Chakotay watched as the blue transporter beams formed in front of him. Kathryn and Edward each held one of his hands, tightly. They had never seen this before. He hadn't thought he would see it again.

Edward rubbed his eyes sleepily. The twins hadn't gotten much sleep last night. In fact, he'd had a difficult time getting them to sleep. It wasn't until he'd given them a memento of their mother that they had finally fallen asleep, and that was well after 2600. He groaned inwardly at that. He was going to have to get used to a twenty-four hour day again. It had taken long enough for him and Kathryn to get used to twenty-six hours as it was.

But here it was now, shortly after daybreak. Tuvok had hailed him five minutes ago to inform him that they were in orbit. Even thought it was only seven on the morning and they didn't usually wake up until nine, he got Kathryn and Edward out of bed and into their robes. Kathryn's long dark hair was a mess of curls around her face, and Edward was having a hard time keeping himself upright.

"Daddy, why do we have to stand here?" Kathryn whined. "It's cold and I'm tired."

He absently patted her on the head. "This is where my friends are coming to meet us. Just wait a few minutes, honey. Then we'll all go inside, and one of my friends will check you both over to make sure you're…" he hesitated. Kathryn was prone to hysterics, and if he said the doctor just wanted to make sure they were okay, she would wonder why he would have cause to think they might not be. "He wants to see how big you've grown!"

Kathryn beamed up at him. "I'm five."

"I know, sweetie." He looked down at Edward. "Edward? You okay, buddy?"

His son looked up at him with bleary dark eyes. "I'm tired, Daddy. Can I go back to bed?"

Chakotay squeezed his hand. "Soon."

Now, thoughts of sleep were the furthest thing from the children's minds as three humanoid forms began to coalesce in beams of blue light. He glanced at each of them and saw that both of their mouths had dropped open. He smiled, and looked ahead to see who would appear. And as he did, he couldn't help but think of how wrong it was that Kathryn wasn't standing there with them.

She could hardly walk anymore, and she wasn't very pleasant about it, either. Chakotay would often have to help her sit and stand, and she wasn't gracious about it at all. She would snarl at him and blame him for her current predicament, and then in the same breath cling to him and tell him how much she adored him. Most of the time, he kept his mouth shut.

They sat together one night towards the end of winter. It was snowing out, big fat fluffy flakes that make the snow on Earth look like slush. Kathryn sat on the couch next to the window, staring out into the twilight at the falling snow. Chakotay was at a chair in front of the fireplace, settling logs into the fire he built for them. It was colder than usual, and he had already covered Kathryn with several blankets, a few of which she had knitted herself. Her knitting had gone forgotten tonight, the scarf she was making for him lying on the couch beside her.

The crackling of the logs as they burned and the sound of Chakotay's knife as he carved a piece for the babies' dresser were the only sounds in the room for a while. It was the way they spent many evenings, comfortable in each other's company, relaxing in the warmth of their home. At first, it had been irritating to Kathryn. After so many years of never being able to get a minute to herself, the lack of things to do at the end of the day frayed at her nerves. But eventually she learned to relax, and now they sat in comfortable silence.

"What do you want to name them?" she said suddenly, still staring out the window.

He smiled down at the wood in his hand. "Kathryn, you know we can't agree on a name."

She laughed lightly. "We're going to have to. In two months, we're going need names for them. We can't just call them 'he' and 'she' forever."

"I think we'll know what to name them once we see them."

She was silent for a moment. "I'd like to name the boy after you," she said quietly.

He looked up at her. She had turned her head from the window and was staring at him. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was. The firelight reflected the red in her hair and added a blush to her cheeks. Her eyes blazed as though with fever. Wrapped up in her quilts, she looked like younger than she ever had.

"Why?"

"Why shouldn't he be named after the greatest man I've ever known?"

He grinned. "I think I'll keep you around. You're good for my fragile ego."

She snorted. "Your ego is anything but fragile."

"Ouch. You wound me."

"Well, you're not taking me seriously."

