Life Circles

5. Resolution: Making it Work

J/C

Rated MA

April 2009

By: AW

Summary: Directly after Changes, Let's do 'Resolutions' properly.

Length: 3621 words

Disclaimer: blah blah blah, I DON'T OWN THEM

[Directly after 'Changes']

The modular home was set up. They were looking around the darkened room. "Kathryn, we have to make this work." He saw the tears, "What's wrong Kathryn?"

"I miss Taya already Chakotay. She was our daughter, and now she'll be raised by someone else. It feels like Jennica's story all over again."

She continued crying, and Chakotay approached her, "I know this whole thing, and especially the last month has been hard on you: but we have to work this out."

Kathryn glared at Chakotay: "You have no idea. I finally let someone in, finally have the baby I've wanted since Jennica was born and now I have to give her up because I'm stuck on some planet because of an insect bite." She paused, breaking down into tears again, "It's not fair Chakotay."

He looked at her, "Yes but we have each other."

Kathryn raised an eyebrow, "You wouldn't know it in the last six months would you? We were so far apart; I don't think you really got a chance to see Taya during the last few months, maybe that's why this isn't hitting you so hard: maybe you should thank you lucky stars Chakotay."

Chakotay walked up to her and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "Kathryn, I don't think that missing out on the first little bit of our child's life was a blessing."

Kathryn let the tears flow, "You didn't miss out Chakotay, all you missed out on was feedings and diaper changing."

Chakotay laughed, "Yes but it was something, and I missed out on you."

Kathryn smiled, "Maybe this is God's way of telling us that we need to be together, maybe this is our chance to make things right again."

Kathryn stared at him, "I need to keep looking for a cure Chakotay: I have to at least try and get back to Taya and to our life."

Chakotay nodded, and went back to trying to make headboards for their beds. Day in and day out, Kathryn searched for the cure: Prayed that she would find it and that they would get back to their lives on Voyager. They slept in different beds, never made love; it had been two weeks.

Then came the storms. He went to find her, he had to find her; he had to get her back safe and sound.

Chakotay ran through the woods: She had to be here somewhere. "Kathryn!" He was yelling, he had to find her make their past and future alright. Then he saw a flash of colour in the darkness of the woods, "Kathryn. Are you hurt?"

"No. I couldn't keep my balance and carry the case."

"Give it to me."

"What's happening?"

"It seems to be some kind of plasma storm. Our tricorders don't recognise it, but it sure packs a wallop!"

They had then cuddled under the table, him holding her: making sure she was safe. Making sure that they would be okay.

The insect traps, the computer, everything went flying and Kathryn made a valiant effort to save them, she wanted to exit the safe cocoon of this arms, but he wouldn't let it happen. He needed her safe and sound with him.

Then he turned her around and forced himself to look at her, instead of holding her back to him she was now facing him and she reached out and kissed him.

Then the kiss got deeper, and all of a sudden it felt almost like old times. She looked at him and again the kissing continued; and at that moment he knew he still loved her: always had and always would.

His hand reached up under her dress and approached her breast. In the moment Kathryn felt like it was old times.

And she realized, no matter when, no matter how, no matter why: her life was inextricably linked to his forever.

They made love under the table to the sounds of the thunder and the bright flashes of lightening, and she had never felt more safe and sound then she did at that moment.

The next morning they cleaned up the hut, they worked all day and the traps that Kathryn had so fastidiously worked on - hoping for it to be their way out - were no longer a viable option.

Kathryn had to let go, and he hoped that the one moment under the table, during the storm: was enough to save their lives and their marriage.

The next morning and for the full next day they spent cleaning; cleaning the whole area around the shelter and fixing the hole in the shelter itself.

That night, something happened that was odd in itself but felt so right. Her neck was killing her, she had made some offhanded comment about 'not being used to that kind of work', and he had given her a back massage...and she had moaned, it had felt so good.

And then she'd stood up not sure where anything was going, including her life on this desolate planet.

They were going to be there for the rest of their lives.

And she had two choice: a) love him and make him hers forever, which was definitely a possibility considering she was married to him or b) give up and take their life and friendship as far as it would go without the love she really couldn't live without.

She got up and turned to him taking his hand and making her way with him to her sleeping area.

When she got there, she took her hand from his and slowly began undressing. "This time it's not because of fear and absolute terror that everything is going to go away for us: This time it's because of love."

