As Tom predicted, Seven and B'Elanna arrived quickly with worried looks on their faces. Seven spoke first.
"Captain, how may I be of assistance?"
"Kathryn. We are all off duty as of now. That goes for you too B'Elanna. We are all dropping rank."
B'Elanna, who had never been on a first name basis with Kathryn spoke hesitantly.
"Alright.. Kathryn, what's up?" She looked back and forth between Kathryn and Tom as they both opened and closed their mouths and yet no words came out.
Seven could tell that her partner was overwhelmed by something. "Kathryn you are making me concerned. Please explain the reason for your hail."
Kathryn looked at Tom pleadingly. For the first time in anyone's memory Kathryn Janeway truly had no idea what to say. Knowing it was him or no one Tom began to speak.
"Seven I believe when you were a drone you downloaded and read all of the ships logs." Seven replied with a affirmative nod.
"So you are both aware of the situation that occurred during the warp ten flight?" Both women nodded yes.
At this point Janeway found her voice. "It seems this morning there was a power issue that effected sick bay…"
B'Elanna interrupted. "I am sorry about that Captain. It was entirely my fault. I was changing the isolinior chips and I just pulled the wrong one. I cant believe I did that. There is no excuse."
Janeway's lips quirked into a half smile. "Let me get this straight. It was your fault? Entirely your fault?"
"Yes Captain I accept full responsibility."
Janeway's smile got a little bigger. "Kathryn, remember we are off duty."
"Ok," B'Elanna said hesitantly, "Kathryn I take full responsibility for the repercussions of my mistake. I am guessing there were some and that is why we are here."
Kathryn was clearly feeling better and able to take control of the situation. "Yes, you may remember Tom and I had an incident as a result of the warp ten experiment."
Both women nodded and Seven spoke. "Are you referring to your transforming in to amphibians, copulating and creating a clutch of amphibious offspring?"
Janeway rolled her eyes at Seven's analytical yet accurate description of the event.
"Yes," Janeway nodded. "Commander Chakotay captured our offspring and brought them on board. This morning's power disruption affected their stasis pods." Kathryn's face quickly changed from mirth to sorrow. Sensing she was starting to struggle Tom took over.
"Three of the little ones did not make it." He then had to stop for a moment before he could continue.
For her part B'Elanna was confused. Everyone knew that the little lizards were on the ship and that they were an unmentionable topic. No one ever talked about the warp ten flight. She didn't believe Janeway was ever planning to let offspring out of stasis so her clear distress was puzzling. None the less the engineer knew that some expression of sympathy was needed.
"I am sorry for your loss." She looked at both officers and remembered the reason for the loss. "I am very sorry that I caused this." The fact that they had previously smiled when they understood it was her fault made the situation even more confusing."
"Thank you B'Elanna." Kathryn said. "However that is not the repercussion that we are here to tell you about. As you may remember there were seven of them. Four of them lived and are currently out of stasis."
At this point Seven spoke up. "Do you need us to help you recapture them?"
The emotional roller coaster that Kathryn and Tom were on might have been the end of lesser people. Rotating quickly from confused to devastated to happy and amused with a little bit of tredeptation mixed in is really not easy. But at Seven's comment both Tom and Kathryn chuckled.
"No dear, we need you to help us raise them!" Kathryn replied.
"Kathryn are you planning to house them in your bathtub." Seven quirked an eyebrow.
At that Janeway gave in to the stress relieving comfort of laughter. It was if all the tightness in her body came out in one big guffaw.
Tom continued in a more serious tone. "The Dr was forced to try and use the fetal transporter to get them out of the stasis tubes."
"I understood that that was not possible," Seven stated.
Tom continued. "It is true that the ship's transporters couldn't lock on to them. For some reason the transporter here is sickbay was able. Maybe because they were close by or because they were in stasis. Who knows?" At this moment he knew it was time to get to the point and paused not sure what to say.
Kathryn stepped in. "You will be glad to know B'Elanna that as a consequence of your error and the resulting transport the biological fluctuation was corrected. The little ones reverted to their natural form…" Before the Captain could describe that natural form she was interrupted by a babies cry. First one cry and then several. The Dr came around the divider.
"I hate to interrupt this little powwow but there are hungry little people over here and I can't feed four at once. I am however preparing four bottles."
Janeway looked at Seven. "They are babies, four babies." Seven's face was stoic. There was no way to tell what she was thinking.
"They will be a part of my life now. Yours too if you are willing. Do you want to be a mother? Can you love these children?"
