Making Up is Hard to Do
Epilogue
Commander Tom Paris lay on the couch in his apartment. He tossed his laughing two-year-old daughter Miral into the air and caught her. His wife, Lieutenant Commander B'Elanna Torres, would soon be coming home to eat dinner after her comps exams at Starfleet Academy. Her forward-thinking engineering talent and practical application skills along with her high IQ had earned her two degrees already and accelerated placement into the doctoral program.
As he tickled his beautiful daughter, Tom reflected on the last twenty-eight months, which had truly been unbelievable.
One month after Tom and B'Elanna married, a subspace subliminal message from the Bajoran vedek Teero Anaydis triggered a Maquis rebellion on Voyager. The message entered Tuvok's mind and he began to attack former Maquis crew members to mind-meld and pass on an activation code into their brain. B'Elanna was attacked and ended up in Sickbay with Tom attending her. Tuvok attacked Chakotay who later Phasered Tom unconscious when attending to his wife. She became one of the co-conspirators. While the uprising had been short-lived, B'Elanna was horrified that once she became active she felt nothing for the man she loved and nearly transported him and so many other crew members into exile on an M-class planet.
Tom nonetheless forgave her immediately. It was not her fault. He also pointed out that she had not removed her wedding and engagement rings when wearing Maquis garb. In fact, her outfit was so arousing to Tom that he insisted she wear it at home occasionally even though they were now living in San Francisco.
A month after the aborted uprising tragedy struck when Ensign Sean Murphy died on his first away mission. The xenobiologist was part of an away team investigating an abandoned laboratory that apparently blended natural and synthetic materials to enhance some form of life. He was electrocuted when he tampered with a live power conduit. Witnesses said he apparently did not know the power was on but others could not fathom that such a skilled scientist would make such a simple and lethal mistake.
Soon thereafter B'Elanna collapsed in Voyager's engineering section only to discover she was pregnant. While human/Klingon sexual conception was not easy, the doctor found that Torres's parents had genetically altered her ovaries before birth to ensure that one had human eggs and the other Klingon. The outcome was Miral, Tom and B'Elanna's first child who was seventy-five percent human and twenty-five percent Klingon.
Despite the Bajoran ceremony and her revelations to Tom afterwards, B'Elanna felt anxious over her future daughter's appearance when she saw her Bioscan image in her womb. Torres did not want their little girl to look like her with even slight forehead ridges. She tried to alter the doctor's subroutines to make him modify the child's features before birth until Tom found out and stopped it. After Tom convinced his wife that they were not their parents and he would not leave her because he would be living with two Klingons, the incident ended all of B'Elanna's doubts about herself and her mate.
Even if she needed more reassurance she found it after reading Tom's personal logs. B'Elanna perused them to assist in restoring her memory after it had been erased by the Quarren. Unlike her PADD entries which were mostly about engineering matters, she discovered that every one of Tom's log notations since the day they were married mentioned her. And it went back farther than that. Tom had loved her in secret for a long time, longer than she thought possible. She cried over why they had waited so long to find each other and how fortunate she was.
B'Elanna gave birth to Miral in Sickbay as her husband piloted Voyager to escape a Borg vessel as they entered the Alpha Quadrant near Earth. Their baby had a tremendous impact upon B'Elanna's sense of what motherhood actually meant. To say that she doted over Miral and smothered Tom with affection at the same time was an understatement.
But readjusting to life on 2378 Earth and in San Francisco was not easy for any of them.
For just over seven years, the ship's crew had been a slave to Voyager with its constant demands just to survive. Nearly every day was filled with the continual throbbing of the warp engines, endless comms link chatter, and close-quarters conversations. Privacy was difficult. Food was replicated more than cooked fresh and necessities were paid for in credits. And death was ever-present. Still, leaving Voyager was one of the most emotionally-draining events in their lives.
For Tom and B'Elanna, life on Earth took a lot of adjustment professionally. Tom had been a pilot of some type of ship for years and missed it terribly. But he was once again on the command track and flew a shuttle or was in a simulator whenever possible. But that was nothing compared to piloting Voyager with its neural interfaces. He yearned for the helm but knew that those days were over.
B'Elanna was no different in her missing engineering. She had devoted so much of her young life to the responsibility of giving commands as a chief engineer, tending to warp cores, and supervising ship's systems maintenance. Now she had returned to Starfleet Academy and pursed the degrees that she had previously shunned. Tom provided encouragement and proved to be the husband she had dreamed of, one who loved her completely and was a devoted father.
