Chakotay felt his heart plunge into his stomach as his sleep fuzzed eyes focused on the ghastly white face of Icheb on the other side of the comm. line. "Icheb!" he exclaimed stridently before he remembered that Seven, and all three of their children, were asleep just metres away and lowered his volume to a tense whisper, "Icheb, what the hell's happened? You look…"

A tiny smile, exhausted and weak, flickered across Icheb's pale face for a moment; it was only now that Chakotay noticed the half healed gash on his forehead and the disturbing rust coloured stain which had spread across the once pristine collar of his ensign's uniform. "Good Evening Chakotay, I am sorry to disturb you so late…"

In response to that, Chakotay gave him an incredulous shake of his head, "Thatdoesn't matter right now Icheb, for God's sake! What happened? Are you and Naira both alright?" he asked anxiously, it had to be serious for Icheb to even consider worrying Seven.

Icheb released a deep shuddering sigh before answering, "We are both safe in Deep Space Nine's Infirmary, Naira is…fine." The slight uncertainty in the last word made Chakotay break out in a cold sweat.

"You're in the Infirmary though so something's happened! I'd like you to tell me what Icheb." Chakotay told him in no uncertain terms, slipping back into his "Commander" tone that he knew would work on his young former crewmate.

"There was a violent attack on the convoy, many ships have been lost and I was injured, thankfully, due in part to Commander Kim's heroics, an escape route was maintained to get the injured back to Deep Space Nine."

Chakotay nodded slowly as he processed this information, but wasn't ready to let himself breathe a sigh of relief just yet. "And Harry's okay? How were you injured?"

"Commander Kim is working to fortify Deep Space Nine as we speak." Icheb said calmly, before visibly bracing himself for Chakotay's next reaction, "My enhanced arm was badly damaged; Doctor Bashir said that if my other arm had received such a strong plasma charge it would have required amputation…" He paused, wincing, "Don't tell Seven that though, I don't want her to experience anxiety…"

Chakotay frowned at him, "I think we've already crossed that bridge Ensign, now what does the doctor say about your actual injury?"

"The nerve damage is beginning to repair itself with regeneration but Bashir says I will need the Doctor to make more specialist repairs. That's why I'm calling, to ask if Naira and I can stay with you until I have recovered enough to return to duty."

Chakotay almost laughed in relief, "Of course you can! You know that Seven would be angry if you did anything else!" He saw relief wash over the younger man's face and smiled at him. "It's great that Starfleet allowed Naira to come back with you…" He saw an unreadable emotion cross Icheb's face and frowned, "What?"

Icheb looked at him shamefacedly, "They didn't exactly allow her, she was dismissed…" He read Chakotay's shocked expression and explained hurriedly, "Oh, she didn't do anything wrong but…" he paused apprehensively, "She's pregnant."

Chakotay felt his mouth drop open and all he could say at first was, "Oh." He then saw Icheb's downright scared expression and felt a warm smile cross his features, he couldn't exactly admonish them, since Seven had gotten pregnant almost as soon as the wedding was over… "Well…" He began, "I wasn't expecting that but it's great news, really!"

"You don't think Seven will be angry do you?" Icheb asked with an audible gulp.

Chakotay laughed, "No, no! Are we thinking of the same woman? She'll be delighted!"

"That's good news." Icheb said with relief, before his head dipped lower and his smile disappeared, "It was after the wedding, before war was declared, she didn't realise until we were on the convoy, but she didn't tell me until I was lying in Sickbay… She thought I'd have sent her home if I knew..." He confided with a sigh. "She was right; I would've sent her home in a millisecond, but still…"

Chakotay smiled knowingly. "If you're angry she didn't tell you right off the bat, try and let it go, it took Seven days to tell me the first time and I was angry at first too but you have to learn to give a little leeway, especially with pregnant women."

Icheb smiled gratefully. "I will try my best. Naira and I will arrive on Earth in eleven days."

"That's fine. Do you want me to tell Seven all this?"

Icheb now looked sheepish. "I think it would be easier on all of us if you told her."

"Okay, I will. We'll see you soon." After quick goodbyes were exchanged, Chakotay finally hung up the phone and slowly walked back to his room, not sure whether to feel nervous or excited about telling Seven of this new and unexpected development.

Seven's eyes opened blearily as she was gently shaken awake. "Seven? Seven?"

Seeing Chakotay's eyes peering down at her anxiously, his hand firm around her shoulder, Seven felt a tight knot of nauseating fear form in her gut and she scrambled to sit up, surprised by the sudden wave of dizziness that clobbered her for a moment as she forced herself upright. "What's wrong?" she asked fearfully, the thought now hitting her that her Borg flashback may have been some sort of premonition…

"That was Icheb on the phone, there was an attack on the convoy…" He paused and squeezed her arm reassuringly as he heard her inhale sharply, "But they're safe, coming back here actually to get one of Icheb's implants treated by the Doctor…"

Seven's body sagged back down onto the bed, "Really? Oh…I thought…" She halted, unwilling to even vocalise what she'd thought during those horrible seconds. "They're letting Naira return too? Is she injured also?"

Chakotay chuckled, "Actually…she's pregnant. Starfleet have relieved her of duty."

Seven remained frozen in shocked silence for even longer than Chakotay had when he first heard but when she did respond it was more emphatic. "Oh that's wonderful! They will be out of danger!"

Chakotay smiled at her. "Yes it is, maybe the war will be over by the time they'll be able to leave their little one."

The reality that Icheb was actually going to be a father, as well as off the frontline, which had been her first concern, began to slowly set in with Seven. "He's so young…" She murmured in disbelief before brightening slightly. "Well if I can parent adequately, Icheb will do it well!"

Chakotay pulled her into his arms with a soft laugh and kissed her face. "You're a hell of a lot better than adequate Seven!"

The eleven days until the visitors' arrival passed excruciatingly slowly for Seven, even though her logical mind told her time passed at the same time it always had, the wait still seemed to take a toll on her health, her appetite abandoned her and she felt generally drained. Chakotay too noticed the change so it was with equal relief that they welcomed Icheb and Naira into their home when the time finally arrived.

"Thank you for this Seven." Icheb said gratefully as he stepped in the door, his cybernetic arm limp and obviously near useless but Seven hurriedly hid her shock, gulping back the nausea which overwhelmed her at the sight of the destroyed flesh under the mangled metal. Icheb followed her gaze and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, the Doctor assures me he can "make it as good as new", his words not mine."

"I'm sure he will." Seven said quietly as she watched Chakotay greet a nervous looking Naira with a hug.

"Congratulations!" Chakotay told her warmly.

"Thank you, for everything I mean." Naira replied softly, eyeing Seven apprehensively until the former Borg caught her eye and gave her one of her rare Borg smiles.

"How are you feeling? Any morning sickness?" Chakotay asked in concern.

"Actually…atishoo!" Naira sneezed violently. "Bajorans don't get nauseous when they're pregnant, they…" Another sneeze interrupted her, "They sneeze."

"I can see that!" Chakotay laughed but a realisation had hit Seven like a kick in the gut, she hadn't been feeling well for over two weeks, what if… No she couldn't be… Still the belief persisted until it was almost a certainty and as soon as she could get away she bolted to her bedroom's en-suite, slammed the door behind her and locked it before getting the family medical tricorder out of the cabinet with shaking hands and slowly scanning herself. It was several minutes before she could build up the courage to read the results, two weeks and five days pregnant.

A/n: I thought I'd put a few surprises in my 60th chapter! Thanks for the support so far everyone! PLEASE REVIEW! :D