Star Trek Voyager characters are the property of Paramount Pictures.

Way The Wind Blows

Chapter Thirty Four

Before a simulated fire that filled the moonlit cabin with a cozy copper glow, Kathryn lay against Chakotay on the couch, while Topsy slept on the rug before the fire. Chakotay cherished the feel of Kathryn in his arms, and a cold shiver ran through his body every time he thought about how close he'd come to losing her.

"I'm so glad no awkward questions were asked about how I defended myself from Polark," Kathryn said. "A part of me was worried they wouldn't believe me."

"They had no reason to doubt you," Chakotay replied. "And they know just how capable you are of defending yourself."

"I guess." She paused. "It's frightening, though, to think how easily he got through every security measure we had in place and even managed to disable our fire detectors."

"I know. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. But, for what it's worth, I don't think it was easy for him to penetrate our security. I think it took a lot of time and a lot of intelligent thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been surveying our house for weeks."

Kathryn shivered at that thought.

"I just hope they put him in jail and throw away the key. I know he thought we'd given Seska to the Kazon, but that is no excuse for what he tried to do."

"Let's not think about him anymore," Kathryn said, seeing how agitated Chakotay was getting. "Let's think about something else...our future. We have so much to look forward to, Chakotay. Junior will soon be here, and now that we have my ovum, we can think of having another child. With four perfect ovum, there's a good chance that when fertilized one of them will implant."

"Yes," Chakotay agreed. "There certainly is a lot to look forward too."

Kathryn sat up a little. "You would like another child, wouldn't you?"

Chakotay smiled. "If I didn't, I don't think my older-self would have bothered going to all that trouble of transporting himself to Voyager and back."

Kathryn laughed. "I guess not." She then looked deep into Chakotay's eyes. "And I'm so grateful to him."

Chakotay brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "So am I...for everything."

Gently, their lips drew together and they kissed softly.

"We're going to have to speed up our hunt for a new home now," Kathryn said as they drew apart. "I know our house in San Francisco can be restored by the end of the month, but to tell the truth, I don't want to go back there."

"Neither do I."

"Or maybe," she said, looking around, "we've already found what we're looking for." With a sparkle in her eyes, she turned back to Chakotay. "How would you feel about living here?"

A light filled Chakotay's eyes. "In this cabin?"

Kathryn nodded. "I know it isn't as grand as houses in San Francisco, but this place holds so many happy memories for us. When we come here, it feels like...it feels like we're coming home. And that's what a home should feel like." She paused. "I know the cabin is small and the winter's here are bitter, but we can easily extend onto the back of the cabin, and in winter we can erect a forcefield around the place to protect us from the harsh weather. Imagine it, Chakotay. Our children could go out and play in a blizzard but not be touched by it because of the forcefield. There's a small school in the village that they could go to, and even though we're quite far from civilization, in this day and age of transporters, that doesn't matter. I think the seclusion would be safer too. So many strangers bother us when we're in San Francisco, but hardly anyone bothers us here because they can't find us as easily. And, as this cabin is the only one in use for miles, we can apply to own all land within a radius of two miles, except for the lake and the castle, and have the area monitored for unauthorized access and transport. It would be very hard then to have a repeat of what happened today."

Without waiting for Chakotay to reply, she got to her feet and walked towards the kitchenette, talking as she did so.

"I'm thinking we could extend this area backwards to give us additional kitchen and dining space. We can also add on three more bedrooms and convert the back door into a hallway that leads to them. The bedroom we're currently not using we can turn into a study. We'd have everything we need, Chakotay. We really would."

Chakotay got to his feet and closed the gap between them with a smile. "You don't have to convince me, Kathryn. There's no place I'd rather live."

"Really?"

"Truly."

Kathryn smiled her beautiful smile. "Then welcome to our new home."

They gazed at each other with happy tears in their eyes, then Chakotay gently gathered her against him and they held each other joyfully.

TWO DAYS LATER

Sun streamed in through the cabin's bedroom window, bathing it in bright light. Her brow damp with sweat, Kathryn cradled a naked baby boy with a mop of fluffy black hair. He had only just been born and was still attached to her by a long umbilical cord. Kathryn gazed at the baby in adoration and kissed his tiny hand before kissing his little forehead.

Chakotay emerged from their bathroom with a clean soft white towel, and Kathryn carefully wrapped the baby in it. Chakotay then sat beside her on their bed and gazed at their son.

"He's amazing," Chakotay said. "Really amazing."

Kathryn smiled. "He's going to look like you, Chakotay. I can see it already. He has the same shape lips and eyes."

Chakotay kissed her hair. "I'm so proud of you, Kathryn."

"I'm proud of you, delivering this little fella." She kissed the baby's head again. "I can hardly believe he's ours, Chakotay. But he is, he's our son." She paused. "We're really going to have to decide on a name, though...unless we plan on calling him junior forever."

Chakotay smiled. "It isn't me who's fussy."

"I know," Kathryn conceded. "But a name is so improtant. It has to be special, has to mean something. I can understand now why the Doctor is taking so long to choose one."

"Any new ideas?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. What do you think of Albert? Not only was he born here in Alberta, but it was the name of Queen Victoria's husband. It's so perfect, has so much meaning for us. We could call him Bertie for short."

"Albert Kolopak Edward Janeway," Chakotay considered. "I like it."

Kathryn smiled. "Then Albert it is."

"Well," a familiar voice said from the doorway. "Looks like you didn't need me after all."

Kathryn looked up and saw the Doctor walk into the room. "He came rather quickly, Doctor."

"Very quickly I'd say," the Doctor said, going over to her. "A first labor usually lasts for hours."

"Maybe giving birth as an amphibian helped," Chakotay teased.

"Quite possibly," the Doctor replied seriously. "Or you may not have realized you were in labor until the end of the second stage, Admiral. It's not uncommon."

The Doctor opened his med-kit and took out a tricorder. "Have you delivered the afterbirth?"

"Not yet," Kathryn replied, looking again at the baby.

"Then if it doesn't come in the next ten minutes, I'll induce it." He held up his tricorder and began to scan Kathryn. "Mother is in fine health." He then began to scan the baby. "And so is the baby. All eight and a half pounds of him."

Chakotay got to his feet. "I'll go and get a camera."

"No need," the Doctor beamed. "I always pack a camera when I'm attending a birth." He reached into his med-kit and pulled out a camera. "Here we are."

Kathryn looked up at the Doctor. "Could you take one of us all together?"

"My pleasure," the Doctor smiled.

As Chakotay sat again, the Doctor backed away from the bed, preparing the camera as he did so.

"Look at me, please. Smile on the count of three. One, two, three..."

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled, and the Doctor took their picture.

END OF CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR