Kathryn slept for another hour. In that time, the Doctor checked her over again, and pronounced her good as new. Chakotay contacted Gretchen and told her she could bring Edward, who was completely overwrought about his sister, down to Sickbay whenever she wanted. Kathryn sat next to her daughter, never letting go of her hand, smoothing back her dark hair and whispering in her ear.

The little girl was still asleep when Gretchen and Edward arrived, but her color was good and Chakotay knew she wouldn't be asleep for much longer anyway. Edward came bounding into sickbay, rushing over to his sister and paying no notice to the woman holding her hand.

"She's going to be okay, right Daddy?" Edward asked anxiously, his eyes on his sister.

Chakotay glanced at Kathryn, who had gone pale again at the sight of her young son. "She'll be fine buddy, she's just resting. But there's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" Edward lifted his eyes, and they widened as he caught sight of his mother. "Mommy?" he gasped.

Kathryn nodded tearfully. Edward, usually never a very exuberant or overly affectionate child, ran around the biobed and launched himself at her. She barely had time to lift her arms up to catch him before he was on top of her, wrapping his small little arms around her neck and burying his little head in her hair.

"Oh, Mommy, we missed you so much." His muffled words came, and Kathryn and Chakotay held each other's gazes, both tear filled. Kathryn rubbed his back and tried to control her tears.

"I missed you, too, sweetie. I'm so terribly sorry I wasn't here." She whispered, her voice choked. "But I'm here now, and I don't want to go anywhere ever again."

She held her son for a few moments more, then pulled him away to look at him. He kneeled on her lap, and his intent dark eyes- his father's eyes – stared into her blue ones. They examined each other. He had never seen her without the barrier of the stasis chamber between them, and she had never really seen him save for a few fever filled days when he was just brought into the world. She found herself in awe of him, of this small boy who was a miniature of his father. His skin was a few shades darker ad his thick dark hair held the faintest glimmer of auburn, but he was a small Chakotay, that much was for sure.

Kathryn couldn't believe how much these children resembled them. The small girl sleeping on the bio bed was the very image of herself, only with dark hair. She smiled tremulously and looked to Chakotay and her mother, who were standing a few feet away. "Are you sure we didn't clone them?'

Edward made a face. "That's what everyone's been saying since we got here. What's it mean?'

The adults laughed. "Well darling, it really means that everyone thinks you look so much like your father and your sister…your sister looks so much like me." Kathryn said softly.

"Daddy always said that to Kathryn. He always said she looked just like you. But I don't see it."

She smiled. "Well, maybe it's because I'm all grown up. Maybe when you and Kathryn grow up, you'll be able to tell how much you look like us. When we get back to Earth, I'll show you pictures of me when I was your age. Kathryn looks very much like that."

"When will we get to Earth?"

Kathryn looked to Chakotay. He grinned. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow. It shouldn't take very long to get back, but you'd have to ask Tuvok for an exact time."

"Can we see the house again before we leave?" Edward asked.

Kathryn's eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be wonderful, Chakotay! I would love to see the house again." She ruffled her son's hair. "Your daddy built that house, you know."

"Your mommy helped." Chakotay added.

Gretchen came over to them and touched Kathryn's cheek. "I'm proud of you, Kathryn." She said softly.

Kathryn looked over to her daughter. "You shouldn't be. I was being ridiculous."

"No. You were frightened, as anyone in your position would be. But when your child needed you, you were there. That's what being a mother is, darling. Whether you were there for five years or not doesn't necessarily factor into that. It's what you do with the time you have with them that counts. Was your father any less your father just because he wasn't around a lot?"

Kathryn gazed at her son again, her father's namesake. "No," she said quietly. "He was a father in the ways that counted."

"And you are a mother in the ways that count."

"Hi, Grandma."

They all turned to see little Kathryn staring at them, grinning. Chakotay came over, and Kathryn stood up and held Edward on her hip.

"Hello, imp. Are you feeling better? You had quite to bump on the head."

