AN: Here's another chapter to this one!
I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!
111
"Oh—don't you look so pretty for Papa!" Beverly cooed to the baby girl that she had just finished carefully dressing.
Beverly loved being Wesley's mother, and she would love and adore another son, were she ever to have one, but some part of her had always wanted a little girl to fuss over and dress in some of the pretty little items she saw for baby girls.
Of course, so far in Evie's life, Beverly had hardly had a reason to do more than change her from one pair of pajamas or onesie to another. All she'd been doing, after all, was spending her time in their quarters, nursing Evie and taking care of her basest needs.
Today, however, Evie was a week old and Jean-Luc had returned to duty. Beverly was feeling ready to venture out and let her daughter meet some of the people who were anxious to meet her. There would be a recorded message that would be broadcasted, where Evie would be introduced to the ship—since the Enterprise was a large ship, and subjecting her to actually being passed around so many people at once would be truly overwhelming for Beverly and Evie—so that the initial desire to see the baby would be quelled a bit.
Beverly had showered, dressed herself in her maternity uniform for comfort, and felt, honestly, a great deal more enthusiastic about the day than she had in the past few days.
She loved Evie dearly, of course, but she was also looking forward to simply leaving their quarters for a bit and stretching her legs. She'd needed these first few days of feeling safe and closed away with her little family, and now she needed the feeling of stretching her proverbial wings a little and venturing back out into the bigger world of the Enterprise.
Evie was calm for now, and even a bit wide-eyed. Beverly hoped she would hold off on sleep for a while longer. She'd tried to time this perfectly so that Jean-Luc could make the little video for the crew before Evie took another nap. She would, however, want to be fed very soon, but Beverly hoped to wait until she was in Jean-Luc's ready room to feed her—thus hopefully presenting a somewhat wide-eyed and contented Evie to everyone, instead of an Evie that was angry about the cruel injustices of a world that would deny her everything she wanted…or at least make her wait two to five minutes for it.
Beverly gathered her daughter up and left their quarters, almost feeling like the trip to the bridge would be a grand adventure. She found herself being hyper-aware of everything—how she moved a little differently in her space, how people's eyes were drawn to her differently now than they had been when they'd been drawn to her swollen belly, and how she felt the need to look inviting, while also ignoring a natural tensing in her muscles that came with the realization that she would be sharing her baby girl with everyone.
These were nothing more than instincts, though, and she knew that—some practically primordial responses to being a new mother and venturing forth with her little one outside of the protection of her nest that had made her comfortable for the past few days. She vaguely remembered it with Wesley—a sort of muscle memory—and she knew it would pass.
A few deep breaths, a few approving smiles exchanged on the turbolift where a couple of ensigns dared to peek at Evie but weren't brave enough to say anything, and Beverly found herself feeling better and relaxing.
By the time she reached the bridge, she stepped off with confidence and far less muscle tension.
"No children on the bridge, Doctor."
Beverly smiled at Will's choice for a greeting. He smiled, too.
"I believe I have the captain's permission," Beverly said.
"No doubt you do," Will said.
"Is that Evie?" Deanna asked, practically rushing toward Beverly. Although Beverly would have been happy with her visit, she had insisted on "respecting and honoring family time," by not coming by in the days when Beverly and Jean-Luc weren't leaving their quarters.
"It would hardly be reasonable to assume that Doctor Crusher has any other infant," Data offered, "especially since none have been born since her baby's birth."
"It's just a method of greeting, Data," Beverly offered, passing the baby over to Deanna.
"It is an unusual method of greeting," Data offered. "We do not regularly ask for someone to identify another being, unless we are uncertain of their identity."
"She looks like you, Beverly," Deanna said, ignoring Data's curiosities about their exchanges.
"In fact, I don't think she looks at all like Jean-Luc," Will offered, looking over Deanna's shoulder.
"Please don't say that to Jean-Luc," Beverly said, laughing quietly.
"Oh—she's just precious…" Deanna mused. She gave Will a look that Beverly could interpret easily. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, especially when Will seemed to squirm a little under Deanna's gaze.
Evie was calm enough in Deanna's arms, but Beverly held her breath a little when Deanna decided to help Data hold the little one.
"Relax, Data," Deanna said, when Evie started to fuss. Beverly held her breath and balled her hands into fists, hoping that nobody noticed. She didn't want to interfere or intervene—and she was afraid that her voice would come out unnaturally, if she tried to offer suggestions at the moment. Finally, Evie settled a little, just as Data was making a few observations about the baby.
"You said the baby looks like Dr. Crusher. There is really very little resemblance between Evie and either of her parents…" Data said.
"Data!" Deanna scolded.
Evie, for her part, decided that she was quite done with meeting new people, and she began to fuss. Beverly took this as her opportunity to swoop in and gain access to her daughter, once more, without being seen as overbearing or rude.
"Have I caused her some injury?" Data asked.
"She's fine," Beverly assured him, happy to have her baby girl back. She was ready to share her with the world, but maybe only in very, very short intervals. "She's just a little hungry."
"The captain is expecting you in his ready room," Will offered, his smile having returned after the brief look of worry that had crossed his features when he'd sensed that Deanna might be thinking about the possibility of increasing the complement aboard the ship by at least one more.
Beverly thanked Will, accepted the final words of congratulations and fawning over Evie, and she took her daughter to the ready room. The chime barely sounded before Jean-Luc beckoned her inside, and the doors slid open.
