Part Nine: Our Son

Owen waited impatiently to receive Kathryn's logs and files. When they finally were completely downloaded, he skimmed over them. The amount of children amazed him-there were 63, all but one under five years old. When he found the four personnel files he had been looking for, he copied them onto a padd. Then he sent it all on to the Council, who had been informed of Voyager's return during Owen's conversation with Kathryn, Tom and B'Elanna, and who were waiting for everything.

Owen then picked up the padd, stood up, and walked out into Omaga's office.

"I would suggest that you go home, Omaga. We will both need our sleep if we are going to deal with tomorrow," he told her.

"Tomorrow, sir?" Omaga asked him.

"Tomorrow, every starship, starbase, and space station will be trying to verify the news that Voyager has returned. Every news link will be clamoring at our doorstep for information. Not to mention the amount of personal messages to family members we'll have to send," Owen said with a wry smile.

Omaga paled a little with each word. "I hadn't thought of that, sir," she said weakly.

"Don't worry, we'll delegate some of it," he said.

She nodded. The admiral left the office, his step quick. For once, the twenty minute trip home seemed to take hours.

Annalise Paris was getting worried. Her husband had never been so late before. He was overdue by at least three hours. What had happened?

She was standing by the window in the living room when Owen entered. Annalise was surprised to notice his wide grin. He had not looked so happy in years!

"Anna, I've got wonderful news!" Owen said. He strode over to her, picked her up, and twirled her around.

"Owen! What's going on?" Annalise asked, shocked by his behavior.

Owen put her down. His eyes shone with excitement as he told her, "Kathryn brought our boy home, Anna! He has quite a few surprises for us."

"Tom? Home?" Annalise asked faintly. She put her head down on her husband's shoulder, trying to absorb the news.

Eleven years ago, when Owen had all but turned his back on their son, she had been so angry with him. Then, when Owen had gotten Tom a position on Voyager as an observer, she had thought he might be softening a little. And when Voyager had been reported as missing-Owen had broken down.

Voyager and her crew had been officially pronounced dead a few years later. The Paris family had mourned deeply. Owen had felt so guilty.

Then, four and a half years ago, Voyager's EMH had arrived on the Prometheus prototype via an alien communication system. He had given Starfleet the very welcome news that Voyager was safe and on her way home-even if she was in the Delta Quadrant.

Owen had been on Starbase 159 when the news reached him that Tom was alive and well. He had contacted Annalise and their daughters, Lizbeth and Jesica, and together they had sent a message to Tom.

Now, by some miracle, Tom was home. Annalise felt tears burning her eyes. She quickly blinked them away.

"Where are they?" was her next question.

"They were just on our side of the Neutral Zone when Janeway contacted Starfleet. Voyager will arrive in six days, give or take a few hours," Owen said happily.

Annalise sighed. "We are so fortunate, Owen," she whispered.

"More than you know, Anna," he replied mysteriously.

"What?" she asked, frowning up at him.

"Our family on Voyager is bigger than we knew," he said. When Annalise just kept frowning he continued, "Tom is married, Anna, and he has children."

Annalise felt her knees go weak. She stumbled over to the couch and sat down. Owen sat beside her.

"He has made a wonderful life for himself on Voyager. Do you remember what I told you after I was allowed to read over Kathryn's logs four and a half years ago? I told you that she mentioned that Tom and her Chief Engineer looked like they might be getting serious," Owen said.

"He married the engineer?"

"Yes. She's half Human and half Klingon; I remember that much from the logs. She was the Maquis captain's engineer as well. I got the feeling from Kathryn's logs that she's something of a genius," he said. He handed Annlise the padd he was holding. "I copied the personal files Kathryn sent with her recent logs."

Together, they read of Tom's various achievements and his few failures. He had done well for himself. Janeway's many commendations made them proud, although Owen grumbled a bit about Tom's one big mistake on the water world. Annalise frowned at him, and he stopped when she commented, "Sounds like something another hot-head I once knew would have done."

Next, they studied their daughter-in-law's file. B'Elanna had had a rough time of it before coming onto Voyager. As they read more about her, they felt closer to the beautiful hybrid who had never quite managed to fit in.

When Owen tapped the button to open the next file, he had to hide a smile. Annalise was about to get two very big shocks.

The picture of a small girl with slight Klingon ridges, dark hair, bright blue eyes, and Tom's grin appeared on the padd's screen. Annalise gave a little gasp as she read the information beside the picture.

Name: A'Lehsen Kathryn Paris

Age: 4 Standard years

Race: .75 Human, .25 Klingon

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

Gender: Female

Below the picture was an IQ test A'Lehsen had taken a few months previous. Her IQ was 169.

Before Annalise could say anything, Owen brought up the next file. The only difference between this one and the one before was the name, S'Ehra Annalise Paris, and the IQ, 173.

Annalise raised tear-filled green eyes to Owen's blue eyes. "We have granddaughters!" she said joyfully. "Twins, too! Oh, Owen, this is so wonderful!"

Owen held his wife as she cried with joy. He was feeling very humble at that moment. His son was home, with a wife and children. There had to be some Higher Power at work in the universe, to let such happy things happen to him after all of the pain he had caused for his family.

"That's not all, Anna. B'Elanna is expecting another set of twins in two months," he told her. When her eyes became wide, he said, "It's true. B'Elanna was at the engineering station on Voyager's Bridge when I responded to Kathryn's transmission. Kathryn had called all of her senior staff in. Anna, she's huge! I didn't know who she was or that she is carrying twins, and I told Kathryn that she was going to go into labor right then. I saw Tom's face out of the corner of my eye, and I swear the poor boy looked scared. B'Elanna gave me a glare that should have vaporized me right there, and Kathryn was grinning. I don't think I've ever felt so stupid as I did when I learned the whole truth," he finished sheepishly.

Annalise laughed a little, then she turned serious. "Did you talk to Tom?" she asked.

"Yes. I tried to apologize without actually saying the words. I think he understood, and I can only hope that he has forgiven me," he said quietly.

Annalise hugged him. "Of course he will forgive you. He was always a good-hearted boy."

"I want to try and get in touch with him in a few hours, Anna," Owen said. "Even if I have to leave a message."

"We will, Owen. We will."