{{{{{My apologies for the delay. This last chapter is mostly fluff and mush and was a total struggle to wrap up. Any suggestions on how to improve the lane ending would be appreciated...}}}}}
_
Nope it's not," Kathryn replied cheerfully. "There is a definite lack of hay around here. But don't worry." She held out her hand towards Phoebe, who reached out reflexively to take what her sister offered. The three small spiky pods fell into her hand. She stared at them as Kathryn walked away. "Aw, come on Kat! You didn't! My kids play up there." Phoebe's protests fell on deaf ears as Kathryn turned away. "And don't look so proud of yourself!" Phoebe yelled after her, as she disappeared up the stairs.
--
Chapter 12
Kathryn caught up with Chakotay near the top of the stairs. "Did you bring anything with you?" she asked. He might not have, depending on how he thought this day was going to end. Perhaps he didn't want to make assumptions.
"I did, a small bag. Your sister took it from me when I got here but I don't know what she did with it. It's okay, though. I don't really need anything from it now," he replied.
She showed him the spare guest bathroom and then made her way to her own room, where she found a small duffel bag sitting on her bed. Apparently Phoebe was comfortable making all sorts of assumptions.
She quickly cleaned up, changed into a blue Cotten sundress with a fitted bodice and a moderately conservative halter neckline. This wasn't an official event, it was a family event, a family reunion of sorts. She hoped it would the first of a long tradition.
She moved downstairs, stopping to knock in the door do the bathroom and pass off Chakotay's bag, telling it to leave it back in her room when he was done. She hurried down the stairs just as she heard her mother welcoming in the first guests. By the time she hit the ground floor, her mother had Miral in her arms and was beaming at Tom. "You know, young man, I never thought I would see the day when I got to hold your baby in my arms," she heard her mother say.
"That's makes two of us," came Tom's laughing reply.
"Ahh, Kathryn!" She heard Owen Paris's voice before she saw him. The Torres-Parises has come with extended family. "It's good to see you!" He swept her into a hug before she had a chance to reply. As he let her go, she pulled back and eyed the Admiral with narrowed eyes.
"Admiral." Her words were full of warning. It was her Captain's voice and everyone in the group froze and turned to look at her.
"Admiral," she began again. "You are in Uniform."
He looked down at himself as if surprised. He stammered in response.
Before he could get a word out, Kathryn continued. "You were invited here today because you are immediate family of the Voyager crew NOT because you are an admiral. There is a replicator upstairs, please find your way to it and find something else to wear. There is no work and NO official business here today, do I make myself clear?"
The older man looked baffled, turned to look at his wife, then back at Kathryn, then at her mother, then back at Kathryn. Still wearing a shocked expression, as if he wasn't used to being ordered around, he turned to his wife one last time. She touched his arm and said quietly, "I told you, dear. You better do as she says, she sounds like she's used to being in charge." She gave her husband an encouraging push up the stairs and then winked at Kathryn. Owen went up the stairs grumbling about insubordination.
Chakotay finished up and dropped his bag off in Kathryn's room, sneaking a quick look at the room where his Kathryn had grown up. There wasn't much of a personality left, pale gray walls, white bedspread, wood furniture, a vase of yellow flowers next to the bed. He supposed it hadn't been used for much of anything in many years. He headed downstairs but before he reached the stairs, he met a glowering Admiral Paris stomping up the stairs. He pulled up quickly, standing at attention. "Admiral!" he said.
Admiral Paris waved down his attentive stance with a hand. "Afternoon, Chakotay. I've already been reprimanded for wearing my uniform and sent to find something to replace it. I think standing at attention and salutes are forbidden as well. Good to see you." He reached over and held out his hand to shake it.
A bit stunned, Chakotay took his hand, wondering which levels of Dante's hell had frozen over. "Yes, sir?" he replied, still a bit unsure.
"Can you point me towards the replicator? Kathryn is every bit her mother when it comes to giving orders in this house. Propriety and professionalism and..." His voice petered off as he grumbled.
"Down the hall, on the right," he replied. "Her mother? Wasn't her father the Admiral?" Chakotay asked, amused.
