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

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

111

Beverly felt exhausted, but she was practically buzzing with happiness.

She was married—something she'd never really thought she would be, again—and she was married to both Jean-Luc and Laris.

The only thing that could possibly make this more official was to have the knowledge that their marriage had been officially filed and their certificate had been issued—but this was real.

And Beverly loved both of them dearly, even if her love for each might be unique in its way.

Over shared cake, coffee, and conversation with Will and Deanna, Beverly had the opportunity to think about her new partners and her new life. She was allowing herself to imagine what life might look like now—what it would look like moving forward.

Most of her life, it seemed, had been a chain of tragedies. It had been a chain of losses. Everything she ever seemed to have in life was temporary and, though she imagined that was true for everyone, she felt like it was much more so in her case.

Beyond that, her life had been busy—hectic, even. She enjoyed the thrill of Starfleet, and she found meaning in her work, but she couldn't help but wonder, sometimes, what it would be like to settle down and truly rest—at least for a while.

For once in her life, Beverly realized, she truly felt safe. The irony of it wasn't lost on her, either, given that she knew that the world around her wasn't safe and calm. It never was—not really. Peace in one area always seemed to give way to turmoil in another.

But here, in the Château, in the company of her husband and wife, and awaiting the arrival of their two little ones, Beverly felt safe.

And with that safety, and the relaxation that would necessarily follow the bonding and the wedding, she also felt a flood of exhaustion—the very best kind.

"This cake is better than…well…cake," she said. She laughed at her own tired inability to put into words her feeling over the cake. She was on her third, or maybe even fourth, piece of it since they'd cut it at the wedding. It had been a true wedding cake, and with so few people in attendance, they'd sent a great deal of it with Will and Deanna, but they would still have plenty to eat for the next few days, before they finally decided to recycle it.

"There's plenty more," Jean-Luc said, not making a move to get up from his spot half-collapsed in a chair near her.

"I'll get you some," Laris said, starting to rise.

"Stay where you are," Beverly said. "I've had enough cake for one day, and it isn't your job to serve me."

"I was getting up anyway," Laris said, rising and stretching. "I was thinking—since the wedding was a Terran wedding, and since the two of you have been…hoping to marry each other for so long, maybe it would be best if you celebrated the—oh…I just had the word. What do you call it? The first night is the…"

"Honeymoon," Beverly offered, smiling at the obviousness of Laris's fatigue, especially given that her own felt like it was dizzying.

"That's it. Maybe it would be best if you were to have the honeymoon together," Laris said. "You know. Just the two of you…in Terran tradition."

"Absolutely not!" Beverly said quickly. "Laris—do we have to go through this again? Jean-Luc and I are not any more married than any of us are…"

"Forgive me," Jean-Luc said. "I may be overstepping boundaries or I may be at risk of putting words into mouths, but I think that…perhaps…Laris might simply be tired and, well, maybe in need of some reprieve from the expectations of married life. Our bonding night was, to put it delicately, the first time we've all been together, and I do recall that we may have put Laris in a place of doing something like double duty, given that we were still attempting to explore all of our possibilities. Laris, is it possible that you would simply like a break from that?"

Laris didn't deny or confirm this. Her reluctance to do either was confirmation enough, really. Jean-Luc hummed and nodded his head.

"Perhaps a more relaxed night might be in order. Forgive me. I have denied the two of you any private time, as of late, to enjoy each other's company. Perhaps, tonight, you might wish to have some time together, privately…"

"No!" Beverly said quickly and sharply. She felt a prickling sensation at her eyes and a tightening in her throat. It was silly to feel this way, she was sure, but hormones, and fatigue, and coming down after the rush of adrenaline that had practically been the past few days, meant that she almost felt entirely out of control of the emotions coursing through her veins. "No," she said a little more softly. Her voice caught slightly. She cleared her throat. "Is anyone going to ask me what I want?"

Both voices somewhat blended together in a hurried response that both Laris and Jean-Luc absolutely wanted to know what Beverly wanted.

Beverly drew in a deep breath, and she let it out slowly, feeling herself calm with its relief.

"I want us to be together," Beverly said. "Tired…emotional…whatever we are, I want us to be together. I don't care if we all just spend the evening in bed, sleeping or just…Jean-Luc, maybe you could even read to us. I don't care what we do, or if we do nothing at all, but I want us to be together. All of us."

"That isn't your custom…your tradition," Laris offered.

"To hell with tradition," Beverly said. "I don't care about tradition. I care about spending the night with my husband, and my wife." She laughed to herself. "This marriage will get consummated, eventually. There's no reason to worry about that. Right now, I'm just…tired."

"Me too," Jean-Luc admitted, sounding relieved.

"I'm exhausted," Laris offered.

"Then—let's go to bed?" Beverly said. "All of us. And we'll just…be together?"

Laris smiled at her and nodded.

"That sounds wonderful to me," she said.

"Go to the bedroom," Jean-Luc said. "I'll take care of Number One, and I'll bring some snacks. Any requests."

