5 months after A Night at the Movies:

It was getting difficult for Kathryn to get comfortable and stay comfortable. She shifted her position again. At least they had thought to bring a chair for her to sit in. It helped, a little.

Chakotay watched her shift position, and smiled.

"Stop smiling, or next time you can be pregnant," she snapped.

"I'll stop smiling, if you will at least make a pretense to enjoy our shore leave."

She glared at him.

"Getting a little grouchy?"

In a growl worthy of a Klingon she responded, "I'll show you grouchy." She suddenly laughed.

His face lit up with a grin. He was sitting on the ground looking at her. He took her hand, and leaned his back against the side of her leg again.

This was the fifth and last day Voyager would be in orbit around the lovely uninhabited-planet. After spending some time gathering food supplies and some minerals, they had given the crew shore leave. They had split the crew into four groups, each getting 12 hours from just before dawn to just after sunset. The Captain and Commander were taking their leave the last day. They had spent the morning wandering around the hot springs and lake they were at. Many of the crew were also in the area. Some were taking advantage of the water and were swimming or just relaxing in the hot springs.

She shifted position again as she tried to reach for her lunch. "Damn," she grumbled to herself. It was getting so inconvenient. At almost 7 months, she was having problems reaching for things, and she was having trouble remembering the last time she had been comfortable.

"Here." He handed her one of the sandwiches Neelix had sent.

"Thanks." She took the sandwich and smiled. He watched her and reached up to take her hand, which she placed on her abdomen, letting him feel their child move. He smiled at her as he changed position so he could kiss her.

There was a sound of a throat being cleared, "Leave you two alone for a few minutes..." Tom was grinning. B'Elanna was contemplating shoving him into the small creek next to them.

Chakotay sat back down on the ground and glared at Tom. "B'Elanna, can't you keep him under control."

She shook her head, "I try, but he's incorrigible."

"But yours," Tom added.

"I've tried getting rid of him, but no one is willing to take him." B'Elanna grabbed Tom's arm. "We can picnic elsewhere."

"Since this spot is taken, Captain, Commander, come on Be." Tom and B'Elanna headed off, leaving the Captain and Commander alone.

Kathryn started laughing. "Commander, we were interrupted. Continue with what you were doing."

"Oh, Tom. How could you?" She leaned into his shoulder, not sure whether to laugh or hit him.

He didn't reply, as he wasn't quite sure of the answer to that. Instead he took her in his arms. "You don't want to get rid of me, do you?" He was all of sudden feeling a bit insecure.

She smiled at him, then shook her head as she kissed him. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Tom smiled at her, "Be," he hesitated. "Did you mean that?"

"What?"

"Not being easily gotten rid of?"

B'Elanna smiled as she kissed his neck. "Yes, I did." He pulled her close and kissed her, his tongue teasing her lips as she struggled with the fastenings on his shirt. He stopped and pulled away, "B'Elanna?"

"Tom, what's wrong? Something's been bothering you the past few weeks."

He smiled, "Nothing. I've just been wondering, thinking."

"That's a first." She smiled wickedly at him as she pulled him back toward her with a low growl. "About what?"

"Us." There was a long pause as he stepped away from her. "I've screwed up my life so royally that I would understand if you told me to go stuff myself in an airlock, but I've been thinking about this."

"I only knew you a short time before Voyager. That Tom Paris and the one here are two different people. Tom, you've turned your life around. So've I." She looked at him intently. He blushed slightly as she smiled at him.

He took a deep breath and spoke very fast, "B'Elanna Torres will you marry me."

To his utter amazement Voyager's Chief Engineer burst into tears. He took her in his arms. Somewhere between the tears she managed to say an incoherent yes.

Harry sat on the rock just a half-meter from the surface of the water. It had, so far, been a grand day. He and several others had spent the day exploring the area. Tom and B'Elanna had been part of the group in the morning, but had wandered off to be on their own.

Someone shouted, "Hey, Harry. Come join us. The water's great!" It was Jenny Delaney. There was echoing invitations from the others in the group.

Harry smiled as stuck his foot in the water. It was warm. "Look out below," he shouted as he slid into the water, creating a splash. He reappeared, shaking his head and laughing. "Race someone to the other side."

