by Marleena
them fall.
"And the announcement of Harry and B'Elanna's engagement was
too much for you."
"Yes, Chakotay," Tom said, looking back at him, "My actions
following were because of it, but not all of it. You can think
whatever you want, Commander. I'm going to Sickbay."
Chakotay let him go. He was shocked by what the young pilot
admitted.
her that he loved B'Elanna. Everything fits now. That poor kid.>
Chakotay shook his head as he returned to the bridge.
* * * * * * *
Harry Kim found B'Elanna Torres in Engineering. He went over to
her, and cleared his throat. When she looked at him, he spoke.
"I would like to talk to you for a moment."
B'Elanna looked at him curiously, then said, "Sure. My office?"
Harry nodded and followed her into her office. When the door
closed, he began.
"I saw Tom today. He looks much better than he did a week or even
two weeks ago. I thought he finally got over what has been
bothering him. Then when he got up to leave, I noticed a bite
mark on his left cheek."
B'Elanna tried to hide her surprise. She thought he would have
gotten it healed before he went anywhere. She was also pleased
that he didn't get it healed.
"The only way he could have gotten it," Harry continued, "was
that you bit him. Did you?"
B'Elanna folded her arms across her chest as she stared at him
defiantly, "So, what if I did?"
Harry's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped, "Why?"
B'Elanna's' eyes flashed, "Because, I was having urges that you
did not satisfy! He allowed me to be myself. He let me be
aggressive. He let me quench the thirst I had!"
"So, Tom satisfied your Klingon side," Kim said, "Does that mean
every time you have these urges you'll run to him to quench
them?"
B'Elanna snarled. How dare he think they could mate or still get
married. She did not want to have to run to Tom every time Kim
couldn't satisfy her.
"If you'd let me express myself, allowed me to let me enjoy
myself instead of worrying if I was hurting you, I wouldn't have
had to run to someone else!"
Harry's jaw dropped. He was about to say something when his
commbadge beeped.
"Janeway to Kim."
"Kim here," he tried to suppress his shock of the news he was
just given.
"Please report to the Bridge. You're ten minutes late."
"I'm on my way. Kim out."
He cast one last glance at Torres before he left Engineering.
B'Elanna growled deeply then went back to work. She was angry,
and she snapped at anyone who was insane enough to bother her.
Soon, her crew did their best to avoid her.
Chapter 10
" . . . and so next week we'll perform a system-wide diagnostic
. .of . . .the entire . . . damn," B'Elanna sputtered as she
squirmed in her seat during her weekly staff meeting "on the
entire. . . power distribution . . . .system."
"Something wrong, Chief?" Carey asked as he noticed her trying to
rub her back against the back of the chair she was sitting in.
"It's just that I got an itch in the middle of my back that I
just can't reach, and can't seem to get rid of," she explained as
she turned her back toward Joe Carey. "How about scratching it
for me?"
"Ah sure . . ." he replied. What could he say? Joe tentatively
reached out his hand and began scratching her back while the rest
of the staff looked on.
"A littler more to the right, Joe. No maybe a little bit further
down," she instructed almost with a little purr in her voice.
The sensation of that itch finally being relieved, if only
momentarily, was near heaven. True heaven was reserved for time
she had spent alone with Tom Paris lately.
"Is that better?" he asked as he removed his hand.
B'Elanna signed. "Yes, much better thank you. Ever since last
night the middle of my back . . ." she started to explain until
she noticed that everyone in the meeting was focusing on her.
"Like I said, we'll perform a full diagnostic. "Sue, I want you
and Vorik to start the procedure on your next shift and if . . .
all goes well . . . we should be able . . . to finish it inside
of a week. Damn it," she complained as she fidgeted in her chair
again. "Joe, would you mind scratching it again?"
"Of course, you know you should get this checked out with the
Doctor. Maybe you're allergic to something," he suggested as he
resumed scratching that elusive itch that just wouldn't go away.
"Yeah, that might be a good idea but it'll have to wait until
later today, I've got too . . . ahhhh . . . much going on right
now."
