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Mess Hall, Starfleet Headquarters
Ft Baker, Sausalito, California, Earth
Stardate: 54986 (23 May 2378)
Kathryn nursed her once daily mug of coffee as she observed her family assisting her children with getting their breakfasts. Chakotay stood behind them, hovering, with their breakfast trays in his hands. It had been fortuitous that his family had been visiting hers when Voyager arrived home. Kathryn had backed off, allowing their family to have all the time with the triplets, knowing how excited they were to finally have them in person and not over a subspace transmission.
Chakotay … not so much.
Though he had appreciated Alone Time when their family had picked the triplets up earlier this morning.
Even though he had bought her coffee, he still had not delivered her breakfast yet. Kathryn snorted into her mug when he stopped Phoebe from allowing Callen to have chocolate pudding for breakfast. Tananka turned to shoot him A Look when he went to correct her, with Chaska, next. The captain outright laughed as her husband wisely hightailed it towards the table.
“Not a word,” Chakotay said as he set down the breakfast trays. He glared at her when she grinned broadly. But she didn't say anything; just picked up her banana and peeled it.
When his shoulders had relaxed, he had taken a bite of his eggs, and his mouth was full, she said, “You know … “ He sighed. “No matter how old you get … you’ll always be her little boy.” Kathryn giggled at the look of resignation that settled his face. She wasn't quite sure if it was from her making that statement or what the statement implied.
Either way, it was hilarious.
Instead of retorting, Chakotay just shoved food into his mouth. She made a face, knowing she wasn't going to get another rise out of him, then commenced eating her breakfast. Both of them sped up eating as their children began making their way towards them, the adults following behind. They exchanged grins when they both realized what they had done.
"Slow down, Kate," Gretchen chided as she set her and Kole's trays onto the table. At the look of dismay that crossed her daughter’s face, she added, "Otherwise you'll get indigestion. And pregnancy indigestion is awful."
The triplets giggled at their mother being corrected. Kathryn leveled them all with a look, one that usually worked, but they ignored it, buoyed with confidence with their grandmothers and aunts nearby. That was going to have to be nipped in the bud. She nudged Chakotay’s leg as he chuckled quietly. They didn’t need any more encouragement.
Before she could decide what she was going to say, Gretchen continued, her attention now focused on her grandchildren, not her daughter. “Your mother is my child, I can correct her. You are her children. I know she’s earned your respect both as your mother and as your captain. Make sure you act correctly.”
“Yes, Nanna,” Kole, Chaska, and Callen chimed in unison. At Gretchen’s pointed look, they added, “Sorry, Mommy.”
“Thank you, Nymphs,” Kathryn told them. They beamed at her, then dug into their food. Chakotay’s chuckle wasn’t as quiet this time. Chaska giggled around a mouthful of food as Tananka nudged him in correction. “The same goes for Grandma and Daddy,” Kathryn added pointedly. “Understood?”
“Understood, Mommy,” Chaska agreed.
“Nymphs?” Sekaya queried questioningly. At Kathryn’s reminiscent smile, the triplets began giggling again.
“Baby salamanders are called nymphs. Kathryn … we …” Chakotya corrected quickly, “started calling them that when referring to them collectively while they were babies. It’s stuck.” His hand shot out quickly all of a sudden and he caught Callen’s tongue. The youngest triplet had been darting his tongue in and out of his mouth, just like a lizard would. “We’ve told you before not to do that. Everyone’s already fascinated with you as it is … don’t encourage them.”
“Sowwee, Daddee,” Callen apologized around his father’s fingers.
Chakotay released his tongue with a stern glare at Callen, then at Kole and Chaska. The three of them began eating their breakfasts with great interest, so they missed the amused looks on the adults’ faces. Kathryn shook her head when Phoebe couldn't stop a snort of laughter from escaping. Kole looked up and grinned cheekily at his aunt, which caused Sekaya to start to laugh. Kathryn couldn’t contain her own snort of laughter and let out a yelp when her mother kicked her under the table. Chakotay sighed resignedly. That set everyone off and they all burst out laughing.
“Do you want to hear the story of when we found out about you?” Gretchen asked her grandchildren, who had stopped eating and were watching the adults at the table in amazement. Chaska shook her head affirmatively. Her grandmother proceeded, “We had a knock on the door late one night.”
