A/n: I was going to finish the next chapter of "The Gift" tonight, but the action scenes are proving a bit of a chore, as well as writing Seska, so I decided to update this instead. Enjoy! (And don't worry; "The Gift" will be updated soon!)
Seven cast one last affectionate smile at her three older children as she closed the nursery door with a soft click, holding her breath for a moment to see if they sensed her departure and woke up. Thankfully, no sounds echoed from behind the door and with a small sigh of relief she shifted Taya's weight to her other hip, the seventeen week old was resolutely awake, and descended down the sun-dappled stairwell before walking into the unusually peaceful living room. "What do you want to do Taya?" she asked the little girl quietly. When her daughter's only response was to gurgle cheerfully into her ear, she smiled even as she glanced guiltily at the stack of PADDs the Observatory had pleadingly asked her to check over, "If you'd just decide to nap at the same time as your brothers and sister, Mama could get some work done…" She continued ruefully, although if she were honest with herself, if she managed to get all four children asleep for an hour or so she'd probably join them. It wasn't as if the data her fellow scientists had sent her as particularly revolutionary, more likely just slightly confusing to someone who didn't have the Borg imbued galaxy wide experience of spacial phenomenon she did. The baby gave a sudden giggle, wriggling in her mother's arms as she stared transfixed at the sunlight catching on the windowpane, projecting a rainbow across the floor. Seven happily placed her on the floor, smiling as the curious little girl made a grab for the tantalising shafts of light while lying on her back on the soft carpet, a frown of deep concentration creasing her tiny brows. Maybe she shouldn't wish her newest arrival into sleep yet, attending the family alone while Chakotay was at work left her very little time to just watch and play with them individually.
She was just settling down on the floor, pulling Taya into her lap along with some well loved toys, when the doorbell rang throughout the house. She cringed momentarily, waiting for the disturbed cries to drift down from upstairs, but nothing reached her finely tuned ears, allowing her to scramble up to answer the door, Taya again her arms. "Admiral?" she gasped out in surprise as she hurriedly opened the door and saw the last person she'd expected to see, Admiral Kathryn Janeway. She was out of uniform, a sight rare enough that Seven didn't immediately recognise her, and was also carrying a small parcel wrapped in bright blue shiny paper.
"Hi Seven, didn't expect me I see?" She greeted with a good natured smile in response to her old protégé's slightly startled expression.
Seven recovered quickly when she belatedly realised this couldn't be a formal visit, with all the stress they generally entailed. "No I didn't, but it's a pleasure to see you Admiral." She replied warmly, "What reason to do have for coming to Arizona? Chakotay won't even be home until this evening…"
"Oh no, don't worry. I just thought I'd drop in. I was here for a meeting and thought I'd bring Max's birthday present…" She held out the parcel somewhat sheepishly, which Seven gratefully took. "I'll be off world when his big second birthday comes around." She explained somewhat hastily, as if she were embarrassed.
"That was very thoughtful of you Admiral." Seven said genuinely, successfully hiding her surprise. The Admiral wasn't a natural with children and because of her illness and the war she wasn't as familiar to the Kotay children as she probably should have been and had a right to be. "I'm sure he'll be pleased. He loves presents, we just got him to understand that Christmas is an annual event, I think we'll probably have to do the same with birthdays."
The Admiral laughed, "Don't we all wish days like that could happen more often though?" Her face darkened for a split-second, her voice tightening. "I certainly do."
Seven nodded in agreement, although she sensed the shift in atmosphere. "Would you like to come in Admiral?" she asked, trying to keep the anxiety from her voice.
"Not if you're busy…" Janeway began, looking askance at Taya cuddled shyly into Seven's shoulder.
"I am far from busy." Seven assured her firmly, "In fact it would just be the three of us. Aylen, Michael and Max are all exhausted from running rampant in the garden; I just put them down for a nap."
The Admiral's smile became more characteristically confident. "Oh well then, if you'd like." Seven stepped obligingly aside to let her in and they both headed towards the kitchen. "I guess the lovely summers out here are great for the kids?" Janeway asked.
"Definitely." Seven confirmed, "Just being outside provides most of their entertainment during the day." She turned to the replicator, "I presume you'd prefer coffee?"
"As strong and black as possible remember." The older woman reminded her teasingly.
"A large, strong, black coffee and a glass of water." Seven ordered, awkwardly moving Taya as she tried to pick up both drinks.
"Here, let me." Janeway offered, awkwardly extending her arms out for the baby.
"Thank you." Seven said quietly, biting back a sigh of relief as Taya nonchalantly accepted the transfer into the near stranger's arms. "Since you appreciate the weather, let's go into the living room, the windows there provide a pleasant view." She suggested as she gathered up the drinks.
"Sure." The Admiral agreed easily.