Tom looked at B'Elanna. "I know this isn't what we planned when we talked about children. But they are here. Kathryn and I haven't met them yet. We wanted to all be together, a family. Can you B'Elanna? Can you love them with us?"
Another cry was heard. The Klingon woman's face broke into a gentile smile as she responded. "I already do Tom. One little cry and I already do."
Janeway's eyes were locked in on Sevens as the former Borg responded. "Our children are hungry." She took Kathryn's hand in her's. Tom did the same with B'Elanna's and the four of them moved forward together.
Kathryn gasped and stumbled as she saw four babies who were identical to two of the three that they had lost. It was as if she had received a phaser burst to the heart. She took a deep calming breath. She heard a voice in her head say 'You can cry for them later. Now go meet these little ones and love them for themselves.'
In an instant Tom and Seven each had a baby in their arms. They did not hesitate as they reached in to the playpen and snatched up a hungry child. Their faces glowed as the Dr handed them each a bottle. Kathryn and B'Elanna were a little more tentative. They stared down at their little charges before reaching in and slowly lifting them to their chests. They each took a bottle from the Dr and soon all four babies were sucking contentedly.
Tom finally tore his face away from the child in his arms and locked eyes with Kathryn. "We can't truly say hello with out a name."
Janeway smiled at him gently. "Dr are these boys or girls?"
"Two of each Captain." He replied with a smile. He looked at the child in her arms and pointed to his wrist. "The boys have red and purple bracelets and the girls are green and yellow."
Janeway looked down at her son and grinned. Tom was holding the other boy.
Seven spoke. "In many cultures it is common to name children after their grandparents. Owen and Edward would be appropriate for the boys."
Tom shook his head. "Being named for two Admiral's is a lot to live up to. They would be nice for middle names though?" Everyone nodded.
B'Elanna spoke up. "how about Scott? Scott Edward?"
Tom laughed. "Leave it to you Bea. If we are not going to name him for an Admiral how about the most well known Starfleet engineer of all time!" He looked around. "Any objections?" Everyone smiled and Tom kissed the top of his son's head. "Hello Scott Edward."
Janeway smiled. "Ok now for number two." She saw Seven break in to a smile and frowned in the other woman's direction. "Don't even think of it."
Tom and B'Elanna looked puzzled then grinned as Seven replied.
"Well since two of four is out I would like to name him Harold."
"You are kidding. Why Harold?" Tom asked with laughter in his voice.
"Lt Paris," Seven began imperiously. "Who was the first person to befriend you on Voyager?"
Tom smiled as he replied, "Harry Kim."
"Lt. Torres," she continued. "Who was the first Star Fleet officer to accept you as an equal"
"Harry Kim" B'Elanna replied with a grin.
"Captain, who is your favorite crew member?"
Janeway shook her head. "We have dropped ranks remember? And Captain's don't have favorite crew members!" The other three just looked at her smiling.
"We do not." They continued to smirk at her.
She blushed. "Ok Harold. Only because I happen to like the name. Captains do not have favorites!"
She moved the baby up in her arms and kissed his head. "Hello Harold Owen Paris."
Tom's voice was sharp as he responded. "Janeway not Paris."
Kathryn looked up surprised and started to speak. "But Tom…"
He didn't let her go any further. "My children don't need my stigma Kathryn. What if one of them goes to the Academy? Do they need to share my reputation. Three people died because of me and I was dishonorably discharged. It has to be Janeway."
She may have been Kathryn but she was sounding like Captain when she replied angrily. "Sure Tom, much better that they have the Janeway name. You know who she is. The Captain the lost an entire damn starship! And don't even try to compare lives lost, you would loose hands down!"
Both officers stared at each other angry and then looked over to B'Elanna. "No way." She answered immediately. "Torres at the academy means dropped out, ran away and became a traitor to the federation."
Seven spoke up in angry clipped tones. "You insecurities are irrelevant. Paris, Janeway, Torres or Hanson. It doesn't matter." She glared in to the eyes of each co-parent.
"Will they understand that you are rejecting our names for them? Or will they come to believe you are rejecting them for our names?" The others where shocked at power behind her statement.
"No matter what name we give them our names will still be famous, infamous or both. As our children they will be associated with all of us. We must lead them by example" Seven took a deep breath and continued.
"By remaining proud of who we are we will teach them. They will know that if they make a mistake large or small that we will never judge them as unworthy. If they are scared and run away they will know that they can always come home. If they are lost they will know we will never stop looking for them. And most of all, if the task before them feels too great they will know that they can make themselves even greater."
After a moment of silence B'Elanna spoke up in a somewhat shaky voice. "In many families children have two middle names. As their birth parents they should really have your last names, both of them"
Janeway and Tom locked gazes as if communicating telepathically. Janeway shrugged and Tom spoke.
