AN: Here we are, another piece to this story.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know what you think!

111

Beverly found herself seemingly alone in the Château. She'd only been here once before—not long after Jean-Luc inherited the family home. He'd brought her here, and there had been wine, and delicious food from the town, and lovemaking.

But that was the past.

As this was their safe haven, and Jean-Luc had made it clear that he was opening up his home to them, Beverly made herself at home by going straight to the kitchen and helping herself to the food and drink.

Jean-Luc's family had been adamantly against replicators and other technology. When Beverly had been here, before, with Jean-Luc, he'd maintained his family's ban on technology. Beverly had noted, though, even in her brief amount of time here, that he seemed to have changed his stance on that. His placement and choice of technologies was not very dramatic, and so things blended into the space in which they'd been placed, but Beverly had already noted the presence of replicators and transporter pads.

She used the replicator in the kitchen to replicate her food and drink, and she ate ravenously, standing at the kitchen counter. In her mind, she scolded herself for the way she was eating—reminding herself that she should slow down and enjoy her food instead of eating like a half-starved wolf—but she could hardly stop herself. She had eaten each time she'd fed Laris, but her appetite had been limited. She knew, now, that the feeling had most likely been owing to the fact that she'd felt somewhat anxious about Laris's survival. Now that she was feeling a bit more confident that Laris wouldn't be leaving her, her desire to eat came back full-force.

"If I had been here to pull a chair out for you, would you have sat at the table?"

Beverly's head shot up at Jean-Luc's voice and she jumped.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Jean-Luc said.

"You didn't," Beverly lied. She didn't even know why she'd lied. She amended it immediately. "It was just so quiet, and…"

"And you were quite focused on your task," Jean-Luc said. "I was just saying goodbye to Will and Deanna. They are only a moment away, via transport, if you need them. They wanted to give you time and peace to rest. Please, Beverly, sit and eat calmly. It would make me feel like you're a bit more comfortable in the space I'm providing to make you feel comfortable."

Beverly accepted that. To offer a safe haven was always a bit daunting.

She gathered her plate and cup and she came to the table. Jean-Luc pulled a seat out for her, not that she required such a gesture, and she accepted it with thanks. He went to the replicator, himself, and requested a cup of tea. He joined her at the table, where she was finishing her food more calmly, now that the initial feeling of near-starvation had passed.

"The Romulan…"

"Laris," Beverly said quickly. "Her name is Laris."

"Laris," Jean-Luc amended. "She's…pregnant."

"A little over halfway through her pregnancy," Beverly offered.

"I can tell she's very important to you," Jean-Luc said.

Beverly heard something in Jean-Luc's voice. Perhaps, really, it was something she expected to hear there. She chewed through the food that was losing its luster—either because of the conversation or because she'd eaten her fill—and she considered her possible responses. There was no need, she decided, in being coy or secretive about this.

"Very," she agreed.

Jean-Luc held her eyes a moment. He nodded slowly and then drank from his cup.

"She will make a full recovery?" He asked.

"She will need to rest," Beverly said. "But…I believe she'll make a full recovery."

"My home is yours," Jean-Luc said. "And hers."

"We both thank you," Beverly said. "I'll make repairs on the ship, too…"

"If I can be of any help…"

"I'll let you know. Thank you for offering."

"Will her baby survive?"

"I'm very hopeful," Beverly said.

"If there's anything…"

"I appreciate everything, Jean-Luc."

Jean-Luc smiled. It was a very insincere smile. It was the kind that made Beverly's stomach uncomfortable in a way that she didn't appreciate when she'd just eaten and she already had a little stowaway making things, at times, simply uncomfortable.

"It's as though we've so quickly become strangers," Jean-Luc said.

"We're hardly strangers," Beverly said.

"And, yet, it would seem that you set out to make us such," Jean-Luc said.

Beverly felt her skin prickle.

"Jean-Luc," she started, not quite knowing where she was going.

