Chapter 7
When they materialized on the transporter pad, Joy had taken a stronger hold around Tom's neck and had buried her face into his shoulder. He absently patted her back and softly whispered in her ear
"It's okay sweet pea, we're here...you're safe."
She slightly nodded but refused to move her head. Looking down, Tom saw that the rest of the senior staff was standing in front of him. The smile on both the captain and Chakotay's faces were warm and welcoming, and he thought for a moment he saw a slight smile on Tuvok's face. But no it couldn't be, Vulcan's didn't smile. As B'Elanna and Harry moved off the pads, Tom just stood for the moment with his daughter held tightly to him as if he was afraid someone would try to take her away. Now the captain stepped forward and said
"Welcome home, Tom."
She had placed a hand gently on Joy's back and continued
"And Joy, welcome aboard your new home, we are glad to have you in our family."
Slowly, she looked at the captain and then said
"Thank you Captain. Daddy has told me many stories of here."
She began to look around and when her eyes landed on Tuvok, they widen and then she turned to Tom and whispered a little too loudly as she said
"Daddy that man has funny ears...They are pointed, And he looks stern...he kinda scares me...will he hurt us?"
Tom's eyes briefly flicked to Tuvok and he saw...amusement? He sighed and said as he walked over to the Vulcan
"Joy, This is Mr. Tuvok. He is from the planet named Vulcan and he is third in command after the captain and Chakotay. He will not hurt you. Now I want you to tell him you are sorry for saying what you did."
He gave her a firm look and she dropped her eyes and softly said
"Yes daddy."
She turned and looked at Tuvok and said softly
"I'm sorry Mr Tuvok."
She again dropped her head and after a moment Tuvok said in his quiet voice
"I accept your apology, Miss Paris, as a Vulcan I take no offense and am...pleased to have you on board and that your...father is back with us."
She raised her head and then gently reached out to him and lightly touched his ear before Tom could stop her. Tuvok seemed not to mind as he let her lightly run her finger over the point of his ear. She seemed fascinated with the tip. She turned to Tom and said
"I think I like his ears...They look different than ours."
"Yes they do sweet pea."
Tom was relieved that Tuvok had not minded his daughter touching his ear. But then he remembered that Tuvok was a father and was probably used to it. Now, the captain said
"Come on Tom, lets get you and Joy to sickbay so the doctor can check you both out."
She began to move towards the door, with the rest in tow and as the doors opened and they moved out into the hall, Tom was startled and he stopped in his tracks and just stared. Joy felt his surprise and then his unbelief and she again turned and buried her face in his shoulder. For, as far as he could see down the hall were the crew, lined up on either side of the corridor and they were looking at him and...smiling. He couldn't understand it. This was something you did when a dignitary came on board. Not something he deserved. He looked at the faces of the senior staff and saw they were all smiling at him. Even Tuvok, though he was not smiling, had a look of pleasure on his face. For a moment Tom just stood there, thinking his knees were going to give out on him. It was too overwhelming. They really had missed him...he had been missed. He buried his head into his daughters hair and breathed deeply. It was good to be home. When he felt a hand on his arm, he looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks to see the warm and loving look on B'Elanna's face as she said
"We all missed you Tom...everyone did."
Tom shifted Joy and took his free hand and wiped at his face and finally said in a shaky voice
"I was not sure..."
"Shh Tom, lets get you both to sickbay so you can be checked over."
With that, she took his arm gently and they all began to walk to sickbay. As they did, many of the crew reached out and touched him as if to make sure he was real and said how glad they were that they had finally found him. He acknowledged them all with a smile and words of his own. He was still overwhelmed as the lines of crew went all the way to sickbay. For a moment, he wondered if anyone was manning the ship, but then forgot it as the doors to sickbay opened and he stepped in and laid eyes on the Doc for the first time in ten years. Of course his appearance had not changed, but it seemed his manner had. He smiled at Tom and said in a kindly manner
"Mr Paris, it is so good to see you again. Welcome home"
Tom was taken aback and he turned to Harry and said
"Did you guys change the Doc?"
Now the doctor laughed and said
"No, Mr Paris, I'm the same but after you disappeared, the rest of the crew began treating me like a person, and I have you to thank. After all, you were the first to treat me like anyone else...I truly appreciated it. Thank you"
As he walked over to Tom he continued
"And this must be you daughter?"
He was leading them over to a bio-bed.
"Hop up and I'll check you both out."
Tom did, still a little confused at the Doc's easy bed side manner, something he wasn't used to. The doctor took his medical scanner and ran it over Tom and then looked at it's readings
"Well, I see you've kept yourself in good condition. You seem quite fit for having been gone ten years."