Jean-Luc was already standing to greet her, and Beverly couldn't help but smile, wondering how anxious he'd been for her to arrive with the little one.
"Is there anything particularly the matter with Evie?" Jean-Luc asked, meeting Beverly and their fussing infant.
"She's fine," Beverly assured him. "Probably just missing her papa."
Jean-Luc smiled at that. He'd been home with them during what had been a wonderful week of time spent simply being a family. It had been everything that Beverly might crave to have with Jean-Luc, and she looked forward to breaks and vacations, now, more than she really ever had before.
She was also impressed, honestly, with how well Jean-Luc had adapted, and how much he'd been willing to offer her support and to help care for Evie. He worried daily about his abilities as a father, but Beverly was starting to have even fewer doubts than she'd ever had before.
"I have very little doubt that's the case. Does she require changing?"
"Nursing," Beverly said, inviting herself to sit and take care of Evie's need before Jean-Luc even had time to insist that she do just that.
While she nursed Evie, Jean-Luc told her about his day so far. He filled her in on what had been going on, and the fact that he was expecting a call from Admiral Jameson to provide him with details about their next mission—one that would change the course of what they thought they'd be doing. They briefly talked about the recording they would make to broadcast to everyone on the ship, and Jean-Luc practiced a few possible speeches he might give as he proudly introduced his daughter.
Beverly was happy, really, to nurse Evie and listen to Jean-Luc talk.
As soon as Evie was done nursing, Jean-Luc was already reaching for her.
"Don't you want me to burp her?" Beverly asked.
"Her Papa is quite capable of burping her," Jean-Luc insisted.
Beverly didn't argue with him. She passed him the baby, and he happily took Evie into his hands and held her lovingly against his chest.
As soon as he'd gotten her the slightest bit situated, he received the call from Admiral Jameson that he'd been expecting, and he took the baby with him as he somewhat rushed to answer the call at his desk. Beverly followed him, meaning to take their daughter back before Jean-Luc appeared on the screen.
She was just a touch too late, however. As the screen came on, and the call was fully connected, instead of finding Jean-Luc at any sort of attention, Admiral Jameson found him attempting to readjust Evie so that he could gently return her to Beverly's arms.
As a parting gift, and perhaps as a critique of her parents' abilities to do things to her liking, Evie decided to void her stomach of much of what she'd just eaten, splashing the front of her father's uniform with more milk than Beverly would have really thought her tiny tummy had to spare.
And, then, unhappy with the fact that she'd lost her lunch and, perhaps, her papa, she launched into a howl that probably rang through Starfleet Headquarters, thanks to the connection that had been established.
"My sincerest apologies, Admiral," Jean-Luc stammered.
Beverly rushed to bring him a towel from the replicator, and he did his best to try to clean up the spit up in a dignified manner, but there was really no way to undo what had been seen—and there was no way to change his uniform at the moment.
Luckily, Admiral Jameson laughed.
"Ah, yes…they told me that Jean-Luc Picard was a brand-new father," Admiral Jameson said. "I had not realized quite how new. And is that Doctor Beverly Crusher?"
"Doctor Beverly Picard," Beverly said. "Admiral," she added.
"My wife, as I'm sure you know," Jean-Luc said, clearly relaxing a little.
"Do step a bit closer," Admiral Jameson said. "I would like to be the first to see the young Picard."
Beverly smiled and brought Evie into view.
"Admiral Jameson…meet Evie Picard," Beverly said. Admiral Jameson smiled. He offered Beverly the expected compliment about how beautiful her baby was, and she took her leave of him, stepping outside the view of the screen. In the meantime, Jean-Luc had been mopping at his uniform with the towel, and though it wasn't entirely stain-free, it looked much better than it had only moments ago, when his daughter's artwork had been fresh.
"Why aren't you on leave?" Admiral Jameson asked. He laughed. "Don't answer that. I already know. I was at work the day after my son was born. Still—in hindsight, I would recommend that you spend as much time with your children as you can. They grow up very quickly."
"The week has already passed with an unbelievable speed," Jean-Luc agreed. "However, I am lucky enough to have my family aboard the Enterprise, so we don't have to be far apart."
"No—not for some time," Admiral Jameson said. "We do have a mission for you, though, that will require a short period of separation, I'm sorry to say—but not for a few weeks. You'll need to transport a few delegates, host a small negotiation, and attend a conference on behalf of the Federation."
Beverly made a gesture to suggest that she would leave, and Jean-Luc furrowed his brow and gave her a sharp half-shake of the head to suggest that she should stay.
"This is not confidential, is it Admiral?" Jean-Luc asked.
"No—it's not even particularly sensitive," Admiral Jameson said. "Simply a job for our flagship—especially since you were requested, specifically, by one of the ambassadors that will be taking part in all of the upcoming events.
Beverly, who had moved to the replicator to make a few requests for the supplies she needed for a diaper change that she sensed was imminent, looked at Jean-Luc just in time to see him blanche slightly at the ambassador's name—not that either of them would have expected any less than the special request. Beverly smiled at Jean-Luc as he tried to control his face and pretend that he was pleased with the assignment.
She doubted, though, that Admiral Jameson believed him at all—though, she didn't doubt the man's amusement at Jean-Luc's barely-hidden irritation over the impending arrival of their guests and, in particular, the impending arrival, and somewhat extended stay, of one of them.
"Deanna's going to be so pleased…" Beverly told Evie, as she carried her over to change her and wait for Jean-Luc to finish his call.