Chapter 13: The Littlest Crew Member
The Captain felt as though someone knocked the air out of her lungs. Naomi couldn't be dead. She just couldn't.
Her hand gripped against the console at her side. She was only two. It simply wasn't allowed for a two-year-old to die in this manner. It had to be a mistake.
"I'm on my way…" she managed to breathe out.
The Captain was aware she was trembling on the short journey to Sickbay, a journey which felt longer than the voyage her ship was undertaking to reach home. With every step, the pounding in her chest grew louder in her ears. It easily drowned out every noise around her.
It had to be a dream, a nightmare. Naomi couldn't be dead.
As a Starfleet Officer, the Captain had been taught of the danger, she was aware that colleagues and friends could be taken at any moment, but not children. Never children. No one dared imagine a situation where a child could be lost, no matter how possible it was. Call it human nature, or possibly the fact she was to become a mother herself soon, but innocent children had the right to be protected from the dangers of space travel. Simply put, they were not allowed to die. It wasn't right.
Unfortunately, the reality of the situation hit her when she entered Sickbay. Ensign Wildman sobbed uncontrollably by the side of her little girl's lifeless body, any composure expected from Starfleet Officers understandably gone.
Q, who had followed the Captain from the Brig, continued to do so as she approached the Surgical Bay. For once, he was nothing more than silent and observant.
Somehow, the Captain managed not to let more than a couple of tears roll down her face, ones she quickly wiped away. No matter how much it hurt her, she had to be strong for the young Ensign in the room, not because she was the Captain, simply because she was human.
She stopped at the Ensign's side, completely unsure what to do. She wasn't stupid, she knew nothing was going to help. The only thing even remotely possible was to show her she wasn't alone. Due to this, she lightly placed her hand upon her shoulder and just remained silent. She honestly had no idea what to say.
It took a few moments before the Ensign managed to quieten down, her breathing becoming forceful yet erratic.
"Samantha." the Captain whispered.
Her throat was stinging but she chose to ignore it. Ensign Wildman was the only person in the room who was not expected to remain professional.
The younger woman slowly turned her head to face the Captain at the sound of her name. Everything just felt so hollow, so numb. She honestly wasn't even sure how she was still standing.
The Captain saw Samantha bite into her quivering lip. It only broke her heart a little more in the process. Without thinking, she held open her arms up to the Ensign to which she gladly fell into.
The support was certainly appreciated but it didn't do much to help. She'd been lucky after losing Naomi the first time but there was no chance of a miracle this time. Her little girl was gone.
Q stopped on the opposite side of the Naomi's bed and looked over her. From what he could see, her skin was dotted with grey scars, scars he soon realised were caused by the cell degradation. However, his more immediate attention was on the small, cranial horn-like ridges on the little girl's forehead.
"What species is she?" he asked suddenly.
The Doctor sighed and looked over at the asking individual.
"She was a Human/Ktarian hybrid."
Samantha felt her stomach churn at the same moment her face crumpled into an unforgiving frown.
"She IS a Human/Ktarian hybrid!" she pulled away from the Captain, "Not was, IS!"
"Of course." the Doctor agreed almost silently.
Q's eyes had widened in a state of horror. "Ktarian?"
"Yes." replied the Doctor, "Why?"
Q covered his mouth regretfully. It looked as though he'd messed up severely again.
"This is my fault." he whispered to himself.
Ensign Wildman's frown didn't relent. "Yours?" she glanced down at her baby girl, "How?"
"The radiation. It's devastating to Ktarian tissue."
It was now the Doctor's turn to frown. "What radiation?"
"Stanvas radiation. It emanated from my body when I transformed into a non-corporeal life-form while masquerading as Fred…" he spoke quickly, his attention focused upon Naomi.
"Masquera…?" started the Doctor.
The Captain's resolve snapped. "You mean your pathetic charade cost Naomi her life?" she'd have screamed if she had the will.
Q felt not only the Captain's eyes burn onto him but Ensign Wildman's and the Doctor's too. He deserved it. He knew that. She was just a child and he'd killed her. Unintentionally, but he'd still killed her.
Sighing loudly and reducing back into sharp tears, Samantha once again fell into the Captain's support. It was like another blow to her already shattered heart.
Q relaxed all the muscles in his body. He had to clean up this mess somehow. With a soft sigh, he placed his hand onto Naomi's motionless shoulder. Within seconds, a light golden energy began to flow from his hand and down Naomi's body. The three Starfleet officers watched on as the surface scars on the little girl's body began to fade away.
Suddenly, the sound of Naomi's breathing filled the Surgical Bay. Sharp, deep but definite.
The Doctor quickly moved in and scanned her still-healing body while the Captain and Samantha watched the colour return to her cheeks. The relief on the Ensign's face was evident as all of Naomi's cell damage healed and allowed her vital signs returned to normal.
Samantha was crying again when Q finished and moved his hand away, out of relief though rather than pure grief.
"All the cell damage is gone." the Doctor reported in astonishment.
