Author's note: This takes place about 3 and a half months later:
************************************
Chakotay sat alone at a table in Sandrines, fuming silently as he watched Captain Janeway and Tom Paris playing pool together. He could not get his mind off her, *Who is the father of her child?* he raged inside. Wanting to corner her, demand that she tell him. But afraid of the answer. *She looks so beautiful*, he thought to himself. Now almost 5 months pregnant, there was a softness to her body, a gentle swell to her hips and belly as the child within her grew.
Even since their fight the night the Doctor diagnosed her pregnancy, she only spoke to him in a professional capacity, never with the open friendship they had been developing prior to that night. To be honest, Chakotay deeply regreted his actions that night. The hurt still in her eyes whenever she looked at him was a constant reminder of what he had lost, before he ever even had a chance to truly enjoy the gift she had been slowly offering him. Another thought continued to nag at his heart. The woman from the holodeck, *Why can't I find her? How can she hide from me so completely?* Despite his continued efforts, her identity was still a mystery to him.
Night after night, he had searched for his unknown lover, it had become more a desire to simply learn who she was rather than a need to be with her. He was in truth throughtly annoyed with her, he had almost convinced himself that Kathryn's pregnancy was a result of her somehow learning about his liaison with the mysterious woman. That in her grief and betryal she had turned to the other man, whoever he was for comfort which had left her in this state.
Chakotay had also watched the Captain closely, keeping track of her movements with the ships computer. She spent her days on the bridge, and her nights either alone in her quarters or with Tom Paris. More and more, Chakotay was becoming convinced that Tom was the father of her child. He remembered the way Tom had reacted the night of their fight, and ever since that night he had been with Kathryn often. Chakotay frowned as he watched Kathryn stop suddenly, her hand moving to her belly. She motioned to Tom with a grin, and Tom quickly moved to her side placing his hand on her belly beside hers. Both of them grinned at each other, it was obvious that they were feeling the child within her move. A raging surge of jealousy boiled through Chakotay's veins, he stood up quickly and without looking back stormed out of the holodeck, returning to his quarters.
*****
One Month Later:
"Okay Captain, just hold still for another second so I can finish this last scan.." Tom grinned at the look on the Captain's face. She hated having to lie back and let him run these scans every 2 weeks. Kathryn growled softly at him, "Thats easy for you to say Tom, you don't have someone sitting on your bladder using it as a trampoline!"
Tom laughed at her tone of voice, "You think that its bad now? Wait 'till you reach 8 months!" He laughed outloud in reaction to her glare. "Okay! All done for this week. The Doc told me to tell you he wants youto start coming in every week from now on. He's afraid that as this baby gets bigger, it will start to really wear you down. Don't glare at me for this one, but he also said that a woman your age might have a harder time in the later stages of pregnancy as well as ordered me to remind you of the injuries to your stomach you've had in the past."
Kathryn glared at him as he spoke, not bothering to answer. She slowly sat up with Tom's help, "So tell me, how big is this little monster now? From the look of me, you'd think I was almost due...not only 6 months along."
Tom smiled, "Well Captain, I would say that your child is doing just fine. Nice and healthy." He looked at her sideways, "Would you like to know the sex of the child Captain?"
Janeway blinked, then shrugged with a grin. "Yes, I think I would." She looked at Tom, somewhat nervous now.
Tom smiled at her expression, turning the monitor in front of him to face her he gently told her, "Captain, I'd like you to meet you daughter..."
To her surprise, tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "A girl? Are you certain about that Tom? No mistake?"
Tom put one hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed, "No mistake Captain, you're going to have a little girl.."
Once she managed to pull herself together, she patted his arm gently, "Thank you Tom, I'll see you later." Smiling happily, Kathryn walked out of sickbay.
Once she was gone, Tom's expression became more serious. He moved to another console, setting it to run another series of tests as he prepared a sample he had taken from the Captain. Once the procedure was set, he ran the test cycle. Tom waited for the computer to give him the result. At last, the computer beeped, signaling the end of the test. Tom quickly keyed the code required for the result, his jaw dropped almost to his knees at the response. Unable to believe what he saw, he ran the test a second time. There was no mistake, Tom stared at the results, now quite certain who the father of Captain Janeway's daughter was.
********
That night in Sandrines:
Tom looked up at the doors opened. His face darkened as he watched Commander Chakotay walk into the room. It was all he could do not to storm over to him and hit the self righteous oaf right in the nose for the way he had treated the Captain. Chakotay saw Tom's face darken as he stared at him, already in a bad mood, he headed to where Tom sat with Harry.
"Is there a problem Lt. Paris?" Chakotay demanded.
"Yeah, I have a problem! My problem is having to stay here and be in the same room with you!" Tom stood up as if to leave, but was stopped by Chakotay's hand shoving him back into his chair. Everyone on the holodeck stopped, staring at the scene unfolding before them.
Chakotay was livid with anger and jealousy, "Don't let rank stop you Paris! If you have something to say to me - say it! Its all I can stand to look at you day after day with Kathryn! You sicken me, how dare you take advantage of her like this!" Chakotay was not even truly aware of his words, so eaten with jealousy and anger.
Tom lunged to his feet with a matching snarl, "Don't you DARE tell me I've taken advantage of her you miserable old man! At least I have been by her side during this, which is more than I can say for you!"
Chakotay almost saw red at Tom's words, he hit Tom then a hard blow to the stomach, shouting at him in rage. "Damn You Paris! It's the least you could do for her considering, after all - isn't it your fault? Aren't you the one? Don't deny it Paris...I've seen the two of you together..."
Chakotay's tirade was cut off by a howl of pure fury from Tom, "DAMN YOU CHAKOTAY! YOU SELF-CENTERED EGOTISTICAL BASTARD!" Tom hit Chakotay then, knocking the older man back into a table to fall to the deck with stunned grunt. Tom jumped forward, grabbing Chakotay by the front of his uniform, his face and eyes filled with rage he hissed, "Captain Janeway is pregnant with YOUR child you son-of-a-bitch! How dare you continue to act like you don't know that?" Tom grabbed a PADD from his jacket pocket, shoving it into Chakotay's face. "I ran a DNA scan on the child you miserable bastard! Look for yourself you worthless prick! That little girl Captain Janeway is carring inside her is your daughter! And you have the nerve to come in here and accuse ME of taking advantage of her? At least I didn't pretend to care about, all the while going off to the holo-deck and getting involved with some 'mysterious woman'. Didn't think anyone else knew about that did you? You are so pathetic...think about it Chakotay....your little midnight romp on the holo-deck was what - 6 months ago? How far along is the Captain? Six Months!! Are you the only person on this ship who has not figured it out? I only ran the scan for my own use, because I wanted to help her."
Tom shoved Chakotay away with a growl. Chakotay just sat there on the floor, stunned. His jaw fell open in shock as he stared at the PADD, "What?....My child.....How.....my god..."
Tom turned his back on the Commander and walked off leaving Chakotay to get up, stunned and walk from the holo-deck, heading off in search of the Captain.
************
:)
DISCLAIMER: Star Trek Voyager is the property of Paramount. This story however mine. Not that they'd want to claim it anyway. heh heh