Emotions Series 01 Silent Emotions
Page 14
Chakotay stared after him, his expression was that of surprise.
He didn't know what to think about that mysterious smile. He
shook his head and went to the Bridge.
*He knows and he not talking. That means only one thing. Tom's
the father.* Chakotay smiled as entered the turbolift, *Well, if
he wants to keep it a secret, so will I.*
Chapter 13
That evening, Tom reached his arm out to pull B'Elanna closer to
him but encountered nothing but the sheets. Listening, he could
hear that she was back in the bathroom again experiencing morning
sickness in the middle of the night.
Throwing his long legs out over the edge of the bed, he pulled
himself up, and put on his blue robe before he joined her. When
the door slide opened it revealed a typical site as of late,
B'Elanna was bent over the toilet throwing up all she had ate the
evening before.
"Damn it, 'Lanna, you've got to go see the Doctor and get
something for this. This can't be good for you or the baby," he said,
soothingly as he wet a face cloth then kneeled down beside her.
B'Elanna gave one last heave, and pushed herself away from the
toilet, and back into the welcoming arms of the attentive pilot
who gently wiped her face with the cool cloth.
"We've talked about this before, I don't want to take anything
that might harm our baby," she insisted.
or *the* baby. *Our* baby sounds much better.>
"Well, 'Lanna, the saltine crackers and the other things you
tried don't seem to be working. At least go talk to the Doctor about
some other options. If you want, I can speak to him this
afternoon, I'm only scheduled for a half-shift today."
"Are you sure? You'd do that? You don't mind?" she asked. She
still hadn't grown accustomed to the lengths this man would go to
make this pregnancy as easy as he could for her.
"Of course, I'm sure. I'm scheduled to take my medical technician
recertification this afternoon, and I wanted to ask him about
emergency childbirth anyway. I also want to get a couple more
dermal regenerators. For some reason ours keep needing to be
recharged," he said with a little grin.
"But, you'll be careful," she warned.
"I'll only talk to him about childbirth, your morning sickness
and the regenerators in private, I promise - Scout's honor."
"There you go with that Scout's honor again. One of these days,
you're going to have to tell me all about what you did to get
booted out of your troop."
"Well, that ain't going to be now," he said as he stood up and
pulled her up with him. "Let's get you back to bed, you have to
work in the morning."
"Alright, but I don't know if I can get to sleep," she groused as
she wiped her face with a dry towel, and took a small sip of
water in an effort to rid herself of the terrible taste in her mouth.
"How about if I rub your feet? You like that," he suggested.
Sighing, she followed him back to the bed. "You're spoiling me,
Tom Paris," she admitted as she settled back down on the bed, and
he perched himself at the end. He took one of her feet in his
strong hands and tenderly massaged them. He hadn't even started
on the other foot before she was fast asleep.
"I enjoy spoiling you, B'Elanna Torres, I love you," Tom murmured
in response, knowing that she couldn't hear him and if she did,
she wouldn't believe him anyway. He lay back down beside her and
pulled up the covers over the both of them. But, now it was him
that couldn't get to sleep, for too many thoughts were coursing
through his brain for him to settle down. Soon, he resorted to
his favorite pastime lately -- watching the mother of his child and
his beautiful secret love sleep.
How things have changed in the last few weeks, he thought as he
curled up behind her, and spooned his body against hers. He
wrapped one arm protectively around her swelling abdomen where
underneath their child was growing.
* * * * * * *
B'Elanna Torres walked into Sickbay. She saw the Doctor running a
regenerator over an ensign's arm. The ensign looked at her, and
gave her a weary smile. Obviously, he had been on the holodeck.
"There you go, Ensign," the EMH said with a sigh, "Please, use
caution the next time you play hover ball."
The ensign nodded and jumped off the biobed. He swung his arm and
smiled, "Thanks, Doctor. It's much better now."
"You're welcome, Ensign."
The ensign nodded and left Sickbay.
The Doctor then turned to see Lt. Torres standing in the middle
of the room.
"May I help you, Lt. Torres," the EMH asked, concerned after
seeing her sickly expression.
B'Elanna nodded and headed for the nearest biobed. She hopped up
on it, holding her slightly extended belly.
"I'm nauseous all the time, Doctor," she said quietly, "Tom's
worried it might be harming the baby. Frankly, so am I. Can you
give me anything?"