"I am." He hesitated. "But I thought we might name him after your father."

She raised an eyebrow. She had told him the story of her father and her fiancé' one night at the beginning of their time on New Earth, as they sat one warm night under the stars. It was the only time she had ever spoken of it, and he knew that it had made a huge impact on the person she became.

"Really?" she whispered. "Chakotay, that's so wonderful of you."

He shrugged. "He shaped the person you are. He shaped the woman I fell in love with. I want to honor him."

"Well, like you said, we may as well wait too see them. He might not look like an Edward. If he's dark and handsome like his father, then maybe we could name him Kolopak." She said slyly.

He grinned wryly. "That's quite a mouthful for a little guy to learn."

"Um, I think it has about the same number of letters as Edward."

"The syllables are different. It's just harder for a child to pronounce." He blushed. "I couldn't pronounce it when I was a child. I mean, I didn't have to say it often, since of course I didn't call my father by name. But since we didn't have last names, whenever I wanted to distinguish myself, I would have to call myself 'son of Kolopak'. It didn't usually come out sounding like that." He said sheepishly.

She smothered a giggle. "Last names would have been easier."

"It could be worse. My grandmother's name was Gray-eyed Spirit Dancer. My mother told me she gave up learning her mother's name until she was right or nine…" he trailed off as Kathryn burst into laughter. "Hey!"

"I'm sorry, I just can't imagine a child learning their own name when it's that long. Your poor grandmother!" she continued to laugh, and Chakotay pouted.

"Well she was gray eyed." He muttered.

"Oh, honey, I'm really just kidding. I'm sorry. But okay, we'll make sure we give them names they'll be able to learn."

"Good. Are you done laughing?"

"For the moment." She turned her head back to the window. "They're going to have so much fun making snowmen when they get older. The snow here is amazing. It's not like this on Earth."

"That's because Earth used to be an industrial waste land. I'm sure World War III didn't help matters, either. The atmosphere here is pure. I'll bet snow on Earth must have been like this hundreds of years ago, before the Industrial Revolution."

She looked back at him. "You were a history buff in school, weren't you?"

"And environmental sciences. And anthropology and archaeology. If it wasn't math, I loved it."

"You weren't good at math?'

"I got by. I hated it, though."

"Not me, I loved it. It's always constant. Two times two is always four."

"Good. You can give them their math lessons." He smirked.

She made a face. "No thanks. You taught at the academy for a time. You can be their teacher."

"Nice try, Kathryn. We'll both be teaching them."

"We'll see." She grinned. Then the smiled slipped from her face and she put a hand to her stomach. "Oh!" she gasped in pain.

Tuvok, B'Elanna and Tom appeared in front of him. They stood there, staring at them, and he appraised them as well. Tuvok wore the red of command and four pips on his collar to go with it. He looked exactly the same as he had seven years ago. Tom had three pips, and he looked much older than he had. He was thinner than he had been, and there were strands of gray threading through his dark blonde hair. He looked tired, but his blue eyes lit up at the sight of Chakotay.

B'Elanna had changed the most. Three pips also graced her collar, which was unusual for a chief engineer. Normally, they were only Chief engineers up to Lieutenant Commander. After that, most went on to be a first officer on another ship. But he wasn't really surprised. B'Elanna belonged in an engine room. Her passion was the warp core. Her dark hair was still cut to her shoulders, but there were lines around her eyes. Other than that, she hadn't aged. The biggest change was in her physique. He was surprised to see that B'Elanna was pregnant.

Edward and Kathryn both huddled in to his side, and B'Elanna gasped as she caught sight of them. He knew why. It wasn't that they were his and Kathryn's children. It was the fact that aside from her dark hair, little Kathryn was the image of her mother. He couldn't believe it himself, sometimes. And Edward looked so much like the face he saw in the mirror that it was scary. If he didn't know any better, he would say that these children had been cloned from him and Kathryn.

"Commander Chakotay," Tuvok said, breaking the stunned silence. "It is an honor to see you again."

