Tom made his way through his house. It was still early morning, and everyone was still sleeping. Both of his daughters' families were here. His daughters were sleeping in their childhood rooms with their husbands. His grandsons were sleeping down in the rec room while his granddaughters were sleeping in his son's old room. B'Elanna was still sleeping in their bed. Tom couldn't sleep because it has been fifty years since they returned to the Alpha Quadrant.
Starfleet was putting on a memorial on for the return of Voyager that included a replica of Voyager. The members of the crew were allowed early access to the replica before the crowd started to come. Tom thought about the people that couldn't be here. Captain Janeway passed away a couple of years ago and Chakotay passed away a year ago. Tom remembers being at their funerals. They both were nice. They should be here to see this.
"Dad, are you okay?" Tom turned to see Selena standing there.
"Yeah, just thinking," He saw that she was making her way to the replicator and order two coffees. She handed him a cup.
"About what?" She asked.
"Today. What is it going to hold? Fifty years ago, we came home to the Alpha Quadrant. Now this. A part of me always thought that I would be it the Delta Quadrant still. It would have taken us seventy- five years to get home. We would have been close, and I don't know how we could have done it or how many people we would have lost." Tom looked at his daughter. "I don't know how we would have raised three kids on the ship."
"You found a way home and took it. I think that you and Mom would have done what was needed to be done for us. Everyone wants to celebrate with you." Selena took a sip of her coffee.
"What about the people that can't be here?" Tom asked.
Selena smiled. "I think that they will be there," She went over and kissed her father on the cheek. "I wouldn't be here if you didn't get lost in the Delta Quadrant. You wouldn't have eight grandchildren," Selena made her way out of the kitchen and went back upstairs to her sleeping her husband.
Tom sighed before putting his cup down before heading upstairs to his own room, he climbed in bed, and reached for a hand. He felt B'Elanna give it a squeeze.
They stood there waiting to get in, Tom had to take a breath, he saw B'Elanna's face and knew that she was nervous about what they were going to see and if the memories came back to them. He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. She looked at him and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. They both knew some of the memories were going to be painful for them, it was part of the reason that they brought the rest of the family. Tom looked over them and saw how tall Miral's sons stood to Selena's youngest who reached out for his grandmother's hand. He smiled up at her.
"Grandma," Saxon said. "Is this the ship where you met Grandpa?"
B'Elanna smiled at him. "Yep, I didn't like him at first," B'Elanna made a face that had Saxon laughing.
"Yet, you married the man," Miral said to her mother. B'Elanna rolled her eyes at her daughter. "Love you, too, Mom," Miral smiled.
Tom took a breath when a man showed up to see if they let him in. "The Paris family," Tom told the man. The man looked at the group before letting them in.
They entered a hallway with the history if Voyager on the wall. There were pictures and little buttons under them. B'Elanna looked at the first button and pushed it. The computer voice came on and told them how the ship was made. B'Elanna looked at her youngest grandchild to see the wonder on his face. He ran to the next and pressed the next one that told of Voyager first mission to catch the Maquis in the Badlands. She felt Tom at her side and took a breath. The Maquis was a part of her. If she didn't have the Maquis, she wouldn't never have what she had now. She looked at her family to see that they went to another button to push. Saxon was leading the family. Tom took her hand and followed the family as they learned the history of Voyager.
At the end of the hall it, there was a set of doors at opened and B'Elanna was taken back fifty-eight years when she first stepped into Engineering. The warp core was in the center of the room. She had to fight that thing so many times for it to run for them. She could see herself running from console to console getting something to work for the captain for one of her crazy plans to work.
"Grandma is that you?" Sam asked. She went over to see her standing there with a PADD in her hand. B'Elanna nodded. "You look so young,"
"I think that I was about twenty-five. I was just made Chief Engineer by Captain Janeway. I was nervous that I would let her down," B'Elanna saw a button to a personal log next to her. She wondered what they decided to go with. Towards the end of their journey, she had a lot to say. Talking about her relationship with Tom and how scared she was about becoming a mother.
"I think she made the right choice, Lieutenant," Tom said from behind her. B'Elanna laughed before pushing the button next to her.