“It was Tom’s dad,” Callen piped up.
"It was ... and Alynna Nechayev."
"As Fleet Admiral of the Alpha Quadrant," Kathryn murmured to Chakotay.
"And as a friend. She was your father’s XO for years before she got promoted to captain, Kate. In fact, a whole bunch of people were there. Everyone was so happy to have heard from Voyager. They all wanted to tell us you had contacted us," Gretchen continued.
"Fuc …forget … that, Mom," Phoebe interjected. The triplets giggled. "Sorry,” she said to her brother-in-law when Chakotay glared at her. But she soldiered on, "They wanted to see our faces when they broke the news that Chakotay and Katie had become salamanders and they’d made babies."
“Typical,” Kathryn muttered. Chakotay and the triplets snickered.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Janeway Family Farm
Bloomington, Indiana, Earth
Stardate: 51474 (26 July 2374)
Gretchen Janeway paused cleaning her stock pot when a loud knocking sounded from the front door. It was 2045hrs … too late for visitors. Who on Earth could it be?
“I’ll get it, Mom,” bellowed Phoebe as she sprinted by the kitchen door.
Gretchen shook her head, smiling to herself as she resumed cleaning her pot, at her daughter’s enthusiasm. As a mother, she knew Phoebe was still hurting from her sister and Voyager being declared lost fourteen months ago. But her daughter was putting on a brave face for her and at least the hovering had diminished. The front door opened and shut, then there was silence.
“Mom,” Phoebe called quietly from the doorway.
Gretchen put her pot down and turned around at the doleful tone in Phoebe’s voice. Something was wrong. Standing in the doorway with her daughter were Owen Paris and Alynna Nechayev. Phoebe looked somber as the two admirals followed her into the kitchen.
She immediately understood why her daughter was solemn. The last time they had seen Owen and Alynna together in uniform was the day that they had informed the Janeways that Voyager had officially been declared lost.
So why were they here now? Unless …
“ Voyager has made contact,” Alynna said bluntly.
“Kathryn?” Gretchen whispered as Phoebe gasped in shock.
“Alive and well,” the fleet admiral replied.
“Holy shit,” Phoebe murmured just loud enough.
“That was pretty much my response,” Owen stated. Alynna nodded her agreement.
“Holy shit,” Phoebe repeated, this time a little bit louder. “Holy shit, Mom!” she screamed, running across the kitchen and throwing herself into her mother’s arms. “Katie’s alive!” she bellowed in Gretchen’s ear.
Gretchen hugged her daughter close, but didn’t miss the two admirals exchanging glances. “What is it?” she asked.
“There’s just one tiny catch,” Alynna said.
“What?” Phoebe demanded, releasing her mother and spinning around.
“ Voyager is in the Delta Quadrant,” Owen told them. When Phoebe and Gretchen stared at him blankly, he added, “They’re about 60,000 lightyears away.”
At the continuous blank looks, Alynna jumped in. “They’re civilians, Owen!” She smirked when he blushed. To Gretchen and Phoebe, she said, “Even at maximum warp, it’ll take about fifty years for them to reach Earth.”
“Holy shit,” Phoebe commented again.
“Oh …” Gretchen said quietly. Fifty years. And then she realized. “Oh … no.”
Phoebe spun back around. “What, Mom?”
“I’m 75, sweetheart. Odds are …” Gretchen broke off on a sob.
“What?!” Phoebe asked. And then it clicked. “Oh … shit.”
Before anyone could say anything, there was a pounding at the front door. Owen and Alynna exchanged glances, then Alynna swore, “Oh shit! We left them outside too long!”
“Who?” Phoebe yelled at the fleet admiral spun around and left the kitchen. They heard her march across the living room then open the front door. After the door was finally closed, there was a low buzzing sound of several other voices in addition to Alynna’s. Mother and daughter exchanged puzzled glances.
Owen cleared his throat then said, “Gretchen, Katie’s already found a way to jump 10,000 lightyears closer and I’m willing to be she keeps finding ways to shorten the distance to get home to you.”
