"Is … she… really… mine?"
Seven looked at the young woman in disbelief. The datapad trembled in her hand. Zimt snapped it out of her hand before it shattered on the ground.
"She is really yours" she answered softly. "Sehe will be. You will make her with her father."
Seven of Nine couldn't say a word. She couldn't believe to the young nurse, not even her own eyes. Her rational mind understood, that Elle is her daughter, but two decades of suffering told her the opposite. She wasn't brave enough to believe in such a happy future. Her fear prevented her from even considering such a thing. But her heart was aching for the slightest hope for the possibility. This duality almost tore her apart from the inside. She was staring at the playing child, and started trembling. A teardrop formed in her right eye, one more, and another one.
Zimt stepped to her, and hugged to comfort her.
"Cry, if you need! Cry, loud!"
Seven hugged Zimt's waist, hid her face in her uniform, finally started crying. Long and painful.
"I always wanted a girl, like her" Seven said half an hour later, still trembling in the embrace of the nurse.
"What if it was a boy? Don't you think you'd like him just the same?"
"I don't know" the reply came in a weak voice.
"Who knows, it is possible, that you will have a dozen of kids, boys and girls."
"You are joking" Seven stated.
"Yes" the nurse smiled. "But once you figure out how to do it, you might not stop for a dozen!"
"Do you really think, that Elle could be born?"
"She is here, isn't she?"
Seven nodded. Elle was definitely there, and she was real.
"So, she will be born. You will give her life!"
The Commander became so silent, that made Zimt suspicious.
"Don't you want that?"
"I want her. More than anything. Whatever price I could pay for it."
Zimt breathed a sigh of relief. It was not a lost case.
"Then maybe it's time to make friends with your daughter."
However Seven remained hesitant.
"This, I think, will not work. She doesn't love me" Seven said nervously. Zimt lifted an eyebrow, so the future mother tried to explain. "She doesn't have a single good experience with me, so she hates me."
"She is not capable to hate, she is too young. Elle, come here, sweety!"
Elle left her new toys, grabbed the yellow duck, and ran to Zimt. She lifted her up, and kissed her cheek.
"Mommy is sad. Let's kiss her to cheer her up!"
Elle was reluctant at first, but when she saw that Zimt were kissing her, and her mommy was not became angry, she encouraged, and gave some slobbery kiss to Seven. And her bravery was rewarded: her mommy hugged her and gave her kisses.
Jean-Luc Picard didn't get good news from the Starfleet. The Stargazer was ordered to a deep space mission, to the Delta Quadrant. He didn't get details, just a simple note, that the ship had to pick up passengers, who were professional of the quadrant. It meant, he had to talk to his first officer. They couldn't bring a child to a long-term mission. She had to be left at her father. But based on the reports from the crew and Deanna, his first officer won't mind.
"Come in" she answered to the doorbell.
The Commander's quarter was in a total mess. Toys were around everywhere on the floor, the remnants of the dinner was left on the table and dirty clothes were tossed to the sofa. In one word, the always perfect cabin became nice and lively.
"We are in the bathroom!" his first officer's voice came from a distance.
Jean-Luc entered the room recklessly. The next moment he regretted it.
"Commander!" he croaked. "You are naked!"
"Yes" Seven agreed, as if there was nothing objectionable or special about her nakedness. "I am in the bathtub. It is customary to bathe without clothing."
"But I am a man!" he protested.
"Does it bother you?"
Silence.
"I take it as a yes" she said, and ordered more water and foam from the computer.
The little girl were laughing, as the water level rose, and the Commander laughed with her. After a few splash, Seven's official voice was heard.
"You could turn back, Captain. You won't see me, just the girl's upper body. I think it is not indecent."
Jean-Luc did, what he was told. His first officer's body was mostly hidden by the bath foam, and she put the little girl on her stomach, and held her there, to make her a safe place in the tub. Little yellow duckling were floating around them, and the girl enjoyed playing with them. Just like her mother.
"What do you want to inform me about?" she asked half-curiously, as if the world only consist of that bathtub, her daughter, and the yellow ducklings.
This made Jean-Luc hard to tell her the news. Although he took a big breath and told her. There were silence. Seven stared at the child on her stomach, and the Captain saw as the emotions were fighting in her.
"You still have time to decide, whether you stay aboard without her, or stay with her at her father. But I don't recommend to bring her to a dangerous mission! It wouldn't be good for anyone."
"I understood" she said in weak voice.
She suddenly remembered the day of her assimilation. The situation was the same. She was very frightened. It's true that the Borg are no longer a threat, but there are enough violent species in the Delta quadrant who also don't care if they're dealing with children or adults. She can't put this little girl through that. She had to be in a safe place, to grow up happily.
"You are right. The Delta quadrant not an ideal playground for children. She will stay at her father."
"And what about you?" Picard asked with heavy heart. There were something in the Commander's eyes, which indicated, that he would lose his first officer with this decision.
"I don't know yet. You said, I had time. I have to think. I will notify you of my decision in time."