YEAR 2381

Kathryn was due back from a five-day trip to Mars, and Chakotay was anxious to see her. He had spent a couple of months planning a surprise for her, and the conference away just so happened to coincide perfectly with his timing. He commed her office at Headquarters to find out if she would be arriving on schedule.

Her assistant greeted him. "Professor Chakotay, you're wife's shuttle will be here at 1600 hours."

"Thank you, Ensign. I'll be there to pick her up."

Chakotay checked the back yard one more time to make sure everything was ready, then raised the privacy shield before heading to the shuttle port. He watched Kathryn's shuttle land and grinned when he saw her exit the hatch with a lieutenant hot on her heels trying to reach for her bags. Chakotay laughed when he saw the terse nod of her head so familiar to him that somehow conveyed both a kind "thank you" and a firm "I'll do it myself," causing the lieutenant to halt and snap his heels together at attention. Kathryn continued on, and when she was ten steps ahead the lieutenant's shoulders sagged as he exhaled the breath he'd been holding. She still had the ability to use her petite frame and piercing blue eyes to make grown men feel like children trying to gain their mother's approval.

Chakotay kissed her and put her bags in the hovercar. "I missed you," he said as he took her hand in the car on the drive home.

"I missed you, too. I did enjoy the conference, though. There's a lot of promising work going on right now in alternative warp drive energy sources. Tom and B'Elanna did a good job in their presentation on new long range shuttle designs."

"Did you get to see Miral?"

Kathryn smiled. "I did. She wanted to know where Uncle Chakotay was, and when you were coming to play with her."

"I'll have to make some time to go see them."

"Maybe we can plan a weekend away for her birthday."

Chakotay turned the car into the drive, and Kathryn's eyes widened. "Why is there a privacy shield in the yard?"

He grinned and squeezed her hand. "You'll see. I have a surprise for you."

"What project have you been up to now?"

"I think you'll like it." He grabbed her bags from the car and followed her into the house, leaving the luggage just inside the door. He put his arm around her waist and walked with her to the back yard.

She stopped and a slow smile lit her face. "A pool!"

"Do you like it?"

"It's wonderful, Chakotay." She hugged him and then walked across the patio and down the steps to the edge of the pool. Two lounging floats were drifting across the water, and in one corner was an inset hot tub.

He kissed her cheek and said, "I've been planning to do this for a while, and your trip just happened to come at the right time to make it a surprise." He turned her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I first laid eyes on you ten years ago today. My life was changed in that moment as we began our journey together. It changed again when we finally found the love we could have together in the pool at the Academy. I wanted a way to remember both of those times."

"It's perfect, Chakotay. Only you can make a decade seem like an eternity and a single moment all at once. Ten years with you as my first officer, my friend, my love, and finally my husband have been the best years of my life. "

He kissed her softly as his hand cradled her head to his. He pulled away and said, "I'll put your bags away for you. Why don't you get changed and we'll test the water? I have wine waiting for us, and dinner is programmed to be ready in a couple of hours."

Kathryn put on the white swim suit she had worn the first time they made love. When she met him back outside, he handed her a glass of wine and she stepped down into the warm water of their new pool. "Oh, this feels good," she sighed.

"The control panel is under that corner tile," Chakotay said, pointing to one of the dark blue squares that edged the pool. "Is the water temperature okay?"

"It's fine." He slipped in beside her, and she leaned back against him as they sipped their wine.

"Would you rather swim or float?" he asked.

"Float, I think. I would like to relax after the long trip."

Chakotay eased himself from behind her, retrieved one of the floats for her, and set her empty wine glass to the side while she climbed on the cushion and lounged back. He gave her a gentle push, and she floated across the water. He swam a couple of laps across the pool, then dove under the water to come up at her feet.

The warm afternoon sun had dried her skin, and he pulled himself onto the end of the float between her legs. He trailed his hand up the inside of her thigh and watched it quiver under his touch. She laughed and said, "You're getting me wet again."

He grinned and slid forward until he could nibble at the material between her legs. She gasped, and he tugged the suit to the side and flicked his tongue over her button before licking his way to her opening. She clasped his head with her hands, her hips thrusting against his mouth. "Mmm, you're getting me so wet."

Finis