Q moved away from Naomi's bedside as Samantha leant down to stroke her little girl's hair. She was alive.
It was only then that Q dared to look over at the Captain. His eyes screamed a thousand apologies all at once. She took note of him and sighed, nodding once in acknowledgement.
"Thank you." she mouthed.
=/\=
The Captain had just hit the ten-month marker in her pregnancy, the equivalent of being five months along in a typical human pregnancy. She knew that soon she would have to start wearing that damned maternity uniform; she was dreading it.
The majority of the crew seemed to have found out about her physical state a few weeks before. So far, they'd all been supportive. She appreciated that. They all believed the Commander was the baby's father and it didn't bother her. She'd rather them believe that than know the truth. Besides, in her eyes, the baby was his. It always would be.
She was sat at her desk in the ready room, all about ready to seriously injure her First Officer who was smirking down at her.
"Here you are." Chakotay looked undeniably amused as he handed her a pile of a least ten PADDs, possibly more.
The Captain's jaw dropped as she attempted to grab the entire pile with one hand. However, she failed miserably which resulted in them scattering all over her desk. The noise was enough to make her moan.
"Have you been hoarding them somewhere?" she almost cried.
"I would never do that, Captain."
She sighed deeply. "It will take me all day to do these."
"I know." the Commander agreed, "At least I know you won't be working yourself too hard today."
Rolling her eyes, she leant forward with her chin resting on her hand. Her eyebrow rose pointedly and his following resulting smile honestly made it hard for her to keep her face straight.
"Are you going to be like this for the next eight months?"
Chakotay mockingly took a long time to consider it. "Absolutely."
Again, she rolled her eyes while he simply leant over to kiss her hairline.
"I'll see you later." he turned and began to leave the room, missing the following scowl from the Captain.
"Are you sure about that?"
He just chuckled as the door closed behind him. Part One: Complete.
=/\=
The Captain had absolutely no idea exactly how long it had taken her but somehow, all the reports had been read. Every. Single. One. While she wasn't sure how she'd managed it, she knew one thing for definite, she was going to make Chakotay pay for it. A hot bath and back massage were only two things she'd decided upon so far but she was sure as hell that was only the start of her list.
Slamming the last PADD down on the desk, she sighed loudly and let her head fall back onto her chair. Finally. She couldn't quite believe how long it had taken. It was days like these which made her miss being the Science Officer she once was.
Rubbing her eyes harshly, the Captain tried to get her eyes to focus on the wall opposite to her. It was something she always found difficult after a long period of reading and that time was no exception. Everything just didn't want to stay in focus.
"Torres to Janeway."
The Captain found herself stretching out her arms partially before tapping her comm. badge.
"Yes, B'Elanna?" she queried tiredly.
"Captain, you're needed in the Mess Hall. There's a… bit of a problem."
The Captain moaned silently to herself before pushing herself away from the desk. It appeared as though her bath and the Commander's punishment was going to have to wait.
"On my way."
The Captain was surprised that she didn't pass as many crew members as expected on her way to the Mess Hall. For some reason, the corridors seemed unusually quiet. However, it didn't concern her. It was more than likely that there was some sort of event taking place on the holodeck, either that or the majority of the crew had decided to have quiet nights in. She supposed it could happen from time to time.
B'Elanna Torres was standing outside the Mess Hall doors, her arms folded across her body. The half-Klingon Engineer was sporting a rather emotionless look which made the Captain frown. She wasn't sure she was ready to know what was going on.
"What's the problem?"
B'Elanna didn't speak, she just signalled with her head towards the door. The Captain sighed as she followed the silent engineer. It didn't look good and B'Elanna certainly wasn't filling her with any confidence in the matter.
Inside the Mess Hall, the Captain was confused to see nothing but a vaguely empty room. She had expected to see whatever the issue was.
"What's the problem, Lieutenant?" she asked again, growing a little impatient. She'd had a long day and all she wanted to do was go to her quarters. She wanted her bath.
Suddenly, a large collective group appeared from behind the galley.
"SURPRISE!"
The Captain's jaw dropped but soon turned up into a smile when she saw all of her friends as well as a good portion of the crew standing before her. Turns out that was why the corridors were so quiet.
"Aww."
Her smile grew and when she turned to look at B'Elanna, she saw she was grinning too.
"The problem was that you weren't here yet."
The once hidden crew members filtered from behind the galley and quickly filled up the room. It was more than enough to allow the Captain's curiosity to grow.
"What's all this?" she found herself asking.
"Your baby shower." Tom Paris answered as he left the galley himself, "We thought it'd be nice after the last few weeks."
The Captain's smile was beaming, especially when her eyes found and met Chakotay's. She couldn't believe they'd gone to all the trouble they had for her but she certainly knew who was behind it.
He left the galley and met her in a few steps. The soft smile on his lips made her heart beat just a little bit harder. He truly was an old softie at times.
Her hand came up to his chest and she was well aware of his hand hovering above her waist.
"I assume this is why I was stuck in my ready room all day reading very long reports?"
