"It was a boy, Mike," he told him softly, watching the other man's shoulders straighten before he opened the door.
Lucas and Kyle passed Mike as they entered Tom's office. Lucas stopped briefly to give his best friend a meaningful look, confusing Kyle even more. His brother was furious at something, but he couldn't tell what.
After the door closed and just he, Lucas and Robbie remained in the office, his brother turned to them with a grim expression.
"I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'm just going to come right out with it," Lucas began in a rather harsh tone. "I think it's a very good possibility that your contraceptive boosters have been deactivated."
Of all the things his brother might have said, this stunned Kyle the most.
"Why on earth...?"
"Just listen. Whatever is going on affects all of us. Mike and I didn't realize it until today. We thought it was just K'Leena and I. Michael wasn't a planned pregnancy. Somehow my boosters were messed with. And now we know the same was done to Mike.... It's logical to assume it was done with you two as well."
"Kahless!" Robbie exclaimed in horror.
"For how long," Kyle asked.
"Several months at least."
"Well, I haven't had a woman in my life for more than six months now, and I know that she's not pregnant, so even if I am unprotected, it wouldn't matter," Kyle informed them.
"Six months?" Lucas asked.
Kyle snorted. "Unlike some people, I don't go around making a game of how fast I can get a woman into my bed, Lucas."
His brother grimaced at the well deserved cut.
"That was a long time ago, Kyle," he defended himself, but couldn't stop the flush from creeping up his face. His behavior as a single man left a lot to be desired.
"Regardless, I'm in the clear," Kyle stated.
"I'm not," Robbie realized suddenly, doing some quick counting. "And I don't think Sherise knows, either."
"Just like K'Leena and Tessa didn't," Lucas reminded him. "Why would they? It's not something women think of nowadays. And I have the feeling that's exactly how they wanted this to play out. I just wish I could figure out -why-!"
*****
Mike sat down on the edge of the bed. Tessa's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey there, beautiful," he said softly, brushing the hair back from her face.
Tears filled her eyes. "Oh, Mike!" she sobbed.
He pulled her into a fierce embrace, holding her tight as she cried.
"I didn't know," she hiccupped through the sobs.
"I know, honey." Mike stroked her hair, reassuringly. "It's all right. We'll have other babies. As soon as you want, okay?"
Tessa nodded into his chest, but his words didn't comfort her. She wanted -this- baby. She wanted him back inside her this very instant. She wanted to nurture him, watch her body grow to accommodate him, give birth to him, nurse him at her breast.
Tessa wanted her son. With an tortured wail, she clung to Mike's neck, sobbing in agony.
He rocked her trembling body until she cried herself to sleep. Mike couldn't remember ever being so angry in his entire life. Gellis was going to pay. He would see to that himself.
*****
Robbie found Sherise down by the beach, walking barefoot through the surf. She stopped when she felt his presence, but didn't turn to look at him.
"I'm pregnant," she told him plainly.
It hadn't taken much for her to realize after Tessa miscarried. She was ten days late and faced with Tessa's unexpected pregnancy, something which was practically unheard of in this day and age, it had gotten her mind whirling. The tricorder confirmed her suspicions in a matter of moments...and changed her life forever.
"I know...I'm sorry, I didn't...."
"It's all right," she faced him now. He couldn't read her expression, it was so shuttered. "I know you didn't do this intentionally."
"You do?"
"You may be a lot of things, Robbie. Demanding, arrogant, irritating...but dishonest isn't one of them. You would never do something like this."
He moved closer, wanting to take her in his arms, but something held him back. A wariness about her.
"What do you want to do?" he asked, gently.
Sherise laughed, humorlessly. "I'm not sure we have that many options. I won't have an abortion."
A wave of relief washed over him. He hadn't realized how much he'd been dreading that possibility until just now. Robbie smiled broadly and pulled her into his arms.
"Would you consider marrying me?" he asked her, completely serious.
"Not right now...maybe later. I need time to think about all this, okay?"
It was more than he could have hoped for, but it wasn't all that he wanted either.
"I'm not a patient man, Sherise," he warned her ominously.
"That, Robert Owen Paris, is not something I'm likely to forget."
*****
"Do you think it will work?" K'Leena asked her mother.
"It has to, we don't have that many options. Not after what happened today. If they can get to Tessa, they can get to all of us."
"Who are 'they,' Mother?"
B'Elanna and Deanna exchanged guilty looks.
"We can't tell you that," Deanna answered.
K'Leena crossed her arms. "Why the hell not?!" she demanded. "Seems to me I'm one of the major players in this little game. It would help to know the rules."
"There are things beyond our control, K'Leena," her mother said. "Directives that can't be violated."
"Directives? Like the Prime Directive?" she asked. "Or maybe the -Temporal- Prime Directive?"
B'Elanna stiffened. "Why would you ask that?"
She shrugged. "I had a dream last night. But I think it was more of a memory than anything else. I was on board the Enterprise. We were under attack and I was very young. We hadn't been on board very long. The ship must have been under General Quarters because the nursery was locked down with all us children inside. And I remember a console exploding near me...."
