All the adults were very excited about this link they were able to make to Earth and send letters home, in the end it had been the Doctor they were forced to send to Starfleet but the one good thing still remained, now they knew. Starfleet, Earth, their families could all know Voyager was still out there and they were trying to come home. While the adults were happy about it the children were having a little more trouble with it. Naomi and Amelia had been born on Voyager, Voyager WAS home as far as they were concerned and to Emily she was made in a lab, she didn't have a sense of home, her only real belonging had been her first birthday when she realized Kathryn and Q really did consider her a member of their family. Janeway had been particularly happy to have news of Voyager passed on and Q knew why, she had been sitting on information she felt was fairly important to her family, especially her mother for months. "You look a little nervous Captain." Q smiled and sat down in her chair behind her desk. "Something bothering you?"
"If we can establish a stable transmission through this network we might be able to stay in constant contact with Earth." She folded her hands together and put them under her chin getting that butterflies in her stomach sort of sensation. "This crew will be able to talk to their families again."
"Including you." Q put his feet up on her desk and propped his hands behind his head while he leaned back. He was a little too comfortable in that seat right now, Kathy was tempted to knock his feet off the desk but her mood was greatly improved upon with the hope of speaking to her sister and mother again. Instead she sat down on the desk next to him and rested a hand on his leg, not to give him any idea's.
"I told the doctor when he gets to Starfleet to give them the basics, we might not have enough time for more than that. Details on our status, our current location, the crew members we have lost since coming to the Delta Quadrant, the crew members we have acquired." She paused, specifically about Naomi Wildman so her father could know his wife was not only alive and well but he had a daughter out here in the Delta Quadrant. That poor man had spent the past 4 years thinking his wife was dead, the news that he had a child and a very healthy brilliant one at that should be enough to improve his day. And of course along with that Emily and Amelia would also be mentioned. Janeway wasn't even going to be the one to tell her mother she was a grandmother now but she still felt nervous about it. "And about the children who have been born on Voyager since our departure."
"Oh, I bet that will be fun." Q put his hands in his lap and raised his head. "We have lost a many good crew members on Voyager but don't worry we are procreating like bunnies to replace them." Q laughed. "Actually I really think of it more as a very slow promotion. Little Amelia is destine to be a captain some day and I think Naomi isn't that far behind either. Sort of making a future little fleet here 'Admiral' Janeway." He patted his lap hoping she would take the hint and have a seat. Not that he was being pervy right now, the rest of the bridge was already right outside the door talking about what they would send in their next letters to their families, talking about who they had left back on Earth and wondering how long it would be for them to get responses. She got up from her desk and walked around back pausing as she stood next to him. In fact it had crossed her mind to just tell him to get up and out of her chair but instead she rested an arm over the back of her chair and placed her other hand on her hip.
"That's not exactly what I was thinking about." Q grabbed her wrist and pulled her down catching her in his arms when she fell across his lap and leaned her back before kissing her. "Q." She scolded him verbally just a little as he broke away from their kiss and sat her back up.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself, you look so pretty when you get serious." He held her a little closer resting his hand against the small of her back. "So I guess your mother is going to find out she's a grandmother finally." He smiled at her as the captain put her arms around his neck. "Does that bother you?"
"No, not at all." Kathryn let out a sigh, she couldn't hide anything from him. Squeezing her a little tighter he rubbed her back knowing it was upsetting she didn't get to pass the message on herself. When Amelia had been born she had told him she felt sorry her mother might never get to know about Amelia, now by tomorrow she would. "A little." Looking back at Q she looked like she was a little queasy. He hadn't seen her give him a look like that since, well almost every day during her first trimester honestly. Back when cuddling her in bed, rubbing her back, and holding her hair had become a daily routine and convincing her it was going to get better had become a chore.
"You look a little flushed Kathryn, are you sick?" He got a little concerned placing a hand against her forehead.
"No."
Q gasped, he would have jumped out of the chair if she hadn't been sitting on his lap. "I swear Kathryn if the next words to leave your mouth end up being 'I'm pregnant'..." He paused puffing up his chest looking like he was going to have a panic attack now. What frightened him more than anything wouldn't be the fact that she was going to have a baby but the fact it wouldn't be his. As a human he hadn't slept with her at all after Amelia was born and as a Q there was no such thing as an accident, aside from Emily but she didn't count. He had absolutely nothing to do with that. Q's had to go out of their way to make other Q's, it would have been something he was aware of. That could only mean one other thing, someone had tried to 'comfort' her after he had died...CHUCKLES. Where was he? Q was going to bitch slap the command right out of him.
"Oh god no." Janeway protested making him relax again. "If I was you would be talking me down from jumping off the second floor of cargo bay two."
"Good, I mean not good that you are going to throw yourself off the second floor of the cargo bay but..." He took in a deep breath and patted his own chest as if trying to keep from having that near fatal heart attack. "Jean Luc thanks you." He smirked, Jean Luc still wasn't aware Q had two hellspawn the captain would have to contend with, of course Jean Luc wasn't Emily's godfather, the Doctor was Emily's Godfather so Jean Luc didn't need to know about her just yet. "So why do you look so nervous?"