Later that day at lunch, B'Elanna left Engineering momentarily to
go to the Mess Hall. The itch still hadn't gotten any better, in
fact if anything it seemed to be worse. All morning long, she had
enlisted the aid of her staff to scratch her back until she could
tell they were trying to avoid her. After that, she would rub her
back up against any available console which elicited odd looks
and out-of-earshot snickers from the other engineers. And to top
all that off, about mid-morning she began feeling slightly
nauseous. This was not one of her better days.
B'Elanna grabbed her tray, and maneuvered through the tables
until she noticed that Chakotay was waving at her to join him and the
Captain.
Setting her tray beside the First Officer she sat down but not
before she tried to wiggle her hand up behind her back and try
and reach that itch again.
"Do you need some help, Lieutenant?" the Captain asked rather
amused at the contortions B'Elanna was resorting to to try and
achieve relief.
"No that's okay . . . well, on second thought, Commander, if you
wouldn't mind could you just scratch my back," she replied and turned
her back toward the First Officer.
"No, not at all."
The look on B'Elanna's face reflected pure relief. "That's it
Chakotay just a smidgen further to the left and a little harder.
Ahhh . . . thanks."
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Much, at least for awhile, as soon as I leave here, I'm going
right down to see the Doctor to see if he can get me something for this
miserable itch."
After lunch was over, which she hardly touched, and with a few
more back scratches courtesy of the First Officer, B'Elanna left
for Sickbay grumbling, and pausing every few meters to rub her
back up against a doorway.
She was still grousing to herself as she walked into Sickbay.
"Ah, Ms. Torres, what can I do for you?" The EMH replied brightly
right after she entered Sickbay.
"I've got this terrible itch in the middle of my back," she
explained as she tried again to reach it with her fingers.
"In the middle of your back, you say," the Doctor said as the
grabbed his medical tricorder. "No other place? Your hands,
y
our toes, your arms?"
B'Elanna, by now, had reached the end of her rope. "I SAID THE
MIDDLE OF BY BACK!"
"Well, then let's see," he said as he waved the tricorder over
her body. "Tell me, Lieutenant, have you been
experiencing any other symptoms?"
"Well, I have been tired and a bit nauseous the last day or so
why?" she answer warily.
"Well, Ms. Torres, I have the happy task to inform you that
you're pregnant," he said smugly, quite pleased with himself as this
wasn't a diagnosis that he made regularly on Voyager.
"Pregnant?! You've got to be kidding, let me look at that
tricorder," she said threateningly as the approached the EMH.
"Trust me, Ms. Torres, you're pregnant, in fact," he added as he
quickly scanned her again then punched a series of buttons, "It
looks like you conceived about one-week ago," A smile of
confidence broke upon the Doctor's face, but when he saw the
dangerous look on B'Elanna's face he realized what he had just
said. If that were the case with Harry on an extended away
mission, Harry couldn't possibly be the father. "Oh, no that
can't be right, let me run that test again."
The Doctor ran it again, not once, but twice. "I'm sorry B'Elanna
there must be something wrong with the tricorder, it is still
registering that you are one week pregnant.
"How can that be? I saw him . . ."
"Well, you know, the little bee flies along until he sees a
beautiful flower, then the little bee . . ." he started to
explain, but quickly stopped when he noticed the murderous intent
in her dark eyes.
"Doctor, I'm NOT in the mood for humor. As I started to say
before I was interrupted," she growled. "I saw him receive his
birth control booster myself, I was in here at the time," she
said as she paced back and forth.
"Saw who?"
B'Elanna turned her back and walked away angrily.
have happened? I'm pregnant with Tom's baby, but I saw him
myself receive that booster. Well, Torres, you've certainly
messed things up this time.>
"Ms. Torres, who did you see get the booster? I have to know this
so I can inform that individual that there is something wrong,
and I can administer another booster," he told her. Listen if you
don't want to, you don't have to tell me, all I've got to do is
adjust the tricorder to scan for the DNA of the fetus and then
cross index the medical files of all . . ."
"If you must know, it's Tom Paris' baby," she answered him in a
small voice. "But, I saw you inject him with his birth control
booster myself. I was in here at the time. It was when I broke
my ankle on that away mission. It must have been about oh nine
months ago."
"Yes, I believe you're right, but it's definitely his, so let me
review the records. Why don't you sit down and here, he said as
he handed her one of his longer medical instruments that she put
to good use on her back.
