Selena Paris entered her house by throwing her bookbag on the floor. She knew that her parents were going to yell at her when they saw her bag on the floor. She should have taken the bag upstairs to her room and start on her homework, but she was angry.
"Computer, who is home?" Selena hoped that no one was home so she could throw something or scream at the top of her lungs.
"Miral and your father," The computer said. Selena knew that her father was in his holodeck studio and wouldn't be able to hear anything. If Miral was home that meant that she was in her room because she didn't see her in the main part of the house.
Selena ran upstairs and knocked on her sister's door. She didn't wait for her sister to answer before entering. Miral looked up to see who was coming in. Selena was waiting for her sister to yell at her to get out of her room. Miral only lifted one eyebrow before Selena fell on Miral's bed.
"I hate boys," Selena said after a minute or two.
Miral looked at her sister because it was just the other day that she was talking about some boy in her class. "Why do you hate boys?" She asked.
"Billy Stone," Selena moaned. This was the first time that she heard this name.
"Who is Billy Stone?" Miral asked. "And why do you hate him?"
"Billy is a Starfleet brat, whose parents are both on some ship together. He thinks that he is special because of who his parents are."
Before Selena could talk some more Miral asked. "Who are his parents?"
"Adrian and Helen Stone," Miral knew who they were. They were making their way up the Starfleet ladder. "So why do you hate him?"
"Whenever I'm in the room, he likes to comment on how the name Paris used to mean something. That Dad ruined the name because he married mom. He likes to ask me how many fights happen in our home because Mom has temper." Before Selena knew it, she was back in the lunchroom at school.
"So, Paris," Selena gave him a look because he was interrupting her lunch as she waited for her friends. His two friends took a seat on each of his sides. "What is it like to be a disgrace Paris?" Billy turned to his two friends to them laughing. Selena took a breath because she could hear her mother's voice in her about losing her temper. "I wonder if there are fights in their house every night."
"Probably. Her dad probably ends up in the hospital once a week." One of Billy's friends said. Billy and his other friend laughed.
Selena was ready to jump over and punch Billy in the face. She didn't need the school to call her parents because her parents punished her. "My parents are very happy together," Selena hissed at them. Selena started to stand before she did something she was going to get in trouble for.
"Before you leave, Paris. I have one question," Selena knew that she should just walk away but stay to hear what Billy had to say. "Did your grandfather disown your father again when your father brought your mother home?" Selena had to be the better person and walked away before she punched him in the face. She heard him laughing behind her.
"Why does our family have a bad history?" Selena leaned back against the pillows.
Miral looked at her twelve-year-old sister. "How is our family history bad? I think our history made us into what we are today. You know Grandpa Paris loves Dad and Mom," Her sister nodded. "Grandpa once told me that Mom made Dad stronger, and he was happy that Mom and Dad found each other. Mom's and Dad's history brought them together. They had to grow together and separate to be here today. You wouldn't be here if they weren't together. I would have to say that we have the blood of warriors in our blood from being Klingon is a good thing. "
Selena smiled. "I'm tired of being in Dr. Torres and Tom Paris shadows. I want to make my own mark."
"Then do it. Be Selena. Don't listen to this Billy Stone because his family set a high bar for him." Miral said.
"Thank you," Selena got up. "I know Xavier would have punched him. What would you have done?"
"I would have hit him too." The girls laughed. "You are too patient."
"Maybe I learned from my older siblings," Selena smiled. Miral opened to say something when the comm went off. It was one of Miral's friends calling and Selena left them.
B'Elanna stood in her room. She had come home early because she had a meeting at Starfleet Command. She had come home to see Selena's bookbag on the floor and was ready to yell at the girl. She asked the computer where she was and found out that she was in Miral's room. She wondered what was going on and why Selena was in her sister's room. B'Elanna stopped when she heard Selena asking the question about their family. B'Elanna was ready to go in there when she heard Miral's respond. When she heard the girls laughing, she walked away and headed for her room.