"Edward was the Admiral, but he was always easy going at home. He had Gretchen to put her foot down and make it easy for him. You haven't spent much time with Gretchen, have you?" Answering his own question, he replied. "I suggest you make sure you know where you stand with her, the rest of them are just pushovers in comparison." Admiral Paris walked away unceremoniously leaving Chakotay at the top of the stairs, but then turned around and came back.
"Kathryn has not accepted her promotion ," he said bluntly. Chakotay looked at him with a neutral expression, not wanting to give any information away. "I hear a rumor...a very unofficial rumor coming from my kitchen, that she may be waiting on someone's opinion on her options." The older man met his eye with a slightly hard glance and one upraised eyebrow.
Chakotay met his glance confidently, without giving away anything, but then gave a soft chuckle. "Well, sir, I think if you or your confidants know anything about Kathryn Janeway, you will know she waits for no person when it comes to deciding. Least of all me, if that's what you were implying," Chakotay said quietly.
The idea itself seemed absurd to him. In fact, if he hadn't just had that exact conversation with Kathryn an hour ago he would never have believed it. He wondered how Tom and B'Elanna had such a better grasp of Kathryn than he did. Was it something they saw in her while he had been gone? He'd been more than a little shocked when B'Elanna told him they'd gone looking for her and found her at Sandrine's, three or more whiskeys deep. It just didn't seem like something his intrepid Captain would do. He was still learning though, that the woman he fell it love with in the Delta Quadrant was a bit more complex here in the Alpha Quadrant where a variety of interests clashed. It was indeed different than having to fight to see, and love, the woman who kept herself hidden under the guise of the captaincy. She was more often Kathryn the woman here, with more flexibility to be herself AND be an officer here.
"Perhaps," Owen replied. "But I've known Katie for a lot longer than you, under a variety of different circumstances. She is, above all things, loyal. And while you say you don't factor into her decision, I think we both know she sees loyalty to StarFleet in opposition to loyalty to you, on a personal level."
"Perhaps that is Starfleet's doing as a result of their treatment of her, and the rest of the crew, and not because of me. They didn't exactly respect her opinion on something she was literally the only expert on." Chakotay bristled under the accusation. "I spent 7 years by her side. Let me tell you will full confidence and accuracy, that that woman does not have any qualms about rejecting my opinions about anything," he said defensively. "Plus, Kathryn Janeway's whole life is StarFleet. I would never ask her to leave her career for me. You both overestimate me and insult me."
Owen Paris sucked in his cheeks as he considered the younger man, giving him a once over from head to toe. Not one to crumble in the face of authority. He must've been an exemplary first officer for a ship in Voyagers position. He'd picked up on the inferences and inside jokes Tom and B'Elanna kept making about their command team and hadn't believed it at first. They had kept everything so professional it couldn't believe there could be something other than respect and cordiality between the two. Now however, standing in his presence, he had to concede that his son and daughter-in-law could be right.
"You may never ask her to, and you may be right, that no one will ever make her opinions for her, but I think that if anyone can sway her one way or another, it would be someone she loves." Owen's final comment dropped between them like an anvil.
"StarFleet needs her. Needs good officers like her to bring us into the next century," Paris said firmly. He wasn't quite asking for help, but was feeling out the situation to see if this was a man who could be on his side.
"I would never attempt to sway a friend on such an important decision. Are you asking me to convince her to stay in StarFleet? Me? A man who has been betrayed by that organization every time we've been in contact?" He stares at Paris in angry, dark eyes flashing. "Or are you accusing me of trying to get my friend and respected colleague to give up a key part of her persona for my own benefit? I can't decide which is worse." He glared at Owen as he turned on his heel and hurried down the stairs.
The groups downstairs had dispersed by that time, and he gratefully walked through the empty house. He gathered his composure as he watched the others, now joined by a few more guests, mill around the backyard. He saw Kathryn's blue dress flash as she flitted this way and that, giving orders to the caterers and greeting guests.
He was still standing at the window staring when he heard someone come up behind him. Noting it was Admiral Paris out of the corner of his eye, he didn't turn to make eye contact.