"Likewise, Tuvok. Thank you for coming to get us."

He glanced at the large log home Chakotay had built. "Your home is impressive."

B'Elanna must have finally decided she couldn't control herself anymore. She rushed forward and grabbed Chakotay in a hug. He could feel her tears on his neck. "Oh, Chakotay." She whispered. "You have no idea how much you were missed. How much you were both missed."

He released his children's hands to wrap his arms around B'Elanna. His own eyes filled with tears. "The feeling was mutual. These last few years without her have been…difficult."

She pulled back to look at him. "You'll be coming home, now." She said softly. "We'll make sure things are better, now."

"They never will be, B'Elanna." He looked down at the twins, who were staring up at B'Elanna. "I'd like you to meet my children. This is Kathryn, and Edward. Kids, this is B'Elanna."

"My daddy told me about you!" Kathryn said excitedly. "He said you were one of his best friends. What's that on your forehead? Why do you have a big belly?"

Chakotay smirked at the astonished look on B'Elanna's face. "Yeah, that's a good question. Why do you have a big belly?"

Tom took that as his cue to step forward. He grabbed Chakotay's hand. "I think I can answer that, Commander, considering it's entirely my fault."

Chakotay's eyes widened as Tom shook his hand. "Excuse me?"

B'Elanna held up her left hand. "We're married. We've been married for five years."

Chakotay shook his head in shock. "Wow. And here I thought you two were going to kill each other. Actually, I thought you were going to end up with Harry. And I thought you had a thing for Kes, Tom."

A look of sadness passed over B'Elanna and Tom's faces. Even Tuvok looked solemn.

"As lovely as Kes was, I found myself falling head over heels for B'Elanna," Tom said softly. "During the war, we found we could count on each other as friends. And then we found that a day didn't go by that we could stay away from each other. And as for Kes…well, I'm sure you know what happened. She died last year."

"Nine years old," Chakotay said sadly. "What a tragedy."

"If it is any consolation to you, Kes had a very full life." Tuvok spoke up. "Knowing her lifespan, Kes did more with her nine years than many do with a hundred. We were the better for having known her, and I think I can say for all that our lives were richer with her in it."

Chakotay stared at the Vulcan. "That's wonderful of you to say, Tuvok. And I have no doubt that Kes made the most of her time here. But there was nothing that could be done?"

"No." Tom said. "Kes said that once, her people were long lived, but dependence on the Caretaker changed their physiology to the point that their bodies were almsot set on a clock. None of them lived longer than nine years, and unfortunately, Starfleet Medical couldn't make Kes the exception. Hopefully, they can come up with something for her daughter."

"Her daughter?" Chakotay exclaimed.

"What, you're the only one who can procreate?" B'Elanna teased. "She and Neelix had a daughter. Her name is Alixia, and she's six. She only just went through the Elogium, so the Doctor is hopeful that since she's only half Ocampan, her life span might be extended. Kes did say it took Alixia longer to grow. She wasn't full grown until she was three. And her son is six months old and he's still only a toddler."

"Kes and Neelix have a grandson?" Chakotay said softly. He smiled. "That's wonderful."

"They're on board. You'll be able to meet them." Tom looked down at the twins. "Well, hello there. I'm Tom."

"I'm Kathryn. This is Edward."

Tom looked at Edward. "Hello, Edward."

Edward grinned up at him. "Hi."

"And this is Tuvok." Chakotay added. The twins grinned up at Tuvok, who graced them with a small smile.

Tom crouched down in front of Kathryn. "You know, I knew your mommy. She was a beautiful woman, and you look exactly like her."

"That's what Daddy says."

"My father was very good friends with her, and when I met her, she became a good friend to me, too." Tom straightened up. "Gretchen Janeway is onboard, Chakotay. We nearly had to lock her in her quarters to keep her on the ship."

He broke out in a cold sweat. Kathryn's mother was here? "Does she know?"

