AN: Here we are, another piece to this one!
I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!
111
"She is irresponsible and infuriating," Jean-Luc offered.
Beverly laughed quietly. She had the slight appearance of intoxication, despite the fac that she hadn't drank anything. She hummed with a sound of satisfaction that ran up Jean-Luc's spine with a thrill, and came to him, hugging him and pressing herself against him affectionately. He wrapped his arms around her.
Some part of him felt like it was the first time that he'd held her—truly held her, without some part of him struggling to be aware of so many things at once—since Evie had come into the world.
He found himself sighing, quite without intention, at the simple calm of having a moment to collect himself without worrying that, by doing so, he would somehow let his wife and their daughter down.
"She is…flamboyant," Beverly said. "She enjoys being the center of attention. But you can hardly say she's irresponsible, Jean-Luc. And—she won't be irresponsible at all with Evie." She drew in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh—hers came quite on purpose, Jean-Luc was sure. She hummed in a satisfied sort of way and squeezed him gently, rooting into him slightly. "In fact, I would argue that Evie is as safe as she possibly can be."
"Why would you think that?" Jean-Luc asked, softening a bit more. The frustration and annoyance he felt—and the concern at letting their brand-new baby girl go out the door with Lwaxana Troi—started to melt entirely as he held Beverly and relaxed into the embrace. Though they hadn't avoided each other by any stretch of the imagination, they hadn't simply had these kind of quiet moments to hold each other since Evie had been born, and Jean-Luc hadn't realized, until this exact moment, how much he had missed them or how very necessary they felt to his sanity and their closeness as a couple.
"Mother's intuition?" Beverly asked.
"More like emotional projection," Jean-Luc said. "You haven't forgotten that Lwaxana Troi has the ability to project emotions onto others, have you?"
Beverly laughed quietly and snuggled into him a bit more. He closed his eyes. He had no idea how they might spend their day, but at the moment, he could imagine that he would be wholly content if they remained just as they were until Lwaxana returned with their daughter.
"Not at all," she said. "But—if this is the emotion she's choosing to project, then it's difficult to turn that into a reason to be afraid of her. Jean-Luc…I understand you're worried, and I do understand that Lwaxana enjoys giving you a hard time to see you squirm—something you do fall for every time, for the record—but I wouldn't let her take Evie, if I wasn't absolutely confident that she'd be safe and well cared for."
Jean-Luc accepted what she said. He relaxed more fully than he had.
Beverly had been very protective of their little one since she'd come into the world. She didn't exactly deny anyone the chance to fawn over her and, occasionally, to touch or hold her, but her nervousness was palpable in nearly every encounter that Jean-Luc had experienced. For her to be willing to place her baby into Lwaxana's arms—with a smile on her face, no less—and allow her to go out of the door of their quarters with her, alone, Jean-Luc knew that Beverly had to truly trust the woman on some fundamental level that, perhaps, wasn't even accessible to Jean-Luc.
Mother's intuiton. He'd heard of it before, of course, but he was only now just beginning to believe it might very well be a very real and very powerful thing.
"You trust her," he said softly.
"Implicitly," Beverly confirmed.
Jean-Luc drew in a breath and let it out, willing himself to fully relax with the act.
"Then—I shall, too," he said, squeezing Beverly gently and rubbing his hands over her to drink in the feeling of her in his arms.
"Good," Beverly said. "So? What shall we do with our freedom?"
Jean-Luc felt his body tense slightly in response to the question. They hadn't been alone since Evie had been born—not really—and the nights, when Evie was sleeping in periods, had been nights of exhaustion, when they had slept because they knew how precious and limited that sleep would be. It was entirely unreasonable to say that he felt a little nervous with the woman that he loved the most in the world, but it was true.
After all, there were a good number of things that seemed to make Jean-Luc nervous, these days, if he thought about them. The reaction didn't always make sense from a logical perspective, but his nervous system's response to things wasn't always logical.
"I believe that should be up to you," Jean-Luc said. "What would you like to do?"
Beverly sighed contentedly and hummed again, considering all that might be on offer to her.
"I would like to take a shower," she said. "And wash my hair. And I would like to…take a nap. With you. Just like this, but in bed, of course."
"A small order," Jean-Luc teased. "And very much like what Lwaxana suggested you might like."
Beverly laughed quietly.
"There are two possible explanations for her accuracy," she offered. "One is that she's been a new mother before. The other is that she's a formidable telepath."
Jean-Luc laughed. He pulled away and affectionately kissed Beverly's forehead, cheek, and then lips. She smiled at him when the soft kisses were done, and his chest flooded with affection.
"And whichever it actually is, it doesn't matter," he said. "Come—let's take a shower."
111
"Jean-Luc, are you going to talk to me?" Beverly asked.