Owen cleared his throat as he stepped up next to Chakotay at the window. "I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, Commander," he offered in condolence.
"Oh, I don't think so, Admiral. I think we are right where we thought we would be," Chakotay replied almost bitterly. "And it's just Chakotay, not Commander," he added. At that Owen Paris flinched slightly, interpreting his meaning.
"Do you intend to resign then?" he asked sharply.
Chakotay gave a small snort of amusement and looked around conspiratorially. "No, I don't mean that. But we're not supposed to be talking business today."
"Right," Paris said.
"Look, Admiral," Chakotay said. He may not be supposed to be talking business, but he also had been an officer long enough that he couldn't call a superior by anything other than rank or sir. It had taken him a long time to call Kathryn by her name, and that had been under extenuating circumstances. "I don't like your approach, and I don't like what you're implying. But, on a personal note, as the father of someone who once saved my life, I will tell you I haven't talked to Kathryn in over three weeks, except for one very brief and official business-related purposes, exactly because I wanted her to make a decision first. I am not about manipulation of those I...care about." He choked on the last bit. Those I love had been on his lips. He wasn't about to declare his love for his Captain to an admiral at a backyard BBQ. He sighed and looked out into the yard again.
Admiral Paris was silent for a moment, considering what he had just heard. He didn't really appreciate the dressing down he's just received from a subordinate officer, but it rather was personal and it rather was an off-duty situation. Instead of focusing on Chakotay's near slip, he was thinking of something else.
"Tom saved your life," he said flatly.
"More than once, I'm sure, but the first time stands out," Chakotay replied a bit dryly. "It was against his better judgement, I know, considering I'd threatened his life earlier that day, and the fact that he'd tried to send me to my own death months before, but yes, he did. And I'm grateful." He looked over at his companion out of the corner of his eye. The Admiral looked surprised, and contemplative, as if the fact that his son was very highly regarded was still a shock to him. "You should ask him about it sometime, it makes a great story." There was another pregnant pause. "You know," Chakotay said, "you may think you understand her, or me, or the rest of us, but I think you will find that we have all been so changed by 7 years in the wilderness that no one does anymore, not even ourselves."
And with that, he straightened his clothes one last time and headed outside without a backward glance. First up, he thought, make the rounds and say hello to everyone. Second up, find Gretchen Janeway. Third, find Kathryn...and maybe try to sneak away to that barn or treehouse again...He shook his head to clear his thoughts of her soft skin pressed up against him. He wondered if she was expecting him to stay the night. And then wondered what her mother would think about that. Maybe he should find Gretchen first. Before he had a chance to contemplate this, he was swept into the party. Playing the social butterfly, he moved from group to group, meeting family, exchanging updates. He found Ayala's boys, who he hadn't seen in 8 years and told them about the field of corn where it was possible to play hide and seek forever and the tree fort. Watching them hurry off for things more exciting than a party to boys of 13 and 15, he was joined by Ayala who had brought him another beer. They clinked the glass together in a silent salute as they watched the crowds swirl from the perimeter.
"So," Ayala said. Then nothing but silence.
Chakotay raised an eyebrow at him. Mike's ability to say so little but still get the answers he wanted was one of his most endearing, and most annoying, traits.
"You gonna stay the night?" he asked in response to the eyebrow. A loaded question. Chakotay didn't answer right away, but unconsciously sought out Kathryn's blue clad figure, laughing with a glass of wine in her hand, talking to a group of people.
"Haven't been asked," he replied finally.
"I hear her sister and family are here. Might make for tight quarters, might not be a spare room. Might need to double up," Mike said.
"I'm sure we'll figure out a satisfactory solution," Chakotay replied. He looked at Mike out of the corner of his eye and cracked a smile. "She left my luggage in her room."
Mike smirked back at room and reached out to clink their beers together again. Chakotay watched as Kathryn moved to join a small group that included Tom and B'Elanna, coaxing B'Elanna to hand over the baby to her. "Catch ya later, Mike," he said, as he made a beeline for the group. Mike simply smiled and downed his beer.