Gretchen smiled at him, dabbing her watery eyes with her shirt. “Thank you, Owen. You’re right. My Kate will find a way if there is one. Now … who is at the door?”
“You might want to put on coffee, Gretchen,” he told her. “A few people came with us.”
Gretchen and Phoebe exchange glances once again, then Phoebe said, “You go greet our guests with Owen … I’ll start the coffee.”
“And Vulcan tea,” Owen called as he exited the kitchen.
Gretchen caught Phoebe’s blinking in surprise, but nodded in approval as her daughter opened the cabinet that held the tea blend. Still looking over her shoulder, she pushed open the kitchen door. Gretchen stopped short when she looked up and took in the gaggle of flag officers mulling around her living room.
Not breaking stride in his conversation, Teddy Patterson waved merrily at Gretchen from his armchair next to the fireplace. Between being one of Kate's Academy instructors and Edward's best friend since Day One at the Academy, he had always been a frequent visitor to the Janeway homestead.Teddy had been Edward’s best man at their wedding and an absolute pillar of support ever since Voyager had gone missing.
Next to him stood a Vulcan vice admiral wearing a gold Operations Command uniform. She nodded in acknowledgment at her host when they made eye contact, but continued to listen to Patterson patter on. Gretchen didn’t know her personally, but she was obviously someone one high up the chain of command.
Standing next to Alynna was Ruah Brackett. Gretchen knew her only from reputation: that the vice admiral was an excellent officer and was on her way up the chain of command. Kate had taken all of Brackett's astrophysics classes at the Academy starting with the introductory course her freshman year. Her daughter had shared that Brackett was excellent, a tough but fair instructor.
Taela Shanthi shot Gretchen a bemused grin when she caught the deer in headlights expression on her friend’s face. Shanthi was about to retire from Starfleet as Commander In Chief, but she also had been a friend to the Janeways. Though surprising, her presence made sense.
“It’s an interesting group, eh, Gretchen?” Patterson called. “I believe you know everyone except –” he stopped talking when Phoebe came through the kitchen door ladened down with a tray of coffee, tea, and biscuits.
“Wow,” was all she could say as she took in the scene in the living room. She then proceeded to walk over and place the tray down on the coffee table. Alynna immediately pounced on it.
“Except Ruah Brackett,” Patterson continued as if not interrupted.
“Kate took all your astrophysics courses,” Gretchen told her. “You helped shape her love of the stars.” She smiled when Brackett blushed and Alynna smirked around her coffee mug.
“And this is Vice Admiral T’Mar of Starfleet Engineering,” Patterson finished his introductions. He hauled himself out of his armchair, and with T’Mar following him, lumbered over towards the tray setup. “Gretchen keeps a delightful blend of Vulcan tea on hand for Commander Tuvok’s visits,” he told her as they poured their respective cup of refreshment.
Phoebe and Gretchen exchanged glances at the odd scene playing out in their living room. Before her mother could stop her, Phoebe blurted out, “While it's lovely that you all are visiting … it doesn’t take six admirals of varying rank to break the news Voyager is not lost. Especially at 2100hrs. What’s going on,” she demanded.
Gretchen groaned at her daughter’s outburst, but five of the six admirals in the room grinned broadly. T’Mar raised a Vulcan Eyebrow. “I still say you would have made an excellent Starfleet officer,” Alynna told Phoebe. The fleet admiral let out an amused snort of laughter as the younger woman rolled her eyes backward hard in response.
“Phoebe,” her mother began gently. “Please let the admirals partake in their coffee, tea, and biscuits first. Patience.” It was Gretchen’s turn to suppress a smile as Phoebe huffed in impatience and stalked over to an open armchair, snatching a biscuit off the tray as she passed. Once seated, Gretchen added, “Thank you, dear,” smiling when Phoebe leveled her with an annoyed look.
“I can brief you on what I can while everyone else collects their beverages,” Brackett said from her seat on the couch next to Alynna. She then proceeded to tell the Janeway women of how Voyager's Emergency Medical Hologram had been streamed to the Alpha Quadrant, the information, both the good and some of the bad, that Voyager had encountered in the past three years.