Chakotay watched the show in front of him and knew that she had finally given up to their fate.

"You are so beautiful Kathryn, I need you to know that and believe it."

Kathryn nodded in acceptance and tilted her head up to kiss him.

The kiss was just like it had been in the beginning and the many days after that. Their love would flourish whether or not they ever returned to Voyager. They had each other and in that moment it was all they needed.

[2 weeks later]

They had gotten into a routine. Their lives were flourishing, the 'Talaxian Tomatoes' were thriving, much like their love life was. Perhaps a vacation away from everything was all they needed. She still sorely missed Taya and so did he, but Kathryn knew that in the hands of Tom and B'Elanna, she would be getting a good upbringing.

Kathryn was running her hands over the dirt in the garden, making sure the tomatoes were growing well. They couldn't see anything else growing well like Taya, but maybe, maybe if her gut instincts were right they had made a baby that night under the table.

A brother or sister for the one they had been forced to leave behind but would always be alive in their thoughts and their memories.

She wiped the dirt off her hands onto the pale blue dress that she wore and placed a hand on her belly, hoping that cells were lying there dividng and creating a future for them all.

She smiled at the thought, and watched her husband sit down beside her as she smiled and let the sun beam down on her.

He looked at her, "How are they coming?"

"Very nicely. We should have vine-ripened Talaxian tomatoes in a couple of months, unless this planet has the equivalent of tomato bugs. Oh, they're awful."

"I would never have thought of you as a gardener."

"I grew up around farmers. My parents insisted we learn some basic gardening skills."

"Did you hate that as much as camping?"

"Of course; who wanted to muck around in the dirt when you could be studying quantum mechanics? But I find it very satisfying now watching the seeds sprout and grow." She smiled at him, refusing to share her hunch until it was either more obvious, or until she was sure.

"If your tomatoes could spare you for a minute, I'd like your opinion on something in the house."

"You've come to the right person. I always have an opinion."

"Really?" She got up off the ground and linked arms with him, walking together into the house and all she could think was she couldn't have picked a better person then him to be stuck on an uninhabited planet with.

When they got into the house, Chakotay had pulled out a schematic of something, immediately asking her opinion. "What do you think?"

"A boat!"

"You said you wanted to explore the river. I think I could build this."

She looked at him, excited at the prospects that this could create for them. "We could go on a camping trip."

"I'm not sure we could fit the bathtub in the boat."

"Well, that's all right. I'll have the river." She smiled at him, knowing the unsaid words that were there. They could enjoy the river together.

A muffled noise began to make itself known, shattering their perfect life. "Captain Janeway, do you read me?"

She looked at Chakotay her eyes dropping, realizing that their dreams were crashing down on them. "Do you hear that?"

"Yes."

Tuvok's voice came over their commbadges now, almost forgotten in the months they had been there. "Captain Janeway, do you read me? This is Tuvok calling Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. Please respond."

"This is Janeway."

Tuvok's voice rang out, taking away the last vestiges of their dream life: "Captain, it's good to hear your voice. We have news."

"What is it?"

"We have medicine which we believe will effectively treat your condition. We plan to be in orbit within thirty hours."

Kathryn stared at Chakotay and he knew that she knew that they had to go back. "Looks like we'll get the chance to see Taya grow up after all."

He smiled and ran a hand along her cheek, "And I'm so glad that we will too."

She smiled, "And maybe we'll get the chance to give her a brother or sister?"

Chakotay nodded, "I'd like that."

Kathryn smiled at him, "Well we do have thirty hours to try and make that a reality..."

Chakotay smiled, "Yes, we could do that, but who knows: We may have already succeeded."

She swatted him playfully on the arm. "Well, whether we succeed or not, trying is fun."

"True, shall we go and find out exactly how fun it can be."

Kathryn nodded and stretched her arm out for Chakotay to take.

[30 hours later – Outside Modular Shelter 'New Earth']

"Ready?"

Kathryn saw the monkey and decided to make one last attempt to communicate with the primate before she decided it was time to go to resume their old lives. Chakotay bent down and gave Kathryn one last kiss, saying goodbye to their lives there but assuring her some things would continue. "I love you Kathryn: never question that."

She smiled and tapped her commbadge, "Two to beam up."

They materialized on the transporter pad on Voyager and were immediately whisked away to sickbay to be treated.

They arrived in sickbay and the doctor made his way to them immediately herding them towards the biobeds and the inoculants that the Vidiians has assured them would work.