"Too much work," someone shouted, as several splashed him.

He started to swim across the 25 meters or so, at a slow, leisurely pace.

Ensign Rose Kieffer leaned down by the spring's edge to collect a water sample, trying to ignore the teasing comments of her friends in the water.

"Hey, Rose! All work and no play..."

She smiled slightly. "What makes you think this isn't fun."

The group laughed. Harry called out, "She's a biologist--we know about them."

Someone else yelled, "Hey wait a minute, I'm a biologist and I'm not spending my free time gathering samples."

The dark-haired head of Voyager's Biology department shook her head. "Well, just remember don't drink the water..." She turned to hand the sample to the Doc.

"You mean you've detected life in this spring?" Harry asked.

Rose smiled evilly as she turned from the Doc to look at the group of swimmers. "I've detected absolutely no signs of intelligent life in the water at this moment." She picked up her equipment and she and the Doc continued on their way.

Doc smiled. "You know Ensign, you should take advantage of shore leave and relax."

She shook her head. "Doc, my training was in protozoology. I have not had many opportunities to do any research in my area." The biology department was usually more concerned with identifying plants for possible food sources. "So this is relaxing." She took her tricorder and scanned the small spring they were now walking by. "This spring also contains a wide variety of protozoa."

Doc handed her a vial and watched her lean down to collect the water. "So, Doctor, do you enjoy being able to leave the ship?"

"I'm a holograph--I don't enjoy things. But I do find the experience to be interesting. It is really educational."

Rose stood. "I'm done. I'm going to return to the ship and get the preliminary studies done. You returning?"

"No, I thought I would continue to explore."

"Well, then see you later." She took the container of her samples and tapped her combadge. "Voyager, one to beam-up."

Kathryn shifted position again. The warm afternoon sun was lulling her to sleep. Three years in the delta-quadrant and so much had happened that in her other life might never have happened. Including her pregnancy. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander.

She and Chakotay had over the past several months developed a routine that minimized her increased absences from the bridge. She had taken to sleeping on the couch in her ready room, but recently that had proven to be too uncomfortable, but outside of returning to their quarters, she didn't have much choice. She was also slowly (and she had to admit, reluctantly) turning command of the ship over to him. Recently she had let him take over the senior staff meetings and departmental meetings.

The crew had learned very quickly not to be too obvious about offering their Captain any additional help. Two months ago she had announced that she was pregnant, not a fine piece of china. Then had nearly assigned Harry to sanitation when he had offered to carry her tray to a dining room table. Instead she had thanked him quietly. Though recently she had to admit the extra help was nice.

There were many inconveniences, the one that bugged her most was she very rarely left the ship. Tuvok and Chakotay were leading the majority of the away-teams and the rare diplomatic missions.

Which was why she was enjoying herself on this planet. Even if all they had done was walk in the morning and now sleep in the afternoon. She spent these all too brief moments of relaxation contemplating life, Voyager, and the future. And the man who was with her. She fell asleep fanned by a gentle warm breeze.

Chakotay smiled as she snored ever so quietly. They had finally agreed that she would start her maternity leave two weeks before her due date. He really wanted her to take it sooner--it was obvious to everyone that she was uncomfortable, but she was still resisting the idea. He had managed to convince her that he should take some time off afterwards, at least she hadn't disagreed with him over that. He'd managed to convince her it would be a good time to give the junior officers some command time. He would still be Voyager's acting Captain for the two weeks before and at least two months after.

Life could be strange. Fate, destiny. To have found his on the other side of the galaxy, to have found her so far from what they had known before. And yet it was home. Almost three years in the delta-quadrant had changed him, her, and everybody on the ship. Some of the changes were profound, some were not as noticeable. But all were part of Voyager. He smiled, they were a family. Slowly everybody was starting to realize that. They had become more than Starfleet, more than Maquis.

Harry climbed out of the water. "Anybody else ready for lunch?" He opened one of the baskets Neelix had prepared for the shore leave parties. "No leola root sandwiches." He grabbed one and sat down on the ground by the baskets.

Jenny Delaney and the others joined him. "Well, don't leave the baskets too close to Harry--he'll eat everything." This brought a laugh. Harry just grinned as he grabbed a second sandwich and one of the purple fruits.

