more so, if you consider that Seven is the first ex-Borg, that we know of, who will be giving birth."
Raffi nodded. The butterflies in her stomach were in a mad flutter. She put down the coffee mug, trying to blame the drink for the jittery feelings she was suffering.
"The Doctor and Doctor Crusher have both agreed to stay with us the whole time," Raffi said. "However long that may be. And—we're starting after our duty shift today with…preparing? I don't even know the right word, at this point. We're meeting to discuss birthing plans, you know?" Chakotay nodded and Raffi laughed to herself. She wrang her hands, trying to keep the feeling of her nerves as under control as she wanted them to be—she could pretend she was calm, if she wanted to, but she couldn't hide her feelings from herself. "It feels like we're going to be discussing birthing plans just to be ready to throw them out of the proverbial airlock when the nanoprobes decide exactly how this is going to happen."
"If it makes you feel any better, and I know you already know this, but sometimes we need a little reminding," Chakotay said, "every baby decides what they're going to do. And you end up throwing most of what you thought would happen out of the proverbial airlock. I know it's different, but the experience is somewhat universal. When Kaya was born, I thought Kathryn would be in labor for years. We were close to the point where they said it was time to take her if she didn't make that last little bit of progress toward birth. They didn't want her laboring too long, getting too tired, you know. I hardly remember it all. I was barely holding it together. But Kathryn didn't want that, and Kaya seemed to listen to her mother at the last minute."
Raffi smiled, pleased to hear the story. She had never realized, until starting to accept that they were trying to build something of a family aboard the ship, how much she enjoyed experiencing other people's happiness through them—especially after so long of feeling truly isolated and convincing herself that there was nothing but misery and suffering left in the whole universe.
"And Kol?" She asked. She smiled in response to Chakotay's smile. She knew, in his mind, he was reliving the same shaky, terrifying, exhilaration that she was currently feeling.
"He came so fast that I hardly made it," Chakotay said with a laugh. "I was running as fast as I could, once I got there, just to get to the room in time. Kathryn jokes that she hardly had time to be uncomfortable before Kol made his debut."
"I'm afraid that's what Baby M will have in mind," Raffi admitted.
"I don't think I'm betraying any kind of confidence in saying that Doctor Crusher feels the same way," Chakotay said. "For that reason, we need to start working on alternate duty rosters for the next two weeks. I think that we need a plan in place to have any changes ready to roll out as quickly and smoothly as possible."
"Any specifics you'd like me to keep in mind?" Raffi asked.
"The EMH can run constantly," Chakotay said. "Doctor Crusher, however, cannot be kept online twenty-four hours a day. Her primary concern, at the moment, is Seven, and we agree that's where her focus should be. She's retaining her position, of course, but it would be best if you pulled her off of active duty for the time being. She'll focus her attention on Seven and the research surrounding Seven's unique experiences. That should allow her ample time to rest and be in the best possible shape to handle Seven's situation. In the meantime, you can rearrange which doctors work with the EMH during each shift."
"Understood," Raffi said.
"At the same time, Admiral Janeway has asked that Seven be placed on flexible scheduling. She is officially relieved of duty, starting tomorrow, the same as Doctor Crusher. She may continue her work for as long as she finds it simply agreeable, but she is not required to report at any given time. In her absence, Admiral Janeway has requested that you talk to Naomi Wildman about serving as her assistant."
"Yes, sir," Raffi said, nodding her head.
"And, lastly, I want you to know that your role with me is flexible. I know that, traditionally, one parent is given full-time leave after the welcoming of new offspring, and the non-primary-caretaking parent or parents are given limited leave. I know that can be difficult for all parents, no matter the species. I can't grant you full-time leave, Raffi, but I can grant you as much flexibility as the Soñador and her crew can possibly give you. Several people have volunteered to do extra duty shifts as necessary. You'll find the list in the information loaded on your PADD. They're on-call, so to speak. If you need the time off, please don't hesitate to take it and let someone know that you need your shift covered. We're flexible, and we're family. You're becoming a parent again, too, and we don't want you to think we've forgotten that or that we're downplaying it."
"Thank you," Raffi said. "I mean that. I—I'd like to say so much more, but…"
Chakotay held up a hand to stop her.
"But it isn't necessary," he said.
"I'll get started on the rosters right away," Raffi told him.
"Fine," Chakotay said, "but—we'll be otherwise occupied in about three hours."
"Something going on?" Raffi asked.
Chakotay's earlier smile returned. He nodded his head gently.
"I've been in touch with Starfleet this morning. I was just about to have you make the announcement to the crew. It's going to be an exciting day for some of the people here. We're meeting a shuttle to welcome aboard an ambassador that will be our guest for some time."
"A Starfleet ambassador in the Delta Quadrant? Already?" Raffi asked. "I knew that—there were negotiations, but…"
"The Ambassador for New Talax was established before we even left the Delta Quadrant the last time," Chakotay said. "I don't know if Seven's mentioned our previous chef and Chief Morale Officer."
Raffi smiled.
"Neelix?" She asked. Chakotay nodded. "Seven is going to be so pleased!"
"I think a lot of people are," Chakotay said. "Our estimated rendezvous time with Neelix's shuttle is in three hours. He and his family will be joining us for a while."
"What do you need me to do to get ready?" Raffi asked.
"Have someone prepare quarters for them," Chakotay said. "Let the crew know they're coming. Go over any concerns that our anthropological team might have about the Talaxian species. Address any crew concerns, in case they should arise. Then, work on those duty rosters."
"Aye, Captain," Raffi said. She stood up and Chakotay stood, too.
"And, Raffi?" Chakotay said, stopping her before she left the ready room. She asked him, with nothing more than an expression, to continue. "Congratulations on your imminent arrival."
Raffi laughed to herself, the butterflies, having already settled, took flight in her stomach again.
"Thanks, Captain," she said.