A/n: Thanks for reviewing again everyone! :D Here is the final chapter, please tell me what you think. Also, "Seven's Sins" is going to be updated with one of my chapters today, "Pride", so please read that too. xXBrightsideBumblebeeXx and I really appreciate the support.
Tom grinned sheepishly over his shoulder at his old friends as he shifted Miral's position in his arms and led them into the house. "Just make yourselves at home everybody while B'Elanna and I put our two budding actors to bed, okay?" he told them as he started to follow B'Elanna, who held an already sleeping Olly, upstairs.
"Don't we always Tom?" Harry joked as he made himself comfortable on the sofa.
"Yeah, pretty much. Don't be spilling beer on the carpet this time…" Tom began to retort good-naturedly but was interrupted by Miral's whimper of wakefulness on his shoulder. "What is it baby girl?" he asked her gently as he began rocking her back and forward, trying his best to soothe her back to sleep.
Miral however had by now noticed the party forming in her house and whined drowsily, "Don't wanna…go to bed Daddy." Her protest became more insistent as she heard her father tut in exasperation, "I want to stay up with all of you!"
"You'll see most of them on Christmas Day…" Tom explained, "…won't she?" he glanced at his friends for help.
Chakotay quickly smiled at the little girl. "Seven and I will come and visit you after Santa's been…" He ran out of steam and looked to his wife for support.
"Yes Miral, we must come and assess your and Olly's presents." Seven confirmed easily, though in truth she'd been looking forward to a peaceful day with Chakotay in what was destined to be their last holiday as a family of two, but she did enjoy spending time with the Paris children so it wouldn't be a huge sacrifice.
"You'll see us too Miral honey." Harry assured her with his arm around Elka. The Doctor also nodded in agreement and Miral visibly began to calm down, letting sleep begin to overtake her again.
"You're okay to go to bed now?" Tom queried softly, earning a heavy nod from his daughter, but her attention was suddenly caught by something on his face and she curiously patted his chin.
"Daddy, why do you have glue on your face?" she asked innocently, thankfully ignoring the hurriedly stifled chuckles of those around her, the Admiral had to fake a cough to cover up a giggle.
Tom froze in place for a split second, his face tingeing pink, but managed, as he had many times on Voyager, to think on his feet. "Err…I don't exactly know honey, I must've got some on me when I was helping with the costumes." He glared daggers over Miral's head when Harry snorted with laughter.
"Oh…" Miral mumbled blearily, "Okay." There was a huge, collective sigh of relief when the girl then buried her head back into her father's shirt and let him carry her up to her bedroom without another peep.
The night progressed happily after that, following the inevitable teasing about Tom's costume malfunctions of course, in a cloud of comfortable chatter and nostalgia that always accompanies close friends. They only realised how late the gathering had dragged on when a slightly tipsy Harry glanced at the clock, which read a few minutes past midnight, and announced, "Merry Christmas Eve everyone!"
B'Elanna laughed, "You're a little early Harry, but I'll return anyway, Merry Christmas!" She lowered the glass of wine she'd been sipping to dull the stress of the pageant furore and looking questioningly around the room, "So, what has everyone got planned for Christm…tomorrow I mean?"
"Well, Admiral Kingston has invited me to the Starfleet Masquerade Ball in the evening…" Admiral Janeway admitted, blushing as everyone in the room smirked at her knowingly.
"It's really getting serious with him now isn't it?" B'Elanna commented with a smile.
"You could say that." The Admiral conceded coyly, earning herself congratulations from all of her old officers, who were delighted to see her so obviously in love after so long.
"We were going to have a quiet day at home, but after Miral convinced us to come over…" Chakotay teased Tom with a grin.
Tom guffawed loudly, "Oh I'm sorry about that, don't feel obliged…"
Seven sat up straight on the sofa, she'd long since begun to flag and had spent most of the party letting the conversation wash over her while leaning into Chakotay for support. "We'd love to see the children, really." She told them sincerely, "Perhaps in the afternoon?"