Becoming reacquainted with family and friends after seven years was overwhelming. B'Elanna and her father came to terms and he turned out to be a wonderful parent and grandfather. Tom's family was so grateful to have him back that his mother cried for a full day, although his sister Kathleen picked up her teasing right where she had left off. His admiral father apologized for past transgressions as he hugged his son and told him he loved him. He was so proud that Tom was the first human to break the warp 10 barrier and had guaranteed his place in history alongside notable space pioneers. The Paris clan quickly embraced B'Elanna and Miral. Tom's adoring wife now had the family she had always wanted.
The darkest days were testifying at Starfleet Boards of Inquiry, a weekly routine for the first year.
One panel determined why Voyager ended up in the Delta Quadrant and officially cleared the newly promoted Admiral Janeway. That inquiry was complicated but the prime directive ultimately saved her bacon.
As former senior Maquis, Chakotay and B'Elanna faced courts-martial for treason and other charges but ultimately received full pardons. The other Maquis were also cleared. Those such as B'Elanna who chose to remain in Starfleet were given full commissions and promotions. Torres was promoted to lieutenant commander. Chakotay became a captain and assumed command of Voyager, which went into dry-dock as both a temporary museum and a retrofitting Starship.
In Tom Paris's case, his sentence to the New Zealand Penal Settlement was commuted. Now in March 2378, Lieutenant Commander Tom Paris just returned to active duty. His year of compensatory leave had ended.
Last week he discovered his pending recommendation to become the hand-picked first officer to Captain Chakotay aboard the refitting USS Voyager. That meant a promotion to commander.
While honored to be considered, his first concern was B'Elanna and Miral. He contemplated withdrawing his name, which would disappoint Chakotay and B'Elanna in particular who never held him back in anything he thought to be important. Admiral Duncan's words about balancing career and home life came back to Tom once more.
/
His thoughts evaporated when B'Elanna Torres wearing a red dress and heels walked through the front doorway. She still took his breath away, especially when she gave him that smile.
His wife kissed him and kicked off her shoes. Taking their daughter from Tom's arms, she flopped on the couch after running late and looked a bit tired. "Damn high heels. My feet are killing me!"
Her husband stood up. "I'll rub them for you. Wanna beer? I have dinner replicating and we should be able to eat in an hour. Fried chicken, potato salad with paprika, fresh Cobb salad, and my special Klingon blood pie with Leola root garnish for dessert. Just kidding about dessert, it's actually strawberry shortcake."
B'Elanna laughed and hugged Miral as Tom left for the kitchen. "A beer would be nice, Tom. How fast can you get to my feet?"
"How about your exam results first?" Tom was more than willing to touch his wife and vice-versa, something that had not cooled off in their relationship and never really would.
She continued. "Honey, I passed all my written and oral comps! Highest honors! Finally ABD! Now if I can only finish the dissertation on time." B'Elanna was one relieved doctoral candidate. Miral squirmed but then began to tire in the warmth of her mother's arms.
"That's great, Mommy! You should be finished in about six months." He had just received his own doctorate in Starfleet administration and operations from the Daystrom Institute and was so proud of her accomplishments.
She shouted towards the kitchen. "Thanks, Daddy! They are going to let me write about the slipstream drive we engineered on Voyager and compare it to a new working model they have for the next generation Starships. Most of the dissertation is mathematical equations and proofs so not too bad. I am so glad I am not a history major."
"Me too. I married an engineer, the best in Starfleet. Oh, I wanted to remind you that Harry and Libby are going to meet us at Chakotay and Seven's apartment tomorrow evening at 1900. They promised no replicated food this time. Everything will be fresh now that Seven has learned how to cook. Admiral Janeway and Mark will be there also. He's on a one-year sabbatical from Yale."
B'Elanna shook her head. "Chakotay and Seven! She's starting to call herself Annika now that most of the Borg implants have been removed. You know she is my age? And who would have thought they would get married and be hosting parties? But I guess catching that bouquet at our wedding went to her head. Or other places. He certainly got the message." They laughed.
Tom returned with two light beers. He handed her one then kissed her thoroughly. B'Elanna then took a slug off the bottle. He rubbed her feet for a while until she reluctantly indicated that she felt more than better. Miral yawned. It was almost time for her nap.
Tom held up his PADD. "I got a message today from Freddy Aubrey. She passes on her best wishes."
