AN: Here we are, another piece to this one!
I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!
111
"You lied to a Betazoid, Jean-Luc," Beverly said, with no shortage of amusement.
"I didn't lie to her, exactly," Jean-Luc said.
"You turned down her invitation to a dinner celebrating our marriage, and you told her that your reason for doing so was because we haven't been able to leave Evie alone yet…and she wouldn't be a good dinner guest?"
Beverly saw Jean-Luc blush in spite of himself.
"It was, without question, not my best work at constructing a foolproof excuse to avoid a dinner invitation, but I was quite on the spot, and I am not accustomed to…to using parenthood as a means of escaping unwanted social events," Jean-Luc said. He laughed, too, because he simply couldn't help it.
"You lied to a Betazoid," Beverly said, her own laughter escaping. "And not just any Betazoid, Jean-Luc…a very powerful telepath."
"Yes—well—as I said, it was not my most shining moment," Jean-Luc said. "I said something else about being quite tired from Evie's nighttime requirements. Perhaps there was some truth in there, after all."
Beverly sighed.
"Of course, we're both tired. We're exhausted. We have a newborn. That comes with the territory."
"I'm sorry," Jean-Luc said. "You must be more tired than I am. Your nighttime requirements involve feeding her. Mine are only—nappies and handing her to you."
"We're not going to play a game of which parent has it worse," Beverly said with a laugh. "That never ends well, Jean-Luc. And the truth is that, really, I'm feeling far less stressed and strained than I did when Wesley was a baby."
"Really?" Jean-Luc asked.
Beverly hummed and nuzzled the baby girl who was feeding at her chest, entirely oblivious to her parents' conversation.
"Jack wasn't nearly as interested in being as involved as you are. You are a wonderful Papa, Jean-Luc. I've told you that."
Beverly smiled at Jean-Luc's expression. She didn't mind praising him because he appreciated it so much. And, truthfully, she felt he was worthy of the praise that she gave him. He wasn't perfect—nobody was—but he was trying. If there was anything that she felt he should do, that he wasn't doing, she only needed to ask, and he was quick to try to remedy his mistake or oversight.
"Evie is lucky that she has such a wonderful mother," Jean-Luc said. "Her father, after all, doesn't always make the best choices."
Beverly laughed quietly at Jean-Luc's teasing. The conversation swung back toward the matter at hand.
"Just—don't try to lie to her, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "Remember…she doesn't have to tell you that she knows that you're lying, but she knows."
"Unless she has her…what does Deanna call it? Her mental shields in place or what have you," Jean-Luc said. Beverly simply gave him a look, and he nodded. "Fine. You're right. I won't lie to her again. But…I do think that Evie ought not to be subjected to that woman…"
Beverly smiled at him.
"Somehow—I don't think Lwaxana is a threat to Evie," Beverly said. "Here…Papa…it's your turn. And, if I'm not mistaken, she has quite the gift for you."
Jean-Luc did nappy-duty, or diaper-duty, since they used both terms in their home, whenever he was around. He reached for Evie as Beverly readjusted her top.
"I'm sure she does," Jean-Luc said. "Evie always saves the biggest and the best for her Papa."
"Nothing less will do," Beverly teased.
As Jean-Luc took his daughter into his arms to head toward the bedroom and change her. The doorbell of their quarters sounded. He hesitated and then waved at Beverly to sit. Evie hadn't started to fuss yet, and hopefully she would be fine until he'd at least welcomed their guest inside.
Neither of them needed to be a telepath to know who would be outside.
"Oh—Jean-Luc—do let me see that angel! Oh—hello, Sweetheart!" Lwaxana said, immediately, as she stepped into the living area of their quarters and the door slid closed behind her.
She was alone. She must have sent Mr. Homn off to do whatever it was that he did when he wasn't working for her.
"You probably don't want her, Lwaxana," Jean-Luc said. "She's dirty. I was just on my way to change her."
"Oh—nonsense," Lwaxana said, reaching and taking Evie smoothly from the crook of her father's arms. "I don't mind helping out with the little one! Now—where do you keep everything? You'll have to help me get oriented. It is my first time, after all, learning the proverbial layout of the land in the Picard quarters."