The doctor scanned Kathryn and Chakotay one last time, and then scanned the innoculents. "My god, these won't work. They're formulated to re-code the genes not to rid you of the virus but rather force your body to co-exist with them!"

Chakotay shook his head, "Does that mean that we have to go back down to the planet?"

The doctor scanned Janeway again, forcing her to lie down on the biobed. "Ah, Commander I see you two were busy down there."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Captain is three weeks pregnant, and it appears that the foetus is the answer to all your problems?"

Kathryn stared at the computer terminal. "My god Chakotay, the baby has hybrid cells that will treat the disease."

Kathryn stared at the doctor, "Will this cause any problems for the baby?"

The doctor shook his head, "No your daughter will be fine."

Chakotay grinned, "Did you hear that Kathryn, we're going to have another girl."

The doctor blew imaginary dust off his fingers, "And a son."

Now it was Kathryn's turn to look astonished, "Twins?"

The doctor nodded, "And perfectly healthy in the third week of gestational growth. I don't foresee any problems with the pregnancy."

Chakotay put a hand on Kathryn's abdomen, "Twins."

"Speaking of children doctor, when do you think we'll be 'cured' of this disease?"

The doctor took out a hypospray and put it against Kathryn's belly, "I just removed a sample of amniotic fluid from the Captain's uterus. I'll recode an antibody, inject it into you two and you should be good to go. I'm guessing an hour at the very most."

Kathryn looked into Chakotay's eyes and smiled, "And then we can see Taya again."

He nodded, "And our new life can begin."

She leaned over and kissed Chakotay. "Janeway to Torres."

"Torres here, nice to hear your voice Captain."

"We're going to be stuck with the doctor for another hour, then do you think you can bring Taya down to sickbay to see her parents?"

They both heard Torres smiling over the line, "Of course Kathryn."

[50 minutes later – sickbay]

"Well you two appear to be fully cured."

Kathryn took Chakotay's hand and placed it over her abdomen, "Looks like we're going to have to thank these two when they get old enough to understand."

Chakotay laughed, "Or we can thank ourselves for creating them."

Kathryn tilted her head, "Too true."

She reached up and kissed him as his hand made her way down to her abdomen. He pulled back, "I love you Kathryn."

"I love you too baby."

She pulled away and they heard the doors to sickbay open. In walked a very pregnant B'Elanna and Tom holding baby Taya. "I thought you might want this back." Tom stated handing nine month old Taya to her mother.

"Well hello darling, I'm your mother."

The baby gurgled and Kathryn handed the baby back to her father. "And I'm your father, and hopefully we'll never have to leave you again." Chakotay kissed his daughter on the cheek and pulled her away and watched as her blue eyes opened.

B'Elanna turned to the couple, "Well looks like you two made up, and good thing too. I wasn't looking forward to a nine month old and a newborn."

"Well we're gonna have to care of two newborns and a 17 month old."

B'Elanna's jaw dropped, "You two? Twins?"

Chakotay nodded, "I wasn't going to say anything but Kathryn gave up on that idea."

The Paris couple laughed, "Seems you two can't keep a secret very well."

Kathryn smiled, "But we would like to keep this out of the betting pools, and to the five of us for now." She glared at the doctor.

The doctor raised his hands in defeat. "I won't say anything Captain. If it's put out in the open, it's not going to be from me."

Kathryn nodded, "Thank you doctor."

Chakotay took Kathryn by the arm, with Taya in the other, "Let's go home sweetheart."

Kathryn nodded and they finally left sickbay hopefully for the last time until the next checkup.

They went to bed that night, Taya having fallen asleep in her father's arms. She took the baby from Chakotay's arms and put her down for the night. She turned to Chakotay, "This is the best thing that could have happened to us Chakotay."

He smiled, "I know, and thank you Kathryn: for everything."

Kathryn put her hand on her on her abdomen joining her husband's. "I love this Chakotay, and I think we made these two under the table that night."

"That's what I've been thinking; I think that night was a new beginning for all of us."

Kathryn nodded, and laid back and fell into an exhausted sleep. Perhaps all would be okay after all.

[2 Weeks Later – Hanon Settlement]

Chakotay stared at Kathryn. "I was never good at this, and I'm still not."

"None of the other people have had any luck with it either, must be the wood."

He stared at her hair; the hair he knew so well. "What?"

"Something my father once told me about starting a fire."