When they reached the living room, the silence was for a few minutes palpable and uneasy, until the Admiral, still holding Taya, murmured, "She's grown so much since I last saw her, when you brought her back here from the hospital. So pretty too, her colouring is just as striking as Aylen's."
Seven felt pride as well as affection fill her as she smiled lovingly at the baby. "We think so, although Tom keeps saying both girls will be "heartbreakers" one day, an analogy I do not quite understand."
The Admiral laughed as she looked at the contented baby in her lap. "He just means they'll have a lot of male admirers one day, that's all."
Seven smiled wryly in understanding. "No wonder Chakotay looks irritated when that is said then, I think the thought of his girls leaving disturbs him."
"Tell him not to worry; they'll be his girls for a long time yet. I for one was always a daddy's girl, it was part of the reason I joined Starfleet." The Admiral let out a regretful sigh as she said that but just as Seven was about to enquire as to what was wrong, her demeanour suddenly became more businesslike, "Speaking of Starfleet, the designers at Utopia Planetia wanted me to speak to you."
Seven's eyebrows shot up apprehensively, "Concerning what?" she asked, a little more sharply than she'd intended.
The Admiral sighed, having anticipated this reaction. "They want your opinion on some changes they're making to the Astrometrics labs they're deploying across the new fleet, that's all."
Seven shrugged noncommittally, "They already have Harry's permission and my own to use the patent…"
"And they're grateful for that, so they assured me." The Admiral told her hurriedly, "They would just like some input, some assistance from you, that's all. At first, they were going to offer you a post up there but I said you wouldn't take it…"
"You were correct." Seven interrupted as she lifted a now fussing Taya from the Admiral and cuddling her tightly, mumbling darkly into the child's downy hair, "My family has been uprooted enough for…" She bit her lip to stop the words "for Starfleet's sake" leaving her mouth and instead concluded, "…for the time being." She was tempted to add that it smacked of hypocrisy for the Starfleet Engineering Corp. to beg for her help now when they'd utterly refused it when she'd first came to Earth.
"That's absolutely fine." The Admiral said understandingly, "At least with me anyway." She muttered under her breath before changing tact, "Maybe they could just send you the plans and you could tell them where they're going wrong." She suggested with a gently knowing smile at Seven, she knew better than anyone the former drone's uncompromising attitude when it came to perfection.
"That would be acceptable." Seven admitted with a sigh, hoping the Admiral would now drop the subject. "Taya needs changing, do you mind if I do it here? The others will wake up if we go upstairs…"
"Go ahead." The Admiral allowed with a small smile as she watched Seven take the baby's changing gear out of a nearby hold all and begin to set it out with impressive ease and speed. "Very efficient." She joked as Taya was clean and happy again within a couple of minutes.
"I've had a great deal of practice in the last few years." Seven replied as she sat Taya up and kissed her, "It helps when they're cooperative." She glanced up from the baby to see the Admiral watching her with unmistakable guilt in her eyes. "Is there something wrong Admiral?" she queried anxiously.
Janeway sighed heavily, "You know I still have parts of my memory that are very fuzzy right?" She waited until Seven nodded, "Well, I've been having treatment to restore at least some of that, and so I'm…starting to remember how…" She grimaced, "How…unsupportive I was of your and Chakotay's decision to get married and to have children…" She gulped hard, "A few times I was even cruel in what I said to the two of you…"
Seven swallowed, remembering the scathing verbal assault just before Harry's wedding. "It did hurt Admiral, at the time." She conceded reluctantly, "But we didn't know then that you were under an insidious alien influence! I can assure you that Chakotay and I forgave you long ago."
"It wasn't all the Notsinians doing and you know it." The Admiral argued painfully, "I think, deep down, I was jealous."
Seven fought the urge to stiffen. It wasn't that she didn't trust Chakotay's love for her, they'd aired out all of their past relationships long ago, she'd confided about Axum, he about Seska, Riley and the others as well as unfulfilled thoughts of Voyager's Captain, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear of it from the Admiral's side.
"Not really of Chakotay by then…" The Admiral continued with barely a pause, "We were two leaders thrown into a situation and we coped together, but if that hadn't happened I doubt we would've even been friends. It was different with you, he fell hard…" She smiled as Seven's cheeks reddened.
"I did too." She admitted softly.
The Admiral laughed, pointing at Taya. "Obviously!" She sighed again, "I guess I was jealous of the kids too, even though I was never a natural like you, Mark and I were going to try when I got back…" She trailed off, her eyes growing misty.
Seven sighed, "Then, I think, with all of those things considered, your feelings were natural. I suggest you don't worry about them any more." She advised carefully.
The Admiral gave her shoulder a grateful, yet motherly, pat. "I think that's a good idea."
A/n: I can't say I'm completely happy with this chapter, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me what you think! I just thought it was time to clear the air between them.