The Hands of Time

Part IV

Rated: MA
Pairing: J/C
Summary: The hands of time stop for no one.
Disclaimer: The characters always belong the Paramount, and some of the script, but the story is mine...thank god for small favours.
Date: November 2000
Length: 630 words

Life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I'm
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

It had been four weeks since they had been transported down to the planet. It had been four weeks since she had begun her journey into motherhood and life after Voyager. She just had to make through this pregnancy. She had been ignoring certain things as long as she could, but now...after today...

She had ignored the swelling in her abdomen, however slight. She had ignored the weight of her breasts growing larger day by day.

Today however, she was no longer able to ignore what was going on in her body. Today she was no longer able to ignore the fact that she was going to be a mother. For today she had felt the first flutter movements of her child growing deep within her womb.

She had been so separate from all that was happening and at first she had been unsure of what it was. She had thought her stomach upset. She had thought something they were feeding her was disagreeing with her.

Then a week later it had happened again. Then again, and it was at this point that she could no longer deny what was happening to her. She could no longer deny this child. And it was that day that for the first time since her neurotic discovery of the child nestled beneath the tissue and muscle and bone that she had touched her body in wonderment.

It was that day she realized how much she had been ignoring Chakotay. It was that day she realized she needed him. It was that day...life began, and her lost religion was restored. The religion of science and discovery. Discovery of life in all its forms, including that which came from within.

It was that day, she ran up to Chakotay and became alive once more. "Chakotay...I felt him move. It was incredible, I..."

He looked her up and down, placing a hand on her slightly rounded abdomen. "I know Kathryn, I love you too."

So the healing began, and the challenge, the rocky path became smoother. This paved the way for many a day, and many a night. Though Chakotay was glad to have his Kathryn back, he knew the life challenges had just begun.

END PART IV
TBC in PART V

The song was 'Losing My Religion' by REM