B'Elanna chuckled, "I think that would be wise, the first rush of present opening is a test only the parents should endure."
"Precisely." Seven replied wryly as she tried to shift her taunt, tired muscles into a more tolerable position, unable to stop a small sigh leaving her lips as she did so.
Chakotay squeezed her hand worriedly, his expression creasing in worry and guilt. "I'm sorry Seven, you must be exhausted by now. Let's go home…"
Seven smiled at him wearily but still replied dismissively, "We can wait a short time longer, we have not all been together like this for a long period." She kissed his cheek as she stiffly stood up and picked up her water glass from the coffee table before heading with it into the kitchen.
She couldn't help but note that her back pain was much sharper than the niggling twinges she'd been getting throughout the evening as she walked towards the Paris' sink. With a growl of irritation, she didn't want to put a premature end to the reunion both she and Chakotay were enjoying so much, she rubbed the knotted muscles of her lower back with one hand as she filled the glass with the other. It wasn't as if she would get much quality sleep or regeneration if she returned home anyway!
That grumpy thought was just passing through her brain when a sharp, undeniable pain embedded itself into her side like a knife and radiated back round to her back. A gasping groan had escaped her throat and her body had buckled over the sink before she could really process what was happening, but reality slammed into her pain dazed brain soon enough when she registered that her entire lower body was soaking wet and she could do nothing to stop the encroaching wetness. "Oh…" She mumbled as her body began to shake uncontrollably.
"Seven?"
The voice that echoed behind her filled Seven with relief, if there was anyone she could trust to keep calm in this situation it was Tuvok. "Tuvok, will you please ask Chakotay and the Doctor to come in here?" she asked, lips tightly pressed together and fists clenched but her voice stubbornly controlled.
Tuvok hadn't needed her prompting but was impressed by her Vulcan like self-control, however momentary, nonetheless. "Of course." He assured her steadily before returning to the living room and pulling the Doctor aside. "I believe Seven is in need of your assistance Doctor." He informed the Doctor, who immediately snatched up his tricorder as the colour drained from Chakotay's face as if he'd seen a ghost and both men ran blindly to Seven, as everyone else began to exclaim in realisation.
"Everything is fine and progressing as normal, if a little bit of a surprise." The Doctor announced as he led the couple forward through the crowd. "Do you mind an emergency medical transport from your living room B'Elanna?" he asked the hostess as he pinned transport detectors to Seven, Chakotay and himself.
"No, of course not!" B'Elanna assured him hurriedly.
"I've ruined your floor, it will be repaired…" Seven mumbled to her apologetically even as she grimaced in pain.
B'Elanna gave an incredulous laugh. "Don't worry about that for God's sake! I know that labour isn't something you can control. We'll see you in a few hours when it's all over." She replied kindly, getting a grateful look from an obviously nervous Chakotay in return as the Doctor ordered the transport and the three of them disappeared.
"Mr Kotay? Mr Kotay?"
Chakotay's heavy lids blinked open reluctantly in response to the voice and a gentle shake on the shoulder. "What's wrong?" he choked out, instantly alert at the sight of a nurse beside him.
She laughed softly. "Nothing sir, I've only to tell you that there are several visitors waiting in the lobby to see you, your wife and children. Is it okay to let them in?" She smiled understandingly at his befuddled expression, "I'll give you a couple of minutes to decide will I?" she chirped before bending over the two cots by Seven's bed. "I was thinking you must be a popular couple to get so many visitors on Christmas Day but when I see how beautiful these two are I'm not surprised." She gave his arm a gentle pat, "Congratulations and Merry Christmas."
"Thank you…" Chakotay responded warmly as he finally came back to his senses and remembered what had happened over the last 36 hours and the glow of delighted disbelief settled on him again. "Hey…" He breathed softly over the sleeping heads of his brand new son and daughter. "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to both of you…" He lifted his gaze from their delicate faces and settled on the pale and drawn one of his wife as she mumbled in her sleep, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly as she tensed in panic. He quickly took her hand and rubbed his fingers soothingly over the sleek metal. "It's okay, sweetheart…" he whispered as she truly began to stir.