"Because, I guess even though I'm not the one who is going to be telling her to 'good' news I am still, worried."
"Worried about what?"
"About the girls never...meeting her." Janeway rested her head against his shoulder, her fingers running back and forth along his chest. "It might have been easier for her to just never have known they exist. I mean..." She furrowed her brow, it wasn't easy for her to be vulnerable around anyone and talk about her fears and concerns. "She really wanted to have grandchildren and we both knew my sister was never going to be the sort of girl to give her any but it never mattered. I always knew one day I would, I always wanted at least one child." She smiled a little, she just hadn't expected to have had one with Q. "I think as soon as Mark and I were engaged that had been her dream and then I got trapped out here in the delta quadrant."
"And you met me and I talked you into helping me save the continuum by having a baby with me and what do you know seven months later there was a little squirming bundle of joy called Amelia. So you gave your mother a grandchild, getting that news should make her feel happy. Her dream came true."
"Maybe." She didn't sound so hopeful and positive. "But she may never get the chance to meet either of them. Isn't it worse to know you have two granddaughters you will never meet than to never know you had them and never have to live with the knowledge that you were missing out on something?"
"Wouldn't it be easier to not have had a daughter at all than to miss the one lost in the delta quadrant and having that hope she will come home again?" Q responded. Humans were so full of hope, they were a hopeful species always thinking the best even in the darkest of situations. "Isn't it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? True, she may never meet her granddaughters, but at least she would have died knowing that she had them. That even if she never got to hold them or see them grow up that they gave her hope and they gave her joy because it meant her daughter Kathryn Janeway wasn't so alone in the Delta Quadrant anymore." He hugged his captain resting his chin on the top of her head. "And just think, if you can establish a permanent link with Earth through this network she will be showing all her friends holopics of the three prettiest girls in the Delta Quadrant. You'll feel much better about all this when we can get a response from Starfleet." He knew she missed her family and friends back on Earth, everyone on this crew did. There wasn't a day Ensign Kim didn't talk about his mother this or his mother that. Torres and Tom seemed like the only two who didn't care as much.
"Thank you Q."
"You say that now but wait until your next checkup when you find out your pregnant." She sat up quickly glaring at him suddenly realizing that painful shock he had experience a moment ago. "I'm kidding." He was quick to defend himself. "If that were true, you would have to stop me from jumping off the second level of cargo bay two." He joked. "I guess we can hold hands on the fall down, though because it's not a very big drop I can safely say we would both survive." It wasn't much higher than the two levels in engineering. It was nice to know they were on the same page though, sort of. Honestly if they had another little Qway together he wouldn't be horribly disappointed, Jean Luc and the continuum would be upset but Q could deal with it.
1500, Mess Hall
When the doctor had returned to Voyager after his trip to Prometheus just about everyone had gathered around to ask him about what Starfleet had to say. The whole crew was alive with both hopes of contacting home again and even better getting a response from their friends and family. Kim especially who was happy to know his parents would get news at last that he was alive and well. There would be some families who's fears were verified with official news that their loved ones had died aboard Voyager and there would be other families who would get news of their loved ones still being alive and well, some even fewer like Mr. Wildman who would get news that not only was his wife alive and well but he had become a father. In the excitement Janeway hadn't even noticed Q had vanished, she had been too busy trying to keep the crew under control and not let them allow this current good fortune to distract them from the task at hand, getting home. Once everyone exited the mess hall and moved back to their posts Kathryn finally turned to Chakotay. "Where is Q?"
"I don't know Captain, he was here with Amelia a moment ago." Emily was still with Naomi talking to the girl about what she would do if she got a letter from her father. It was only a matter of time now and it would be her first contact with her real father. Emily knew from experience the joy that came with facing a chance to contact your real parents. After all when she had come to Voyager Emily had thought of nothing but meeting Amelia. Warming up to Q and Janeway had taken more time and she was still adapting to them. "Must be on Voyager."
Janeway shook her head, a little smile creeping across her face. "Something tells me, he's not."
Bloomington Indianan Earth
Mrs. Janeway had gotten the news around noon from the Federation. After four years of silence, the fear her daughter was gone she finally heard those words that made her cry tears of joy. Kathryn was alive and that had not been the only news. Her first instinct had been to contact Phoebe in LA and tell her younger daughter but the older woman decided instead to sit down in the living room a moment to full absorb everything she had been told. Reaching into the draw of a small table she pulled out a little note and looked it over with a smile, whoever had left her this note had known. Pulling the note to her chest the old woman smiled, her attention pulled away from the note when a flash of light startled her. Standing there was Q, his red and black command uniform looking much like the one Mrs. Janeway's daughter had been wearing before she left that fateful day on Voyager. "Hello Mrs. Janeway." Q spoke up as the older woman turned around. He could see some resemblance to Kathryn in her worn face. She held a surprising flicker of youth still, especially in those blue eyes that reflected so much like her daughters. Her locks had gone grey and most of her age seemed to be caused by the years she had spent worrying, crying over her daughters supposed death.