"It was unexpected, to say the least," Jean-Luc said. "I was called away, and I expected to see you aboard the Enterprise as soon as your leave was through, but…all I received was the information that you had resigned your commission. And then? Radio silence. Nobody knew where you were. Nobody could reach you."

Beverly didn't say anything. She simply sat and listened to him, letting him say what he needed to say. She could hardly stand to make eye contact, mostly focusing on the remnants of what she'd eaten.

"All I want to know, Beverly, is…why?" Jean-Luc continued. "Was it something I said? Something I did? I have spent this time going over and over that last night…"

"What about that last morning, Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked.

"What did I do then?" He asked. "I hardly saw you. I've retraced that morning, too. I dressed. Woke you only for a kiss and to say goodbye. But if I had known, Beverly, that you intended it to be truly goodbye…"

"You would have done exactly what you did, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "You would have…answered Starfleet's call. You would have done your duty, as your role demands of you. Cut your vacation short…our vacation short. I told you the night before, after you got the call, that I couldn't do this anymore. That anymore," she corrected quickly. "We broke up that night, even before the morning came."

"We have broken up five or six times, Beverly. At least…and that's officially. I thought…"

"That I'd always be there," Beverly said. "I'd always be there when you wanted me, and I'd stay out of your way when you didn't. Jean-Luc…you are married to Starfleet. You've made your home in the stars. Your life is built around duty and your position as a captain. I accept that. It just…wasn't the life for me. It wasn't the life I wanted to lead. We just…want different things."

Beverly looked at the food on her plate again, taking her eyes away from Jean-Luc, and she shook her head. She had been through this, repeatedly. She had thought about this. This wasn't a surprise to her, and it shouldn't have truly been a surprise to him. The fact that he was looking at her like this was the first time that he'd ever heard this was proof to Beverly that, at least in some situations, Jean-Luc heard only what he wanted to hear.

"There is no Starfleet," Jean-Luc said, breaking the silence next. Beverly hadn't expected that, and it took her a moment to even register what he'd said. "Not for me. I retired—with the whole Romulan relocation situation…"

Beverly smiled at him. She shrugged her shoulders.

"You're committed to duty. A cause, Jean-Luc. And now—you have the Romulans."

"It would seem I'm not the only one who is…rather committed to the Romulans…at the cost of, perhaps, everything else."

Beverly accepted everything about his tone, from the quiver in his voice to the iciness that mingled with it. She accepted it. She nodded her head. She gave him a soft smile. She stood and took the plate and cup to the recycler without saying anything. As she passed back by the table where he was sitting and contemplating his tea, he reached a hand out to her and his fingers brushed her palm. He didn't take her hand, though, and she only briefly stopped when he said her name.

"Beverly…"

"Just one Romulan, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "I'm only committed to one."

Beverly went back to the room that she was occupying with Laris—the master bedroom, she knew. She was angry, and hurt, and a little bit of nearly every emotion that she could think of at the moment. She eased into the room and closed the door behind her. Laris stirred slightly. Of course, she did. Beverly wondered if Laris, with the life she'd led and the past that was behind her, would ever sleep deeply and soundly.

Beverly came over and, without asking or waiting for invitation, she lifted the blanket and slid in next to Laris. She rested her head lightly against the uninjured shoulder. She rested a palm on Laris's belly. She inhaled the scent of Laris. For the moment, that scent was mostly sweat and the special biological mix that was Laris's own natural fragrance. Beverly closed her eyes. The smell was comforting. The warmth of Laris's body was comforting. Beverly drew in a breath and let it out, slowly, in a sigh.

"This is where I want to be," Beverly said, breathing out the words.

"I would touch you," Laris offered, "but…I'm a bit trapped, and I think that you might protest if I were to move the arm you've strapped to my body."

Beverly laughed to herself. She felt a rush of thankfulness. She was simply thankful.

She rolled to face Laris.

"Please don't go anywhere," Beverly said.

"Where was I going?" Laris asked. "I can hardly move…and whatever you gave me…"

Beverly smiled at her and nodded.