Chakotay didn't need to answer – his growing smile said it all. With a soft laugh, her hand trailed up to his neck and she slowly dragged her thumb across his lower lip. The way he sighed against her skin was more than enough for her to know her thank you was understood and appreciated.
"Presents!"
Neelix's exclamation interrupted the Captain and Commander's intimate moment harshly enough to make the Captain jump, luckily only enough for the Commander to notice. She looked around just in time to see the Talaxian himself as well as Ensign Wildman and Naomi leaving the galley with a number of differently wrapped gifts.
"Oh…" the Captain protested lightly, "You didn't have too."
It was Harry Kim who was the first one to object. "Um, yes we did." he met her eye with a huge grin, "Come on!"
The Captain sighed contently as she felt the Commander's hand lightly falling against her lower back. She watched as the crew gathered by the sofas nearest the furthest replicator and it wasn't long before she found herself being guided over by her lover.
She sat down on the empty seat with the Commander taking up a standing position to the side of the forming circle just as the young Naomi Wildman plonked herself in the middle of the floor. It made the Captain smile profusely but the same couldn't be said for the child's mother.
"Naomi!" Ensign Wildman called softly, gesturing her to come over to her.
The Captain could see the young Ensign's embarrassment. She just smiled as she met her eye.
"It's okay, Ensign." she promised, turning her head back to the little girl.
"Can I give out the presents?" she asked sweetly.
It was more than enough to make a good number of the crew smile; the Captain was no exception. She had no objection so she nodded.
"Of course you can, Naomi. Every Captain's Little Helper is allowed to give out presents."
The following grin from the little girl made the Captain's smile deepen. It was a much better sight than the one she'd seen earlier in the month – the sight of her small, lifeless body in the Surgical Bay.
Lieutenant Torres passed Naomi the first present to give to the Captain.
"This one's off Ensign Kim." the little girl announced.
The Captain couldn't help but smirk at the wrapping. Standard Starfleet Issue design.
Intrigued, especially as the young Ensign's own smirk grew, she ripped off the paper and ended up giggling when she saw the baby grow inside. It was an exact replica of her red Starfleet uniform. It even had little combadge sewn onto it.
"Aww." she smiled, listening to a few laughs from around her, "It's adoarable, Ensign. Thank you."
=/\=
It had taken a good half an hour to open the majority of the presents. Aside from a lot of baby grows from various members of the crew whom she wasn't that close to, she'd also received gifts from her closer colleagues and friends. Tuvok had given her an ancient human puzzle game called Kaleidoscope. Apparently, it was designed to teach children basic logic – very apt from Tuvok. As well as this, she also received toy model of Voyager from Tom Paris, a mobile of Earth's Solar System from B'Elanna, holo-recordings from the Doctor of him singing lullabies, a white teddy bear blanket from Neelix, a set of Starfleet soothers from Samantha Wildman and a drawing of Voyager from Naomi. In looked more like a supernova exploding into a rainbow but she didn't care. She loved it no matter what.
Neelix had acted as the present chaperone, packing them all up together in a fewer number of carriers so they were easier to take back to her quarters. He was good like that. Meanwhile, the Captain was folding the final baby grow ready for him to put in the bag. By doing that, she was managing to avoid acknowledging the mess around her.
It was then that Seven stepped forward.
"Captain."
The Captain looked up, a small smile teasing the corner of her mouth as she saw the young woman holding a small gift bag out to her.
She had to be honest, she was surprised to see Seven giving her a present. Since she'd come on-board, she never really been able to grasp an understanding of human traditions.
"Thank-you." the Captain said while accepting the gift bag.
Inside she found a small, brown teddy bear. It was something very simple but beautifully acceptable. Sometimes something simple could be much more effective than something ridiculously overthought and overcomplicated.
"My research indicated that human children often require some sort of soother to help them sleep. A blanket or stuffed animal." she explained, "Will this suffice?"
The Captain once again glanced down at the toy in her hand. With a soft smile, she lifted her head and nodded.
"It's perfect, Seven. Thank-you."
At that point, Neelix had finished packing up the gifts. "Well, I think that's it, Captain."
"Not exactly, Neelix."
She recognised the person who spoke immediately – Chakotay.
The Captain lifted her head to meet his eye. Still stood to her left, he was towering over her and the look on his face was something she was sure she'd never seen before. While it didn't concern her enough to lose her smile, it did intrigue her.
"Commander?" Neelix had to look around for a moment, "Did I miss one?"
The Commander shook his head so softly that he wasn't sure anybody even noticed his answer. He didn't care though. Taking a few steps into the circle, his eyes teasing the Captain's which were following him, he allowed his smile to soften. Immediately, it gave her butterflies. He was up to something.
With a quick intake of breath, he dropped to one knee. Her breath hitched. The following production of a small black box from his pocket made her grip onto the seat's armrest. It was amazing how much a diamond ring on a stunning silver band was affecting her ability to breathe.
He didn't speak immediately, he didn't need to. His eyes said it all.
The Captain could feel her eyes watering. It was close to perfect.
"Kathryn… Will you marry me?"