Voyager's second-in-command had fallen asleep against her knees Kathryn noticed when she woke up later in the afternoon. She watched him, admiring his handsome features and wondering why she had resisted him for so long. It didn't seem to bother the crew. She knew there were a few who still thought such a relationship was inappropriate, but she no longer worried about that--there were too many other things to worry about. She felt him stir against her legs. His eyes met hers and they both smiled. "We'd better be returning to the ship, it's almost sixteen hundred hours." The others would be returning a few hours later.

He sighed. "I suppose." He stood and then reached down to help pull her up. He gathered up their stuff and tapped his combadge. "Chakotay to Voyager."

"Voyager here."

"Two to beam up."

Five hours later Voyager left orbit and continued the journey back to the alpha quadrant.

Captain Janeway sat down at the briefing room table and looked at her senior staff. Then nodded at Chakotay, who spoke. "B'Elanna, the modifications to the plasma injectors."

"Commander, we will be completed with testing in five hours. Preliminary data suggests we should increase efficiency by eleven percent."

"Keep me informed. The Captain and I have completed a preliminary command schedule for when after the child is born." He was smiling. "If you will look at your PADD. Realize this is still preliminary. But each of you will be given extensive command time over two months." He looked at Kathryn, everybody knew how much she disliked the slow process of relinquishing command--even if it was only temporary. He winked at her, and was rewarded with a glare. He almost laughed. "Look over the schedule and have suggestions for the next meeting." He looked at the group. "Also bring in your recommendations for your replacements for this time."

"Commander," Tuvok asked. "Will you still be observing today's training drill?"

"Yes." He spread his hands as he asked, "Is there anything else?" No one said anything, "Then dismissed." He watched them leave and turned to Kathryn. "You OK?"

"Just fine," she grouched as she used the table to help her out of her chair. "Is it my imagination, or did you wink at me?"

Chakotay smiled innocently as he pointed at himself and looked surprised that she would suggest such a thing. As she walked past him, he took her in his arms. "Am I forgiven?" He asked as he kissed her forehead.

"I'll think about it." She shook her head and smiled. "I always knew I should have tossed you in the brig and thrown away the key. Now, none of that." He leaned over and kissed her anyway, then stepped back.

"After you, Captain," he said as he motioned his hand toward the door.

Doc leaned back in his chair and looked away from his log. He'd enjoyed his trip to the planet's surface. No, holographs don't enjoy things, but then they don't fall in love with Vidiian women either. He just smiled as he sat there humming, then singing E Lucevan le Stelle, from Tosca, the newest opera he was learning--B'Elanna had developed a way for him to store such things so they wouldn't cause another cascade failure--so far he had learned, La Boheme, Carmen, and now Tosca. He stopped suddenly when the sickbay doors opened. He stood and walked out of his office. "Yes, Jenny."

"Doc, I don't feel well. My head hurts and I think I have a fever."

"Have a seat." Doc picked up his medical tricorder and started to exam his patient. "Hmmm. Most interesting." He reset the settings and redid the examination, ignoring the increasingly worried Ensign. "Please lie down in the biobed." He moved to the panels that controlled the biobed.

"Doc, is there something wrong."

"I'm still trying to determine that. Please lie still." He continued to read the data the biobed scanners were producing.

The Captain sat in her chair on the bridge and resisted the urge to shift her position again. She could feel the looks of the bridge crew who stood behind her. Probably wondering why she just didn't start her maternity leave right now. Sometimes she did too. Chakotay and the Doc were hinting that perhaps she should.

She didn't want to. She'd taken days off here and there, and by mid-afternoon was usually frustrated and bored. She was rather limited in what she could do. She had started painting--she even had a Holodeck program with some of the great painters as instructors. But she found the constant sitting or standing necessary to complete a painting too uncomfortable. Reading was a little better. She could also spend her time writing some of the reports she hadn't bothered doing in the almost three years in the Delta Quadrant.

"Sickbay to Captain Janeway."

She groaned--she'd forgotten that she had an appointment that afternoon. "Janeway here, sorry..."

"Captain, Jenny Delaney is in sickbay with some interesting symptoms. It may look like she picked up something on the planet."

She sat a little straighter in alarm. "Yes?"