The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. He then nodded, "I can
give you an herb that can be easily replicated as a tea. It
should ease the nausea you feel."
B'Elanna gave him a concerned look. She rubbed her stomach then
asked, "Is it safe on the baby?"
The Doctor picked up a medical tricorder and scanned her, "It
should be safe to use, but just to be sure."
He trailed off as he glanced at the readings. He pressed a few
buttons and received the results. He raised an eyebrow in
interest.
"What?" B'Elanna asked, suddenly feeling anxious.
"Well, Ms. Torres," the EMH stated smugly, "it appears you will
be having twins."
"What!?" She repeated, shocked.
"See for yourself," he said, handing her the tricorder.
B'Elanna grabbed it and scanned herself. She punched a couple
buttons and read the results. Her eyes widened. It was true, she
was having twins. A subdued expression fell across her face.
"I believe congratulations are in order," the EMH stated,
smiling.
B'Elanna shook herself out of her trance and smiled, "Tom is
going to be ecstatic. He'll faint!"
"I wouldn't be surprised. Sometimes, I do believe he prefers the
floor for a nap."
She gave him a mock growl, and he raised an eyebrow, doing a
very good impression of Tuvok. She then smiled at him.
"Thank you, Doc. I'll go tell Tom the news."
She was about to jump off the biobed when the Doctor stopped her.
"Speaking of telling someone, Lieutenant, can I please tell
someone about your situation?"
B'Elanna stared darkly at the holodoc. He backed a step away, but
he held his ground.
"If you tell anyone, Doctor, I will find a way to rip your
holographic heart out of your chest. Do I make myself clear?"
"Very, Lieutenant. But people will find out sooner or later that you
are living and sleeping with Mr. Paris."
"Make sure it's later and not sooner. All right?"
The EMH nodded, "I'll r
eplicate that tea for you. You can tell
Mr. Paris about it, so he can give it to you. If the nausea still
persists after a week, come see me."
B'Elanna nodded and the Doctor went to the replicator to get the
tea. The Doctor was quite relieved when Lt. Torres left Sickbay.
*I feel sorry for Lt. Paris, having to put up with her and her
pregnancy. I doubt I could do it for long. Definitely not as long
as he has.*
The Doctor shook his head. He then went into his office to update
the report on Torres' condition.
* * * * * *
"Damn!" he hoarsely whispered as he shot out of the turbolift
took a quick look around to assure that he was alone then headed
toward B'Elanna's cabin. Tom Paris was running five minutes late
and there was a couple things B'Elanna hated: tardiness in
general and Tom Paris being tardy in particular.
He slowed his steps as he approached B'Elanna's cabin, and taking
one more look around, he keyed in her access code and slipped
through the door. He was a little surprised after the door slid
shut that one Chief Engineer wasn't tackling him, and tearing his
clothes off as had become the custom since he moved in. In fact,
he thought smugly as he took on his uniform top leaving on his
turtleneck, maybe she's even later than I am. He dropped the top
on the table, and headed to the bedroom area to finish undressing
to be ready when she arrived.
What he saw there shook him. In the middle of the bed sitting
with her knees pulled up against her chest was B'Elanna. Her
arms were wrapped tightly around her legs and she was resting her
forehead on her knees. Something wasn't right, he had never seen
B'Elanna like this before.
"B'Elanna, what's wrong?" he softly asked as he approached her,
and placed his hand on top of her head. "Look at me, 'Lanna. Tell me
what happened?"
She lifted her head and faced the pilot. "We've got to talk,
Tom."
"Okay, we'll talk," he said simply as he too sat down on the bed
beside her. "Oh my god, B'Elanna, is it the baby? Is it
alright?" he asked worriedly.
"It's fine, Tom, but there is something you've got to know," she
said as she grabbed both of his hands with her own. "Tom, the
Doctor scanned me today, and . . . and well it's like this . . .we . ."
"Out with it, B'Elanna, what did he say!"
"I'm carrying twins Tom. I've got two babies inside of me," she
explained as she patted her abdomen.
Tom sat their dumbfounded, mouthed the words 'twins', and finally
his eyes rolled up, and he keeled over backwards on the bed.
Despite the anxiety she was feeling, B'Elanna actually couldn't
help but giggle at the pilot's reaction. It was just as they had
predicted, with one exception: he hadn't landed on the floor.
"Tom, come on, snap out of this," she ordered as she gently
slapped him across the cheek until finally he opened one blue eye
and looked at her "Twins? We . . . you're having twins?"