"It's good pain medication, isn't it? And I also gave you something to keep you relaxed."

"Are you certain it's safe for the baby?" Laris asked.

"Absolutely," Beverly assured her. "I had Mirah send it especially for that reason. The pain medication is made from Mirwala root. It's really quite safe, but it works wonderfully. We have to limit our use of it, though. Otherwise, individuals of all species have a tendency to become somewhat addicted, and Mirwala only grows in one region."

She gently rubbed Laris's ear and Laris shivered and laughed in her throat. Beverly kissed her gently.

"I'll never become addicted to this," Laris said.

She made a face and Beverly furrowed her brow at her.

"You don't feel good?"

"I feel…a bit out of control of myself," Laris said. "Dizzy and drunk. I don't care for the sensation."

"Understood," Beverly said. "I will never dose you, again, without your permission. I wanted to try to help keep you from going into shock, though, and that repair would have been a lot more painful without it."

"Romulans are stronger than you think we are," Laris teased.

"I have no doubt about how strong you are," Beverly said. "In many ways. Do you want to shower? Before that wears off and, strong or not, you're feeling a little more like you've been hit by a low-flying starship?"

"Are you putting me back to bed when we're done?" Laris asked.

"It's the only place you'll want to be for at least a few days," Beverly said. "When that pain catches up with you again."

"Will you come with me?" Laris asked.

Beverly smiled at her.

"As a matter of fact, I will. Shower first—and then we'll both nap like royalty before we eat."

Laris puckered her lips at her, really all she could do, since Beverly had her good arm somewhat pinned. Beverly met her for a kiss and Laris smiled at her before whispering to her.

"All four of us," she whispered. Beverly felt her whole body run warm. She eased out of bed.

"Come on. I'll help you."

Beverly did help Laris out of the bed, being sure to take things slowly and to give the woman time to steady herself at each step. The combination of medications she'd been given to lessen the trauma of the repair made her at least a little woozy and wobbly, but Beverly had no problem supporting her to the bathroom. In the bathroom, Beverly helped remove the blanket that she'd taped to Laris to protect some of her modesty, as she'd promise, and she replaced the sling with another she replicated that could be used in the water without problem.

Beverly undressed herself, and she felt her face run warm when she noticed that Laris was examining her naked body without any attempt to be coy about it. Laris smiled at her, too, when she noticed Beverly's blush.

"Beautiful things ought to be admired," Laris offered. Beverly only felt warmer in response.

"I was just thinking the same," she offered.

"You weren't," Laris said. "But—that's OK, too."

"You don't know what I was thinking," Beverly said, helping Laris into the shower. "Close your eyes. I'm going to wash your hair first."

"I could manage," Laris said.

"But I'm not giving you an option," Beverly responded.

"Did it go badly when you talked to him?" Laris asked. She didn't press for a moment. She allowed Beverly her time to think about what she might want to say. She tipped her head back as far as her injury allowed and let Beverly wash her hair, as she'd said she would do, moaning when she enjoyed the pleasant touch. The sound jolted through Beverly's body like lightning.

"It went just as I expected," Beverly said. "You will keep my secret still?"

"Our secret," Laris said. "You still love him."

"Does that bother you?" Beverly asked, when she'd finished Laris's hair. She started to bathe Laris. Laris offered no protest nor any argument that she could take care of herself. She accepted the intimacy of the act and, this time, it felt truly intimate. Beverly felt like she wasn't washing a patient. This was more than that. Laris seemed to quietly understand that.

"No," Laris said, when Beverly stopped and made eye contact with her, making it clear that she needed an answer. "Not at all. Hearts are truly expandible things, and love is not finite."

Beverly caught Laris's face with her hands. She kept the woman's body directed under the hot water—not wanting her to feel cold at all. Beverly felt the warmth of the water as she pressed her body against Laris and took the kiss she wanted. They hadn't talked about love, not yet and not really, but Beverly felt like they at least started the conversation with the kiss they exchanged. Laris indulged Beverly entirely, her uninjured arm allowing her hand to explore Beverly's body just a little. She slipped her fingers over Beverly's hip and cupped her, squeezing her buttocks. Beverly responded by biting Laris's lip. Laris laughed low in her throat.

"When you're better," Beverly said. "No strain, and I don't want you wearing yourself out. You're feeling stronger because I finally stopped all the bleeding. You've got a chance now to truly get stronger—but I don't want you using all of that energy up. Later, OK?"

"I will remain hungry with anticipation," Laris offered. Beverly bit her lip, her own body practically throbbing with the same sort of anticipation.

Then, Laris's eyes went big and she smiled. Beverly raised her eyebrows at her in question.

"She's moving," Laris said. "Feel her—she's moving."

Beverly's heart skipped in a wonderful way, and she pressed her hand to Laris's belly. Laris moved it, helping her find what she wanted to feel—what she'd been hoping to feel for days…and nights…now. She didn't realize how desperate she was to feel the sweet sensation until she felt the nudge against her palm.

Laris's happy tears blended with the water streaming down her face, and Beverly was surprised to hear her own happy sob escape.

"She's OK," Beverly said. "She's moving. She's just fine. She just needs a little care, like her mama…and I'm going to make sure she gets all she needs."

Laris rubbed her hand across Beverly's cheek affectionately, and she held her eyes. Then, she dropped her hand, pressing it to Beverly's belly which was, still, mostly flat.

"Are you going to let me make sure you get all you need?" She asked. "Both of you?"

Beverly nodded her head gently.

"You're already giving me more than you know," Beverly said. She pulled Laris close to her. "I love you," she confessed.

"I love you, too," Laris said, mercifully. Beverly's chest had already tightened, in the half a second that it took for her to respond. If she hadn't said it back, Beverly had no idea what she would have done. Suddenly, she couldn't imagine having to face that Laris might not feel the same—no matter how overwhelmingly fast the feeling had taken root in her chest.

A few kisses more and the water was starting to noticeably lose some of its warmth. Beverly bathed quickly and Laris stood outside the spray of the water, shivering visibly but refusing to leave Beverly.

Outside the shower, Beverly helped Laris to dry off and put on clean, comfortable pajamas that she replicated for her. For the humor of it, she replicated a matching set for herself. Then, she sat on the bed and combed Laris's hair. When she was done, Laris turned to simply watch her as she combed her own hair free of tangles.

"If you wanted to take it back," Laris offered.

"Take what back?" Beverly said.

"If you said you loved me out of…some emotional response, or…even because you thought you should…I just want you to know that I won't be offended if you say that you really didn't mean it," Laris said.

Beverly put the comb on the bed. She crawled forward, inching her body closer to Laris. She touched her cheek, and then she pressed her lips lightly to Laris's.

"I meant it, and I still mean it," Beverly said. "And I'll always mean it. I can't help it. I know it's fast, but…I'm helpless to it. I love you." She swallowed; her chest ached. "But if you…"

"Shhh," Laris said. She smiled at Beverly and held her eyes in the way that she had that simply made it feel like she could see Beverly's soul. "I do love you. Truly. Deeply. And—I love forever. Never fading, never faltering, never failing."

"Is that a Romulan thing?" Beverly asked.

"It is for this Romulan," Laris offered.

Beverly hummed at her.

"My favorite one," she offered.

"And the baby?" Laris asked, a smile proving that her offense was only for show.

"My favorite tiny Romulan," Beverly said. "Come on—let's get a little rest, and then we'll feed her."

"And you…and…my favorite tiny human?" Laris asked softly.

"We're both looking forward to the nap," Beverly admitted, not saying that her whole body felt heavy, but also suspecting that Laris might be able to tell.

"Well—then, we don't want to keep either of you waiting," Laris said. "Help me?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Beverly assured her.

Laris smiled and winked at her.

"We'll save that for later," she teased. "But—I'll make you a promise that it will be."