Note: A longer bit this time. More soon. Promise!

Part 3

Sandrine's was quiet tonight.

Frowning, Harry leaned against the pool table and watched the holographic characters chatting among themselves. For the first few days after the return of Admiral Janeway, the bar had been crowded with original Voyager crew regaling their new shipmates with tales from the Delta Quadrant – most of them with just a few creative embellishments. But tonight the place was empty of all but himself and the holograms, and much too quiet.

The whole ship was too quiet. Every footfall in the corridors had sounded hollow and harsh as he'd made his way from the lift to the Holodeck. Hours had passed since then, and Harry still felt…disconcerted by the silence and emptiness.

"Damn. Your go, Harry."

Harry shook himself out of his melancholy and glanced at his holographic opponent, who nodded at the pool table. "Missed an easy one," the nondescript man said. "You're up."

"Right. Thanks." Harry chalked his cue and surveyed the colorful balls on the green felt. The opponent he'd selected for the evening wasn't very good. Harry had already won two games and was on his way to a third victory without even trying very hard. Maybe it was time to reactivate Gaunt Gary's matrix, just for a challenge.

He wished Tom were there with him.

Harry sighed. He wished anyone were there with him.

He sank a couple of easy shots and was lining up for the shot that would end the match when the wood and glass doors opened and B'Elanna stepped in looking tired and confused.

Alarm bells started ringing in Harry's head. "Hey, B'Elanna," he said carefully. "This is a surprise. I figured you and Tom and Miral had settled in for the evening."

B'Elanna gave a slow shake of her head. "They're settled in. I needed some air."

Harry felt his brows rise. "Everything okay?"

"For now, I guess."

Certain now that something was very wrong, Harry racked his pool cue. "Want to talk about it?"

B'Elanna looked up at him, and Harry saw the shimmer of tears in her dark eyes. "You don't mind?"

Harry smiled and waved to an empty table. "What are friends for?" He headed for the bar. "Beer or something stronger?"

"Tea, please," B'Elanna replied. "Blend number nine."

Surprised, Harry ordered up a pot of tea and two mugs. When he turned back to the table and caught a glimpse of B'Elanna with her face buried in her hands, he looked away to give her some space and deleted the holographic characters.

Back at the table, he poured two mugs of sweet Egyptian licorice tea and waited while B'Elanna gathered herself. After a moment, she wrapped her hands around the mug and breathed in the steam with a small smile. "Smells like Chakotay's office. His old office," she corrected, and raised the cup to her lips.

Harry smiled and sipped his own tea. "And the Ready Room always smelled like coffee."

B'Elanna nodded. "It seeped in. We couldn't do a proper cleaning, so everything lingered. Scents, especially."

"And memories."

She nodded. "Do you miss it?"

"Sometimes. Do you?"

"All the time," she whispered, and took a long sip of her tea. "So much."

Harry pushed his mug aside, desperate to know what had made his friend so glum. "What's happened, B'Elanna? Did Tom do something?"

B'Elanna snorted. "No, not Tom. Everything's fine with Tom." She reached out and took one of his hands in her own, meeting his eyes steadily. "In fact, I'm pregnant again, Harry."

With a gasp and a little whoop of surprise, Harry rose and pulled her up into a fierce hug. "That's wonderful!" he exclaimed, holding her tight. "Congratulations!"

B'Elanna wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks," she said, her face pressed to the side of his neck. "We're thrilled. Tom's about to bust." She gave him one last squeeze, then drew back to look up at him with a watery smile. "I just wish everyone were so excited for this."

Harry held her at arm's length, searching her face. The whole evening slammed into context for him – his friends' request to meet with their commanding officers, the tense ride in the lift, the quietness of the corridors. "You told the Captain and the Admiral this evening, didn't you?"

B'Elanna nodded and sat back down. "That's why we needed to meet with them. We wanted to tell them right away so we could ask permission to stay on the ship." She wrapped her hands around the mug again. "We want to raise both kids here, with our family around us."

"Family?"

She nodded. "You and Nancy. The Doc and Seven. And the Captain and the Admiral. Family."