Coming up behind her, he said "Careful, Kathryn, people are going to accuse you of monopolizing that child." She turned and grinned at him, her face shining with a natural joy that was hard to control.
She cuddled the baby a little more firmly. "I'm allowed to monopolize her as much as I want. I'm her namesake. It's the rule."
"Oh I see," he replied jokingly. "Who else needs a refill?" he asked, holding up his drink. Everyone did, apparently and he moved off. Kathryn, surprisingly, followed him, but did not give up the baby. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.
"Captain's prerogative," she replied to his expression of teasing. He took her glass from her, exchanging it will a full glass of champagne. He grabbed another beer for himself and juggled the other drinks requested with aplomb.
As they strolled back, Kathryn slowed her gait. He matched her, sensing she wanted to tell him something. "I'm going to accept it," she said. She looked at him confidently, but he could see the look of worry in her brow and behind her eyes.
He smiled and nodded. A real smile. He was pleased for her. Kathryn felt her breath leave in a whoosh. "That's great. We can toast you tonight."
"No, I haven't told anyone else yet, though Admiral Paris looks like he can't wait to get me cornered and drag it out of me."
"He cornered me earlier," Chakotay said.
"He did!" she replied with alarm. "What did he say?"
"He mumbled a lot about uniforms and insubordination," Chakotay said with a tease.
She didn't bite. "No really, what did he say?"
"Nothing of too much consequence. I'll tell you all about it later," he said, gesturing towards the waiting crowds.
She had stopped all forward movement. "And you? Is it too soon to ask you?"
He stopped and turned to look at her then, her hair slightly curled around her face, flushed with champagne and the joy of her family around her. Her blue dress fit her figure perfectly and the baby was held delicately up against her shoulder. This was another image of her he would frame forever in his mind.
"I'm resigning my commission," he said. "But accepting their offer as faculty, as well as a part time position at University of California." She stood, frozen in place. "I just couldn't fathom a new mission, new orders, a new ship," he said in way of explanation.
She nodded quickly. "Of course. Okay, I'm glad," she said.
"Are you?" he asked quietly. The couple stood in the middle of the grassy lawn, face to face, 18" and a hundred light years between them. The silence stretched thin.
"They're both local positions," she said finally. "No traveling."
"No stars," he added.
She shook her head. "No," she replied. "But maybe a bathtub?"
"I'll see if I can find one. I hope the old one wasn't misplaced," he said, moving towards her like a magnet. He walked behind her, on the left, as was his custom, as they rejoined the group. He passed out drinks and Kathryn grudgingly passed the baby to Chakotay.
"So," Tom asked to Chakotay, "my father asked me about the time I saved your life. WHAT have you been telling him?"
He laughed out loud, dark eyes gleaming in the lights hung above the yard. Kathryn watched him with a swell under her breastbone, one that promised peace, and happy endings, and love.
"Mostly that he should bugger off trying to get the Captain here, and myself, to respond to Starfleet's offers. What did you say?" Chakotay asked.
"Well, I asked him which time, of course" Tom replied. The crowd around them joined in the joke.
--
The crew of Voyager, having lived through crisis after crisis that they never thought they would survive, knew how to celebrate. The music played, drinks were passed, the food was long gone. The stars had come out and the sky was the delightful navy blue of a warm summer night. Promotions and new assignments and new jobs had been announced for all that had them, save for the command team. Speeches were made, toasts conducted, and revelry continued.
Kathryn stood leaning against the fence, sipping what seemed to be a bottomless glass of champagne. She thought maybe it was starting to go to her head, but she didn't mind. Chakotay was next to her, also leaning against the fence. The two didn't touch, but Kathryn could feel the heat of him radiating into space. It was all she could do to keep herself from leaning into him. As if reading her mind, Chakotay glanced over at her. He gave her a knowing smile. She met his eye with a peculiar look on her face. It wasn't exactly unfamiliar but it was one he hadn't seen often. It looked like a cross between the look she gave him when they finally were alone together and she gave the computer instructions to lock the door, and the look she got on her face when she was about to do something completely reckless, like try and navigate between binary stars or punch her way through a nebula. "If not now, when?" she said simply. And she scooted her body 18 inches to left so her hip was snug next to his.