"How nice! Isn't she now a licensed civilian psychiatrist?" B'Elanna checked Miral's diaper. All was okay given Tom had changed her not to long ago. He was a model father.
"Yeah. She's a contractor working at Starfleet headquarters. She pre-screens pilot candidates during flight physicals. She is also getting married. Met a doctor at work who lost his spouse last year to the Dominion. He has two small children and they all hit it off. She's sending us an invitation to their wedding."
"That's great, Tom!" Then B'Elanna thought about a conversation she had with Freddy years ago on Voyager. 'You know, she deserves happiness. Life really kicked her around early on."
"Just like us." Tom smiled.
"Yes, just like us." Miral had fallen asleep and B'Elanna carried their daughter to the nursery.
She returned and held out her left hand to grasp his before sitting down next to him. Picking up her beer she took a quick swig but then looked quizzically at her husband who was now staring at the floor.
B'Elanna's hand gesture had prompted a memory to resurface and Tom began to cry.
"Tom, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She was rubbing his back.
Her husband looked at her. "Remember that Bajoran ritual where I nearly died?"
How could she forget? It changed their lives. She bit her lower lip and nodded.
"Well, the way you held out your hand to me just now and wearing that red dress brought back a flood of memories. I can't tell you this enough. You saved my life, B'Ella. I was leaving you forever but you were there. My lifeline. My rock. You pulled me back from the brink and I love you so much!"
B'Elanna hit his arm and started to cry. "You sap!" Tom deeply kissed her, which she returned in a similar fashion.
Tom wiped his eyes and then hers. "So enough of being morose. Why were you late, Bea? Nothing important I hope?"
B'Elanna again bit her lower lip and a smile inched its way across her face.
He had seen that look many times before. It always gave his blood a stir. "Bea? B'Elanna? What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" He had his arm around her now.
B'Elanna sipped her beer and snuggled into his shoulder. "Well, you know I have been feeling tired lately and not eating well. I've been out of sorts from the stress of studying for the exams. So I stopped off to see Doctor Joe just for a quick checkup and because he had been asking about his goddaughter."
Joe was the name the former Voyager EMH had finally decided to call himself. Miral's godfather did not get to see enough of her, as far as he was concerned.
Tom finished his beer and put the empty bottle on the coffee table. "So how is he doing, holographically speaking?"
"Oh, he's fine. Married life and fatherhood appeals to him. He asked to try out his new quadcorder on me when he ran a few tests. It is quite the upgrade from the old medical tricorder."
Tom smirked. So like the doctor and his love of technology to ask to do that. So like his wife to accept. "And he found out that everything is in proper working order, I take it?"
Now B'Elanna really grinned. "Oh, yes. Everything is just fine physically. More than fine, actually." There was just a touch of excitement in her tone.
Tom knew something was up. He looked into her eyes. "Bea, what are you telling me?"
B'Elanna put her arms around Tom's neck and kissed him sweetly. She smiled and looked into his eyes.
"Before I take you to bed flyboy and give you a thorough Klingon ravishing, the test results showed that we can have more children. My fertility issue has been corrected without additional surgery."
Tom was thrilled. They had been trying for so long.
"So Mr. Future First Officer, once we get back from Voyager's next mission in 2381 we should start trying again, don't you think? Time to bring the blue stones into our lives to join the brown ones." She held up her engagement ring and wedding band.
Tom's face broke into an immediate grin. "It's not like we haven't tried. You know I'm more than okay with it. But what do you mean when 'we' get back? This is an unaccompanied three-year mission with a month's annual leave each year."
"Ah, didn't I mention it? I received a PADD message at the doctor's office that I have been assigned to Voyager as Chief Engineer. You can thank Admiral Janeway tomorrow night for that one. I will be reporting directly to my favorite helmboy, excuse me, First Officer, for the next three years…Commander."
This is too good to be true. "Wow! And Miral?"
"The upgraded Voyager now has an on-board school and daycare facility. The Federation regulations still allow married Starfleet families to travel together on peacetime missions. I do not think we want to leave her behind, do we?"
Tom was ecstatic. "No, we don't." He hugged her. "I love you, B'Ella!"
"I love you too, Tommy!" Tom picked up his giggling wife and traipsed off to their bedroom. She closed the door with her right foot.
"Bea, where did you leave the dermal regenerator?"
"Find it later. Come here and get those clothes off right now." Growl. Thud. Thump.
Michael Owen Paris was born in June 2382.