"I'd like to exam the entire crew, starting with you and Ensign Moog."

"Yes Doc, I'll be down now. Janeway out." She stood slowly. Tuvok had started the security department training exercise and Chakotay was observing. "Tom you have the bridge."

"Yes ma'am."

When she arrived in sickbay, the Doc was examining Ensign Moog--now Forrest, Janeway reminded herself--she had performed the wedding four months ago. Joan Forrest looked even more uncomfortable than Janeway did. She was due soon, and Joan was getting impatient. But right now the young Ensign was looking nervous.

Kes took the Captain to the Doctor's office. "The Doc has started Jenny on treatment, it seems to be working. We're trying to determine the epidemiology of this disease."

"What is it?"

"The Doctor says it very similar to a group of Terran protozoan called ameba. They are causing some swelling of the membranes surrounding his brain, but we caught it in time."

Janeway nodded, "Anybody else?"

Kes shook her head. "So far, no. But I need to ask everybody some questions to help us determine the source. So. Captain, when were you on the planet."

"Yesterday, between ten hundred and sixteen hundred hours."

"Where?" Kes showed her the map she had pulled up in the computer.

Janeway crossed her arms and looked at it for several seconds. "We walked around the lake in the morning. We stopped here, well around here, to rest for a half hour or so, then we finished the trip. We spent the rest of the day here," she pointed at the map, "where we ate lunch and then fell asleep."

"And what did you eat?"

"Some sandwiches Neelix made, some cookies from the replicator, and some of that fruit drink Neelix made the other day."

"Did you eat anything from the planet?"

Janeway thought for a moment, "Some berries we found. Round and pale orange."

"Did you drink or go in the water?"

"I stuck my feet in it at one point, but we didn't drink it."

Kes finished entering the data into her PADD. "Thank-you Captain. It looks like the Doctor is finished." She left the Captain sitting in the office. Janeway watched a very relieved Ensign Forrest leave sickbay. The Doc's bedside manner hadn't improved any, he was not one to offer reassurances.

"Captain," he said as he entered his office. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, cranky, sore, uncomfortable..."

"No headaches?" He asked as he scanned her with the tricorder. She shook her head. "Good. No sign of the parasite, but while you're here." He swept the tricorder over her abdomen and nodded his head. "You're doing well. Thank-you Captain."

"Doctor, how serious is this?"

"Well so far I have one patient. Ensign Delaney is undergoing treatment.. The ameba is from the planet. The nitrogen fifteen isotope ratios of the ameba's proteins are consistent with the other organisms found on the planet. She was on the planet the last day. I would like to catch the disease before it becomes serious, and I would like to know how contagious it is."

Janeway nodded. "Keep me informed."

"Yes Captain. Kes has arranged for off duty personnel and parts of the on duty shifts to come in. I will need a couple of volunteers to help with the data gathering."

"Whatever you need." She looked at the lonely Ensign in quarantine. "Doc, Jenny?"

"She'll be fine, Captain. I've started treatment with a combination of drugs: Amphotericin WR and Rifimconazol. It is slowly responding to..." He was interrupted by the swish of the doors opening. "Ah, Ensign Kieffer, have you started the cultures."

Rose Kieffer nodded. "Captain, Doc. Yes. How's she doing?"

"It looks like she'll make a complete recovery. Did you look at water samples?" Doc asked.

"We're doing that now. So, you think it's from contaminated water," the young head of Biology asked as she looked at the data from Jenny's bioscan.

Janeway slipped out the door, only Kes noticed her leave.

"I don't know what to think. It's affecting the brain not the intestinal tract--that is very unusual."

Rose nodded. "Well, I'll let you know what we find. Some sort of ameba," she added mostly for herself. "Doc, Kes, Cap..." For the first time she and the Doc noticed that Janeway had slipped out.

Rose entered the lab, where her three associates were waiting, "We're looking for something similar to an ameba, but first you are to report to sickbay." She'd been the first one examined, by chance. She had entered sickbay soon after Jenny to ask if she could borrow some equipment--and instead had been asked by the Doc to help determine the life-cycle of the disease organism. She had gone through the water samples she had collected until she found the two containers she was looking for. She whistled as she prepared the liquid to be centrifuged. She poured a quarter of the liquid from each container into a centrifuge tube and placed them into the machine. Starting it, she went to look at the cultures. She didn't have much hope for the cultures. Nothing yet. She turned when the lab door opened. "What happened?" She asked.

