Christmas, 2384
"Duncan, for the last time, you cannot climb up the Christmas tree." An exasperated Chakotay grabbed his son, who clung tenaciously to the lower branches of the tall Nordic Pine. It shook perilously as father and son waged a battle of tug of war, which finally ended as Duncan released his grip on the spiny branches.
Kathryn Janeway entered the lounge where father and son were now engaged in a mock wrestling match, each of them rolling around the floor until Duncan sat triumphantly on his father's chest yelling, "I won, I won," punching the air with two curled fists.
"Yes you did dear, now let Daddy get up so that you can both finish decorating the tree," laughed Kathryn. The boy clambered off Chakotay, who rose to his feet rolling his eyes at Kathryn. His son was getting to be quite a handful and truth be told Chakotay wasn't getting any younger. The older man swept the boy up in his arms.
"OK Duncan, red or gold baubles first?" he asked. The small boy pursed his lips as he considered the options before shrieking,
"RED!"
His father rubbed his ear vigorously. "Ouch!" he muttered. "Not so loud son, you'll wake your sister," admonished Chakotay.
As if on cue an equally piercing cry came from the nursery.
"Oh great timing guys," murmured Kathryn as she went to calm her daughter. "It's okay darling, it's just those noisy boys again, mommy's here now."
Picking the still sobbing child from the crib, Kathryn made her way back to the lounge where Duncan sat perched on his father's shoulder. His small fingers pushed the brightly coloured baubles onto the branches of the tree.
"There now Leah, see Daddy and Duncan are decorating the tree. Next year you will be able to help too, in the meantime we'll just sit right here and supervise shall we?" The tiny red-haired girl stopped crying, her bright green eyes gazed first at her mother, then at her father and brother. She peered intently at the two males as they continued to decorate the tree. Lowering Duncan to the floor, Chakotay turned to look at his wife and daughter. He grinned before breaking out into a burst of laughter.
"What's so funny mister?" asked Kathryn as she carried Leah over to the tree.
"Our daughter," replied Chakotay as he held his arms out to take the baby from his wife. "She has exactly the same expression on her face as you did when overlooking poor Tom Paris's efforts on Voyager. You know, the one that said, 'so far so good Paris, but don't you dare slip up'. It's pretty obvious which of our children will be the next admiral in the family."
"Well it might have to be sooner than you think," answered Kathryn as Chakotay placed his daughter in the baby-pen before re-joining Kathryn at the tree. He handed her the large golden star from the box of baubles. Placing his hands around her waist he hoisted Kathryn up so that she could carefully place the star on the top of the tree, then he lowered her gently to the floor and pulled her into a soft embrace.
"Finished, finished," chanted Duncan. Not to be left
out of the excitement, Leah clapped her chubby hands together, a wide mouth grin
revealing two tiny teeth.
"What did you mean, sooner than you think?" queried Chakotay. For a few moments
Kathryn didn't answer then finally she gave a huge sigh. Placing her head
on Chakotay's chest she told him,
"I was thinking of resigning from Starfleet, no don't interrupt let me finish. I'm tired of not being here with you and the children all the time. I missed Duncan's first steps, then his first words. I don't want that to happen with Leah. I want to be around for all the rest of our children's firsts. Oh I know I don't go on too many long missions anymore but I'm still away too much for more liking. I think it might be time to hang up my uniform Chakotay."
Gently rocking her in his arms, Chakotay whispered, "Kathryn Janeway you'd go crazy inside a month! Why don't we just enjoy the holiday and talk about this in the New Year, maybe there's other options we could explore. Right now we're all together so let's be thankful for that."
"Still the Wise Man, Chakotay," smiled Kathryn.
"Hey, only one of them? I remember you telling me I was the single embodiment of all three wise men," retorted Chakotay as he released her from his embrace to go and retrieve his daughter from the baby-pen. "Oh and don't forget if you were home all the time I'd expect you to learn how to cook!"
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