She felt, honestly, as good as she'd felt in a while. She was clean—really, really clean—and she was still enjoying the warmth of the shower, indulging a bit much, perhaps, but reluctant to leave the water just yet. For the first time since Evie had been born, she wasn't keeping an ear out for sounds of her daughter needing her or her husband becoming overwhelmed by the care of the little one. For just a few moments, she could relax entirely.
Jean-Luc was trying, and Beverly would be the first to tell him and everyone else that he was doing a wonderful job as a brand-new papa, but he was still obviously nervous when it came to Evie and her care. That anxiety led to stress on his part, which Evie could sense. Each day he became a bit more confident, and Evie and Beverly could both be patient with him, but Beverly was enjoying the few moments of peace that she felt at knowing there was no reason to worry.
Evie was fine. She was somewhere on the ship, and she was being cared for by what Beverly could easily imagine was the most doting and fiercely protective Zaza that she could possibly have. Beverly couldn't fully explain her absolute confidence in Lwaxana Troi, but it was there—as much instinct as anything else that she felt, and she'd been flooded, lately, with instinctual feelings and sensations.
For now, Beverly could rest and enjoy the warmth of the shower.
She could also deal with the nervous energy that had surrounded Jean-Luc like a cloud since their daughter's birth—always pushed back, but never entirely gone.
"I wasn't aware that we weren't talking," Jean-Luc offered, letting his fingertips brush over Beverly's shoulders. She could feel a tension in his touch. She thought, maybe, she could even feel his fingers tremble slightly. She could, without a shadow of a doubt, see concern etched into his features.
"We may be talking," Beverly said. "We're certainly exchanging words, but I have the distinct feeling that we're not saying everything there is to say." She let a beat of silence fall. Then, she sighed and put on the best and most reassuring smile that she could. "Jean-Luc, what's on your mind?"
He considered his response for a moment, but clearly decided not to make her ask him again. As soon as she started to open her mouth and repeat her inquiry, he shook his head gently and spoke.
"I would rather not say it, honestly," he said.
"Well, I would rather you did say it," Beverly said. "The sooner you say it, the sooner we can have it done with and get some rest."
"It isn't important," Jean-Luc said, as a sort of protest.
Beverly laughed quietly.
"I can practically feel it, Jean-Luc. It's important enough that you're tense about it."
"Fine," he said. "What if, instead of saying that it isn't important, I say that—it isn't appropriate. It's nothing more than a shallow, selfish concern. A feeling. And this, like most other things, shall pass, Beverly."
Beverly laughed.
"Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much," she teased. "Jean-Luc…I expect you to talk to me, or I'm going to begin to take it personally."
"I am not trying to keep any secrets from you," Jean-Luc said. "This is merely a case of me realizing that my own feelings are insensitive and foolish, Beverly. They aren't something with which you should really be bothered."
Beverly smiled at him. She thought back to what Lwaxana had said—Lwaxana who was a telepath and who may pretend not to know everything, but was never truly in the dark—and her amusement only grew. There was always a certain amount of teasing to what Lwaxana said to Jean-Luc. She found it entertaining to watch him squirm and, really, Beverly thought that was simply because it was, in actuality, amusing. There was, however, usually some element of truth to Lwaxana's teasing, as well.
"Jean-Luc…" Beverly said.
"Hmmm?" He hummed, a hint of fatigue to the hum.
He was tired, just like Beverly was tired, and the fact that they didn't have to truly worry about Evie for a little while was only accentuating how much fatigue they'd both been attempting to hide from each other and from themselves.
He would sleep well, as would Beverly, and she was looking forward to the nap that they would share together.
But, first, she suspected there was a little more that could be done to help ease any remaining tension in their home.
"Why don't you—let me take care of you?" Beverly asked. "I could—release a little tension for you."
She immediately saw on his face that she'd read him correctly—and that Lwaxana had, too. She saw the color rising in his face, too, that said that he was at least a little embarrassed that was the case.
"It's OK," she added. "You can accept the offer, Jean-Luc. I wouldn't offer, if I didn't want to."
"You are quite—restricted," Jean-Luc said.
"But not entirely," she said. "There are other things that I can do for you. Things that don't involve anything I might not want to do right now."
He frowned at her.
"And how enjoyable would that be for you, Beverly?" He asked. "I'm practically afraid to touch you, because I wouldn't want to do a thing to hurt you after Evie's birth. I want you to have all the time that you need to recover, and yet…you propose something that you would likely not enjoy a great deal, just to satisfy a purely selfish desire that I have."
Beverly laughed.
"We're all allowed selfish desires, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "You can trust me. I won't offer anything that I would resent you for accepting. Besides—I do enjoy bringing you pleasure. That's something for me, isn't it?"
"And what shall I do for you?" He asked. "Something that could truly make you feel wonderful."
"For now? You'll hold me while I take a nap—afterwards, of course."
"That hardly seems a fair exchange, when I would have done that anyway," Jean-Luc said.
Beverly smiled at him and winked.
"I'll take the raincheck for later, Jean-Luc," she said. "And I'll hold you to it."