He smirked at her and tapped her sideways gently with his own hip. "Well, you're the only one here with propriety to consider, so I'll follow your lead. I have nothing to lose. No ones going to care what a lowly Anthropology professor does with his spare time. You know, if it was up to me, I'd..." he leaned over to whisper in her ear some delightfully inappropriate things. She blushed and laughed at him, tucking a strand of hair that had come loose behind her ear. "Dance with me?" he asked as he held out his hand to her. She didn't reply but followed him to the dance floor.
"I am an atrocious dancer," she said as they turned to her other and he cradled her in his arms.
"I can't imagine how, with all your experience as the dying swan," he said. "Actually no, I can. It's because you always want to lead. Dancing is a partnership, each person has a role to play."
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Are you telling me that even when I'm an Admiral, I'll still have to follow your lead?"
"Only on the dance floor, I promise," he replied.
Their casual banter, and dancing that couldn't be anything more than appropriate for two long standing officers, did not go unnoticed by the others at the party. When Chakotay used his hand to press onto her lower back bringing her body flush with his, more than a couple whispers ran through the crowd. When the couple settled in for the duration, becoming more and more oblivious to their surroundings, the whispers turned to sighs and suppressed smiles. Tom Paris came around a few of the crewmen from the lower decks and watched both the dance floor and the rest of the crowd, trying to find where his wife and daughter had gone. He was friendly with everyone, but there were still some members of the crew he knew less well than others. They acknowledged him with a welcoming smile. This party was further breaking down the ranks and rules of seniority that had began to fall as soon as they arrived back on earth.
"That's a sight for sore eyes, isn't it?" one of the crewmembers said to the others. The younger one, Tom thought his name was Gerron, snorted, and said "I don't know how, or why, they bothered to keep that a secret for so long. It's not like anyone on Voyager would have cared." Tom's ears immediately pricked up.
"Shoot, man," the third said, "everyone knew anyway, they might as well have saved themselves the effort."
The first one chimed back, "eh, you know Janeway: can't take the easy way when there is a more proper and more difficult way." The three crewmen shared a chuckle, turning slightly to include Tom in their group.
Tom's mind was racing. "Soooo," he started slowly, "you mean the Captain and Chakotay? Romantically?" He asked, feigning ignorance. Maybe he could see how much the lower decks thought they knew.
They turned and stared at him, unabashed and slightly surprised, as if they couldn't believe that Tom Paris of all people was in the dark. He raised his eyebrows at them and shook his head, asking for an answer silently.
"Well..." Gerron began. "Yeah, you didn't know? How did the senior staff not know?"
Realizing he looked very foolish right now, Tom backtracked a little. "We did," he began slowly, "but we weren't really aware the rest of the crew did too."
They broke out laughing at that. "You officers need to spend more time trolling the Deck 3 corridors during the late hours of gamma shift. I saw Her leave Chakotay's quarters at 4am more times than I can count," Gerron said.
The third crewman joined in, "Even better were the times we saw Chakotay leaving her quarters just before shift change, freshly showered."
Toms eyes just about bugged out of his head. "And...everyone knew this?" he asked. "For how long?"
"Pretty much everyone. Everyone who paid attention or liked to gossip anyway..." Gerron said with a grin.
"So everyone then," Tom replied. "How long have you known?"
They all thought for a minute, and Tom saw B'Elanna and waved her over to them. She arrived just as they were saying "a while, definitely a few years. Maybe after Kes left, definitely before you and B'Elanna."
"Before he and B'Elanna what?" she butted in.
"Hi Chief!" they greeted her enthusiastically. The champagne had not gone to waste on them either.
His arm around his wife, Tom explained "They were just telling me, B'Elanna, how glad they were to see the Captain and Chakotay dancing, after hiding this relationship for years." His emphasis on the word years conveyed his meaning to her and she tried hard not grin.
"Indeed," she said, then pressed her lips together. "Tom, Miral needs you over here," and she led him away from the group.