The personal log was from when she was dealing with Dreadnought. How the missile had sounded like her and how it lied to her. B'Elanna took a breath as she listened to herself talking about it. Part of her was grateful that it wasn't too personal, and it was something she could talk about to her family.
"Did you really program a Cardassian missile to attack the Cardassians?" Brice asked. He never thought that his grandmother was this tough.
B'Elanna gave him a half smile. "I did. I learned the consequences of my mistakes," The teacher had to make it a lesson for her sixteen-year-old grandson.
The family made their way around Engineering, learning about the place. All Tom and B'Elanna could think about was the quiet corners they found to be together. "Do you remember when those aliens were doing a science experiment on us?" Tom whispered in her ear.
B'Elanna smiled. "You couldn't keep your hands off of me."
"Me," Tom placed a hand on his chest acting like he was innocent. "I remember you calling me to Engineering to make out."
B'Elanna laughed and had the family looking at her. "I do remember Janeway yelling at us."
"I felt that I was sixteen again and Mom had caught us," Tom smiled that made B'Elanna feel that she was back on Voyager, and they were just dating.
They left Engineering and found themselves in sickbay. Tom smiled before saying. "Computer please activate medical hologram.
Before the family the doctor of the ship appeared before them. "Please state the nature of your medical emergency," B'Elanna and Tom started laughing, making their family stare at them like they were on something.
"I see the years haven't changed you," Tom and B'Elanna turned around to the 'real' doctor standing there. He was in latest medical Starfleet blues.
"Doc, it's been years since we last saw you," B'Elanna went and hugged the doctor.
Tom hugged him next. "I see the years have been good to you," The doctor shook his head.
"I'm a hologram," The doctor turned to their family. Saxon looked up at him with bright blue eyes. The doctor knew where he got those eyes.
"Wow," Saxon said. "If you know my grandma and grandpa than you must know some stories."
The doctor looked from Saxon to Tom and B'Elanna and smiled before looking back at Saxon. "There was the time that your grandfather turned to a lizard," The young boys eyes widen and got some of the older boys to look at the doctor. "And there was the time that there was an alien attached itself to your grandmother." All the boys looked from the doctor to their grandmother to see if he was right. "Your grandfather was my nurse for last four years we were in Delta Quadrant, and he cared greatly for your grandmother whenever she was in here. I also got to deliver their first baby. There was a lot of screaming from your grandmother." The older boys smiled while Saxon laughed. The doctor raised one finger to them. "I do say that they made great friends when we were together."
The boys nodded and went back to looking around the sickbay pressing buttons to hear some of the stories of sickbay. The doctor turned to his two friends. The last time they saw each other was at the funeral of Chakotay. "I thought the next we would see each other would be at another funeral," The doctor said.
"I did, too." Tom said. He wondered who would have been next to pass away. He had a feeling that it would have been him.
"I'm glad that we got to see each other again," The doctor said.
"We should…" B'Elanna said.
The doctor shook his head. "Please don't say we should get together, you have a life with your family," He waved to their family. "We have moved on and learned to live without each other." The doctor smiled. "I'll probably outlive you anyways."
Tom and B'Elanna out a laugh that didn't reach their eyes. They knew what the doctor had said was right. They went from spending all day and every day with each other to barely seeing each other. "It was great seeing you, Doctor." Tom said. Life did get in the way of things. He missed his Voyager family, but they had moved on. Tom saw a few tears on B'Elanna's face as the doctor walked away from them. He went to his old office.
"Mom, Dad are you okay?" Selena asked as Miral and she came up to them.
"Yeah, I think we realized that our friends won't be around for long," B'Elanna said. The sisters watched their parents reached for each other. The sisters traded a look and knew that if one of them dies the other wouldn't last long.
The family exited sickbay and entered the conference room. Tom and B'Elanna took a seat at one of chairs. They remembered all the decisions made in this room. How Janeway would hear what they had to say before making the final decision. Tom remembers trying to convince Janeway and Chakotay of them entering a space race that led him to marrying the woman by his side. B'Elanna could remember when they met up with the Klingons and convincing them that Miral was the savior of their readings.
Saxon took a seat in the captain's chair. He looked like he was ready to give out orders to the rest of the family and Tom had a feeling that everyone would follow him.