Twenty minutes later, all the women with long hair were getting bits chopped off to try and start a fire for warmth. Harry had drawn the short straw and was the one forced to chop off Kathryn's mane.

Chakotay's heart almost broke when he saw the long strands getting given to him, but it worked they started a fire. And deep down he knew, even though he'd never admit it that Kathryn's hair had been the catalyst that started the fire.

The fire started Kathryn walked over to B'Elanna who didn't look too happy. "Are you okay B'Elanna?"

B'Elanna nodded and took Baby Taya out of her arms. "How much longer did you say you had?"

"I was due two days ago Kat."

Kathryn went and grabbed Taya, and walked back over to where B'Elanna was sitting, obviously in discomfort.

"Are you okay B'Elanna?" Kathryn paused looking at her, "Seriously?"

Chakotay walked up to the group. "So what's going on ladies? We have some eggs and some cucumbers ready to go for our 'mother's to be'." B'Elanna screamed out and felt the waters break that suspended the child within. "Well then, soon to be mothers."

Kathryn rubbed her tummy feeling the little bump where the twins were nestled. "Chakotay, how long do you think we'll be here? Do you think Tom managed to get out of Voyager and get help for us?"

Chakotay patted her on the shoulder, "I don't know honey; hopefully."

Chakotay reached around her and placed a hand on her belly. "How are my wife and kids today?"

She rubbed her stomach, "We're fine, I hope that Tom made it and will get a chance to see his daughter."

He nodded, "I know he'd so anything to get back to his wife and baby girl Kathryn, and I know he'll get Voyager back."

"I hope so Chakotay, I hope so."

[Six hours later – Voyager settlement]

"Oh...god." B'Elanna was panting, "Is this almost over?"

Kathryn walked up to B'Elanna, "Sweetheart, you're almost there. Sorry we didn't have a doctor here guess you're going to have to deal with me instead."

B'Elanna wept, "I wish Tom was here, I hope he's okay."

Kathryn smiled at her friend, "If there's one thing I know about Tom Paris: he's too stubborn to die."

B'Elanna laughed, and then a contraction swept over her and she screamed out as the head began to pass through the cervix. Kathryn looked and saw the head poking out a little. "B'Elanna, you're doing so well. I want you to know that you can do this."

B'Elanna nodded and took in a deep breath and pushed again, the head showing a little more. "B'Elanna, one more push and the head should be out; and then you'll be almost done."

B'Elanna was panting, then the contraction ended and she looked at Kathryn. "I hope you're in as much pain as I am when your time comes."

Kathryn glared at her, "I'm sure I will be and for the record, I've already done this twice naturally; and this time it'll be two at the same time."

B'Elanna gasped as the contractions started again and she pushed with all her might: then the head was out. "B'Elanna, he's adorable."

B'Elanna glared at Kathryn, "She, It's a girl Kathryn remember."

Kathryn smiled, "Well, then she's almost here."

Kathryn drew in a deep breath putting her hand on her abdomen, and gasped. "My god, one of the twins just moved."

B'Elanna stared at her, "It's all about you isn't it Kat?" She screamed and pushed her daughter into Kathryn's waiting hands. B'Elanna fell back exhausted, "Is she okay?"

Kathryn grinned, "Better than okay B'Elanna: She's beautiful."

Kathryn clamped the cord, and cut it with a sharp rock. She took the beautiful baby girl and passed her to her mother. "Congratulations."

Kathryn got up and walked out of the cave into the arms of Chakotay. "How's everything going in there?"

"Beautiful baby girl."

He grinned showing his dimples. "I have to congratulate her when she feels up to visitors."

"I felt the babies move Chakotay. It was so beautiful." She paused, "Do you think the crew knows?"

He ran his hands along her abdomen proving that she was starting to show, "I think they will soon dear."

Kathryn reached her lips up to his and kissed him full on, in front of the crew: they didn't care anymore. "I love you Chakotay, and our children too."

She looked at his empty hands, "Where's Taya?"

"Samantha has her, with Susan Nicoletti: I figured you were busy here with B'Elanna from what I heard."

"And what did you hear?"

"A lot of yelling and screaming, but I'm glad you were there with her."

She grinned, "Maybe our Voyager family will make it after all."

"Hopefully, and hopefully Tom will re-join it soon."

They embraced each other, as they got lost in the moment.

End Resolution: Making it Work

To be continued in 6. Bleeding Love