Chapter 4: Phoebe's Party

Summary: One door may close but how far will Kathryn open the next?

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The Janeway family home was packed, from family to colleagues of Phoebe's, of course there were plenty of her friends as well. Children were running around the garden, with various fun toys flying above their heads.

Kathryn Janeway watched them from the window. She didn't feel like going to a party, Mark had accused her of not committing to them and their relationship. Stating it wasn't appropriate for her to not wear her engagement ring, to which she had said it was dangerous to do at work. They had argued long and hard, in the end he had stormed out. She was angry, he had said that Chakotay was driving a wedge between them, he'd never even seen them together.

Smoothing down her dress and hair she plastered on a smile and walked out of the room.

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Chakotay and Mae walked up to the house, Mae clutching the gift she had insisted on getting the birthday girl, despite never meeting her. They were cautious and unsure if people knew they were coming but Chakotay tried not to let that show.

Kathryn was sitting on the porch, a coffee in her hand. She spotted the little girl and waved to her.

"Hello, I got your sister a gift. I hope that's okay" Mae smiled nervously but was calmed when Kathryn pulled her onto her lap quite casually.

"My sister loves presents. She would never turn one down" Kathryn informed her reassuringly. They sat there until Chakotay had caught up and stood on the porch looking at them. Kathryn smiled at him, and from the friendship they had begun to develop he could see it was put on.

They both escorted Mae indoors.

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Mae had fallen asleep ages ago so it was just Kathryn and Chakotay. Gretchen, Kathryn's mother, had been adamant they could stay the night so Chakotay found himself on the porch with Kathryn. The moonlight catching on her hair making it shimmer slightly.

"I didn't see Mark in there" he approached the subject cautiously.

"You wouldn't. He left last night, I don't know anything else" she smiled sadly. "He accused me of not being committed to us and that you were driving a wedge between us. How ridiculous is that?" she scoffed gulping at her coffee.

"It is, I would never try anything with you knowing about Mark" she raised an eyebrow, did that mean he would've tried something if he didn't know about Mark.

"It's strange I always thought I'd be heartbroken if he left but…I feel…different. Not relieved but calmer. Does that make sense?" she leaned towards him.

"Yes. When Mae's mom rejected me, I felt similar, then again she came back to me when she was pregnant. I was grateful." He admitted

"You weren't in love with Mae's mom?" Kathryn asked.

"Yes and no. She was younger, I was boring for her. Alaina wanted to travel and explore but then she got pregnant, then ill and eventually, she died." He explained.

"Oh, I always assumed it was some tragic love story" she joked but gasped realising how terrible that sounded. Chakotay laughed and agreed that was what most people thought.

"How did you and Mark come together?"

"Well we grew up near each other, I knew him, I was comfortable with him. I guess I wanted it to be like Justin and I.I know that I probably won't experience anything like that again, not something that intense." Chakotay nodded, he knew about Justin and she knew of his father. It was strange they'd never talked about Alaina. They sighed in unison, slipping into a comfortable silence, both looking at the moon.

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Author's Note: Isn't that sweet? I hope you are enjoying this so far, I am enjoying writing this.

That-Geek