She nodded.
His face broke into a small smile which grew into a wide grin as
he pulled himself up to a sitting position again. "Twins. Well
I always knew I was a virile stud, B'Elanna, and now this just
proves it."
B'Elanna giggle a little at the pride that shined on Tom's face
before reality hit her, and she became serious again.
"B'Elanna, aren't you happy to be carrying two little miracles?"
Tom asked when he noticed the sudden change in her demeanor.
"To be honest, right now, Tom, I'm confused. Part of me is very
excited to be having two babies, but the other part thinks of all
the care that one baby requires and now there's going to be two,
it'll be twice as much work. How can I find the time to take
care of two?" she asked.
"Don't worry, I'll help you, 'Lanna," Tom assured her. Did you
think that after you gave birth that I'd just forget about
everything -- about them? I intend to be the best darn daddy in
the universe. That's if you'll let me. Please let me, 'Lanna."
Tom squeezed her hands tightly to emphasize how desperately he
was to be part of the children's lives.
"You're wonderful. Do you know that, Tom? Okay, I'm sure we can
work something out. I never really knew my father. I don't
want my children to grow up like I did. We'll talk more about it
when the time gets closer," she said as an look of discomfort
washed over her face.
"Oh no, you're sick again," he said. It was a statement not a
question. She just nodded, and headed to the bathroom.
"Couldn't the Doctor help you?" he asked, but all that B'Elanna
could do with one hand covering her mouth was to point behind her
at the nightstand.
There, he found a packet of herbs with instructions for preparing
it into a tea as well as the replicator formula to use to create
some more.
By the time that she was done in the bathroom, Tom had made the
herbal tea, and had it waiting for her. "Here try this little
mother, I put some honey in it so it would taste better. Come,
drink it and sit down beside me," he patted a place on the bed,
"and we'll talk."
Chapter 14
The two of them where still sitting cross-legged on the bed
telling each other stories two hours later. B'Elanna couldn't
ever remembering having laughed so much. She knew that Tom was
telling her humorous stories to cheer her up, but it didn't
matter why he was. What mattered was they she was happy, very
happy.
"So tell me, Tom, it's time to come clean. I want to know what
you did you get kicked out of that scout troop," she demanded as
she started to try and scratch her own back.
Tom assumed a look of innocence as he motioned for her to turn
around on the bed so that he could take care of the itch. "You
think *I* had something to do with it?" he asked.
"I'm getting to know you pretty well lately. Yes, I think you
did something and you're going to tell me."
"Well, okay if I must, but I swear it was perfectly innocent. I
had no idea what really happened until I was much older," he said
as he continued scratching which elicited a couple of purrs from
the engineer before she turned around to face him again.
"Spill it, Helmboy!"
"Okay, it was like this. Back when I was about oh seven, Dad
decided that I should join the local scout troop. He said that it
would look good on my records, so I could enter Starfleet
Academy. So even though I had little interest in it, I went. I was at my,
oh I guess third scout meeting, and I was finding out that some
of the things we did outside I actually enjoyed. The day of that
particular meeting, though in rained, and we had to have the
meeting inside. So there we were inside on a rainy day with
about twelve boys and about oh, ten girls and we had two leaders-
-Mr. Tarkson and Ms. Wentworth. Well, we were getting that day to
make puppets. Which I wasn't looking forward to, I just wanted
to go outside and jump in the puddles
that were forming and make
dams and get good, wet and dirty with my friends. I didn't want
to be stuck inside. So Ms. Wentworth went to the supply closet
to get the supplies. In a little while, she hadn't come back so
Mr. Tarkson left us alone to go find her. Then when he didn't come
right back, I got curious about what happened to the two of them,
and went looking for them. When I got to the supply closet,
there were the two scout leaders kissing. hey were so involved
with each other they didn't even notice that I had locked them
in the closet until it was too late. Of course, the parents didn't
think it was very funny with twenty-two kids loose in the school
until the time came for them to transport home. And so I got
booted out of the troop."
"What happened to the scout leaders? They were okay, weren't
they?"
"Oh yeah, they were okay. When they finally opened the door, they
were more than okay, though they were caught in a rather
embarrassing situation."
"Tom, you don't mean?"
"Yep, passion in the supply closet. About two months later they
were married and about seven months after that their little boy
was born," he boasted sticking out his chest in pride. "I