A/n: Thanks to Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay for updating "Far from Home" last night! :D
Seven felt a beaming smile spread across her lips as the effects of the transporter faded away from her eyes and she saw the jagged, snow capped mountains reaching up into the crystal blue background of the clear winter sky. Chakotay smiled in understanding, glad that his first had worked so well. "There's nothing like it is there?"
Seven shook her head lightly as she greedily inhaled the crisp, clean air; she'd been trapped in the metropolis of San Francisco for far too long. "No there isn't, it is very good to be back."
"Then being at home should be even better, shouldn't it?" Chakotay said as he eagerly grasped the handles of her wheelchair and carefully pushed her away from the transporter pad and towards the far less scenic surroundings of the car park. "Can you see the car around? I can't remember exactly where I parked it."
Seven twisted around in the chair to shoot him a mildly incredulous look, yet she could hear suppressed laughter in his voice, which reinforced her suspicion that he was still waiting to spring some more surprises on her. Taya whimpered in complaint at the sudden movement and Seven bent over to reassure her with a gentle brush of a finger on her small, rosy cheek. "Your Papa's in a strange mood today isn't he?" She cooed to the baby while flashing Chakotay a teasing grin, which he happily returned, making Seven curious enough to finally do as she'd been asked and look around the car park. She saw the car immediately, it was impossible to miss since it had a pink banner stuck to its back bumper, accompanied by matching balloons, which had written on it in block capitals, "WELCOME HOME SEVEN AND TAYA!"
Seven stared at it in disbelief for several seconds before turning to face Chakotay, her eyebrow arched high, and saying, "Tom and Harry's work I presume?"
Chakotay almost buckled over in laughter at her, wry, knowing expression. "You know them too well! I have it on good authority that all the kids had fun sprinkling confetti around the backseats though."
"Confetti?" Seven echoed unbelievingly, trying to imagine the carnage of her three children, not to mention Miral Paris and Laura Kim, gleefully dumping piles of confetti everywhere, knowing them it was probably still all over their driveway. Cautiously she stood up from the wheelchair, letting Chakotay supportively hold her arm, and opened one of the back doors. Pink and white confetti immediately blew out of the car in the strong breeze and whirled up around her like a tornado, but their was still piles of it lying in the foot wells of the seats. Shaking her head in exasperated amusements at her friends' antics, Seven turned to Chakotay, who had just finished clipping Taya into her car seat, and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "How did they manage to convince you to participate in this?" she asked curiously.
"Everyone's in a very celebratory mood, what with the end of the war, B'Elanna's pregnancy, Icheb and Naira being new parents and of course Taya's arrival; I just let them knock themselves out." Chakotay explained warmly before glancing back at the decorated car, "I wouldn't have let them go this far though; I took a taxi here and left them to the preparations…"
"So there is going to be some sort of party then?" Seven inquired with a teasing smile as she watched him colour, he'd obviously been told not to let the surprise slip.
"Don't let on that you know, okay?" he muttered sheepishly into her ear, making her giggle as she kissed his cheek.
"I won't, as long as I don't have to vacuum out the car after all this is over."
He chuckled, "Oh no, neither of us are being saddled with the clean up, I'll make sure of it."
"Good! The prospect of that would not have put me in the party mood." Seven told him firmly, making his brow furrow in concern.
"I'm sorry if you're overwhelmed by all this honey, I really did just want to have the family at home for some peace and quiet the first few days, but I was overruled…"
Seven rubbed his suddenly tense shoulders reassuringly, "Don't worry; I know how hard it is to resist some of our former crewmates when they get an idea in their head." Her smile became thoughtful and tinged with sadness as she added, "We never know when we'll next be together, not really."
"No…" Chakotay agreed in a sigh before pulling her closer to him for a tight hug.
Seven let herself relax utterly into his arms, choosing to forget that they were in a public place as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. "I've missed you…" She choked out, caught unawares by the tide of emotion that suddenly washed over her.
His grip around her waist tightened further as he rested his chin on her hair. "I know, I've missed you too, more than anything." His words were so quiet that they could barely be called a whisper, but that only increased the intensely private intimacy of them. Slowly he pulled back, a fresh smile on his face, "Are you ready to go meet the partying mob now?"
"Yes, let's go." Seven agreed happily as she joined Taya in the car.
Seven didn't need to feign surprise as they approached their house. "Did you invite the whole crew?" she asked Chakotay with apprehensive incredulity as she saw the number of people and cars clogging the street.