She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know what to say to Tom, but she felt proud of Miral. She tried to figure out where she and Tom went right with her. She knew that Selena was young and needed to figure out what she wanted in life. B'Elanna laughed because it took her many years to figure that out, but she knew that Selena would have a support system that would be with her.
"Hey, when did you get home?" Tom asked her as he entered their room.
"About fifteen minutes ago," B'Elanna looked up at her husband. Tom nodded as he changed his shirt. B'Elanna watched him.
"Everything okay?" Tom asked her. It had been a while since she just looked at him.
B'Elanna didn't know where the tears came from, but they started to fall. Tom took her in his arms. Tom lifted her head and raised an eyebrow. B'Elanna wiped a tear. "I'm just proud of Miral."
Tom smiled. "What did she do?" B'Elanna told him what happened between Miral and Selena. Tom frowned. "Why do you think she asked that question?"
B'Elanna looked into the blue eyes she loved so much. "Maybe something happened at school."
Tom smiled and grabbed her hand. "Let's get dinner ready," He led her out of their bedroom. "Also, we need to talk to Xavier about his schoolwork." B'Elanna moaned. She was going to kill that boy.
"He's your son," B'Elanna mumbled under her breath. Tom let out a laugh as they made it to the kitchen.
After dinner, Tom watched as Selena took her ice cream bowl outside to the back patio. The rest of the family went to do their own thing. B'Elanna was in her office, Miral said that she was working on homework. Tom wondered if maybe she was calling a friend. Xavier said he had homework to do. Some parts of Tom didn't believe him. Tom decided on one child at a time.
Tom took his ice cream bowl and followed Selena to the patio. He took a bite before looking at his youngest daughter. "How was school?" He asked.
"Fine," Selena didn't look up at him.
"Anything interesting happen," Tom looked out to their backyard.
"No," Selena still didn't look at him.
"Any boys try to tell you how beautiful you are?" Tom asked. He knew his daughter was getting older and she might be thinking about boys. He already knew that Miral was into boys.
Selena laughed. "No." They sat there eating their ice cream. "Dad," Selena ate the last bit of her ice cream.
"Yeah," Tom scraped his bowl.
"Would you change anything about your life?" Selena asked.
Tom placed his bowl down, took Selena's bowl, and put it in his. "No," Tom said. He knew that it was true. It didn't take long for him to think about it.
"Why? I mean you were in jail and your family disown you," Selena looked at her father.
"Because every moment led to this moment," Selena frowned at her dad. She wanted him to explain it. Tom sighed. "I first lied about something, then I told the truth, and I left Starfleet. I stopped talking to my family and it hurt. In a bar in France, I met Chakotay who needed pilot and I wanted to fly again. I joined him, where I briefly saw this beautiful engineer. I didn't get the chance to meet her before I was captured. I knew that I was never going to see that beautiful woman again. I got a chance to get out of there when Admiral Janeway needed my help.
"The next thing I knew I was in the Delta quadrant and that beautiful woman was made Chief Engineer. In the Delta quadrant, I had a second chance, and I took it. I fell in love with the Chief Engineer. I knew right away that this woman was for me. We had our ups and downs before I could ask her to marry me. It was one of happiest days of my life.
"Before I knew it, we were going to have a baby. We didn't think that it was going to happen so soon, but we were happy. When I got back to Earth, I knew that my family missed me and was glad that I was alive. They were happy about meeting the woman that changed me," Tom wrapped an arm around Selena. "Where did this all come from?"
"A boy at school said some things about our family, then I talked to Miral about it. She said that our family is great. I was mad that people see me by what you or Mom do." Selena looked away from him.
"Hey," Tom made Selena look at him. "Your mom and I only want you to be you and do what you want to do with your life. But know this your mom and I going to love you no matter what." Tom kissed the top of her forehead.
Tom stood, grabbed the bowls, and headed into the house. "You are an amazing father," Tom turned to see B'Elanna by the back door.
Tom smiled. He put the bowls down. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him. He looked outside to make sure Selena wasn't paying attention before kissing his wife. "Well, I have amazing help," He took her hand and led her out of the kitchen, upstairs to their room, and closing the door behind him.