B'Elanna nodded. "She was devastated. But she wants to meet you, and she very much wants to meet them. As soon as you're all cleared, we'll have her come down. It might be better for the children to meet her in a familiar environment."

"I agree." He smiled. "Spoken like a mother-to-be. B'Elanna."

She snorted. "Mother-to-be? We have a daughter already. Her name is Miral, and she's almost two. She's got quite the mouth on her."

"Wonder where she got that from." Tom quipped.

Before B'Elanna could retaliate, Tuvok's combadge beeped. "Doctor to Captain Tuvok,"

Tuvok tapped his badge. "Go ahead."

"I'm ready to join you. Please let the Commander know to ready the children."

"Understood."

Chakotay kneeled down and pulled the twins in front of him. "Okay, now this is my friend I told you about. Remember how Daddy uses the tricorder sometimes if one of you is sick?"

They nodded.

"Well, this man is going to do the same thing, and maybe some other things. He's a friend, and I don't want you to be frightened. Everything he's going to do are things he's done to Daddy before. He's a doctor. Remember about doctors?"

"I thought they were only for sick people.' Kathryn said.

"They are for sick people, but a lot of times they check out healthy people to make sure they won't get sick. That's what he'll be doing here, okay?"

They nodded again.

"Okay, good." He stood up as the Doctor materialized. "Doc, good to see you."

The Doctor beamed at him. "Likewise, Commander." He looked at the twins and smiled. "Hello, there."

"Hi," they said together.

"I must say, the resemblance is remarkable. They look just like you and Captain Janeway." The Doctor sobered. "I was very sorry to hear of her death, Commander. I wish I had been here to help."

Chakotay nodded. "Why don't you all come inside and we can get started?"

"What is it?" he jumped up in alarm and rushed to her side.

"I don't know," she hissed in pain. "Oh, God, I feel like I'm being ripped apart."

He helped her up. "Okay, let's go in the bedroom so you can lie down."

She walked only a few steps before standing straight up, her face draining of color. "Oh, God!" she gasped. "I think my water broke."

Chakotay looked down to where a puddle of liquid was forming around her feet. His heart skipped a beat. "Okay, come on. Let's go lay down."

"What are you going to do?" she asked hysterically. "It too early!"

"I don't know, maybe we can stop it." He said, his breathing uneven and his heart racing.

"You can't once the water breaks." She whispered in horror as he led her into the bedroom. They stopped and stared at each other. He grasped her hand.

"It'll be okay. I'll make sure it's okay."

"Chakotay," she said urgently. "If something is wrong, and it comes down to me or them…chose them over me. Promise me!"

"I won't promise that. Nothing is going to be wrong. Please lay down. I need to get some things."

She lay down on the bed and he handed her a nightgown. "Here, get changed. I'll be right back."

He ran into the kitchen to collect what he would need. He picked up the PADD with childbirth information he had downloaded from the computer files. Suddenly, it hit him. She was right. Once the sac broke. There was no stopping birth. She was going into premature labor, and there was nothing he could do about it.

They didn't say anything as he helped her through her contractions. They both knew the babies were coming tonight. The tricorder confirmed that both sacs had broken, and right now one of those babies was on its way out. As the hours passed, he began to panic. He knew that the more time that went by after the water broke, the less chance the baby had of survival, especially if it was premature. But Kathryn was struggling with the labor, and it wasn't progressing. Her face was colorless, and her hair and nightgown were soaked from the exertion. He was trying for her sake not to panic, but he was at a loss. One minute they had been sitting there talking, the next all hell had broken loose.

"Chakotay, I can't do this anymore." She panted. "You have to do something. Pull them out yourself if you have to."

Chakotay was studying the tricorder readings. Twelve hours had now gone by, and one of the babies was stuck in the birth canal and refusing to move. He paled. "I think I might have to," he whispered. "The baby is a breach."

She gave a small sob. "Oh, God."