"Not cake," Beverly said.

"Cake," Laris said, laughing.

"I'll bring a bit of everything," Jean-Luc said. "Go ahead…I'm on my way."

Beverly wrapped an arm around Laris, and Laris hugged tightly against her. Together, they made their way to the bedroom to start making things comfortable for a quiet night of simply relaxing together—and Beverly honestly couldn't possibly think of a better way to spend their honeymoon night.

111

"Ooh…feel…Jean-Luc?" Beverly said. Jean-Luc let her guide his hand to her belly. She blew out her breath. "Oh—do you feel that?"

"I do," he said. "But, I'm at a loss for what it is, exactly."

"Oh…it's a contraction," Beverly said. She quickly held a hand up in his direction. "Don't worry…not that kind of contraction. Just…practice."

"Practice," Jean-Luc said, laughing nervously.

"Practice," Beverly said. "For when Jack comes."

"I had no idea that babies needed so much practice in being born," Jean-Luc teased, referring to the fact that, from time to time, Laris had such contractions, as well.

Of course, Beverly knew that Laris's contractions, given her muscle density and strength, were very different than the ones that she was feeling at the moment. She tugged at Jean-Luc's arm, and he knew what she wanted without forcing her to communicate it to him explicitly.

He settled in beside her on the bed, and wrapped her in his arms. She relaxed into him. He rubbed her belly gently—whether he was trying to soothe her, or was looking for evidence of the movement of their son, she didn't know, but it didn't matter. It soothed her, at any rate.

"It's more the bodies needing practice than the babies," Beverly said.

"I suppose it's like any other grand physical event," Jean-Luc mused. "You want to practice and warm up before the final performance."

Beverly laughed quietly.

"That's it exactly," she said, deciding that she liked his simple explanation of things.

"Has it stopped?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Yes…it's stopped," Beverly assured him.

"But it will happen again?" He asked.

"Undoubtedly," Beverly said, amused. "Until, one day, it's the real thing."

"Are you still thinking of inducing labor early?" Jean-Luc asked. She heard his opinion in his voice, as though the crease between his brows, alone, didn't communicate his thoughts to her.

Beverly sighed. She moved to sit up a bit, and Jean-Luc helped her—not because she was entirely unable to do so herself, but because he liked to reduce how much she had to struggle.

"A week—two at the most," she said. "You still don't like it. That much I know."

They were alone. Laris had risen early. She'd gone out on a walk and to do whatever it was that Laris did when she disappeared from their sight—taking her time to simply be alone. Beverly was sure, too, that Laris was doing her best to see to it that she and Jean-Luc had a little quiet, private time. She thought that it was important for them to have that time.

Beverly thought it was going to be important for everyone to find times, at least occasionally, to focus entirely on their relationship with each individual member of their bond.

For now, though, she was content to spend the morning with Jean-Luc and Jack.

"I just don't want him to be in any danger," Jean-Luc said.

"And I promise you, Jean-Luc, that I will do nothing to put him in danger," Beverly said. "But—I need to be able to help Laris. You're not going to be able to give her the support that she's going to need, and I can't leave her to do it on her own. I don't want to risk everything surrounding our daughter's birth to get things started with Jack, and then you're trying to manage both of us…"

"I would contact Starfleet Medical," Jean-Luc said. "And I would use the emergency transporter spot to have us moved immediately to their facilities."

"And that would be traumatizing to Laris," Beverly said.

"If it can't be avoided," Jean-Luc said, clearly tensing. His voice rose slightly.

Beverly sat up a bit more. She squeezed his arm, trying to ground him and soothe him as much as he might try to soothe her.

"Of course," she said. "Of course, Jean-Luc…if it's necessary, we'll do whatever we have to do. But, if trauma can be avoided, and we can have two relatively calm births instead, that's what I would rather us have."

Jean-Luc stared at her for a moment, and she saw when he started to relax. She felt it, too. She could feel his muscles releasing their tension, but she could also feel it in the air surrounding them.

"That's what I want, too," Jean-Luc said. "Of course, it is, Beverly. It's only—I am quite nervous about the whole affair."

"That makes three of us," Beverly offered with a laugh. "Jean-Luc…Laris is capable of delivering Jack, even though she'll be close to delivering, herself."

"Assuming there are no complications," Jean-Luc said. "But—I am quite capable of delivering him, as well. I did take basic training for medical emergencies."

"I know," Beverly said. "And if Laris runs into trouble, then I expect you to help her. I expect you to do whatever is necessary. But, in the case that the birth goes smoothly and according to plan, like I expect that it will…Jean-Luc…I would like you to be with me as much as possible."

He laughed quietly. He massaged her hand in his, and then he kissed it gently.

"I was under the impression that we would all be together for both births."

"I mean—I want you with me, like this," Beverly said. "Holding my hand. Holding me."

"I will never be anywhere else," he assured her.

"Unless absolutely necessary," she said, half-teasing. He laughed, picking up on her teasing tone.

"Unless absolutely necessary," he agreed.