The tall, dark stranger ran and pulled her out of harm's way just before the console exploded. Holding her close to his chest he took a moment to catch his breath.
Only to lose it again when he looked into the innocent bright blue eyes of the fiery-headed little girl in his arms.
He couldn't speak. He just stared at the child in shock.
She stared back at him in confusion. Reaching up to touch his cheek with her small hand she looked from him over to the other side of the room where the children were huddled. Where her Lucas was.
Her eyes were enormous when she met his gaze again.
Lucas?
With shaking arms he lowered her to the floor.
"Go back to the other children, K'Leena," he told her gently.
She turned and began to run but stopped after a few steps. When she looked at him again, she was smiling.
You're all growed up.
He smiled back. Yes, I am.
*****
Will motioned to Tom and they retreated into the office.
"The Enterprise is en route. Harry and Seven will be here tomorrow."
Tom nodded. "Good, Tessa is still very upset. Seeing her mother will help."
"The estate isn't safe anymore, Tom," Will informed him.
"I know," he sighed. "I saw Robbie's medical report. Tessa's miscarriage was induced."
Riker slammed his fist on the desk. "Will he stop at nothing?! These are innocent children he's threatening...and killing!"
"Yes," Tom agreed with deadly quiet. "Innocent children."
The significance of the statement was not lost on Will.
"That was different and you know it!"
"Do I?" Paris argued. "Maybe. But that doesn't really matter, does it? Our view on what happened isn't what the problem is. It's his."
"When the Enterprise arrives, we'll transfer to her and cut off from Command. We should be safe there."
"The hell we will!" Tom exclaimed. "He'll ha
ve any number of his people on board her, Will. We won't know who to trust. She's not our ship anymore. Harry's been in command for almost a year now. We don't know the crew like we used to."
"Then what do you suggest?!" Will asked angrily. "I'm running out of ideas here. The estate can't be secured, not being linked to Command."
"The Valiant," Tom countered. "She's independent and small enough for us to handle, we wouldn't need a crew."
"No. Alpha Team has been mixed up with this from the start. I don't think the Valiant is secure either. Not anymore, she spent too much time in space dock, she was too vulnerable."
"He's right," Lucas said from the doorway, flanked by Mike.
"Lucas and I decided she wasn't secure a while ago. Too much of what's happened is based in Alpha Team." Mike continued as they came into the room.
"What do you mean?" Will tried to bluff.
Lucas laughed. "Forget it, Dad," he began, crossing his arms in front of him. "By the way, 'Uncle Tom' sends his regards."
The elder Riker sat down on the couch in defeat. "How long have you known?"
"We just figured it out this morning, after Gellis killed my son," Mike told him coldly. "You were good at covering your tracks, but we are the best, you know."
Tom looked at his over to his old friend, amusement dancing in his blue eyes. "I thought we were the best."
Will returned the smile. "So did I."
"That still leaves us the problem with where to go," Tom reminded them.
"We have an idea," B'Elanna told them as she, Deanna and K'Leena strode into the office.
*****
Sherise was sitting up in bed, her chin resting on her knees when Robbie came into the room after checking on Tessa for one last time before bed.
"How is she?"
"Tired," he sighed. "And upset. I gave her a sedative. Finding out that the miscarriage was induced was hard on her. And Mike is furious with me for even telling her in the first place, but I felt she had the right to know."
"You were right to tell her, Robbie. He'll get over it."
"I know, but I understand his desire to protect her. I'd probably want to do the same thing with you."
"You wouldn't, would you?"
"No," he replied honestly. "But I would be tempted."
Sherise smiled at his fierce statement. After meeting his family and spending the last three weeks with them, she'd come to the conclusion that Robbie was far more Klingon than even he knew.
"How are you doing?" he asked gently, interrupting her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, I'm okay, I guess. Still in shock I think."
"Yeah, I know the feeling."
"Did you want children, Robbie?"
He sat down on the bed and faced her. "Yeah, I do. What about you? Did you want children?"
"I hadn't given it much thought, actually. I suppose I figured I'd have a child when I found the right man."
"Am I that man, Sherise?"
Her eyes locked with his. Tension tightened around them both.
"I don't know," she breathed.
"Really?" he asked huskily, just before his mouth found hers in a gentle, sweet caress.
"Are you sure?" he whispered against her lips.
Sherise trembled as his arms closed around her and drew her down to the bed to roll her under him.
Was she sure?! Right now she wasn't sure of her own -name- much less anything else with him kissing her like that!
In the last three weeks he'd turned her life completely upside down and inside out!
Oh, hell. Don't touch me there! She couldn't think when he did that!
Arrogant....
Oh, my!
Bossy....
Oh, please!
Stubborn and -far- too sure of himself.
Wow, do that again!
He was really starting to tick her off and she was going to tell him so.
Right after he finished doing -that-!
Klingon Hearts 10 Exposed - In The Light of Evil Page 7