A delighted smile graced Janeway's face when she saw Seven enter her ready room. She stood up from her desk. "Here for lunch?"

"No, Kathryn I ate in the nursery with Crewmen James and little Kathryn."

"Ah yes," the Captain replied with an even bigger smile. "Your Goddaughter. How is she today."

"She is well. I continue to be surprised that I was chosen for the honor of Godparent. It was you who delivered her child."

Janeway moved to the replicator and got herself some coffee. She motioned to Seven to join her on the upper level to sit. "When she came to my quarters that night, she saw a side of you that no one really had. You stood up and told her that your life stood between her baby and harm. She was moved. Really Seven you are practically a supper hero. Who wouldn't want you protecting their family"

Seven cocked her metallic eyebrow in the way that still made Janeway's heart flutter. "So she made me Godparent to insure that I honor my promise to keep her child safe from harm?"

Janeway shook her head. "No she made you Godparent because she knew you are the kind of person who would keep all of the children safe from harm. Many people say how they believe they would act in a situation. You declared how you would act. The look on your face was fierce, there was no doubt. She is showing her trust in you. Do you understand that if something happens to Lilly, Kathryn will be yours to raise? If she is incapacitated you will be making the decisions for her."

Seven's eyes grew wide. "I had not thought of that. Should I decline? If I have the responsibility for a child it would infringe on you as well."

Janeway shook her head no. "Seven if something happens to any of the parents our crew will make it through as a family. Even if we end up responsible for Kathryn we would have all the help we need. I, however, plan on making that unnecessary. We will keep them safe."

Seven nodded. "There is still one more child to be born. The Dr is planning to induce crewman Gonzales' labor if she has not started giving birth naturally by the end of beta shift."

"This one will be the last for now. Do we know if it is a boy or girl?"

Seven nodded. "Yes she is having a girl. So we will have three of each on board. So far we have the boys Leif, Marco and Jacques. The girls are…."

Janeway pinched the bridge of her nose as she interrupted Seven. "Yes I know. We have Kathryn and Jane. If this next one is named Way shoot me. Just pick up a phaser and shoot me. That's an order Seven."

The former Borg shook her head. "You need not worry Kathryn. The child will be Teresa." The Captain chuckled and the women smiled at each other lovingly.

"You and Lilly James are spending a lot of time together."

Seven looked hesitant as she spoke. "When you decided to keep me on board the Senior staff was ordered to tolerate me. With the exception of Lt Torres I believe they have genuinely become my friends. Crewmen James chose to know me. I believe we are becoming friends." By the expression on Seven's face Janeway could tell that she was both hopeful and insecure about the friendship she was forming.

"I believe Lilly is a good person. I think her friendship in genuine."

"So you do not mind then?"

"Why should I mind?" Janeway looked puzzled.

"She is not an officer."

"Well Seven, technically, neither are you. I have no problem with it. Oh that reminds me. Chakotay has canceled our Thursday date. What would you like to do for dinner?"

Seven shook her head apologetically. "Ensign Kim has not canceled our Thursday appointment so you will need to find another dinner companion."

"Can I join you?" The Captain asked hopefully.

"No Kathryn. Ensign Kim and I have a specific routine when we meet and having a third party with us would detract from that."

Kathryn looked disappointed. "What is it you two do. Every few months you come out with some new shield enhancement or process improvement. Is it some kind of inventor's club?"

"You could call it that. Ensign Kim and I pool our knowledge and look for ways to increase the efficiency of the ship. He states that we must keep it to our off time so that any enhancements are patented to us. If you are present that could be at risk. Star Fleet might have reason to dispute ownership."

Kathryn thought carefully about how to phrase her next question. "You have said Harry is equally responsible for each break through that you two have made. I know he is a smart man and a great officer. But you are well…you. I don't see what he can contribute that you couldn't do by yourself."

She saw Seven's face begin to redden. "I mean no disrespect Seven. Explain it to me."

Seven thought for a moment. "You are a scientist. What do you do?"

Kathryn looked at her blankly. "I find answers. I see how things work."

Seven nodded. "What do you find answers to?"

"I find answers to questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"I look for answers to help me understand the universe."

"To what end?"

"Seven this is silly. You know all the reasons. We understand things to help, to keep from causing harm, and to enhance the world around us."

"True, but who decides the questions?"

Janeway furrowed her brow as if stumped.

"Kathryn I have a vast amount of knowledge. It is stored in my cortical node like a library. I do not automatically know every thing that is stored there. I have to…" Seven paused looking for the right words, "I have to look things up. You also know that he Borg do not create they assimilate. I can recreate anything that has already been created by any culture we have assimilated. I am not well versed in creating something totally new. All of my knowledge is useless unless someone asks me the right questions."

"So that is was Harry does, he asks you questions."

Seven rolled her eyes as Kathryn once again misunderstood the dynamic between Seven and Harry Kim. "Ensign Kim breaks down our projects to the most basic. I find the answers to his questions and we use the answers to create the project."

Kathryn still looked uncertain. Seven tried not to be impatient.

"Our goal is to get Voyager and her crew back to the Alpha Quadrant. I could provide you with the plans for several ships that would be much more efficient in getting you there. But we do not have the time or resources to create a new star ship. We must look for ways to use what we already have."