"I see we got a captain in the making," Tom leaned closer to B'Elanna and whispered in her ear. The pair of them looked around to find the boy's parents who saw what he was doing. His father couldn't be prouder, and a frown graced his mother's face. She knew what a long journey he had a head of him.
When they were done with the conference room, they made their way to the bridge. Tom broke away from them and went to the helm. He took a seat in the chair and ran his hands over the console. He felt his fingers inching to press the buttons to take the ship into warp. He did press a button and the next thing he knew a young version of him was standing next to him.
"I'm Lieutenant Thomas Paris and I was Chief Helmsman of Voyager. I led Voyager through some tough spots and brought the crew home to the Alpha Quadrant. If you would like to know about me, please press the button again." Before Tom could do it. Saxon pressed the button. The personal log that started was one where he was working on Alice, the alien spaceship. He sounded like someone in love.
"Did you cheat on Grandma with a ship?" Beviyr asked.
Tom looked at B'Elanna, who raised an eyebrow. Tom had opened his mouth to say something when B'Elanna spoke. "Your grandfather had a way of getting distracted with things that had engines. Alice also tried to kill me."
"What?" Beviyr gasped. Every person in their family was looking at them.
Tom and B'Elanna nodded. "It also tried to kill me," Tom looked at B'Elanna like she was the only one in the room. "B'Elanna was the only who could save me, and she did," B'Elanna leaned down and kissed him.
The family lost interest in the couple and went to look around the bridge. Saxon decided to sit in the captain chair and Chakotay appeared in the seat next to him. The screen in front of them turned on and enemy ship appeared. They were firing on them.
"Captain, do we fire back?" Chakotay asked, looking at the young boy.
Saxon got a look in his eyes like he was really the captain of the ship. Everyone in family knew he had the making of a captain. "Fire!" Saxon shouted.
Chakotay turned to Tuvok and nodded. Tuvok fired on the alien ship. The ship burst apart in pieces. A big smile appeared on Saxon's face. Stephen went over to his son and clapped him on the back.
"Good choice, son," Stephen smiled down at him.
Saxon jumped of the chair. "I want to be just like you, Dad. One day I will have my own ship." He went over to the door that led to Captain Janeway's ready room.
"Lead the way, Captain," Stephen followed his son to the ready room.
When the rest of the family entered the room, they saw Captain Janeway sitting behind the desk. Ready to talk to them. When the door closed behind D'stil she told her story about making the decision that stranded them in the Delta Quadrant. How it was hard to make and how she would find any way home for her crew. She told them about her senior staff became her family. It took them seven years to get home. She was glad to get her family home.
The family took a moment because most of the adults knew Janeway. Tom and B'Elanna knew how she would beat herself up for her decision, but some part of them knew that they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Janeway.
They left the ready room and went to a room where there were pictures of the enemies that they faced in the Delta Quadrant. The first picture that B'Elanna saw was the Kazons. They were the first aliens that they fought and made an enemy of. There was a button on next to the picture that would tell anyone about the alien race. B'Elanna didn't want to hear about something that she lived through.
There was a picture next to Kazons and it was a picture of Seska. B'Elanna took a breath as she looked at the young woman. The picture of when she was a Cardassian. Seska was her best friend. It was hard to fight her when she shared so much with the woman. Seska was the one that told her not to give Tom a chance when he was trying to find some friends that was not Harry. After Seska was gone and Tom was still there she had something to think about.
B'Elanna felt someone at her back and knew it was Tom. They had talked about Seska when they first got together and how she missed her friend not the person she had become. B'Elanna had wanted to press the button to see what they had said about her, but Tom had stopped her.
"You know what they would say. Try to remember the friend you had and not what she had done to you or this ship," Tom whispered in her ear.
B'Elanna nodded and turned went across the room, she didn't want to go to the next picture that was next to the Kazons was the next major alien enemy they had come across. B'Elanna looked at the Borg queen, she didn't need to press the button. She already gave lectures on how she kept her mind when she was a Borg. She left the Borgs and saw Species 8472. She didn't stay long. She saw the next alien on the wall and saw the Hirogens.