"It's Bailey, he seems to have picked up whatever it is." The other biologist moved to his workstation. "So what is our attack plan?"

"Doc will be sending more information over, DNA analysis, images, whatever. We'll try find a matching protozoan from the samples." There was a beep. "Good the centrifuge is done. Philipe, would you run the analysis..." She sat down at the computer and started entering some data.

"Sure."

Harry stood at his station and watched the Captain enter the bridge. He smiled slightly. A pregnant Starfleet Captain would definitely be an anomaly in the alpha-quadrant--here in the delta-quadrant it was not. It had been the Captain who had once said 'weird was part of the job.' Sometimes it seemed like normal (whatever that was) was becoming as weird as the delta-quadrant. He rubbed his forehead and looked at the chronometer. His shift was over in an hour. Maybe he'd stop by sickbay and get some aspirin for his head.

B'Elanna entered her quarters and saw Tom sitting in her sofa looking very much at home. His shoes were off and his feet were on her table. "Now what are you reading?"

"Starfleet promotion guidelines."

"Dry reading. Klingons write better manuals."

"That I wouldn't know. But Starfleet sure could use better authors." He put the PADD down, stood and took her in his arms. "This beats reading regulations and guidelines any day."

"You're incorrigible." She kissed him. "Do we have enough replicator rations to eat here?"

Tom shook his head. "Sorry, our champagne celebration yesterday wiped us out for the week." He smiled as he kissed her again. "So when should we schedule the wedding?"

"Soon, before Janeway takes her leave."

"We'll ask her as soon as this medical crisis passes. Why is it every planet has it in for us?"

"Not every planet..." She stopped. "At least not recently." In the past that seemed to have been true. "We should get going, before the dining hall gets too crowded."

Tom nodded as he sat down to put his shoes back on. His combadge chirped. "Kes to Tom."

"Yes?"

"Tom, it's Harry. We've just admitted him to sickbay."

"How bad?" Tom stopped tying his shoes and looked at B'Elanna who was also looking worried.

"We've sedated him and started the treatment."

"Can I visit him?"

"Later this evening, but right now no."

Tom looked at B'Elanna--his eyes full of worry, her's showed equal concern. She sat down by him and put her arms around him.

Doc sat at his desk going over his and Kes's notes. Water seemed to be a common factor. But why were only some infected--while others who had been in the same water at the same time had not been infected.

He looked at the image of the parasite on the computer screen--very amebic. As he looked at it, he again processed the data. In the course of the day they had examined most of the crew. He had finally ordered Kes to get some rest and food two hours ago. She would be returning in a few minutes, as would Rose, and the Captain.

The foursome met in the medical lab late in the evening to discuss the situation. There were several PADDs containing the analysis. The Captain looked at one as Kes spoke quietly with the Doctor.

"Captain, you're looking at the results of our survey. Water is the key. All our patients had been in the hot-springs," Kes remarked to explain what the Captain was reading.

"But they weren't the only ones, so why them and not the others?" Janeway asked curiously.

"I've started to ask the patients and the others what exactly they were doing in the hot springs. It seems our twelve patients went swimming and did some diving. Most of the rest didn't." Kes finished reporting.

Janeway looked puzzled.

"The medical literature does have isolated reports about similar types of infections. Ensign Rose isolated the ameba in the water cultures," Doc said. "It is apparently free-living."

"But..."

Doc raised a hand as he continued. "It is apparently free-living, but under the right circumstances it can become parasitic. A facultative parasite--it is opportunistic. It would have been interesting to have studied how it interacts with the native animals on the planet."

"Contagious?"

Rose continued the conversation. "Not at all Captain. Being parasitic is eventually fatal to the ameba. They can't escape from their host. When the host dies, they do."

Janeway looked at another PADD. Fascinating, she thought. "And your patients?" She asked looking at the Doctor.

"All will recover. We caught the infection in time, before there was any major damage."

"And how?"

