Part Three: Telling Everyone
"She might not have heard yet," Tom said optimistically.
"Bridge. Yeah, and we might not have to move into larger quarters in seven months," B'Elanna said with a sigh.
Tom took her into his arms. "We have to tell the girls, too, you know," he said.
"Yeah, I know."
They stepped apart as the 'lift doors slid open. From the amused looks on the Bridge crew's faces-Tuvok wasn't on duty-the rumor had reached the Bridge. But had anyone told Janeway?
"She's in her ready room," Chakotay told them. Tom nodded their thanks as they passed the commander.
"How do they do it?" B'Elanna asked in a whisper.
"I'm not sure," Tom replied in kind.
B'Elanna pressed the chime button, and they waited for the Captain's reply. The muffled "Come in," gave them permission to activate the door.
Janeway was obviously expecting them as well. Her smile was wide as she took in the couple's exasperated expressions.
"Well, which one of you wishes to address the rumors that have reached me?" Janeway asked mock-sternly.
"Captain, the Doctor has confirmed that Tom and I are having another set of twins," B'Elanna said as formally as she possibly could under the circumstances.
"Yes, the rumors are reasonably accurate," Janeway said with a chuckle.
B'Elanna sighed. "I have seven months to go, Captain. Although these two may be early like A'Lehsen and S'Ehra were."
"Thank you for informing me. Tom, I expect you to make sure that she gets some rest every once in a while," Janeway said a little more seriously. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or the babies, B'Elanna."
"My staff will start conspiring with Tom any day now to make sure my life is completely restricted. In fact, they already have," B'Elanna said in a slightly sour tone. "You'll have nothing to worry about, I'm sure of that."
"Good. I'm not saying that I want you to be giving orders from your bed, B'Elanna, but I do want you sitting down or resting your eyes whenever you feel the need. And you should eat more, too," Janeway said thoughtfully.
Tom spoke up before his wife lost control of her notorious temper. "We have to tell A'Lehsen and S'Ehra now, Captain. If you would excuse us?"
"Of course. Dismissed," Janeway said with one last chuckle. "And congratulations!"
B'Elanna smiled wanly at her before Tom whisked her out of the room. The couple got back on the turbolift, ignoring the sly smiles. The information chain on Voyager was too good, in their opinions.
They took the 'lift to Deck 4. Tom led the way to the Caesaros' quarters, where he had dropped A'Lehsen and S'Ehra off before his last shift.
There were nine children under the age of four there. They were all playing with the various toys that were supplied for each daycare volunteer. A'Lehsen and S'Ehra were working together to build a series of towers, each one unique. Then, with that odd intuition that they seemed to share, the twins looked up and over to their parents.
"Mommy!" A'Lehsen called happily.
"Daddy!" S'Ehra said half a second later.
They stood up, careful not to knock over their towers, and ran over to their parents. B'Elanna picked up A'Lehsen, and Tom picked up S'Ehra.
"Daddy said you had to work today, Mommy," A'Lehsen said, squeezing her mother's neck with unusual strength for such a small child unless one considered her Klingon heritage.
"Well, something has happened to change my plans a little, sweetie. Daddy and I will explain later, alright?" B'Elanna asked, staring into her daughter's bright blue eyes. She was so much like Tom!
"All right," A'Lehsen agreed with a nod.
Ensign Lauryn Caesaro walked across the baby-covered room to stand next to the small family. "The girls were great, sirs. They didn't get into nearly as much trouble as they usually do. They've already had dinner, and they drew you each a picture," she said, handing them each a sheet of ink-covered replicated paper.
"Oh, really?" Tom asked.
"Yes, Daddy, I drew you at CONN, and A'Lehsen drew Mommy in front of the warp core," S'Ehra told him proudly.
"We can see that, sweetie," B'Elanna said. Amazingly enough, she could see herself and Tom in the pictures. "You both did a very good job. Thank you, Ensign," she said to Lauryn.
"You're welcome, sir. Oh, and congratulations," she said with a grin.
"Is everyone on this ship telepathic?" B'Elanna muttered as they left.
"As far as I know, we only have a handful of Betazoids onboard. The ten or so Vulcans don't gossip. I would bet on the communicators," Tom replied.
"You would probably win," B'Elanna told him.
They let the girls chatter on the meters-long walk to their quarters. When they had gotten A'Lehsen and S'Ehra dressed for bed, tucked in, and quiet for a few minutes, they told them.
B'Elanna, who sat at the end of A'Lehsen's bed, began. "Girls, how would you like to have a little brother or sister?" she asked.
S'Ehra looked at her father, who was sitting at the end of her bed. "Would we have to move out?" she asked.
"No, of course not! We don't want you to move out until you're all grown up," Tom said firmly, looking from S'Ehra to A'Lehsen and back again.
"Mommy's having a baby, isn't she? That's why Ensign Lauryn was talking to Lieutenant Susan so 'citedly on her commbadge! She said something about the "Chief" having more. She meant that Mommy's having a baby!" A'Lehsen guessed tensely.
"Yes, you're right. I am," B'Elanna told her cautiously. Both A'Lehsen and S'Ehra were looking at her with challenge in their eyes.
"And you and Daddy will love it better than you love us!" they said in unison.
B'Elanna, recognizing the apprehension and defense behind that statement, reached over and tipped A'Lehsen's chin up, forcing watery blue eyes that had turned away to look into her dark brown ones.
"We will always love you, no matter how many other children we have. You each have a special place in our hearts, and no one could ever take that away," she said with a fierce tenderness.
A few tears dropped onto her hand. B'Elanna gathered A'Lehsen into her arms gently. S'Ehra slipped her small hand into her father's larger one. Tom looked down at her. Her bright eyes begged for reassurance. He smiled and reached over to hug her.
A'Lehsen finally pulled back a little. "What will the baby look like, Mommy?" she asked.
"Well, we won't know until the baby is born. Actually, I'm going to have two babies," B'Elanna said with a soft, happy smile for Tom.
"Twins?" A'Lehsen asked.
"Like us?" S'Ehra asked simultaneously.
B'Elanna nodded. Tom said, "They won't be exactly like you two. There may be one girl and one boy, or two boys. Even if there are two girls, they will be different from you."
"Will Mommy's tummy get big, like it was with us in the holos?" S'Ehra asked, looking with wide-eyed curiosity at her mother's still-flat stomach.
"No, not right away, but it will be by your next birthday," Tom said with a wicked smiled for his wife.
"And Daddy will be running back and forth between here and the Mess Hall, getting Mommy all the different foods she wants," B'Elanna retorted, giving him a not-quite-vicious smile in return.
Tom closed his eyes for a few moments. He remembered the odd foods B'Elanna had craved with her last pregnancy. He never wanted to see another leola-root/Mexican chili/targ's heart pie again!
The girls giggled. "Like Julie Simmons's daddy before her mommy had their new baby?" A'Lehsen asked.
"Even more than Ensign Simmons," B'Elanna said with satisfaction.
"Time for bed. Back under the covers, both of you," Tom said hastily, ignoring his wife's grin.
When they were settled back under the blankets, B'Elanna told them their favorite story, the one about First Contact between Humans and Vulcans, the progenitors of the Federation. They usually picked this one four out of five times. They loved to hear about Vulcans because of "Uncle Tuvok", who was surprisingly attached to the small girls. Janeway said that she believed it was because they reminded him of his own daughter, who was still in the Alpha Quadrant. As B'Elanna told the story, she found herself hoping that Tuvok would be able to see his daughter as soon as they were home.
When the story was over, Tom said softly, "Computer, lights out." The room went dark, the only light coming from the open doorway.
Tom and B'Elanna were just leaving when A'Lehsen said quietly, "Mommy, Daddy, I'll take good care of them."
"We know you will," Tom told her.