"Kathryn," he put down the tricorder and grasped her hand. "This is going to be very painful. I was a breach birth, and my father told me my mother was in agony when they pulled me out. I can replicate something to give you-"

"No," she panted. "No, it might hurt the baby. No, just do it. Do it now."

He nodded and went down to the end of the bed. He locked his eyes with hers. "Ready?"

She nodded weakly. He took a deep breath, and began to pull the baby out.

Her screams were more agonized than they had been through the entire labor. He tried to work as quickly as possible, but every second seemed to pass in slow motion, and her screams grew louder until finally, mercifully, she passed out. He sighed with relief and finished getting the baby out. It was his daughter, crying loudly and flailing her legs.

For being two months premature, she looked to be a healthy size. Kathryn came around a few minutes later, after he had cut her cord and cleaned her. He placed her in Kathryn's arms, and she gazed down at her daughter with sleepy, pain filled eyes.

"I think you have a little while before he tries to make his appearance." Chakotay said softly. "Rest while you can. Isn't she beautiful, Kathryn?"

"I can't believe she's here, and that she's real." She whispered. "And that she's ours. Oh, how can you love someone so much who you just met?"

"Well, she had been taking up residence inside you for more than half a year." He teased.

The baby snuffled and Kathryn smiled. "My beautiful little girl." She murmured.

It was three hours later that their son was born. Unfortunately, he was also a breach, and this time Kathryn passed out sooner than with their daughter. It was late afternoon when she woke up, her face white and her lips blue, her body fighting against the blood loss. She insisted on holding both of them, and he had to prop up her arms with pillow because of how weak she was. He scanned her with the tricorder while she inspected the babies and his heart froze in his chest. She was burning up.

He looked at her. How could she have a fever and still be so pale? He made her drink a glass of water, and he pressed a hypo to her neck that he prayed would bring her temperature down. He administered everything he could think of to stop the infection that was beginning to form in her uterus. He was frantic. She had delivered both placentas, hadn't she? So what was the problem? Why was an infection spreading, and so quickly?

She slept fitfully into the next day, with the babies in their cradle next to the bed. Her fever rose and the infection raged out of control. Chakotay finally sat next to her, open mouthed, knowing now that barring a miracle, she was going to die. He had done all that he could.

He made final preparations. He wanted to hold on to hope, but her condition was deteriorating rapidly. Her fever was only rising. Now her skin was bright red, her eyes glassy when they were open. He sat next to her, bathing her face and holding tightly to her hand, begging him not to leave her.

"I've named our son, Kathryn." He said softly in her ear on the second day after the birth. "I've named him Edward, after your father. So now you have to stick around, so you can tell him about the man he was named after. Can you do that for me, Kathryn? Please?"

"Mm..love you…" she mumbled.

He pressed her hand to his cheek. "I love you. I love you so much. Please don't leave." He pressed another hypo to her neck. Why wasn't the medication working? He didn't understand! "Don't you want to watch them grow up?" his voice broke. "I can't do this along, Kathryn! Please!"

Kathryn opened her eyes, looking at him with her blue gaze for a last time. Her breath hitched. She hadn't been breathing right for hours, and now he could hear her wheezing. She held his gaze, and then slowly, her eyes began to close.

The wheezing stopped.

And there was silence.

"Well, I have to say these two are in remarkable shape, Commander." The Doctor patted Edward on the head and the little boy smiled shyly. "Your daddy has taken very good care of you, young man."

"Our daddy is the best." Kathryn said from the couch.

Tuvok was sitting on the couch beside her. They had been there for an hour, and he had barely spoken the whole time. Now, his gaze was on a picture of Kathryn on the mantle. Chakotay had taken it while she was pregnant. She was sitting in front of the house, the day of the first snowfall, wrapped in a shawl. Her hands were on her stomach and she was beaming.

Chakotay followed Tuvok's gaze to the picture. "She was beautiful when she was pregnant," he said quietly. "She had a hard time accepting it at first, but once she felt them moving around, she was in her glory."

"It was a difficult birth?"

"Very." He glanced at Kathryn, who was frowning at him. "We'll discuss it later. Now, Doctor, if you don't mind…"

"Ah, of course." He held a hypospray to Chakotay's neck. He heard the hiss and felt the cool flow of the medicine shooting into his body. "Let's just wait a few minutes. I want to make sure it takes effect."

He nodded. "Edward, Kathryn, could you two go get dressed, please? We have a long day ahead of us."

They nodded and ran off to their room. B'Elanna watched them leave.

"They're so beautiful, Chakotay." She said. "Captain Janeway would have loved them so much."

"She did. She held them as long as she could until she died." He blinked back sudden tears. "Tell me, how did the crew take it?"

Tom shuddered. "Not very well. Everyone on the bridge was in shock when they heard you say she had died, and they were even more shocked when they heard it was giving birth."

"To be candid, I was not surprised that an intimate relationship had formed between you and the Captain." Tuvok said. "It was the only logical course of action."

Chakotay sighed. "Logic didn't have much to do with it, Tuvok." He turned to look at the Doctor. "By the way, why weren't boosters added to our medical supplies?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I really don't know. Maybe they weren't considered essential. Believe me, Commander it wasn't my intent to make sure you got her pregnant. It was an honest mistake that the boosters weren't added. I never even thought to add them. I suppose the idea of a romantic relationship between the two of you never seems plausible to me. The rank was always in the way."

"We didn't have rank down here." He sighed again. "You know, I'd just like to get his over with. It's going to be difficult acclimating the children to a new environment, so I just want to get everything beamed up and get the hell out of here. They'll be fine meeting their grandmother on the ship."

The Doctor scanned Chakotay. "Well, you'll be happy to hear that the virus is out of your system. We can leave whenever you're ready."

"I have several crewmen standing by to come down and finish gathering your things." Tuvok said. "It would be a good idea for us to get underway."

"Janeway to Tuvok."

If Chakotay didn't know any better, he'd swear Tuvok ground his teeth. "Yes, Mrs. Janeway?"

"Are you ever going to allow me to meet my grandchildren?"

"We'll be transporting shortly. You may meet us in the transporter room."

"Gee, thank you ever so much." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Chakotay bit back a laugh. He wasn't surprised. She was a Janeway, after all.

The children had never transported before, so the Doctor gave them each an anti-vertigo hypo. "They're likely to get dizzy from the disorientation. They've never been exposed to another gravity field or atmosphere before. This should make the transition easier."

Chakotay nodded. "I remember the first time I transported. I was nearly sick all over Captain Sulu's shoes."

"Well, while that's a delightful image Commander, let's try to avoid an encore, shall we?"

Chakotay leaned over to Tom/. "I see he hadn't changed."

Tom smirked.

Tuvok called for a beam out, and they rematerialized on Voyager.

It was so strange to him, to be back on board this ship. He never thought he would come back here without her. It was her ship, after all. Not his.

A dark haired woman stood across from them. She gasped and put a hand to her mouth at the sight of the children. "Oh, my God. She's the very image of Kathryn."

"Well, that's my name." the little girl said brightly, showing no signs of disorientation whatsoever. She bounced off of the transporter pad and approached the woman. "Who are you? Did you know Mommy, too?"

Edward followed his sister and they both looked up at her with questioning faces. Gretchen's eyes filled with tears. "I knew your mommy. I was her mommy. I'm your grandmother."

Kathryn's eyes lit up. "Really? Daddy said that grandparents give lots of presents and candy and let you do things parents don't let you do."

"I don't know if I put it in those words, Kathryn." Chakotay said, stepping off the pad and holding his hand to Kathryn's mother. "Gretchen, I'm so happy to meet you. And I'm so sorry you came here to find her and didn't."

She took his hand and smiled. "Maybe I did find her. These are her children, after all." Her face fell a bit. "Still, it was quite a shock. I had prepared myself for the possibility that she might not be alive, but of course I hoped…Still, look at these two! What lovely children they are. And your Daddy's right. Grandparents will spoil you rotten."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked.