"Paris is their second middle name. He looked at his sons. "Harold Owen Paris Janeway and Scott Edward Paris Janeway welcome to the Hanson-Torres-Paris-Janeway family." The tense moment passed with head shakes all around. The four adults transferred their attention to the girls.
Kathryn and Tom spoke at once.
"Sally" Tom said.
"Amelia" from Kathryn.
Tom smiled "Earhart?"
Kathryn nodded "Ride?"
"Yup" Tom said.
They turned their eyes to B'Elanna and Seven. "Sally Grace?" Asked B'Elanna.
The other three nodded and Kathryn asked "Why Grace?"
"I just think it is pretty. And well who couldn't use a little grace now and then?"
Realizing a ritual had been established Seven kissed the top of her daughter's head and said, "Hello Sally Grace Paris Janeway."
B'Elanna looked down at the little girl in her arms. "So Amelia what do you think your middle name should be?" The Child did not answer.
Tom said, "Elizabeth." The three woman looked at him has if he had two heads.
"You're kidding right?" Janeway said.
"What's wrong with Elizabeth? It is my sisters name." Tom was sounding offended.
"I think" Seven said in dry tones, "that the temptation for some to call her Lizzy the Lizard would be too great."
"Oh" Tom said abashed.
In a quite voice Janeway said, "Kes." she smiled a rather winsome smile. "I would like her name to be Amelia Kes."
As everyone smiled B'Elanna took her turn, "Hello Amelia Kes Paris Janeway."
The Dr spoke from behind them. "I will add them to the ship's logs. I am wondering however where you are going to put them. They can't live in sickbay."
The parents looked at the children in their arms and then at each other. "I guess the naming was the easy part." B'Elanna said sardonically. Every one looked over to Janeway.
"So what are we going to do now?" Asked Tom.
Janeway looked back at them. "I know it is a habit for me to make the decisions here. And from time to time I will have to make decisions as Captain that will over ride your wishes as parents. It will be no more or less then I do with the other family's. But in all other things we are equal in this situation. You can't look to me for all the answers. Any ideas?"
B'Elanna spoke up. "Well the Standish family seems to do ok and our quarters are bigger then their's. We could set up two cribs in each and switch back and forth so we all get to spend time with each."
Tom chimed in. "We could do every few nights then switch."
Janeway started to nod in agreement when Seven jumped in. "That is not acceptable to me. The children should not be separated."
B'Elanna's voice sounded a little tense. "Oh well then what is your idea. Your quarters are largest would you like to have all four of them with you?"
Seven cocked her head thoughtfully. "The idea has merit the adults could change quarters and the children would be housed together."
Janeway's eyes widened. "I am not in love with that idea. Let's just take a few minutes and get to know these little people while we think." She moved over to B'Elanna. "Switch?"
Both women smiled as they passed off girl for boy and began to cuddle a new baby. Seven was lost in thought. Her face did not reflect the peaceful look of someone thinking. She had her 'accessing the cortical node and making calculations' look. Seven kissed little Harry on the top of his head as Tom traded him for Sally. Then she spoke.
"Kathryn there is a maintenance closet between your quarters and Commander Chayote's." Kathryn nodded.
"I see two ways we could use that to meet our needs. We remake it as a nursery. If we were to put access doors in from our quarters and the corridor we could all have unlimited access to the children. Many homes are larger then the distance from the Lt's quarters to the nursery so using the com system as monitor would be appropriate."
The others looked at her with approval. "And the other option? "Tom asked.
"When we tell the Commander that he will be sharing a wall with 4 infants he would have the option of switching quarters so that Tom and B'Elanna could move in and the doors would go from both quarters."
B'Elanna looked hesitant. "That seems an awful lot like the four of us moving in together. I ummm." She looked at the Captain with big eyes and noticed she was looking back at her the same way.
Seven shook her head. "We will still have the privacy of our own quarters and the doors could be closed based on who is on call with the children." All four of the adults nodded slowly.
"Any other ideas come to mind?" Janeway asked.
Everyone nodded "No."
"Anyone have a choice plan one or two?"
Tom and B'Elanna nodded "No"
Seven spoke again. "I believe it would be fair to allow the Commander to decide. He will be inconvenienced by either choice." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So," Janeway asked. "Do we all agree that we should create a nursery from he closet?" Again everyone nodded in agreement.
Janeway smiled. "Ok here we go then." She tapped her com badge. "Janeway to Ensign Talbit" Talbit, Voyager's Chief of Maintenance responded immediately.
"Ensign please assemble a team to modify the closet next to my quarters as an additional room. Cut a door from my quarters directly in to it."
"Aye, Captain. Should I check with Lt. Torres for the energy requirements?"
"Why would you need to that?" Janeway replied quizzically.
The Ensign stumbled trying to think of a plausible reason for his question.
B'Elanna closed her eyes and spoke. "Normal power is fine, Talbit." He was happy to hear his supervisors voice. As she had given the order for extra power if the Captain ask for changes he was glad she could explain.
B'Elanna couldn't help but grin as she continued. "It is not for an alcove just a baby." She paused as she tried not to laugh. "This is a priority Ensign. Let me know as soon as you are done."
Janeway squinted her eyes at her Chief Engineer. "You were prepared for an alcove moving request?"
"Yup," B'Elanna said cheerfully. "Glad the Captain wasn't here to hear about that. She doesn't like her private life speculated on." The engineer looked at her with a challenge.
"Yes, the Captain doesn't like her private life speculated on but it was a pretty reasonable thing to prepare for."
She looked at her new almost-roommates seriously. "I am, however, sure if she heard that there were any bets settled or new pools made about her private life there would be a lot of trouble for the people involved."
Kathryn was making a point. It will not matter how close they become, the Captain is still the Captain to the crew at large.
Tom and B'Elanna got the message and were not particularly concerned. They learned a lot about professionalism by watching the relationship between Kathryn and Seven develop. The two officers had no doubt that there will be boundaries. They were aware it wouldn't be easy. But as they looked at the four babies in their arms they knew it would work. It had to work.
Janeway's face got an impish look about it. B'Elanna and Seven looked at her in question. Tom on the other hand broke in to a big grin. "Oh this is going to be fun."
Janeway's smile grew bigger as she hit her com badge. "Janeway to Chakotay"
When he responded she invited him to sickbay. As with the others she gave no information beyond that. Seven and B'Elanna broke in to smiles as they thought about what was coming. Chakotay did not disappoint.
The Commander came round the corner in to sick bay and came to a complete stop. He closed his eyes and then opened them. He glanced at the babies then at the Captain and then did it again. As the little ones were almost replicas of their mother there was no doubt who she was.
"Commander," Janeway said in a rather low husky voice. "We would all like to thank you for your decision not to abandon our children."
He replied with a hesitant, "You're welcome."
And then with out realizing he was going to do it. Tom strode across the room with his daughter in his arms. The two men had become friendly and even cautions friends over the years. However no one could have predicted what happened next. In the blink of an eye Tom pulled the Commander in to a tight hug barely managing to avoid squishing Amelia.
"Thank you. Thank you for not leaving them in that Swamp." He pulled away and kissed his daughter's delicate cheek. "There just aren't words enough, thank you."
Kathryn and B'Elanna were both aware of this tender side of Tom. But Chakotay and Seven were left speechless. Tom held his out daughter for Chakotay to hold.
"Say hello to Uncle Chakotay, Amelia." The little girl turned her head in to his chest as the Commander pulled her close.
Janeway stepped forward. "So I think we are going to have a lot of scheduling issues Commander." She said with a smile in her voice.
The Commander found his voice. "I am sure it can be worked out Captain. Who do you have there?"
"This is Sally, B'Elanna has Scott and Seven has Harry."
Chakotay laughed out loud. "I always knew he was your favorite."
Janeway glared at him. "Captain's don't have favorites." She glanced at her lover. "He is Seven's favorite."
"I am sure that the crew will keep that in mind as they tease him for the next 30 years!"
All five of them grinned. "It is so unfair that we are loving that idea so much." said B'Elanna
Seven looked up and said very seriously. "Five years. The crew will only be able to tease Ensign Kim for five years."
Janeway looked at her curiously. "Why?"
"We will be living on earth in five years." Replied Seven imperiously.
"Really" B'Elanna said sarcastically. "How do you know that?"
"Ensign Kim and I are working on this goal. With the inducement of ceasing any teasing I am sure he will redouble his efforts."
"Well," said the Captain dryly. "I guess we better ramp it up a little." Every one laughed.
Seven did not laugh she caught the eye of every member of the group and said in a voice that brokered no compromise. "I assure you this mission will be over in five years."
Janeway was unsure how to respond to that certainty. They all knew if Seven says something that firmly then there is little room for doubt.
"In the mean time we have to find a place to raise them." She quirked her eyebrow at the Commander and Kathryn told him of the options they had come up with. He blanched at the thought of sharing a wall with the nursery and immediately agreed that switching quarters with Tom and B'Elanna would be ideal.