There were obvious gaping holes where situations had been classified, but they got a good idea of how Kate’s life had been for the time she had been missing. Both mother and daughter were disappointed to learn that the EMH had already streamed back to the Delta Quadrant so there was no way to send personal messages back with it.
“We’re,” he instructed himself and T’Mar, “already working on how to resume communications,” Owen told Gretchen as she watched Phoebe examine Commander Chakotay’s personnel file.
“Is it bad that the first thing I thought was, “how does Katie sit next to him every day?” Phoebe asked, looking up from the PADD. “Cause, damn! He’s gorgeous!”
“Most of us thought that, Phee,” Alynna told her. Brackett and Shanthi both shook their heads in agreement. Owen and Patterson just rolled their eyes.
Gretchen agreed with her daughter; the commander was indeed a good looking man.
But she also knew that personnel files were usually classified. She understood to a point why they were showing them his file. But there was still something off about the whole thing. Even after being reassured by both former Academy instructors that before his resignation he had been an excellent officer and a gentleman and was an even better tactician. Though Starfleet claimed he was a valuable asset and wanted him (and Tuvok) back and that’s allegedly why Voyager had been out looking for him in the first place. Both instructors expressed relief that he was serving as first officer on their perilous journey home.
Gretchen suspected there was more to it.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Gretchen pointedly asked Taela Shanthi since she was the highest ranking officer in the room. She was the highest ranking officer, period.
The CnC smiled at her, then nodded at T’Mar. The Vulcan withdrew an isolinear chip from her uniform trouser pocket as she crossed the room towards the communications console. She inserted the chip and punched in an access code. A holoimage of Kate appeared on the screen.
“Oh!” Phoebe and Gretchen both cried out at the same time as they ran up to the screen to see the image closer. Admiral T’Mar barely got out of their way just in time.
Kate wasn’t alone.
She was holding the hand of a boy toddler who looked exactly like a miniature version of Commander Chakotay. He was on the opposite end, the two adults framing three children, grinning so broadly both his dimples were on display. Next to the commander was a little girl. It was obvious the two children were related with their bronzed skin, dimples, black hair, and brown eyes.
But it was the last person in the picture, smack in the middle, that told the real story.
He was another boy toddler who looked exactly like his father and brother.
Except for his eyes.
This little one had blue eyes.
Just like his mother … Kate.
It was dead silent for a long minute before it all computed. Finally, Phoebe blurted out, “Holy shit! Katie’s got three kids?!”
“Are they wearing wedding bands?” Gretchen asked, looking back at the CnC.
“Are they?!” Phoebe shrieked, squinting at the screen closer. “Oh … they are!” she exclaimed a few seconds later. “Go, Katie!”
“Her first officer?” Gretchen asked out loud while looking back at the screen at her grandchildren.
The three grandchildren that she’d probably never get to meet.
Phoebe seemed to pick up on her mother’s growing distress and leaned over and wrapped her arm around her waist. Gretchen leaned her head on her daughter’s shoulder, accepting her comfort.
“There are no regulations against it,” Shanthi told Gretchen. “Commander Chakotay isn’t a Starfleet officer, technically. And there was no way for them to submit a form of intent to start a relationship with Command.”
“True …” Gretchen murmured.
“Plus …” Alynna trailed off, staring at T’Mar. The other admirals in the room began to look around; anywhere but at Gretchen and Phoebe. “Um … I’ll let Admiral T’Mar explain …”
The Vulcan didn’t hold back from rolling her eyes. Phoebe smirked. Gretchen knew she was about to tell them something that the human officers couldn’t or wouldn’t. She straightened up and focused her attention back on T’Mar as she began to speak.
“On stardate 49474.4, a Voyager shuttle piloted by Commander Chakotay was able to reach warp 10.”
“Spaceships can’t go warp 10, right?” Phoebe asked, interrupting at a natural pause.
“Correct. No starship has ever reached warp 10,” T’Mar informed her, stressing the correct term.
“You say potato … ouch! Mom!” exclaimed Phoebe when her mother’s elbow connected with her diaphragm. “That hurt.”
“I apologize for her, Admiral,” Gretchen said to the Vulcan, ignoring her daughter’s pretend groans of pain. “Please … continue.” It had been a while, but Gretchen was quickly remembering how to play the game. Looking over at Alynna and catching her smirk confirmed she was doing it correctly.