As they stepped out of earshot, B'Elanna burst out laughing. "Tom can you believe it? Are we the only ones who DIDN'T know?"
"I mean...Harry..." Tom started with a grin, then joined his wife in a laugh.
Near the drink table, Admiral Paris and his wife were also watching.
"What the hell are they doing?" He grumbled.
"Who? Kathryn? And her officer?" Julia Paris studied them on the dance floor, melded together. "They look good together."
"They LOOK GOOD TOGETHER? What the hell is she thinking?" Owen protested.
"Owen, dear, you have known her since she was a young girl. She has NEVER taken the easy way out. She always finds the most difficult path towards what she wants. And what could POSSIBLY be more difficult than that?" She gestured at the couple, now slowly making their way back to the sidelines. "She thinking she spent 7 years putting everyone else first and now maybe she's going to think of herself."
Owen gave his wife a side-eyed glance with narrowed eyes. "Doesn't she know what everyone is going to say? Going to think?" he grumbled, more to himself than anyone else.
"My dear, I don't think she cares anymore. Think about what she spent the last 7 YEARS doing. Always thinking about everyone else needed first. I talked with him earlier. He seems like a good egg. She deserves someone like him after..." Her voice trailed off. "Plus look at him. You all should be glad she stuck to the rules, spending 7 years in Delta Quadrant with him." Her eyes gleamed as she looked at Chakotay and her husband stared at her dumbfounded. "What?"she asked innocently. "I can look."
Kathryn laughed at something Chakotay had said and spun around as she reached the fence she'd been leaning against earlier. She felt flushed from the dancing as much as the closeness of Chakotay and now the champagne had definitely gone to her head. She gladly took a new glass from one of the caterers making the rounds. Her ears were tingling at the whispers she knew were making the rounds. Let them, her mind whispered to herself. It doesn't matter anymore. Samantha Wildman and her husband, carrying a fast-asleep Naomi against his shoulder came to give their regards. She felt a pang every time someone said goodbye, as if one by one their family was dissolving away, with promises to keep in touch but nothing more.
She turned back to watch the dance floor, and out of the corner of her eye saw Owen Paris heading towards them. "Red alert, 10 o'clock," she murmured.
"At ease, Captain," Chakotay murmured back. "No parameters at a party, remember?" She shot him a grateful smile.
"Excellent party, Kathryn," Owen said, raising his glass to her. "Chakotay," he acknowledged with a nod. "Good to see you having a good time."
"Glad you could make it, Admiral," she replied cheekily.
"Oh Admiral is it now? No more change out of that uniform, Uncle Owen? Not at this house, Uncle Owen?" he replied back just as cheekily. She wasn't the only one enjoying the champagne, Kathryn thought with a grin.
"You still outrank me, for a little while longer anyway, and I haven't called you Uncle since I was in pigtails," she retorted.
"For a while yet?" he asked inquisitively.
"Not tonight, Uncle. Not tonight." Kathryn took another sip of her champagne, not wanting to lose the feeling of happiness and relaxation it had imparted on her tonight.
"I meant it, Kathryn, it's good to see you...Both of you...happy. It's not been an easy ride, and you deserve to celebrate." Owen gave them a small expectant smile.
Not wanting to give anything away, Kathryn felt a neutral expression fall over her face, causing Paris to scowl. "Oh Janeway, let loose a little. Like you said, no official business tonight, so if you want to enjoy yourself, I'm not going to say a word. Julia won't let me," he scolded. "I am however, going to want a thorough accounting, as someone standing in stead of your father." He gave her a pointed look and stomped off towards his wife, who looked over at them and gave a little wave of her fingers.
Kathryn turned back to Chakotay, her eyes wide, hand covering her mouth to suppress a laugh. "I feel like I just got caught kissing on the front porch by my father."
"Is he going to haul me out back and demand to know what my intentions are?" Chakotay laughed back. "I mean, clearly you were the aggressor here..." They settled back in to their comfortable position, hip to hip, him slightly behind her to the left, and enjoyed the time they had left together, ready to take whatever may come, with the confidence of knowing that they could handle it as long as they had each other.
El fin