The Doctor reviewed his data and when he came upon an interesting
item, he nodded his head. "It appears, Lieutenant, that during
Mr. Paris transformation during the Warp 10 trials, that the booster
was rendered ineffective. I'm sorry at the time I didn't think
to check on his booster."
"Well, at least we know how it happened." she said.
know he thought he was protected.>
"But Doc this still doesn't explain why my back is so itchy."
The Doctor looked up from the datapadd he had been looking at.
"Of course it does, B'Elanna. Didn't your mother ever tell you
that this is a symptom of Klingon pregnancy? The Klingon half of
you is causing your back to itch and your human half is
responsible for your nausea."
"No, mother never liked to talk about those things, she just
assumed that I'd learn about it in health class at school, but
living on Kessik we were the only Klingons so the classes didn't
cover Klingon physiology."
The Doctor just shook his head not believing that a mother would
tell her daughter so little about the facts of life.
"But what can you do about the itching Doctor. If I have to
endure this until the baby is born, I'm going to go insane," she
pleaded as the deftly moved the medical instrument up and down
her back in order to relieve the prickly discomfort.
"So you plan on keeping this baby -- Tom's baby?" the Doctor
asked.
Realizing what she had just said her hand stilled for a minute as
the decision she subconsiously made sunk in. "Yes, Doctor, I'm
keeping this baby."
"And Harry?"
"I've got a lot of things I need to resolve regarding Harry," she
explained. "But, I'm keeping this baby."
"I'm glad to hear that. Now about the itching. It is a hormonal
reaction of Klingon pregnancy. There are a number of treatments
that we could try. Some Klingon medical journals say that a
certain Klingon herb -- Y'tiQ -- relieves the itch. But we don't
have any here and Y'tiQ is extremely difficult to replicate, so
that isn't a viable solution. Then there's a cortisone ointment
that we could apply, in fact I'll give you some, it'll help
relieve the itching at least temporarily, you can use it while
you work, but . . ."
"But what, Doctor, don't leave me hanging. What!!"
"Well the best remedy of all is that the father scratch your back
both literally and figuratively. It was thought once to be a
myth, but it has been proven that the scent that your mate
secretes, in particular while -- ah hem . . ."
"Doctor are you alright?" she asked noticing the look of
discomfort on the EMH's face.
"Of course I am, it's just that the scent is even more effective
during actual sexual intercourse."
"You're kidding me right?"
"No I'm actually very serious. For you to achieve relief, it is
advised that at a minimum you and Mr. Paris spend as much time as
possible *together*. And for those times when . . . ahem . . .
you can't be *together*, he should see you often so you can
inhale his scent and so he can literally scratch your back."
B'Elanna didn't know what to say.
would certainly be interesting, but what would Tom have to say
about becoming a father? Could he handle a pregnant Klingon?
Could he handle a pregnant Klingon who needed sex as often as she
might, as often as she'd like to?> she mused as a smile lit her
lips.
"So I suggest you think about what I just told you," he suggested
as he handed her the cortisone cream. "And regarding the nausea,
if it gets worse let me know and I can give you something for
that."
"Yes, I do have a lot of thinking to do and thank you. But
remember, if you so much as such anything to anybody." B'Elanna
threatened pointing her finger at him.
"Ethically, my program won't let me. You can be assured that your
secret is save with me. It's your business if you decide to tell
anyone or not.
But in a few months everyone will know you're
pregnant anyway."
She contemplated what he had told her as she left Sickbay. Maybe
until she could speak with Tom she could assign someone from
Engineering to back scratching detail, she pondered.
As soon as she left the Doctor retreated to his office to file
his medical report on B'Elanna's condition.
She had no sooner left, Tom Paris came through the door. "Doc,
I'm here for my weekly checkup," Tom announced as soon as the
door slid shut behind him. The Doctor waved to him from inside
his office acknowledging his presence.
Seeing that the Doctor was busy with an apparent medical report,
Tom sat down on the nearby biobed and pulled off his uniform top
as had been the custom over the last several weeks and waited for
him to come out. After fifteen minutes, Tom was becoming more
and more restless and putting his own medical training to use
decided he could at least scan himself for the Doctor and
eliminate some of the time spent in Sickbay.
He reached for the medical tricorder that rested on the nearby
table and turned it on. He was in the process of saving the data
displayed and reinitializing it for his own scan, when two words