"We change her in the bedroom," Beverly said. "Everything's in there."
"Of course, it is," Lwaxana said, heading toward their bedroom without another word at all. Jean-Luc gave Beverly a look—a rather disapproving one—and she shrugged at him. If Lwaxana wanted to change a dirty diaper, Beverly didn't think there was any good reason to fight her over it.
Jean-Luc followed directly behind Lwaxana, and Beverly followed Jean-Luc.
In the bedroom, Lwaxana didn't take long to figure out their arrangement, look over the supplies, make her selections, and get started changing Evie.
And the newborn, as though she were tranquilized or transfixed by Lwaxana, calmly allowed herself to be thoroughly cleaned and changed by the strange new woman that had invited herself into her life.
"I don't believe that Starfleet would approve of my putting the Ambassador to Betazed—and one of their Undercover Intelligence Operatives—on nappy duty," Jean-Luc said, referring to all they'd learned about the mission that lay ahead of them and the people they'd be working with—people they'd known, but hadn't fully known before, it seemed.
"Oh—do stop being so formal, Jean-Luc!" Lwaxana tutted, her voice no less high pitched than it normally was, when she was giving Jean-Luc a hard time, but somehow softer. "We're family! Why—if Evie's Zaza can't change her diaper for her, however will she manage keeping her while her parents get some much-needed rest and relaxation?"
"Zaza?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Why, yes…" Lwaxana said, gathering up Evie and kissing her on the cheek—wiping the print of her lips off with her thumb and snuggling Evie against her chest—before facing Jean-Luc and Beverly. "It's a term of endearment. A Betazoid word for…what is it you humans say? Grandma, but…with more affection…"
"Nana?" Beverly asked.
Lwaxana beamed.
"Oh—yes—something like that, Beverly dear," Lwaxana said.
"And you would be…Evie's Zaza?" Jean-Luc asked.
Beverly stepped toward her husband and caught the upper part of his arm as discreetly as she could. She didn't want him to offend Lwaxana. The truth was that, whatever he was thinking, Lwaxana already knew everything. Still, she often indulged humans their opaque practices, and accepted what they said, rather than what they thought.
"She doesn't have any living grandparents, does she? Or am I mistaken?"
"Beverly's Nana," Jean-Luc said. "She already has all she needs."
Beverly felt an odd tug at her chest. She didn't expect to be quite as moved as she felt when Lwaxana's expression shifted. For a moment, she felt like something of a mask had dropped. There was a quick flicker of Lwaxana—the real Lwaxana, without the trappings and performances—and her expression made Beverly's chest ache. Evie must have sensed something, too, because where she'd been entirely content before, she started to whine against Lwaxana's chest.
Lwaxana sighed, and quickly restored her mask almost entirely. She patted Evie's back affectionately, and the baby ceased her threats to fuss.
"Well—no matter," Lwaxana said, not sounding entirely like her heart believed it was no matter.
Beverly pushed back against the desire to pinch her husband. Instead, she dropped his arm and stepped forward, her hand going to Lwaxana's shoulder.
"There is always room for more Zaza's in anyone's life," Beverly said. "And—I think Evie would…adore…a Zaza. In fact, I know she would."
Beverly practically felt the air in the room become lighter and more comfortable. Lwaxana smiled. Beverly didn't miss, though, that her coal black eyes looked damper than usual.
"Yes—she would like that, wouldn't she? Now…when was the last time she was fed?"
"Just before you arrived," Beverly said.
"Wonderful," Lwaxana said. "She's quite content. Does she eat well? Oh—she's such a darling little thing." She shifted the baby so that she could look at her a bit more easily. "I know you do, don't you? You're just…eating so well, and growing big and strong."
Beverly couldn't help but smile.
"She eats very well," Beverly said.
"Does she take a bottle?" Lwaxana asked.
"When necessary," Beverly said. "I'm trying to make sure that she is accustomed to both. Just in case. You can never be sure of what might happen, and if anything were to happen, I wouldn't want things to be more difficult for her than they have to be."
