AN: This is going to be two chapters. At most, it will be three. It can be read alone, but it goes best with the other stories from my later Picard universe. You could read it after "Wear It Well," for instance.

I own nothing from Star Trek.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!

111

"Well, then," Laris said, moving the last of her bags to the transporter pad. "I think that just about does it. There will be replicators at the resort, after all."

"You will let us know that you've arrived safely at your destination," Jean-Luc said. "And that you have found your friend…your…"

Laris smiled at him.

"Saveena," Laris offered.

"I still say that we should meet her first," Beverly offered, from where she stood.

Laris smirked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I require your approval to reconnect with an old friend?" She asked. There were equal parts challenge and teasing in her tone.

"An old friend that you presumed dead," Beverly said. "A friend you haven't spoken to in years."

"Oh—I think this household isn't one where a grudge should be held for extended absences," Laris teased.

"I'm only saying that—she's just come back into your life," Beverly said. "Laris—who can say that she's not Tal Shiar?"

"I think that being very close and…intimate…with a Romulan might be rubbing off on you a little, my love. She's former Tal Shair," Laris said. "The same as me."

"And? What if that's not the truth? What if that's—deception?" Beverly asked. "You know that's their way-deception. What if she's only said that to convince you it's safe when, really, she's still working for them? She might be active Tal Shiar, Laris."

"They're hardly in existence anymore," Jean-Luc said, doing his best to wave away the slightly paranoid concerns that, honestly, he'd come to expect from both of his wives. Their past experiences may have been quite different, after all, but both had seen and experienced enough that trust was sometimes a challenge for them.

"Besides—the Tal Shiar, or what's left of it, has lost interest in me," Laris said.

"You were a traitor," Beverly said, "and Romulans seldom forget…and they aren't that great at forgiving, either."

Laris hummed and raised her eyebrows.

"There are secrets, always, among Romulans," Laris said. "Checks, guarantees, tests. We always put them in place to know that who we're talking to is who they say they are or, at the very least, they're a damn good decoy. Saveena is who she says she is, Beverly. If not—they have gone through an extensive amount of work to give a very convincing cover to the individual acting in her place. Beverly…I was a traitor, and there are possibly still some that would likely like to see me dead, if it were easy to come by that, but…nobody cares enough about me, anymore, to put this level of trickery into it."

Laris walked over to where Beverly was. She visibly softened as she reached her. She reached a hand out and brushed it across Beverly's cheek affectionately.

"Besides—we will be in a very public place at all times. And, besides that, I am not inept at taking care of myself."

"I never said you were," Beverly challenged.

"I know," Laris said. She smiled at Beverly. She raised up on her toes and pressed her lips very gently to Beverly's. "I am only reminding you. You have the information for where I'll be. I have my padd. You can call any time you want, and I'll check in when I'm in my room."

Beverly stared hard at Laris, and Jean-Luc saw the glittering tears that Beverly was doing everything in her power to hold back. She swallowed, visibly, several times, and Elbie fussed in response to likely sensing that there was some unease in the air.

"If this is something that I did, Laris—that we did," Beverly said.

Laris laughed quietly. She raised herself toward her and kissed Beverly, again, this time catching only the corner of her mouth with her lips. She wiped away one tear that escaped and rolled down her cheek, and she reached to touch Beverly's stomach—the show, there, of their next little one to come was barely visible. Anyone who didn't know that there was a baby there, would have likely only considered it a little extra weight carried in one area of Beverly's body.

"This is about—me taking a few days to myself," Laris said. "It's about—I don't know—reconnecting, Beverly, with someone from my past. I thought she died that day. She thought I was killed as a traitor."

"It's a happy reunion," Beverly said.

Even Jean-Luc was struck with the slight chill to her voice. He heard the very faint shake, though, and knew that she was using anger to try to keep other feelings at bay. He dropped an arm over Beverly's shoulder and searched Laris's face. She looked like she was unbothered by Beverly's reaction. She understood, perhaps. At the very least, she was patient with their wife.

"It is a happy reunion," Laris said. "I think it will be. Besides—it won't hurt Elbie and I to be in the presence of our kind for a bit."

"There's Elnor," Beverly said.

"And we should have him over for supper, when I get back," Laris said.

There was something of a standoff between the two women for a moment—one that Jean-Luc certainly didn't want to be in the middle of, so he maintained the most neutral position he could, outside of it all—and Laris finally sighed.

"Beverly—this is also about you and Jean-Luc having a little time to yourselves," Laris said. "You'll have the Château to yourselves. You'll enjoy—I don't know—whatever you do when I'm not around. You'll enjoy your time without me, and I'll have a little time for myself."

