Epilogue

Four months later.

Tom gazed lovingly down at the sleeping woman beside him, and he couldn't help but recall the very first time he had watched her sleep, after she had come unexpectedly to his quarters, when he had rescued her and the rest of the crew from the planet that Seska and the Kazons had marooned them on. They had fallen into each other's arms without so much as a word of explanation, for a night of great sex and for him, the realisation of his deep love for his captain. That night had changed everything between them, changed their friendship into a much deeper one. It had been the beginning of their relationship.

However, this time it was different. This time she wouldn't flee from him with guilt or even with embarrassment but now she would stay forever. For she was his wife and he was her husband. The wedding had been day before, only twenty four hours after he had proposed marriage, and it had been Chakotay, himself, who as a captain in his own right, had performed the ceremony in front of their friends and crew members.

She murmured in her sleep, as she snuggled closer to him as though she wanted to get under his skin. He grinned, who would have thought that Captain Kathryn Janeway was a snuggler, he mused to himself. Not that he was complaining, as he tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her even closer against him, the heat from her naked body stirred him like no other woman could, nor did he want any other woman. He never imagined that when he joined Voyager five and a half years ago, for the mission to the badlands, he would fall in love, let alone he would fall in love and then marry his captain.

He never considered himself the marrying kind, he had enjoyed the life and the freedom of a single man too much, enjoyed the attention that women, of all ages, gave him; either for a single night or for a period of time, until either he, or the lady in question, or both, grew tired of it and moved on. That had all changed ever since he began a relationship with Kathryn but it became more so in the last several months, when he began to reflect on their relationship and where it was heading.

His reflection had started three months ago, when Tuvok, the doctor and himself were stranded on a planet for two months. A planet that was out of time with the rest of the universe; it had been two months for them, when in reality it had only been about two days for everyone else.

It had been a hard two months, surviving on a harsh planet with hardly enough food or water to sustain himself or Tuvok and their new friend, Noss, let alone the energy to keep the doctor permanently active. And on top of the harsh conditions, they had to deal with the ever present threat of marauders discovering and then attacking them, with the intention of capturing their ship and precious supplies.

Two months of not knowing if Voyager had left them, two months worrying about Kathryn and what she must be going through. He hated to think that she might think him dead, hated the knowledge of the pain it must be causing her. Especially as they only had recently resumed their relationship after their break-up. It had occurred shortly after their encounter with the transdimensional aliens, who had mistaken his Captain Proton holoprogram as reality. Or rather, it was their reality, not his.

Afterwards, he had received a Royal Summons from Queen Arachnia to attend to her quarters. He could not refuse such a summons, and as such he had changed into Proton's clothing before making his way to Kathryn's quarters. Upon gaining admittance to the Queen's chambers, he realised he had read the message correctly, for there standing regally, and somewhat arrogantly, by the large window, was his Queen.

And in his odd ball sense of humour, he knew that it was pay back time for designing Arachnia's costume in the first place, and secondly, for making her wear it, even if she looked stunning and damn sexy in it. Not that he had minded, as his cock twitched in memory of their role playing as Captain Proton and Queen Arachnia, until they grew tired of it and made love for the first time since their shore leave almost a month prior. It was then, at her request, that he had moved back into her quarters, permanently.

But it was during those two months on the planet that he had plenty of time to think. To think about his life, of the distinct possibility of living the rest of his life on the planet, without being at Kathryn's side, and what he found he didn't like. He didn't want to live without her, without her love, which was probably why he had pushed Tuvok so hard over Noss's all too obvious feelings for him. He couldn't bear the thought of living a life without love, if given the chance to do so. Granted, Tuvok was married but with his wife back in the Alpha quadrant, and with little to no hope of leaving the planet, even the Vulcan would need a life companion.

Which in turned made him reflect on his life and what he would do, if they ever returned to Voyager. The notion of marriage to Kathryn hadn't really entered his conscious mind but eventually he began thinking about it and once the idea had been planted, he couldn't stop thinking about it. In fact, he didn't want to stop, and in those last weeks before their rescue, he began dreaming about how he would ask Kathryn to marry him, thinking about all the different ways he could do it.

However, the more he thought about it, the more unsure he became. Would she yes or would she reject him? Did she want to marry at all, considering that she had been engaged twice before and both had ended without a marriage being performed? He knew that she loved him but was it enough for her? What did she want from their relationship? Did she want more, just as he wanted more? He had too many unanswered questions and he wondered if he would ever get an answer.

But when they were finally rescued, he just couldn't find the right moment to pop the question, as the old saying went. All the ideas he had, no longer seemed appropriate and it was only several weeks later when he joined Kathryn in her Leonardo de Vinci program, that the situation presented itself to him. It wasn't often he joined her with the Maestro, for it was her holoprogram, a place where she had time for herself, away from the burdens of command but this time he went along with her. And it was the Maestro, himself, who give him the perfect opening to propose marriage.

Without any planning or urging on his part, Leonardo de Vinci had gossiped about the wedding of the Spanish Queen's cousin to a Prince of Prussia and of how extravagant it had been. Perhaps it had been Kathryn's subtle plan of her own, to bring up the subject of marriage, herself, but she had been surprised and overwhelmed by his marriage proposal that he didn't believe she had anything to do with it. And in his own love of history, he had followed the aged old tradition and went down on bended knee...

Tom was too caught up in his memories that he didn't notice Kathryn's wandering hand until he gasped as he felt her slender hand encircled his semi hard cock, "You're awake." he said, half in jest and half in surprise at being caught out.

Kathryn chuckled, "Either that or I'm harassing you while asleep." she replied, as she gently but firmly stroked him.

He moaned softly, as he became fully erect under her touch, "Isn't there some kind of regulation against that," he said as he slowly trailed his fingertips down her back, "About a captain sexually harassing a junior officer." he quipped.

She removed her hand, "I can stop, if you wish." she replied with a gleam in her eyes.

God, how he loved the way she teased him, well two can play that game, he mused to himself, "I wish it." he said as he shifted away from her, putting some space between them.

"But..." she started to say, not entirely sure if he was teasing her or whether he was serious, despite the obvious state of his erection. Then she noticed the tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, "Oh, why you..." she shook her head with a chuckle. It served her right, she knew better than to tease him like that; he was a master at the quick comeback, it was one of the things she loved about him, even when it was directed at herself.

He grinned as he pulled her back into his arms, "You can harass me any time you feel the need to, Katie." he confirmed as he lowered his head and planted hot, wet kisses to the spot on her neck that always made her limp in his arms.

She moaned as she arched her neck, while she ran her fingers through his rumpled hair, "I might just take you up on that offer." she breathed, as his kisses sent delicious surges of desire through her body.

He raised his head, "What, even on the bridge?" he replied with a grin, "I think that would constitute a breach of discipline or something like that. We could both end up in the brig together."

She gave a soft laugh, "I wouldn't like that, there's no privacy in the brig," she replied, "But if you've taught me anything, is to bend the regulations, once in awhile."

"And what you've taught me is that its okay to play by the rules, once in awhile." he replied as he gazed lovingly down at his wife's flushed face, "I love you, Katherine Elizabeth Janeway." he said in a serious tone, "My wife." he added as he brushed her hair away from her face.

She felt such a rush of love for this young man, that she felt tears well in her eyes, "I love you, Thomas Eugene Paris, my husband." she whispered before she kissed him. A slow, tender loving kiss.

As he let himself drown in her kisses, he knew that this was what he wanted from life, what he needed to be complete. His Katie completed him in ways he never thought possible. All his life had been about himself, about his estrangement from his father, about living up to everyone else's expectations. But it was Katie, herself, who showed him that there was more to life than wasting it. And he had been wasting his life. It was as though it had taken him thirty years to finally grow up.

He knew that whatever the future held, they would be together, filling a need that the other lacked, and thereby becoming stronger as one.

The End

I hope you enjoyed this sequel. I did have an idea for a 3rd part but the plot bunny dried up and refused to come out again, and as you know, you can't force a story if it doesn't want to be written. Perhaps in the future, I will revisit Kathryn and Tom but at the moment, I'll leave it here.