"Of course…now…what bottle does she prefer? And you'll need to tell me if you have a preferred formula replicated," Lwaxana said. "And—does she have any special requirements or preferences?"
"I beg your pardon," Jean-Luc said. "But…what reason do you have to need to know all of this?"
Lwaxana smiled at him.
"You're exhausted," Lwaxana said. "The both of you. And with good reason. I've done my share of taking care of babies. What you both need is a chance to relax. You need just a small reset and you'll be fresh and ready for anything. So—while Evie spends some time with her Zaza, her parents will be recovering."
"Recovering?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Take a shower, Jean-Luc," Lwaxana said. She cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. Beverly felt her face run warm before the woman even spoke. "Let Beverly help you. Goodness knows—I'm fully aware of the…limitations…that you have, but the world isn't ending, my dear man. You don't have to be a Betazoid—or any other species well-versed in pleasure, to know that there are other options. Then…have a nice meal. Go to that place…what do you call it? Ten Forward? Have something there. Or have something here. Take a nap. Visit the holodecks. Do what you need to unwind a bit."
"And where will our daughter be during all this time that we're…"
"Resting, Jean-Luc," Lwaxana said. "Oh—nobody needs to know the details. I will, of course…you can't hide them from me, but to everyone else? You're just resting."
"And Evie?"
Lwaxana smiled.
"And Evie will be with her Zaza," Lwaxana said. "Oh—we'll have a wonderful time, won't we, my darling? We'll go on a nice little walk around the ship. Maybe we'll—have a nice little nap and read a few stories. Oh—the possibilities are endless…"
"I don't know about…" Jean-Luc started.
Beverly stopped him.
He looked at Beverly. He locked eyes with her. She could practically feel him asking her what she thought.
She considered it.
She had known of people who had parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even friends who had taken the baby for hours, here and there, to give them time to rest. She'd always heard of that and thought of such a little vacation—just enough time for a reset, that was what Lwaxana had called it—as something akin to a fairytale.
Some part of her, perhaps, felt as Jean-Luc might be feeling right now—like it was quite difficult to imagine entrusting the care of their newborn to someone else.
Jean-Luc, Beverly knew, was having trouble with the idea of leaving Evie in the care of Lwaxana Troi.
Beverly, though, didn't feel quite the same way. Lwaxana loved to perform. She loved to put on for people—especially people like Jean-Luc. Evie, Beverly was sure, would come to truly love that about her Zaza in years to come—since Beverly quite believed that this would be no passing fancy for Lwaxana. Still, for all her show and bravado, Beverly could tell that there was so much more there. She could feel it, herself.
"Evie is safe with Lwaxana," Beverly said, meaning it with every fiber of her being.
"Of course, she is," Lwaxana breathed out. "Why—I'll protect her with my life, if such a thing were to be necessary. I'll never let her out of my sight."
"I know you won't," Beverly said, meaning that, too.
Lwaxana locked eyes with her. She was sincere, for a moment—the same stripped away version of herself that Beverly had glanced earlier.
"Believe me, I won't," Lwaxana said.
Beverly sighed. Her whole body felt practically heavy at the thought that, for just a little while, she could rest and recharge—and know that her baby girl was being cared for as well as she possibly could be.
"She prefers the bottle that's saved in the replicator as EP 7. Maternal Formula BCP is the request to synthesize my milk, if you should need it. There are diapers…and clothes. And she loves to be talked to and read to. She doesn't mind noise while she sleeps, and she loves to be held. I don't believe that you can spoil her by holding her too much."
Lwaxana smiled.
"Neither do I," she said. "You can't spoil a baby just by loving them and protecting them. Now—may Evie and I get on with our date while the two of you get on with yours? How you spend your time isn't my business…just…enjoy yourself. And relax. I'll look after Evie."
"I know you will," Beverly said. "Jean-Luc?" He simply looked at Beverly.
"It would be polite to say thank you," she said.
"Thank you," Jean-Luc said, looking at least a little confused.
"Oh—absolutely no thanks needed," Lwaxana said, passing Evie to Beverly. "Here now…do have a love for now, and I'll just wash my hands, and gather a few things, and we'll be on our way!"