"There's just—one thing that I'm not certain about," Beverly said. "There's one thing that makes me uncomfortable."

Laris looked at Jean-Luc like she wanted help.

He simply half-shrugged a shoulder at her and shook his head.

"This is, I believe, mostly between the two of you," Jean-Luc said. "I support everyone having what they need, when they need it."

"Go ahead," Laris breathed out, directing the statement to Beverly.

Beverly nuzzled Elbie for a second before giving her attention back to Laris.

"What I don't know, Laris, is if…you think that we need time without you," Beverly said. "Time that goes beyond the normal time that we dedicate to everyone having time to…to strengthen our individual bonds. I don't know if you feel that—you are somehow not welcome here. Or, if you're needing time away from us beyond the time that you normally have during those times when Jean-Luc and I are spending time together, because you're tiring of our marriage."

Laris laughed quietly.

She reached her hand up and brushed her fingers into Beverly's hair. She did the same with the other hand, until she cupped her face, holding it affectionately. She tipped Beverly's face down and rose up on her toes enough to comfortably press their foreheads together.

Beverly drew in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh—the first actual sound of contentment that Jean-Luc thought he had heard from her since Laris had announced her plans to take this trip and reunite, in person, with someone she had known, as she put it, in something of a past life.

"You are very pregnant," Laris said with a laugh, staying in the same position.

"There's only pregnant and not pregnant, Laris," Beverly said.

"And you are absolutely pregnant," Laris said. "You are also very smart, though, and you're very capable of understanding things. And you're also very trusting of your beautiful wife, whom you love so very much."

Beverly laughed and Jean-Luc thought that he could feel some of the knots of tension in his chest slowly untangling themselves.

"My wife is beautiful," Beverly said. "And she is…wonderful. But she is also very much a Romulan. And she's so…secretive. And, sometimes? That makes me nervous, because I do love her. Very much."

"For what it's worth," Jean-Luc said. "We both do. Though, at times, I realize that—things are very much not about me."

Laris sighed and let go of Beverly's face.

"This is very much about me," Laris said. "And it's very much about you, too. But, Beverly—you have to trust me. That is one of the foundations upon which this trust bond operates, is it not?"

"So, you are speaking with truth?" Beverly challenged.

Laris smirked. Jean-Luc knew that, sometimes, Laris operated with what he might refer to as very Romulan loopholes. He and Beverly were learning them, as time went on in their marriage, and they were learning how to keep her from using them.

"Truth," Laris confirmed. "It's true. I have all the time that I want, to myself, here. I need only to ask you, and you allow me to go and do what I please. You grant me that space, and that privacy. And, for that, I am thankful. I have not seen Saveena for many years, except for across the screen when we reconnected for such a short and shallow conversation—just to prepare for this trip. I am excited to see her. I want to learn about her life. I would also like to share mine. You and Jean-Luc—you have your friends. We share our story with them. We share our lives with them. I would like the chance to share my life with someone who knew me, too. Before. I would like to tell them about my bondmates, and not simply be…the Romulan wife."

"Laris, if we…"

Laris held her hand up at Jean-Luc to stop him.

"Don't," she said. "Don't. This isn't about that. It's natural that your friends—your family, and those who are as close to you as family—will always meet me as the new one. The stranger. The new arrival. Jean-Luc's former housekeeper. The Romulan wife. It's natural. Until now, I haven't had anyone. Everyone I knew—everything I have ever known—has been gone. I simply want this opportunity to…see an old friend, and share the news of my life from my perspective."

"Of course," Jean-Luc said. "We would not deny you that."

"Besides," Laris said, "the two of you are always happy for the time that you have to spend together." She held up her hand again. "I am not saying that I don't feel welcome here. We have had our…struggles…and we'll continue to have them, but that's part of a trust bond. Working them out so that everyone has what they need, that's part of learning how to love each other perfectly. We are still learning, but that is the goal—to always be learning. Growing. Improving. It won't hurt you to have a little time to spend together where nobody has to worry and say 'what about Laris?'"

Jean-Luc laughed.

"I think you know that we'll still spend our time worrying about you," Jean-Luc said. "We'll still spend our time thinking about you, and wondering how we might make life better for you."

"For all of us, then," Laris said. "Your focus should only be on how to make life better for all of us—as a whole."

"And each part of that whole," Jean-Luc said. "We are all only as strong as the bonds between us—between each of us."