"Cha…Chakotay?" Seven muttered in confusion, staring at their interlinked hands for a moment before sitting bolt upright in fear, wincing as she did so. "Are they still healthy?" she choked out fretfully, tears filling her eyes.
"Yes my love, of course they are." He reassured her firmly, upset by her distress. "Do you want to hold them again?" he asked, beaming when she nodded eagerly and lifting them out of the cots one by one, helping her to hold both at the same time as tears of relief slid down her cheeks and stained her smiling lips.
"Oh Chakotay, I suffered a nightmare. They were here and then…" She stopped painfully, focusing on her contented babies to calm herself.
Chakotay sighed. "I'm not surprised you had a nightmare sweetheart, you were in labour for over 24 hours and on God knows how many drugs to get you through it…" He reminded her sympathetically.
Seven caught the hint of guilt in his voice and interrupted him, "I will recover. They are more than worth anything I've endured." She told him resolutely before studying the babies' faces again, imprinting every detail of each of them into her memory. "I never would've believed that I could help create two beings who are so perfect…" She whispered, meeting his eyes now, "Thank you."
He leaned over their twins and kissed her, lovingly and deeply. "Thank you Seven." He answered before grinning at her like a Cheshire cat, "I know you'll never be able to better these two Christmas presents!" he joked, making her laugh. "The nurse was in, she said we have visitors, are you feeling up to seeing them?"
"It's Christmas Day, I thought we wouldn't get visitors until tomorrow, considering everyone's plans…" Seven mused in surprise.
"Well, you going into labour in B'Elanna's kitchen might have changed those plans." Chakotay teased.
Seven smiled good-naturedly, even though she knew she'd probably hear that embarrassing story told over and over ,"Well then, if they're here, let them in now, the babies will both need fed again soon."
Chakotay had barely poked his head out of the door to give permission before Tom, B'Elanna, Admiral Janeway, Tuvok and Harry had all rushed in, all talking at once.
"Congratulations!" Tom said warmly, slapping Chakotay's on the shoulder, "I was more right that I intended to be when I said Seven was in for a Christmas delivery wasn't I?"
"You certainly were." Seven conceded, sinking back against the pillows in exhaustion as B'Elanna and the Admiral both seized their chance to cuddle a baby. "I did not expect any of you today, what about your plans?"
B'Elanna snorted, "Oh the kids pushed us out of bed so their presents could be opened and we could get here!"
Tom laughed at the memory. "Miral made it clear that she's disappointed that you didn't have the babies during the nativity, then they could have had a real baby in the cradle rather than a toy one, but she still sends them kisses."
The new parents both laughed at that until the baby girl in the Admiral's arms whimpered at the sound, reminding Janeway of the most important thing that had yet to be asked. "Never mind us! You haven't told us their names yet, haven't you decided?"
"We have." Chakotay assured her, looking to his wife to do the honours.
"We've decided on Nicholas, for obvious reasons…" Seven began with a smile, "…and Natalie, which is derived from the Latin name for Christmas Day."
Tuvok showed a very rare hint of a smile. "Two logical, and beautiful, choices." He remarked approvingly.
"We believed so." Seven replied softly, though she glowed with a new mother's pride, "It is apt that you are all here actually…" She swallowed nervously and Chakotay squeezed her hand, taking up where she left off.
"It's good that you're all here because we were going to ask if Tom and B'Elanna could be Nicholas' godparents and if Natalie could have Kathryn and Tuvok as her godparents."
Kathryn Janeway found herself blinking away tears. "I think that question is the best Christmas present I've ever had…" She murmured to the couple, deeply touched.
"Agreed." Tuvok stated solemnly, but now allowed himself a cuddle of his new goddaughter.
"As if we'd say no!" Tom and B'Elanna both laughed in unison.
A/n: A VERY soppy ending to what must be my fluffiest fic ever, but I really hope you all enjoyed it, PLEASE REVIEW! :D I'll get back to my long-running fics in a couple of days but for now I wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas!