AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Ensign Parker was a petite blonde who had one of those faces that made her look so young that Chakotay might have questioned how she was old enough to be in Starfleet if he didn't know that she was a year older than Harry Kim. She was human, and small enough that he could imagine—if B'Elanna had actually been the one physically move her out of the way while she'd been engulfed in a bit of a panic—that she'd possibly been flung partway across the mess hall.
Emotionally, she was fairly even-keeled, though she did have a tendency to swing, from time to time, toward being overly-excited. Chakotay assumed, though, that her over-enthusiasm was likely owing to her youth, her role as ensign, and her eagerness to please. She would grow out of it, some, with age, experience, and maturity.
He hadn't spent too much time with her, personally, but he knew that she was also a bit clueless at times. B'Elanna had once described Ensign Parker as being the kind of person that she imagined inspired the old "dumb blonde" jokes that had been told on Earth long ago—the kinds of jokes that Tom liked sharing with everyone.
When Chakotay opened the door to their quarters, Ensign Parker stood there rigidly. Chakotay suppressed his amusement.
"At ease, Ensign," he offered. She visibly relaxed and he waved her inside. She came with bounding enthusiasm and, when she tried to turn down an offered beverage, Chakotay went to the replicator and ordered a coffee service for three—decaf—sure that Kathryn could nurse anything they left behind throughout the afternoon. "The captain will be with us shortly," Chakotay offered as he put the coffee tray down on the small table so that they could relax in the sitting area. He gestured for the ensign to sit, and she did. "I'm afraid that Kaya is already becoming a fan of her routine. And she doesn't like to wait when she wants something. She doesn't understand the concept just yet. The captain is just feeding her and then she'll join us. Kaya's a bit of a slow feeder, so we'll have to request your patience."
Ensign Parker practically bounced in her seat, brow furrowed, and Chakotay was glad that he'd ordered decaffeinated coffee. He poured her a cup and offered her the other condiments provided by the coffee service order. He chose to have his own coffee with cream. It wasn't his beverage of choice, really, but he'd already had plenty of it that day, and he'd drink it for Kathryn's benefit—the rest of the pot, after all, would go to her when they were finished and Ensign Parker had left their quarters.
"I can be as patient as you need. I'm off duty for two days—so I'm not trying to rush anyone. I know you must be tired and so stressed with a newborn. I'm so sorry about what happened with Kaya and Captain Janeway today," Ensign Parker offered. "I guess I didn't think about it. I only wanted to hold her."
Chakotay shook his head at her.
"You don't have to apologize," he said.
"I need to apologize to Captain Janeway," Ensign Parker replied. Chakotay shook his head again.
"You don't," he said. "It was just a misunderstanding. You didn't do anything wrong except, maybe, you failed to ask before you reached for the baby."
The blonde's shoulders visibly sagged.
"That's the kind of thing that could ruin something like a first contact situation or a diplomatic meeting," Ensign Parker said.
Chakotay laughed to himself.
"I guess you're right," he said. "It absolutely could. Is that something you were—hoping to take part in soon?"
She smiled at him.
"We're somewhere that, as far as we know, nobody from the Alpha Quadrant has ever been before," Ensign Parker said. "We're a small crew. It seems to me that everyone has to be prepared to do any number of things—whether or not that's really what we would have been expected to do if we'd never left the Alpha Quadrant."
"You're right about that," Chakotay said. "We're all—thrust into different and varying roles."
"I think we've already seen that—nothing is really like it was back in the Alpha Quadrant," Ensign Parker said. "So much has changed. We all have to be a lot more flexible than we used to be."
"We do," Chakotay ceded. His coffee was bitter and he sweetened it with sugar to entertain his hands for a moment. Seeing him toy with the beverage must have made the young ensign remember her own cup of coffee. She reached for the sugar spoon just as he was returning it to the bowl. Her fingers brushed across his in an almost familiar way. He paused for a second, but decided that it was better not to embarrass the young woman further. She was already clearly bothered by the fact that she saw grabbing for Kaya as some kind of faux pas that she'd committed—and possibly one that she feared would impact her career on Voyager in some way—so there was no need to draw attention to the overly familiar brush of fingers that was likely nothing more than coincidence and accident. Instead, Chakotay turned the spoon and passed the handle to her.
She smiled her thanks to him warmly and Chakotay felt his stomach tighten in response to the soft expression.
He cleared his throat.
"Lieutenant Torres is arranging an away team to go down and make first contact with whatever species we may find in the system we're approaching," Chakotay offered, sitting back and putting a bit more distance between himself and the young woman. She sat up a little from her slightly leaned position. "You could let her know that you're interested in going along. Maybe she could find room for you."
"I'm afraid I don't know much about—making first contact," Ensign Parker said. "Not beyond some basic lessons in the Academy."
Chakotay laughed to himself, relaxing just a moment.
"You learn more about it with field experience than anything else," Chakotay said. "Of course—anyone can give you some pointers based on their own experiences. For instance, I could always advise you that—when you come into contact with a mother of any species—it's best not to make any sudden moves toward her offspring. In fact, it's best not to make any moves at all until you've established that she doesn't mind."
Ensign Parker laughed to herself. She drank a little of the coffee she was holding, and then she lowered the cup back to the table. She leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand.
"I have a lot to apologize for," she reiterated.
"I'm teasing you, mostly," Chakotay said. "The pointers are real—if you're in a first contact situation where a mother and her offspring are present. But you don't have to worry. You have nothing to apologize for, really. There was no real harm done and the captain isn't angry."
"I'd appreciate any pointers you could give me. I'm sure you've had a lot of experience. What about—when you encounter the father?" Ensign Parker asked. "Is there anything special you should do with him? To make things go smoother?"
Chakotay took his time sipping from the coffee cup in his hand. He pretended that the liquid hadn't cooled down to the point where he could drink it quickly. He ran through his mind a few possible answers to her question, but he could find none that he really liked.
When Kathryn came from the bedroom—with Kaya in her arms and looking as well-dressed in her uniform as she ever did—Chakotay put the cup down and stood up. He wasn't even sure why he did it. It had felt right at the moment. It felt necessary. Ensign Parker read it as some sort of expected act of pomp and circumstance and she stood as well.
Kathryn laughed to observe the whole thing.
"Please," she said. "At ease. Ensign—I want to formally apologize to you for any discomfort I may have caused you."
"It's me who should be apologizing, Captain," Ensign Parker said quickly. "I only wanted to hold her and—I guess I forgot that I should ask, first, if that was fine with you."
"We were just discussing that," Chakotay said, settling down on the couch again. He moved a little closer to where Kathryn sat beside him and put at least an inch more of space between himself and the young ensign. He glanced at Kaya. With her tummy full and, knowing Kathryn, a fresh diaper whether she needed it or not, she looked especially satisfied as she leisurely sucked at her pacifier and rested in the crook of her mother's arm. Chakotay poured Kathryn a cup of coffee, moved it to the edge of the table nearest her, and quietly informed it was "decaf" before he continued with the conversation. "Ensign Parker said she might be interested in getting involved with making some first contacts. I told her that B'Elanna—Lieutenant Torres—is putting together a team for when we get to the new system."
"I'd appreciate it," Ensign Parker said, clearly directing her words toward Chakotay—which she indicated by reaching to touch his arm and get his attention, "if you could put in a good work for me with Lieutenant Torres. I'm afraid she might overlook me otherwise."
"Lieutenant Torres will choose whoever's best for the job," Kathryn offered. "Especially once we know more about the situation. If you're interested in becoming someone that joins away teams, the proper way to go about that is by presenting your request to the officer in charge of putting together the team and, of course, by graciously accepting whatever decision they make."
Chakotay didn't miss the bit of scolding in Kathryn's tone. From the way that the ensign recoiled slightly, it was clear that she didn't miss it, either.
She recovered quickly, though, and she edged forward on her seat and practically leaned across Chakotay to get a clear look at Kaya. Realizing that she wanted to see the baby, Kathryn tipped her arms enough to display Kaya a bit more for the young woman's perusal.
Ensign Parker smiled at the baby. Kaya wasn't particularly moved, one way or the other, by being put on display for anyone to see.
Chakotay noticed that Kathryn made absolutely no move to let the ensign hold Kaya, and he didn't dare tor recommend it. From her quick lesson about first encounters and, really, any encounter to follow where a mother was involved, Ensign Parker didn't ask to hold her and didn't reach for the baby. She accepted that she would have to admire her from a distance for the time being.
"She's so beautiful," Ensign Parker offered. Chakotay and Kathryn practically thanked her in unison. "She looks just like her father."
Chakotay swallowed back the amusement that he almost choked on when Kathryn's face responded, likely without her full permission.
"I see a great deal of Kathryn in Kaya's features and expressions," Chakotay said.
"Oh no," Ensign Parker said. "I'm sorry, Captain. I don't mean anything by it. I only mean—she looks just like Commander Chakotay."
"I still disagree," Chakotay offered quickly, keeping Kathryn from having to find some input. "I see it more with each day. She's still very young and so much will change about her appearance."
"We were just talking about fathers when you came in the room, Captain," Ensign Parker offered.
"Oh?" Kathryn asked, raising her eyebrows and readjusting Kaya when the baby began to squirm a little.
"Commander Chakotay told me that, for encounters where you have a mother with her offspring, it's best not to make any move toward the child until the mother gives her approval. I asked him what his recommendations were for the scenarios in which you encounter a father with his offspring. You know—suggestions to make the encounter go smoother."
Kathryn raised an eyebrow at Chakotay.
"What were your suggestions?" She asked.
Chakotay's heart thumped a little rapidly in his chest and he wondered if it was just his body doing its best to process the excess of coffee and champagne that still hadn't finished working their way through his system.
Kathryn smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile at her. The expression she was wearing made it clear—it made everything clear. She could sense the way that he was feeling. And she wasn't blind and deaf, at all, to what he was seeing and hearing.
And he wasn't imagining things.
He cleared his throat.
"I didn't have any," Chakotay said. "I—didn't get around to thinking of any recommendations I might have. Maybe because I've encountered a lot of mothers with their offspring, before, but I've never really encountered too many fathers alone with theirs." He swallowed down his desire to smile at her even more broadly. She was smirking at him, holding most of her own smile back, and her eyebrow was cocked at him in such a way that he knew that—the moment they were alone—she was going to have a good deal to say that she felt she absolutely could not say as captain. He licked his lips. "What advice would you give, Captain?" Chakotay asked. "To someone who was encountering a father with his offspring—and who wanted things to go, as Ensign Parker said, smoothly?"
Kathryn's eyes didn't leave his for a moment, but then her features softened, her muscles relaxed, and she sat back. She crossed one leg over the other and bobbed her foot. She rearranged Kaya again and clicked her tongue at the baby when Kaya let out a noise of disapproval about something around her. And then she looked at Ensign Parker and smiled.
"I think—in that situation, where I encountered the father with his offspring…before I did anything? I'd look for the mother," Kathryn said. "Inquire about her. Just in case."
Chakotay took another drink of coffee, using the liquid to wash down the amusement that he refused to let show in the presence of the young ensign.
And Kathryn, apparently confident or at least hopeful that her point had been made, went on to discuss the other basic steps she would observe in a first contact scenario of the type that Ensign Parker apparently found quite interesting.