"I know. The Doctor told me. But I feel fine. Grandma, did you see Mommy?"

Gretchen grinned. "I did. Isn't it exciting?"

"Yep. Mommy can play with us all the time now." Little Kathryn smiled brightly up at her mother, who had to hold back another flood of tears.

"Kathryn, I was worried about you." Edward pouted. "You got hurt."

"I'm okay now. But thanks." She looked at her father. "Daddy, did you tell them about my name?"

Chakotay groaned. "Kathryn, we are not calling you Ariel."

"Daddy…" she started to whine, but quickly closed her mouth with a look from him.

"Why do you want to be called Ariel?" Kathryn asked.

"It's my favorite story. You know, Mommy. Daddy said you wanted us to know the stories. It's The Little Mermaid."

Kathryn smiled at Chakotay. "You told them the fairy tales?"

"Of course. It was what you wanted. You spent hours entering in those stories." He wouldn't say it now, not with everyone around, but he knew that when he and Kathryn had a moment alone, he would tell her about the last five years, about how heartbroken he had been. He would tell her how the fairy tales had made him feel like a part of her was still with them, still with the children.

"But Kathryn, don't you like your name?" she asked her daughter.

"Well, of course, Mommy. It's the same name as you. But won't we all get confused now? I think I should be called Ariel." Kathryn said matter of factly.

"Well, Ariel is a lovely name, but I really think you look like a Kathryn."

Her daughter rolled her eyes. "Well of course I look like a Kathryn. I look like you, and it's your name. But we'll get confused. Daddy will say Kathryn and we'll both say 'what?'"

Kathryn had to fight back her laughter. This child…she truly was a breath of fresh air. She might look like her, but little Kathryn had a spirit all her own, a kind of spirit that she herself hadn't possessed as a child. If anything, her daughter reminded her of her sister, Phoebe.

"Well, perhaps we could call you Katie." Kathryn mused. "You do look a bit like a Katie."

"See, Daddy?" she glared at her father. "I told him Katie was okay too, but Daddy doesn't listen to me.

"Would that be all right, Chakotay?" she asked him, worrying that perhaps she was meddling too much too soon. After all, he had raised these children. It was up to him what he wanted their daughter to be called.

But he just looked at her in surprise. "I don't think it matters who it's okay with. It's what she wants, and what she wants, she tends to get." He said exasperatedly. "She's in for a rude awakening when we get home and she learns that the universe doesn't obey her every command."

"That's what you think." His daughter said primly. He rolled his eyes.

Gretchen laughed. "Well, then Katie it is. We used to call your mom Katie when she was little."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. Or rather, my mother and I called her that. She let us, until she was about seven or eight. Then she decided she was too grown up for it, and should be called by her grown up name, Kathryn. And she was always Kathryn after that, except to my mother, who was a stubborn woman and refused to call her anything but Katie."

"And Aunt Martha." Kathryn said wryly.

"That's right. My mother and my husband's aunt, Martha, loved to tease Kathryn and call her Katie. Of course, my husband never called her Katie, and he rarely called her Kathryn. He usually called her Goldenbird."

The little girl's eyes lit up. "Goldenbird? Why?"

"Oh, she was his little pet." Gretchen gazed fondly at her daughter. "When she started to walk and talk, he thought she was such a bright little girl, so smart, and she was always fluttering around, so he called her Goldenbird. She had very light hair then, too, more blonde than red, so it fit her quite well."

"Until the red stayed." Kathryn said. "I had terrible red hair until I was a teenager."

"Oh, you had beautiful hair." Gretchen said. "She's been complaining about it since she was a little girl." She told Chakotay.

"I want to be a bird!"

Kathryn raised an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to think you're more of a hurricane than a bird."

"What's that mean?"

The adults laughed, but Katie pouted. "I mean it! I wanna be a goldenbird!"

"You look more like a raven than a goldenbird, sweetie." Chakotay said.

Katie pouted. "Fine. Just call me Katie and I'll be happy."

"I think we can all manage to do that for you." Kathryn leaned down and placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. She looked into her eyes. "I'm very happy that you're okay." She whispered.

"I'm happy you're okay, too." Her daughter whispered back.

Edward wriggled on his mother's hip. "Mommy, I wanna get down. I wanna go play."

Kathryn set Edward on the floor, and he ran off to the Doctor's office, where the Doctor was in the middle of entering his report on Katie. Kathryn gave Chakotay a puzzled look.

"He likes the Doctor." Chakotay explained.

She laughed. "Well, I suppose his demeanor has improved in seven years."

Gretchen placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Listen, why don't I stay here with Kath-, oh I beg your pardon, Katie, and Edward. You two can go talk. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Chakotay's eyes met Kathryn's, and he nodded. "You're right. We do."

The Doctor cleared her to leave sickbay for a few hours, and they took a sight-to-sight transport to his quarters. Not much of the crew had seen her awake, and they didn't want to have to field jubilant reunions, not just yet. They sat on the couch and he took her hand.

"Kathryn-" he started to say, but she beat him to it.

"I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore." She blurted out.

He stared at her in confusion. "What?"

"I mean, I wouldn't want to be with me either. Not after what I did. There's no excuse for rejecting your own children, and if you want to take them to live with you, I won't contest it. I just ask that you let me see them every now and then. I think they should really have a mother figure, and I know I haven't been much of a mother so far," Kathryn babbled. "But I do want to see them as much as possible. I know you might think that I may not be a healthy influence for them, but I'll get counseling, I promise. Just please let me see them. I'm begging you here, Chakotay." She pleaded. "Just let me see them every now and then."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Why wouldn't I let you see them?" he asked slowly. "You're their mother. And why would I take them to live without you? You'll be living with us, Kathryn."

Her shoulders sagged in relief. "I will?"

"Well, it would seem kind of odd if I didn't live with my wife, don't you think?"

Now she stared at him. "Your wife?" she gasped.

He cupped her cheek. "I don't think you understand what it was like, living all these years without you. I was lucky I had the kids to keep me busy, otherwise I would have gone insane from the loneliness…and from my broken heart. I was devastated. I never properly got over your death. I mean, how many men do you know who put their lovers in a stasis tube because they can't bear to see them be buried in the ground? I wouldn't exactly say that's normal, although I'm infinitely relieved at the final result. But those days and years alone, without you in my arms, were too difficult. When they came to get us, I was prepared to go back to Earth and settle near your family, and spend my life taking care of the kids and maybe teaching, but I knew I wasn't ever going to have what we had again. This is it, Kathryn. This is it for both of us, and you know it. I don't know if it was fate or destiny or whatever, but our paths crossed for a reason. Our destinies are joined, and I am not letting you get away again. I want us to be a family, I want you to be my wife. Come on, Kathryn. You know this is what I've wanted practically since the day we first got left here. And you've finally given me everything I wanted…everything except that. I hope you'll say yes."

She touched his hand that was on her face. "Can you think of any other answer? We've loved each other for years…maybe even since the first year. We belong together. I mean, seriously." She smiled. "I know it's the twenty-fourth century and all, but we have two children together, and that alone makes us candidates for a big, obnoxious wedding in Gretchen Janeway's book."

"I'm up for it if you are. I don't know where my sister would be after all this time, but I'm sure if I was able to get in touch with her, she'd love to come. And I have a cousin in Ohio, he'd make it, I'll bet. I was never able to find out conclusively if my mother was alive or not, but my cousin would know for sure by now, and he'd know where my sister is. I had several good friends in Starfleet who-"

"Whoa. We're getting ahead of ourselves here, aren't we? I don't really care for a huge wedding. My mother was able to give my sister one, so I'm really not too concerned about it. Hell, I'd get married on Voyager."

A slow grin spread across Chakotay's face. "I have a better idea."

TBC

Tell me what you think! Isn't it nice I'm not torturing them for the moment:)