"Fine," Laris agreed. "At least—promise me that you'll spend some of the time focused on yourselves and what makes the two of you happy. Be a bit indulgent, will you? Besides—Jean-Luc—I'm expecting you to pick up all the slack and take care of our wife and daughter in my absence."

She winked at him.

"It will be impossible to fill your shoes," he said. "But I will make an honest effort."

She smiled.

"I know you will," she said. "And, Beverly—you'll watch out for him. You know how stubborn he is. Make sure he isn't doing anything stupid."

Beverly laughed.

"I'll never get any rest, until you get back, if I've got to do that," she teased.

Jean-Luc laughed, not at all bothered by their teasing and, actually, quite happy to see that Beverly was in much better spirits than she had been. It was better to ask for truth right away. Even though they all knew that, though, it was something they often forgot when it came right down to the practice of things.

"You promise that you're…coming back," Beverly said.

"I'm not the one that runs away," Laris said with a wink and a smirk.

Beverly looked at Jean-Luc like she couldn't believe that she'd said that, and like he might defend her in some way.

"She does have a point," he said.

"I'll be back in three days," Laris said. "You'll hardly miss me at all. In fact, when I come back, you'll probably try to send me away again. You'll be calling Saveena to ask if she's got room in a bond for your poor, rejected wife."

"We'll celebrate when you get back, because we'll miss you every moment that you're gone," Beverly said. "And, Laris, will you ask her back to the Château? Not immediately, of course, but…we've been a little self-centered, and we never thought about…what it might mean to have people of your own, outside of our friends and family. Will you—invite her back?"

"You'll be outnumbered by Romulans," Laris teased.

"And we'll enjoy every minute of it," Jean-Luc teased back.

"We'll see," Laris said. "But for now—I have to be going. If I don't, then I won't have time to settle in before we're supposed to meet for dinner. I'll be rushed. Elbie will be cranky. We'll be late, and Saveena might misunderstand and suspect it's all some kind of trap."

Jean-Luc could see that she was only somewhat teasing.

"Are you sure that—you wouldn't rather just leave Elbie here?" Beverly asked. "We can keep her, and you could have all your time to relax."

"And who would feed her?" Laris asked with a laugh. "No—you two need a romantic weekend, and that means time without this daughter. Focus on the other one. Elbie and I need a chance to go and be Romulans."

She winked at Beverly again, and took Elbie from Beverly's arms. Beverly followed her body, for a second, as though she weren't going to let go of the baby. Jean-Luc knew, as well as Laris did, even if she didn't say it, that they would be miserable trying to keep Elbie away from her Mama for three whole days. He didn't want to see either of them go, but if they had to leave, he thought it was best that they were going together.

"Now—let's have kisses all around," Laris said. "Because Mama and Elbie have to be going now!" She kissed Jean-Luc and Beverly, even leaning to press a quick kiss to Beverly's belly, and she let each of them kiss Elbie. "Say 'bedah,' Elbie! Goodbye! Say 'don't cry Mommy, we'll see you soon'! 'I-jol au'! 'I love you'!" Laris smiled at them, sincerely, from the padd, when she'd finished with Elbie's feigned goodbyes. "I love you both, deeply and truly," she said, sincerely. "I'll see you very soon."

She accepted both of their offered goodbyes, and then she dematerialized, taking the bags and their daughter with her.

Next to him, Jean-Luc found that Beverly—every bit as pregnant as Laris teased her that she was, especially whenever she was feeling particularly emotional—was not holding back her tears too successfully. He reached in his pocket and found one of the handkerchiefs that he always kept on hand. He offered it to her and she accepted it.

Jean-Luc touched Beverly's head with affection and pulled her to him so that she would come to rest in his arms. She did, and he closed his eyes, happy to have her there.

"I miss her already," Beverly said. "I miss both of them."

Jean-Luc laughed to himself, realizing it was true for him, as well, though his emotions weren't quite as raw as Beverly's were at the moment.

"I do too," he said. He patted Beverly. "But—we will honor our wife's wishes, and we will do our best to have a wonderful time together, just the three of us. And when she returns, we will be certain that she knows just how dearly she is loved, and just how greatly she is missed."

Beverly lifted her head. She made eye contact with Jean-Luc. Her eyes were damp, and her nose was red from where she'd rubbed it with the cloth.

"I love you," she said sincerely.

"And I, you," he assured her. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, and then he pressed a kiss to her lips. She returned it, and he let her decide when it broke. "Come—first thing's first. Let's go to the kitchen and get our daughter something to eat and a warm drink. Then, when everyone is feeling better, we can begin to discuss how best to spend our time."