"Thanks Doc, I mostly ate vegetables and fruits, but once in a while I replicated some red meat and chicken. We had lots of fish though from the stream near out home."
He was now looking down at his daughter as she had finally decided to lift her head from his shoulder. She was looking around and the wonder on her face was something to behold. He leaned down and said
"What are you thinking sweetie?"
Her eyes were large and she said
"There are so many people here and this place is...large."
He knew she was referring to the ship. He smiled and said
"Yeah, sweet pea it is, and there are lots of people here who want to be your friend. And one of those new friends is the Doctor here so do you think you can sit still and let him check you over while I talk to the others?"
She leaned around him and looked at the doctor with curious eyes. He really didn't look so scary so she looked up at her daddy and said
"Okay daddy."
He slid off the bio-bed and hugged her and said
"Okay, now be good."
The doctor came over and began to run his scanner over the child as she watched him. Finally she said
"My daddy told me about you, he said he used to help you."
The doctor nodded and said
"Yes, he did."
As he continued to do the checkup, Tom walked over to the others and said
"It's been a long time, but sickbay looks the same."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow and said
"Indeed, Mr Paris, I do not think anything has changed."
Tom hide his smile at Tuvok's reply and then got serious as he said
"Look Tuvok, I'm sorry for what Joy said earlier. She hasn't seen anyone else except me and..."
Before he could continue, Tuvok raised his hand and said
"Mr Paris if you are under the impression that I am offended, then you are mistaken."
"I know, Tuvok, its just that she needs to learn to be more...diplomatic in what she says."
"Mr Paris, on Vulcan, children are most valued and I assure you even Vulcan children need to learn...diplomacy in what they say. My own children went through a rather awkward stage at that age."
Tom nodded and turned slightly to look at his daughter as she seemed engrossed in telling the Doc something and he was surprised that the Doc was actually listening to her chatter. He shook his head and grinned as he said
"It seems the Doc has made a friend."
The rest of them turned and watched as the doctor continued to do his exam as Joy told him a story about her birthday swim and how much fun she had with her daddy. Tom walked over and said
"Hey, sweet pea are you telling the Doc about our swimming hole?"
He picked her up and held her up at arms length before he gathered her back into a bear hug. She giggled and said
"Oh yes daddy, it was fun and the doctor said he would have liked to be with us."
She leaned in and whispered in his ear, but they all heard her say
"I like it here and everyone seems so nice...even Mr Tuvok. I like them."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. He returned one on the top of her head and said
"I'm glad you do. We have many friends here."
Now the doctor said
"Mr Paris, I want to congratulate you on keeping both yourself and your daughter in such excellent health. For being alone for ten years, you managed well."
"Thanks Doc, I tried to make sure we ate well and healthy. I also tried to exercise but just taking care of our home was almost a full time job. We had a good size garden..."
At the mention of the garden, Joy screwed up her face and said
"Daddy made me weed it with him, I hate weeding...gets you all dirty, and then I had to take a bath. I could have got clean swimming, but daddy always insisted I had to take a bath instead."
The look on her face made Tom chuckle as he said
"Bath time was good!"
Now Joy began to smile as she picked it up
"Swimming's better..."
"Is not..."
"Is too..."
"Not..."
"Is.."
The people watching could tell this was a game they played and thought how this little angel had really saved Tom's sanity. B'Elanna had to hide her face for a moment as she thought of how lonely Tom would have been if not for Joy, and the Captain just wiped a tear away as he watched her pilot play with his daughter. It was at that moment that she knew how much he loved her and how much of a good father he was. And it was at this moment that she thanked the powers that be that Tom had not taken after his own father. Admiral Paris had made many mistakes with his only son, but his harshness had not rubbed off on Tom. It was obvious that he was a big softy. She was also glad that his father had softened in his older age and she was anxious to let him know that they had found his son alive and well.
Tom turned and realized that the others had been watching his little game, and he grinned and said
"Sorry, just a little game we play..."
B'Elanna walked up to him and said with a smile on her face
"Don't worry Tom, I think its kinda cute... shows off a different side to you."
She put her arm around him and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Now Joy looked at B'Elanna and said
"Are you daddy's girlfriend and will you be my new mommy?"
Tom almost dropped her as he began chocking, and B'Elanna had to steady both of them, but she looked at Joy with a smile in her eyes and on her face as she replied
"Yes sweetie, I am your daddy's girlfriend and as to being your new mommy..."
She looked up at Tom
"That is entirely up to your daddy."