"Who are you?" She asked in that same bossy tone Kathryn used on hi, Q couldn't help but smile, clearly he had the right woman.
"My name is Q." The woman's eyes widened a little, clearly the doctor had given more than just basic detail. Figured, everyone's family deserved a little detail on their loved ones situations aboard Voyager. "I was just going to ask if you have heard of me, clearly you have." Looking down he stepped out of the shadows a little more showing the little baby in his arms, a pink blanket wrapped around her with the initials A.J. AJ was Tom and Torres nickname for Amy, Tom was convinced that was going to be her academy nickname as well. Who wouldn't die to call little Janeway AJ? "Then you must know who this is?" He smiled at her as the older woman stepped forward.
"Amelia?" Mrs. Janeway smiled, she had been told about a much as they knew on Voyager's current status and Kathryn, the news that had startled her most was about one baby in particular that had been born on Voyager, Amelia. Of course had someone else reported the news to her she might have been suspicious about this 'visitor' Q, luckily an old friend of the family had been the one to contact her, Captain Picard. He had given her a basic run down about Q and warned her something like this might happen since he had a habit of 'dropping by' uninvited. In this case, she had to say he was very much invited into her home.
Q poked at the baby trying to wake her up. "She fell asleep on the way over. She's getting a little too use to this sort of thing now." He smiled as the baby woke back up and let out a big yawn. "Wake up Amy. say hello to your grandmother." She stretched her arms out whimpering a little as her father disturbed her. It wasn't often she was asleep and comfortable, he just had to go and ruin her perfect nap. "Would you like to hold her? It's alright she's may be half Q but she doesn't bite. Actually I take that back, she does just a little. She getting her first few teeth." He laughed.
Mrs. Janeway crossed the living room quickly and reaching out for the little girl. With Amelia in her arms she smiled at the baby as her bright green eyes looked up at the older woman. "She looks like her mother did when she was just a baby." Mrs. Janeway commented trying to rock the baby back to sleep. "How old is she?"
"Six months old since last week. She seems younger because she's a little small, Amelia was born two months early unfortunately but that hasn't stopped her so far. She's as stubborn as her mother." Mrs. Janeway smiled, if anyone could understand Katrhyn's stubbornness. "She can sit up all on her own, crawls around, even pull herself up and stand with the aid of furniture. If you hang onto her hands she will even try to walk." Q watched as Mrs. Janeway sat down on the couch, Amelia seeming to wake up a little more.
"She's beautiful."
"Well." Q paused rocking back on his heels and placing his hands behind his back. "She's got a very beautiful mother." He stood up straight again. "Sorry I couldn't let you meet her before, I'm not allowed to interfere with the natural order of things among you mortals." He paused again. "At least not too much, since you know Voyager and Kathryn are well and fine I figured...well Kathy...she was having a hard time knowing you were going to find out about being a grandmother and not getting to see Amelia. I figured what's a few stops to grandma's house every now and again?"
"You were the one who left the rose and the note." Quick woman, Q saw where Janeway got her smarts from.
"Yes, I did."
"How is my daughter?" Mrs. Janeway asked taking Amelia's hand as the little girl reached up at her and tried sitting up in her arms. Amelia was a squirmy little thing but Mrs. Janeway seemed to be a pro with babies already. She had raised two of her own after all.
"Kathy? Oh she's doing good, you raised one hell of a daughter you know. She's an impressive Captain and an impressive woman, and a really good mother. She misses you, who can blame her, Amelia misses her mother if she's away for more than a few hours. Four years is a long time to be away from home but she's the wind under Voyagers sails."
"I miss her too." Mrs. Janeway seemed a little sad but looking back at her granddaughter she found it hard to keep a frown on her face for long. Amelia had propped herself up and placed a hand on her grandmothers shoulder looking around the living room. Looking back to her grandmother Amelia started ranting off in her typical nonsensical baby babble. "My, you are talkative." Amelia smiled at her grandmother making the older woman cry a little and pull the baby closer to her chest giving Amelia a hug. "She has her mothers smile too."
"And a Janeway temper to boot."
"Thank you." Mrs. Janeway sniffled before Amelia started blabbering on again and made the woman laugh once more.
"Well, a quick visit to Grandma's isn't too far out of the way for me." He waved his hand like it was no big deal. Honestly it wasn't a big deal for him. Amelia could come hand out with Granny all she liked. "Hey, I might even have you babysit now." That would be perfect, he could finally take Janeway on that picnic on the holodeck now.
"I mean, for looking out for my Kathryn, for keeping her company, for Amelia."
"I would say your welcome but then I would have to thank you. Thank you for Kathryn." It was hard to imagine Q of all people use to be selfish and self centered. Kathy had taught him a little about nobility and looking out for others, most importantly she had taught him about love.