"I must've…" Chakotay muttered in equal disbelief as he parked, "The Admiral did say she wanted to get the whole crew back together for once, but I thought she meant some sort of stuffy Starfleet thing…"
Seven winced, "I suppose this is the lesser of two evils then." She joked as they got out of the car, Chakotay carrying Taya. She tried to avoid the house's windows as she walked to the door, not wanting to be confronted with a crowd of acquaintances before she'd even seen her other children, but she obviously wasn't careful enough as she spotted Max's beaming face glued to the windowpane.
"Mama!" he shouted so exuberantly that his parents could hear him from outside. Seven felt her heart give a little leap of love and relief as she stepped inside and he threw himself at her, chattering away incomprehensibly, after all twelve days was a long time to spend away from a nineteen month old.
"Hello Max sweetheart…" She greeted him lovingly, forcing her aching legs and torso into a kneeling position so that she could give him a big hug. "What have you been doing while Mama's been away?"
A wave of Max's arm cursorily indicated the large group of adults around them indulgently watching the scene. "We pawty!"
"I can see that..." Seven replied with a smile as everyone else laughed. Standing up again, she looked around the sea of familiar faces, "My son tells me there's a party being conducted here?" she asked jokingly.
"There certainly is, didn't he tell you it was a great one?" Tom replied in the same tone as he pressed a glass of refreshing lemonade into her hand.
"I'm sure he will." Seven answered with a nod, smiling as she felt Chakotay come to her side and snake a warm arm around her waist. "How's B'Elanna? Is she here?"
"Of course!" Tom laughed, "She's fine, just a little lost in the crowd I think."
"I think I remember saying that this was to be a small gathering Tom." Chakotay jokingly admonished as he looked around, his house looked ready to split at the seams!
Before Tom could fully open his mouth to reply, a new voice intervened, ringing with laughter. "I don't remember Tom ever doing anything by halves, if he did you'll have to remind me!" Admiral Janeway said as she headed towards them, the crowd parting in her wake as she approached them, smiling as she saw Taya snuggled in Chakotay's arms. "Congratulations both of you on another healthy and beautiful little baby." She told the couple warmly.
"Beautiful yes, like her mother. I must say Kathryn and Commander Tuvok did not do you justice Seven of Nine."
Seven stiffened apprehensively at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, finding herself looking into the piercing eyes of a very tall man, his arm coiled around the Admiral's waist and his features undeniably Romulan. "Thank you." She said awkwardly, still uncomfortable with compliments, especially ones laced in such a slick, charming tone. "And you are?" she asked bluntly.
His smile became thin. "I am Petronax, the new Romulan liaison officer to Starfleet Headquarters."
Chakotay stepped gallantly forward to save his wife from the introductory niceties. "I'm Chakotay, nice to meet you." He greeted him pleasantly, shaking the other man's hand.
"Yes, very nice. Kathryn has told me so much about both of you."
Chakotay looked to the Admiral questioningly, "I didn't know Starfleet were working so closely with the Romulans."
"Starfleet has decided our interests are very…" Janeway blushed ever so slightly as she exchanged a glance with Petronax, "…compatible."
"That's great!" Chakotay replied honestly, curtailing the curiosity he felt, and could see on the faces of others, with relative ease.
"Certainly." Seven agreed while disentangling a still clingy Max from around her legs.
"I'm glad you think so." Said the Admiral, her face alight with relief and happiness. "Come on Petronax, you still need to make lots of introductions." With that Janeway moved away with the Romulan still at her side, leaving Chakotay and Seven to exchange questioning, but amused, looks.
They didn't get long to ponder this new development however, as two small figures bounded towards them. Aylen reached them first, beaming in relief as she eagerly grasped her mother's hands, "Mama, the stork let you go!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"I'm sorry baby, what stork?" Seven asked, utterly perplexed.
Aylen looked at her as if she were dense. "The stork that put Taya in your tummy and kept you in the hoppital…" She explained, stumbling over the word "hospital".
Chakotay knelt down to the twins' level. "Who told you that?"
"Miral." The twins said in unison, before Michael elaborated, "The stork put the baby in Auntie Lana's tummy." He frowned curiously up at his mother, "She says having a baby hurts too, did the stork peck you Mama?" he asked innocently.
Seven had to bite down on the inside of her mouth to keep her face straight, Chakotay failed altogether and had to turn his face, contorted with laughter, away. "Having a baby does hurt sweetheart, but not because of a strange bird, I promise."
A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D