“Thank you, Mrs. Janeway. “ Voyager is one of the fastest ships in Starfleet and its sustainable cruising velocity is only warp 9.975. After his warp 10 flight, Commander Chakotay began to feel ill. He was transported from the shuttle to sickbay where the EMH thought the commander had passed, but he had not.” Even a Vulcan had to pause at what she was about to reveal, “Commander Chakotay had begun to evolve.”
“I beg your pardon,” Phoebe spat out.
From his fireplace armchair, Teddy Patterson snorted with laughter. Gretchen realized that they were all here to see their reactions. Typical friends.
T’Mar ignored them both and forged onward. “He then escaped from Sickbay, used a phaser to take out internal sensors and,” she cleared her throat, “kidnapped Captain Janeway.” Both Gretchen and Phoebe’s jaws dropped. “Commander Chakotay then stole the experimental shuttle and went to warp 10, leaving Voyager behind.”
“I'm sorry … say what now,” Gretchen commented.
“Fuck,” Phoebe whispered.
“We are getting there,” T’Mar told her. Phoebe snickered. The Vulcan continued, “It took Voyager three days to locate the shuttle.”
“And Katie and the commander,” Phoebe added.
T’Mar nodded her agreement. “Except they were not the captain and first officer that you would recognize.” Gretchen arched a perfect Vulcan eyebrow that the admiral acknowledged. “The captain had hyper-evolved alongside the commander.” Phoebe’s jaw dropped. “The best description is that they resembled an Earth amphibian … the Chinese giant salamander.”
“Say what now,” Gretchen repeated.
“My sister became a … a … salamander?” asked Phoebe in disbelief.
Gretchen turned around when, from behind them, Alynna let out a snort of laughter that she quickly turned into a cough. Owen and Patterson refused to look at anyone; both studied their hands intently, but their shoulders were shaking with silent mirth. Brackett, the scientist, looked fascinated by the whole thing. But CnC Shanthi was grinning broadly, knowing what was going to happen next. Gretchen glared at Alyanna, who grinned back broadly at her, sighed, then turned her attention back to the Vulcan and said , “Please continue, Admiral.”
“The captain and commander were still human; just hyper-evolved humans,” T’Mar explained to Phoebe.
“So you’re telling me, Admiral, that one day … eventually … all humans are going to be giant salamanders?” The Vulcan nodded her head affirmatively. “Well … fuck.”
“Exactly,” T’Mar agreed. “What happened next is that the captain and commander did what comes naturally to all species …”
“They mated,” Gretchen finished.
“Katie laid eggs,” Phoebe said in an incredulous tone. Gretchen smacked her. “Ow! What? Amphibians lay eggs! I’m impressed I remembered that!”
Gretchen looked back at the screen at her three grandchildren. “That explains why there’s three of them. But they’re not salamanders …”
“The Emergency Medical Hologram was able to de-evolve everyone, including the children, once Commander Tuvok and Lieutenant Paris,” both human women looked over at Owen who just shrugged his shoulders, “were able to … what is the phrase the lieutenant used … ‘round them all up’.”
“Ok then …” Phoebe drawled, smiling widely when she looked over and saw five Starfleet flag officers … all of them family friends … laughing hysterically at her and her mother’s reactions.
“And Kate and Chakotay got married,” Gretchen asked, ignoring her friends and focusing on the admiral with the information on her older daughter.
“Eventually, yes,” T’Mar told her. “Lieutenant Carey, the assistant chief engineer, had been ordained years ago in order to marry his brother and sister-in-law. He performed Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay’s wedding ceremony. It is a legal and binding Federation marriage.”
“They got married because they were in love or because they figured they ought ‘cause of the kids?” Phoebe asked.
“According to Captain Janeway, because they are in love,” she was told.
“Go, Katie!” her sister exclaimed gleefully.
“Indeed,” T’Mar agreed, a Vulcan Smirk crossing her face as Phoebe’s jaw dropped and the human admirals all burst into laughter once again.
“Go, Katie, indeed,” murmured Gretchen, turning back around to smile broadly at the holoimage of her older daughter, who now had both the career and the family that she always wanted.