Janeway nodded in agreement

" Ensign Kim decided that we have a better likely hood of returning to the Alpha Quadrant if our shields are enhanced. He listed the things that our shields are not prepared for. We went through them one at a time and designed a better shield by upgrading the one we have. I could have built you new and better shields but it would have to be with existing plans and new materials. Once again the resources needed would make the project impossible."

Janeway smiled with understanding "So what are you working on this week?"

Seven smiled. "The same thing we are working on every week, how to get Voyager home as quickly and safely as possible."

"Well then I will not interrupt."

Kathryn had dinner in her quarters. Her conversation with Seven left her felling a little unsettled. Seven was correct to believe her friendship with Crewman James could cause some issues for all of them. Kathryn knew she would need to keep herself apart from most of their interactions. Even so others may perceive favoritism due to a friendship with the captain's partner. Some may even try to use James as a way to get the captain's ear. Or worse start painful rumors about the status of Seven's relationship with the captain being supplanted by James. Janeway knew she and Seven would have to have a conversation about that. Not to curtail the friendship. She just needed to help Seven to know what she might expect and how to handle it.

More concerning to Janeway was the comment about Lt Torres. It was still clear that the half klingon woman did not care for Seven. She was no longer openly hostile but she was certainly not friendly or kind. Many of the crew no longer followed her example but some still did. "Well I can't force her to like Seven so I guess there is nothing I can do." The senior staff frequently socialized together so Janeway decided to let it be and just hope with more off duty time together that the two women would learn to more then tolerate each other. Janeway couldn't have known that on a day in the near future she will cringe at how prophetic that thought turned out to be.

When Naomi Wildman was an infant Voyager's crew was in constant danger. Janeway was often choosing from the safest of two dangerous options. The fact that there was a baby on board was not a huge factor in her decision making. Janeway almost felt guilty that she now had so many more options to keep the new babies safe. The enhanced sensors allow her to make more informed decisions about what lay ahead. Now safety not exploration or time saving is the over riding factor in all decisions. Risk was no longer acceptable. Enhanced shields reduced risk even farther. Sometimes it was hard to pass up the chance to gather information on the latest nebula or anomaly. The crew, however, was united in this new attitude and they passed the chances by.

Janeway rolled over and snuggled next to the warm body sharing her bed. "Good morning Darling. Did you sleep well?" Kathryn had slept so soundly that she was unaware that her partner had been up for most of the night.

Seven required very little sleep. She needed to regenerate so she really didn't need to sleep at all. The time alone snuggling her love did draw her to bed in spite of that and she frequently fell asleep. "I was not here most of the night." Seven smiled at the memory. "Kat (Seven's personal nick name for her goddaughter) is not feeling well. I rocked her for several hours so Lilly could sleep."

Kathryn always had first dibs on Seven's time and Thursdays with Harry were sacrosanct. Yet all of her other free time was for Noemi and Kat. Noemi was thankfully not jealous of the relationship and was frequently with Seven and Kat together.

"Lilly is very lucky to have you. I think she would have had a very hard time doing this on her own. I am not sure she knew what she was letting herself in for."

Seven nodded. "Lilly has expressed that to me as well. It is no hardship. I was not prepared for the joy I feel around the babies. It is fortuitous that the family room is so near our quarters. I like to stop in and see all of the children.

Janeway's smiled faulterd. Her face took on a wistful look. She once again realized that being the Captain's partner required more sacrifice then Seven may have realized in the beginning.

Seven immediately felt the change in her love. "Kathryn do you wish you could spend more time with the little ones?"

"They certainly are adorable, but I have never been that comfortable around children."

"You did not want to have children of your own?"

"I was open to it. Mark was ready as soon as we were engaged. We planned to set the wedding date and discuss how our family would work when I got back from the badlands. We were taking that time apart to make the decisions. I knew that if I could not agree to children there would be no wedding. He knew if I had to give up being a captain there would be no children. We were at a stalemate really. "

Seven nodded her understanding. "And did you come to a decision."

"Yes, I was going to wait for a posting on a generational ship. If Mark had agreed to space I would have agreed to children."

"Would he have agreed?"

"I truly don't know." Kathryn looked Seven square in the face. "I wasn't even willing to make a commitment to living with him I don't know if having a wedding or a family would have been a good idea. I think we may have come to that. I think it wouldn't have worked."

"And now Kathryn?"

A loving yet regretful smiled graced her face. "Well, the commitment part is certainly not an issue with us. I adore you and life without you is unthinkable. Children are another story. As you and Chakotay have pointed out I am basically the mother figure for 150 people. Is there really enough of me left to be a good mother to just one? I don't know."

Seven's lips twitched. "The sibling rivalry would be quite unique."

Janeway slapped her shoulder. "Ha Ha," she said in a sarcastic tone. "what about you Seven? Can you continue knowing that our own children are not a likely event?"

Seven nodded. "I agree that life without you is unthinkable. I do enjoy and even love being with the children. However as step mother to the 150 you already have I think I can understand why it would not be ideal." Janeway rolled her eyes and slapped Seven's shoulder again. "I will continue to work with Ensign Kim to get to the Alpha Quadrant and if we are there soon enough we can have this conversation again."

Kathryn nodded. "If we get there soon enough I would love to have this conversation again. I just couldn't do it out here. I don't know how I could possibly do it."

If the two woman had been listening hard enough they would have heard the fates laughing uproariously at their expense.