"The ameba live in the hot-springs. The water has to be forced up into the nasal passages--like what happens when one dives--and from there, the ameba migrated along the olfactory nerve. We won't know for a while, but three of my patients may have a damaged sense of smell."

Tom looked down at his friend, "Harry?" The younger man groaned. Tom eyed the bio-bed displays, his friends vital signs looked normal. "Kes, how is he?"

"He'll be OK."

Tom looked at the others in sickbay, several were conscious and chatting quietly with friends--most were asleep. And they all had a friend with them. Even Dalby. Tom smiled quietly--Voyager was more than a Federation Starship and had been for sometime. He looked back at his friend. "Harry, keep this a secret for the moment, but B'Elanna agreed to marry me." He looked up and saw Kes smiling at him.

"Tom, congratulations. And he will be fine. In fact we expect all to recover." She walked away to check on her other patients--thinking about her wonderful family here on Voyager.

Kes smiled as she administered the last treatment to the last five patients in sickbay. Three days of constant monitoring patients had been exhausting. Neelix was hinting that he wanted her to take some time off. She was considering it. She looked at bioscans of her last patient and smiled. "Well, Harry. We'll probably be releasing you soon."

Harry smiled. "That's great. I'm tired of being on public display. I'm sorry Kes." He added when he saw her frown.

"Actually I understand. We'll be monitoring you for several weeks to mark the progress of your recovery."

"You look as tired as I feel."

"It's been a long three days," she responded.

The Doc walked out of his office. "Kes are you finished yet?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Good, you are officially off duty for 48 hours. Go get some sleep."

"Thanks. Harry take care."

Kathryn sat down on the sofa and sighed. She was hoping for a few minutes calm before she made her way to the mess hall. She leaned back and sighed again.

"I'll get dinner," Chakotay called from the bedroom, just before reappearing into their sitting room. "You stay put, I believe Neelix is serving leola root flambe." He laughed quietly at the look of disgust on her face--the last leola root had been used-up many months ago.

Her retort was cut off by the door chime. "Enter," they said together, then laughed.

"Tom, B'Elanna how can we help you?" The Captain asked.

Tom looked quickly at B'Elanna. "Captain, we'd like to uh..." He grinned a little embarrassed.

"Yes Tom," Kathryn smiled. "You want to what..."

"Never mind him Captain," B'Elanna cut in. "We'd like you to marry us."

Chakotay stood up and shook Tom's hand, then hugged B'Elanna. "Congratulations."

"Thank-you sir," the pair said together.

"Congratulations, when?"

"Ten days, Captain," Tom responded.

"Wonderful." The Captain smiled as she patted her belly, "We'll be there."

Tom grinned. "Thanks, ma'am."

Kathryn watched them leave and groaned. "I was going to do this as professionally as possible." Chakotay turned and looked at her, with a slight smile on his face. "Forget it," she continued. "I'm bringing a stool to put my feet up on." Chakotay smiled--this was becoming a common threat, though she had yet to do it.

"Kathryn, take some time off..."

She shook her head. "I'm not ready yet." She smiled as he knelt beside her and removed her shoes. "That feels good," she said as he started massaging her feet.

"What, no parameters?"

"Dreadful man," she winked at him. "Let me think about that..."

"I'd rather you didn't." He sat down beside her and kissed her.

"Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 50854. The last of our patients was released from sickbay today. After the hectic past four days, it is a nice change to be back to routine sprains and cuts. I have included a written analysis of the parasite in this report, which I have decided to name after the planet it was found on. I, by all rights of priority, could have named it after myself. But, I have still have not settled on a name...

"None of the patients suffered any debilitating damage from the parasite. Crewman Dalby may have suffered some minor damage to the olfactory nerve. We won't know for several weeks how much. The other patients will make a complete recovery. I have put them all on restricted duty for two days. They are required to report to sickbay once a week until further notice to record their recovery. I don't think it will be more than a couple of weeks before they have made a complete recovery."

The Doctor looked up as the doors to sickbay opened. "Yes?" He asked.

Mike Forrest entered, his wife leaning on him. "She's in labor, Doc."

The news was received throughout the ship with quiet joy. And 15 hours later, Tom and Neelix were planning a party to celebrate the arrival of Voyager's newest crewmember, Jonathan Michael Forrest.