"You'll see." Gretchen said. She knelt down. "May I hug you?" she whispered.

They nodded, and she pulled them into a tight hug.

They walked through the corridors of Voyager. The children held onto his hands, and every few minutes they ran into a crew member who wanted to welcome him back and see the twins.

"I have to say, Commander, she looks just like the Captain," Lieutenant Wildman said when they ran into each other in the turbolif. "And he is the spitting image of you."

"Thank you, Samantha. How's Naomi? She was just a baby when I saw her last."

"Oh, she's quite the little lady now. She on Deep Space Nine with her father and my son." Her smile faded. "I was so sad to hear about Captain Janeway. We all adored her so much, we really did."

"Thank you." He said quietly.

They ran into several more crewmembers who all said pretty much the same thing. He was elated when they ran into Harry as they walked towards his old quarters. "Well, Lieutenant Commander Kim!"

Harry shook his hand enthusiastically. Chakotay was relived to see he hadn't changed at all. "Commander it's so great to see you again." He grinned at the twins. "I'm Commander Kim. Your mother recruited me right out of the Academy."

"The what?" Kathryn said.

"I'll explain later. It's so good to see you, Harry. Kathryn would have been so proud of you."

The smile slipped off his face. "I was devastated when I heard. She was an amazing woman, and I think I still don't quite believe what happened." He glanced at the twins, who had heard more about their mother's death in one day than they had in five years. "Are you kids excited to be on a starship?"

They nodded. "Yeah, Daddy says we're in the sky!" Edward said.

"You certainly are. Wait until you see the view!" They had reached the door to Chakotay's old quarters. "Commander, your old codes still work. No one has lived here since you have."

Chakotay's eyes had been on the door down the hall, but he forced himself to look at Tom. "You didn't want the first officer's quarters, Paris?" he joked. "Figured you'd jump at the chance."

"Nah, I liked my quarters well enough. Besides," he cleared his throat. "It was a sort of unwritten understanding that your quarters and Captain Janeway's were to remain the way they were until you could come back to them. We never gave up hope, Commander."

He looked at Tuvok. "She would have been touched." He said. "Thank you."

Tuvok nodded.

He entered his codes and they all filed in. The sense of nostalgia hit him full force. He couldn't believe he was back here.

"Wow! You used to live here?" Kathryn was already running around. "Wow, Edward, come look! There are stars everywhere!"

He joined his children at the window and they looked out together. He pointed to the planet. "That's where we lived. Our house is down there."

Kathryn giggled. "Daddy, that's a big ball. How can our house be down there?"

"Remember I taught you about planets? That's the planet we lived on."

"Really?" Edward pressed his nose against the clear surface. "It's really pretty."

"Daddy, why do we have to leave?'

"Well, we're going to Earth. That's where Mommy is from. She wanted to go back there really badly, and I think it would be nice if we could go back there for her."

Gretchen came over and out a hand on his shoulder. "She would be very happy." She leaned closer to Chakotay. "She would have been so proud of them, Chakotay. You did a wonderful job."

"Thank you. I just wish she could have been here."

They spent the next few hours with Gretchen. Tom, B'Elanna, Tuvok, Harry and the Doctor had to return to their duties, and Chakotay knew that an away team had been sent down to dismantle his home. No trace could remain of them on that planet. It was a little disconcerting to think of his home being taken apart, but all he cared about at this point was the future his children could now have. Besides, he and the twins would be beaming down before the house was taken apart to say good-bye.