Harry nodded, ignoring the lump in his throat. "So what's the problem?" When B'Elanna didn't answer, just stared at him with sad eyes, Harry thought back over the odd conversation in the lift. Tom and B'Elanna had clearly had a shock, but the Admiral's reaction had been even stronger. She'd seemed astonished and confused, and profoundly hurt. Cut to the bone, in fact. Harry sucked in a harsh breath. "Tell me what happened, B'Elanna," he said in a low voice. "Tell me what Chakotay's done."

B'Elanna looked up at him sharply, her eyes narrowed. "You're way too observant sometimes, Starfleet."

"Years of practice, Maquis," he replied, forcing a smile. "Tell me."

B'Elanna let out a long sigh. "We just told them first that we're expecting again. They were really surprised."

"I'll bet."

"And happy, too, like they were the first time. The Admiral started talking about replicating yarn for a new blanket, and Chakotay hugged me so hard I thought I'd suffocate." She gave a soft chuckle. "Then they both started lobbying to be the new kid's godfather, since they missed out on Miral."

Harry shook his head. "I'm never going to get a shot at that, am I?"

She gave him a forced smile that was completely unconvincing. "We haven't made any decisions yet."

"And I know you'll decide what's best for the kiddo," Harry said. "No hard feelings either way."

She gave his hand a brief squeeze and went on with her story. "Then we told them we want to stay and raise our family on Voyager." All the good humor and affection drained from her face. "That didn't go over so well."

"Really? That surprises me."

B'Elanna sighed. "The Admiral was okay with it," she clarified. "In fact, I think she was amazed that we even brought it up."

"She probably was." B'Elanna looked up at him and he shrugged. "There was never any question about where you'd raise Miral, and things are better now. We have contact with HQ and a way get back to the Alpha Quadrant if we need to. There's a lot less uncertainty than there was three years ago."

B'Elanna smacked her palms on the table. "Exactly," she said. "It's actually safer now than it was when we thought we'd be raising Miral here. That's why Chakotay's reaction just doesn't make sense."

Harry leaned across the table. "How did he react?"

"He didn't say anything at first. He just sat there, listening to the Admiral and Tom talk and make plans and..." She rose suddenly and paced the length of the bar, her arms crossed over her chest. "But I was watching him. He wasn't happy. So I asked him what he thought." B'Elanna stopped pacing, her back turned to him.

"What did he say?" Harry prompted.

"He said he thought we should reconsider."

Harry's mouth fell open. "Did he say why?"

Her back still turned to him, B'Elanna shook her head. "I was going to ask him why, but the Admiral...she didn't even give me a chance."

"What did she do?"

"She started rattling off all the things you just did." B'Elanna turned to him and ticked the points off on her fingers. "It's better now than it was then, we're in contact with Starfleet, and we can get home if we have to. But Chakotay just sat there and said it was more than that."

"Then what happened?"

B'Elanna rubbed her forehead. "He said there were practical matters to consider, too. Resources for the children. Child care. Education."

"But we figured all that out for Naomi," Harry protested. "We could do it again."

"I know. The Admiral reminded him of all those things. And then she said..." B'Elanna hesitated, biting her lip.

A shiver ran up Harry's spine. "What did she say, B'Ela?"

"She said that if space was the problem, we could have her quarters."

Harry gasped. "You're kidding."

B'Elanna shook her head. "No, she offered us her quarters, just like that. You know how huge those Admiral's quarters are. Those rooms are the size of a VIP suite on one of the new Galaxy-class ships."

"Plenty of room for the four of you," Harry agreed. "So what's the problem?"

"I think she thought he'd catch on, but he didn't. He just sat there. And then he finally asked her where she was planning on living."

Harry ran a tired hand over his face. "Let me guess. He not only didn't pick up on her signal, when he finally did work things out his contrariness took over?"

B'Elanna crossed to him again, stricken. "He wanted to know if she'd planned to tell him she was moving into his quarters, or if she meant to just start adding things to his closet."

Remembering the baffled and hurt look on her face when she'd emerged from the Captain's office, Harry knew how confused the Admiral must have been by Chakotay's reaction. "She thought he'd be happy."

"She thought he'd be thrilled!" B'Elanna bellowed. "But he wasn't. He was angry, Harry. Really angry. He said something about her making decisions for him, and how he wouldn't stand for it on his ship any more than she ever had. She tried to explain and apologize, but he got that stubborn look. You know the one."

Harry nodded. In his mind's eye he saw Chakotay's jaw clench, and the Admiral's gasp of surprise. "I know."

"He said he'd have to think about it and they'd have to discuss it alone. And then he dismissed us. All of us. Now they're in his quarters, deciding our fate." B'Elanna sank into the chair opposite him, a look of entreaty on her face. "We didn't mean for this to happen, Harry. Tom and I...we never even talked about having another baby and now... What if we've messed things up for them?"

Harry sipped his tea, gathering his thoughts. The Admiral had probably just assumed that now that she and the Captain were finally together, he'd be glad for her to move in with him. They were spending most of their time in his quarters, anyway; Harry had heard her mention that she was just more comfortable there. They felt like home to her. At the time of the conversation, Harry had watched a speculative look cross the Captain's face. "Because of their location?"

The Admiral had taken his hand, right in the middle of the Mess Hall. "Because of you," she'd said, and pressed a tender kiss to his cheek. "Always because of you."

Harry placed his empty mug on the table and shook his head. "I think they'll be okay," he said softly. "They love each other. They have for a long time. But I think they've been through a lot in the last few weeks. Maybe your news just...made them think about things they'd been putting off while they get to know each other again."

B'Elanna gave a soft chuckle. "Tom said almost the same thing. Maybe we forced them to confront something they weren't ready for."

Harry smiled. "That Captain Proton's pretty smart sometimes."

She took his hand again. "So is Buster. Thanks."

Harry gave her hand a small squeeze. "It'll be okay. Might be a rough couple of days while they work things out, but don't worry. They will work things out. They love each other too much not to. Just like you and Tom."

To his astonishment, tears filled B'Elanna's eyes again. "We really do want to raise the kids here. We have good friends here like you and Chakotay and the Admiral, and that's everything."

"Enough to make me Godfather?"

B'Elanna rose, laughing. "Don't push your luck, Buster."

Harry chuckled. "Headed home?"

"I don't want Tom falling asleep in front of the TV again. The sofa kills his back and he hobbles around like a little old man instead of going to the Doc." She held the door open for him. "How about you?"

Harry shook his head. "I've got a couple more hours to kill before Nancy gets off shift. Maybe I'll shoot some more pool. Give Tom my congratulations, though."

"I will. Good-night, Harry."

"Good-night."

When the doors had closed behind her, Harry leaned back in his chair with a pensive expression. He wondered why Chakotay had reacted the way he had to the Admiral's offer to move in together. Sure, it was a big step in any relationship, but as far as Harry knew the Captain had no particular fear of commitment, so that couldn't be the problem. There was no good professional reason why the two of them were maintaining separate quarters, either; no regulation prohibited their relationship anymore, and they seemed perfectly content together. They weren't hiding their status from the crew, and they were spending virtually every off-duty moment in each others' presence. Moving in together was the next logical step. So why had the Captain reacted so badly to her proposal?

With a tired sigh, Harry raised his chin and spoke to the empty room. "Computer: I need a kal-toh set. Solitaire specifications."

The set shimmered into existence on the table in front of him. Harry raised his chin again. "Computer: Add a piano and a player to the scene. Old Earth era...1930s."

A battered old upright piano appeared in the corner of the bar, joined an instant later by a bald man in a vintage white dinner jacket. The man noodled at the keys aimlessly for a moment. "Got a request, Boss?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "Your choice. But get ready to settle in. I might be here a while."

"Yes, Boss," the singer replied, and began to tentatively offer up a tune Harry recognized from one of Tom's old movies.

"Good choice," he murmured. "Play it, Sam."

"Yes, Boss."

Harry began to arrange the kal-toh pieces into a pattern. "I have a feeling we'll have another visitor tonight."

-END Part 3-