She taken back to when the Hirogens had taken over their ship and they were in a holodeck program about WWII. She was part of the French Resistance and she pregnant with a German baby. She remembers that she had a summer romance with an American that was played by Tom. After they got the Hirogens off the ship, B'Elanna and Tom talked about having children, they wanted them. They both knew it was early in their relationship, but B'Elanna had told him that it might be hard for her conceive. B'Elanna thought that she just lost Tom when he told her that there were other ways to make a family. She never felt so loved in that moment.
There was only one picture that she hasn't stopped at, so B'Elanna took a breath and before looking at the picture. These were the aliens that split her into two. During that time B'Elanna realized that she needed both of her sides to be who she was. Both sides of her had worked together to escape the Vidians.
"I started to fall in love with on that day," Tom said from behind her. B'Elanna turned to look at her husband. In all the years they been together he had never told her that.
"That soon," B'Elanna said.
"Yep," Tom looked at the picture.
"Why did you never tell me?" B'Elanna asked. She looked around the room to see that her family had left.
"I never thought that you would recuperate my feelings. I knew that being your friend was best," Tom wrapped his arms around her.
Tears came to B'Elanna and all she could do was nod. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "I love you," She said in his chest.
"Mom, Dad," Selena said. Tom and B'Elanna turned their eyes at their youngest daughter. "We are going to Astrometric lab." Selena watched her parents before leaving them.
B'Elanna and Tom stood there for a moment before following their daughter. They entered the Astrometric lab to see their family and one person they haven't seen in years. "Naomi," They said.
The girl that they knew since she was a baby was all grown up and an old woman. Naomi turned around and smiled at them. "Tom, B'Elanna," She came over and hugged them.
"We were sorry to hear about your mom," B'Elanna said. Samantha Wildman had died in the last year.
Naomi smiled. "Thank you. She would have liked this." B'Elanna and Tom nodded. They both wondered what she was doing in Astrometric lab when her mother worked at a different part of the ship.
Before they could ask her, Saxon pushed a button and Seven of Nine and Icheb appeared. They saw Naomi's face changed when she saw her old friend, but there was something different about her face. Tom and B'Elanna knew that Naomi and Icheb kept their friendship for years. B'Elanna wondered if they were in love with each other. She could see the love on Naomi's face and knew that Naomi was in love with the boy. They didn't have a chance to see where their love went. B'Elanna wanted to hug the young woman.
"I'll see you around," Naomi said and left them in the lab with their family.
The family soon left the lab and went to a room that talked about the Pathfinder. There was a Barclay hologram that told them about how everyone in the Alpha Quadrant thought that they lost the crew of Voyager until the doctor made a visit to them. They put in effort into finding a way home for Voyager. The family liked it.
The last room that they went to was the mess hall. In the mess hall there were different crew members that they haven't seen in years. In the mess hall was food and drinks for the crew and their families. Tom and B'Elanna stood to side and watched their family talk with the people around the room. They talked to old crewmembers of the ship, catching up with them. They were waiting for some people they wanted to see. The doctor found them, and they were waiting for the same people.
Tuvok and his wife were the first to appear. In a strange way Tuvok was always a friend to them. Tuvok found them and made his way over to them. Tom and B'Elanna asked about his family, and he asked about their family. The next person that they wanted to come in was Seven, she saw all who were here and made her way over to them. They could see how much she missed Chakotay. They were together for a long time. They saw the groups of people form; they were the last of the senior officers. They were only missing one more person.
"Sorry, I'm late," Admiral Harry Kim said. He greeted everyone before making his way over to them. Tom and B'Elanna hugged him.
"I missed you," Harry smiled. He greeted everyone in the group. "I was waiting for something," He pulled out a PADD. He turned it on and a familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Neelix." Tom smiled. He saw how the years took the toll on him.
"Hello, everyone," Neelix smiled at them. "The only one who looks like they didn't age is the doctor here," The group laughed.
They stood there talking about what has happen for the past fifty years. Neelix was sorry about Captain Janeway and Chakotay. He was glad to see the faces of his old friends again.
"I think a picture is in order," Miral said. Tom and B'Elanna almost forgot that their family was there.
The old senior staff gathered around each other and Miral took a picture of them. None of them realized the picture that was behind them. It was the picture they had taken when they were talking about their ancestors.