He was thrilled when Alixia, Neelix and Kes' daughter, came to visit them. "My father is occupied for the moment, but he said he'll be by to see you shortly." She said brightly. Chakotay couldn't believe how beautiful she was. He wasn't sure how she would look, considering the huge differences in Kes and Neelix' appearances, but she really was quite stunning. A lithe figure clad in a flowing dress floated across the room. She had a long cloud of silvery blonde hair, and the orange and yellow spots that covered her father's face were gathered at her hairline, leaving the rest of her skin a smooth, creamy pale amber. Her eyes were titled slightly up, and were blue as her mother's had been, and he could see her ears were Ocampan. Her forehead was high like Neelix's, causing her hair to fall over it in a cascade. She had her son with her, a small boy who appeared to be three – or he would be three if he were human- and who had her ears, eyes and hair, but aside from a smattering of Talaxian spots at his hairline, had decidedly human features.

"My husband is human." She said when she saw him looking at the baby. "He was able to get a posting on Voyager, and he's one of Harry's security officers. You'll meet him. But this is Benaren. I named him after my mother's father. She would have been pleased, I think."

"She didn't know of him?"\

"No. I went through the Elogium shortly after she died."

"Can I hold him?" Kathryn asked in awe. She had never seen anyone smaller than her before.

"Of course. Here, sit down and I'll put him on your lap." She placed Benaren on Kathryn's little legs. He giggled.

"Did you know my mommy, too?" Kathryn asked.

"No, but I heard a lot about her. My father was very fond of her, as was my mother. She always said that Captain Janeway treated her like a daughter."

"Why does everyone call her that? Daddy. I thought her name was Kathryn, like me."

Chakotay smiled. "Well, that was her name, but her title was Captain. I told you this before. Mommy ran this ship. She was in charge of it."

"Oh, I thought you were kidding."

Edward came running from the other room where he had been looking through a box of things Gretchen had brought to give Kathryn. "Daddy, look! It's Mommy when she was little."

Chakotay took the framed photo from his son and stared at it. It was Kathryn and Phoebe at Christmas. She was probably four or five years old, and she was adorable. He could see now how strongly their daughter looked liked her. If not for the hair, they could almost be twins.

"That was Phoebe's first Christmas." Gretchen said. Chakotay focused on the baby lying in Kathryn's arms. "Kathryn was really not happy about having to share her presents." She said, laughing. "The only way we could get her to smile was by telling her that Santa would bring her a new Flotter adventure.

He smiled. "She told me a lot about Phoebe."

Gretchen sat down beside him and pulled Edward into her lap. "I don't know how I'm going to tell her that her sister is dead." She said tearfully. "She missed Kathryn so much, Chakotay. When we first thought Voyager was destroyed, we were devastated. Then, when we heard the ship popped out of a wormhole, we were so happy. We couldn't wait to see Kathryn again." She sighed. "Then Owen Paris came to tell us the news. My daughter wasn't even on her own ship. I couldn't believe it. So I made sure that I was on this trip. I told Admiral Paris that I didn't care about civilian nonsense or liability or any of that. I was going to the Delta Quadrant and I was going to bring my daughter home." She sniffled. "Well, I was right. I am bringing her home, just not in the way I expected."

Before Chakotay could respond, the door chime chirped. "Come."

The Doctor entered. "Hello, all. Hello, Alixia. How is Benaren today?'

"He's doing very well. As you can see, he's taken a liking to young Kathryn. But actually, we have to be going. His nap time is coming up soon." She took him back from Kathryn. "Thank you for holding him. I hope you and your brother will come by and see us."

Kathryn beamed and nodded.

"It was wonderful to meet you all," she said, and left.

"Commander I have something of a delicate nature to discuss with you." He glanced at the children and Gretchen. "Maybe we could go into another room?"

Chakotay nodded and led him to the bedroom. "What is it? Are the kids okay?"

"Oh, of course. Everyone is fine. It's just, well…um…not to be indelicate, Commander, but we need to…that is, Mrs. Janeway wants her daughter's...er, remains to be brought back to Earth." The Doctor actually looked flustered. "Can you tell me where you buried her?'

"I didn't." he said softly. "I couldn't bear the idea of putting her in the ground."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor said slowly.

"Mommy is sleeping in her glass coffin." piped up a little voice from the doorway. They all turned to see Kathryn standing there. "She's waiting for the spell to be broken."