Tom looked at her with a wondrous look and cleared his throat but before he could say anything, Joy clapped her hands and said
"Oh goody. He told me lots of good stories about you and how much he missed you and..."
As she continued her chatter, Tom began to redden and then he said quickly
"Well why don't we go see our new quarters, what do you say?"
"Oh yes daddy, lets go see our new home."
He started towards the door and looked at the captain and said
"Will you show the way?"
She smiled and nodded and said
"We all will, come on."
The senior staff left and Tom followed with Joy still in his arms, glad to get off the subject of B'Elanna. He was having a hard enough time keeping his hands and lips off of her as it was and now Joy had brought up his stories he had told her. He didn't understand, he had told her countless stories of Voyager and her crew. Had he spent more time talking of B'Elanna? He didn't think he had. Had he? Well maybe he had. He knew he loved B'Elanna...had since before he was lost. Now he thought he knew that she felt the same way. He decided to talk to her later...after he had put Joy to bed.
They had arrived at a door, and the captain entered a code and the door swished open. They all stepped back and let Tom enter. It was spacious and the main room was quite large. There was a large comfy couch on one wall and on the other wall was a desk and long bookcase sort of thing. He noticed that his books and stuff had already been arranged and he place Joy down and walked over to run his hands over the books...his books. They had kept them for him. He looked around and found all his things arranged around the room...his books...his collection of vids...and his home made TV that B'Elanna had assembled for him. His eyes took in the couch and he saw his grandmother's colorful afghan that she had made for him when he had left for Star Fleet Academy. Joy was looking around with wonder on her face. She looked at her daddy and saw the look on his face. She walked over to him and said as she took his hand
"Daddy, don't be sad."
Tom looked down at her and said
"I'm not sad sweet pea...just a little overwhelmed."
He turned to them all and said as he wiped a single tear away as it trickled down his face
"Thank you...this means so much to me...you kept my stuff..."
He trailed off again as B'Elanna said
"Of course we did, we just knew we would find you."
"Come on Tom, lets see the rest of the place."
Chakotay said as he led the way to the door to the other side. Tom followed and saw they had entered a large bedroom and then through the other door they entered the bathroom. There was another door and that led into a smaller bedroom that was set up for a little girl. The bed had a colorful quilt and there was a large toy chest that was opened and toys almost spilling out. On the bed was Joy's large teddy bear. There was a closet with lots of girly type clothes and a small dresser on the wall next to the closet. Joy let out a squeal and ran over to the toys and began taking them out. Tom watched and said to the adults
"Thank you, she loves to play and you have provided her with lots of toys, and the clothes..."
"We all chipped in some of our rations. We wanted her to feel at home."
Chakotay said as he watched the little girl pull out a doll and hug it. She seemed so excited and she got up and come over to Tom and said
"Look daddy, she looks just like the princess you told me about..."
Her eyes were shinning and Tom smiled at her and said
"Yes she does. Maybe you should say thank you to everyone."
She looked at them all and said with excitement
"Thank you all for these wonderful toys. I've never seen so many before."
She turned and skipped back to the toy box, completely absorbed in the toys. The adults went back to the main room, and it was then he noticed the kitchen area. It was compact, but functional. It had a small cook top and oven, a sink and a medium size refrigerator. He was glad that he would still be able to bake, as he knew Joy loved his baking and he didn't want to bother Neelix for the use of his ovens unless he needed to.
"Guys, this is great thanks so much."
They all were happy that Tom seemed to be settling in to his new home. Now Kathryn said
"I think we need to let Tom settle in and rest. It's been a long day and I sure you're tired, but before we go, there is something I want to give you."
She reached for a small box that had been sitting on the table and handed it to Tom. He looked at it and then at her with a raise eyebrow and said
"What is it?"
"Open it and see."
He opened the box and saw...two silver pips and one black one. Lt Commander pips. He looked up with a surprised look on his face. Now they were all smiling..with the exception of Tuvok but he had a look of amusement in his eyes.
"Mr Paris, I hereby grant you the rank of Lt Commander retroactive back to when you were lost. Congratulations."
For a moment he was speechless, but then he found his voice and said with much emotion in his voice
"Thank you Captain, I will try to never disappoint you. I hope I can live up to your expectations."
"You will Tom, I have no doubt of that. Now you get some rest and you are off duty till further notice. You need time to settle in and to help Joy settle in too."
She turned to the others and said
"Come on, let's let Tom rest."
No one argued with their captain, but B'Elanna hung back a bit and whispered to Tom
"If you want to..."
She left the rest to his imagination and he smiled and nodded. Then they had left and he stood there with a goofy grin on his face.
TBC