Christmas, 2390
"Wow! This is just like being on the holodeck!" As soon as their hands were marked to show they had purchased tickets, Duncan raced ahead of his sister and parents.
"It's one of the very few active theme parks still in existence, now that the same rides can be reproduced on the holodeck at a lower cost, and taking up less space. I just don’t think they can reproduce the atmosphere though." Chakotay took a deep breath of the candy-scented air and squeezed Kathryn's hand a little more tightly. He had brought her to this place – the holodeck simulation of it – on one of their early dates, after Seven of Nine and he had parted ways, and he had begun to rebuild the relationship with Kathryn that he had lost.
She smiled at him, but was prevented from speaking by a young woman with an antiquated recording device. "The precursor to the holoimager," Kathryn explained, when Leah looked quizzically at it.
"Would you like your picture taken?" The photographer had impossibly white teeth, the sort of smile you might see in an advert for dental care. "It makes a beautiful family memento. You can pick it up at the gift shop by the entrance in an hour."
Kathryn slid her arm around Chakotay's waist at the same time as she nudged Leah gently in front of her. "Duncan, come back here for the picture."
The four of them stood and posed while the young woman flashed the device a couple of times, then she handed them a ticket with a number printed on it before bending down and confiding conspiratorially to Duncan and Leah that the biggest rollercoasters were to be found on the other side of the park, down the path to their left.
In the queue for the Boomerang - a 'coaster that pulled you to one end of a looped track before sending you racing forwards to the other end, and then back along the same track in reverse – speakers were pouring 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' into the crowd, the only concession to Christmas that had thus far been obvious.
The park was in Western Australia, where the temperature was 70 degrees in the shade, regardless of the holiday season. The Santa Clauses here didn't wear thick woolly suits, unless they wanted to get sunstroke.
After the kids had screamed themselves silly on the Boomerang, along with various other rides Kathryn deemed "utterly insane", the family headed for the food court, where Duncan clamoured for cotton candy, and Leah drooled over the funnel cakes. Kathryn and Chakotay agreed to purchase a treat each, on the condition that neither of them attempted to commit fratricide during the time that they were on the Big Wheel, thereby enabling their parents to have a car to themselves.
The Big Wheel looked just as it did on the holodeck, Kathryn thought as they boarded the gilded car. There was a wheel in the middle that, when turned, made the car spin around gently allowing them to see all across the park. Duncan and Leah waved to them from their adjacent car, Leah covered in sugar from her funnel cake, and Duncan sporting smears of cotton candy on both cheeks, but turned away and giggled as they saw their dad lean over and place a light kiss on their mother's lips.
Turning towards Chakotay, Kathryn smiled and took his hand. "This is wonderful, Chakotay. The view is just as beautiful as on the holodeck, and Duncan and Leah are having such a good time."
Chakotay laughed. "I hope it's worth it when the cotton candy and funnel cake kick in and we have two sugar rushes to deal with." He wrapped his arms around Kathryn and pulled her back against his chest. She laid her head back on his shoulder and looked around her.
"It's always worth it," she murmured. "Always."
Back in the gift shop, ten minutes later, they waited while the assistant printed off their pictures and fastened them into the small cardboard frames. One was the family shot by the entrance, and there was also a picture of Duncan, Leah and Chakotay screaming with their eyes screwed shut, on a ride with the ominous name of Ripsaw.
Chakotay took the pictures from the cashier, paid him, and handed them to Kathryn so she could show the children. He watched as simultaneously the children laughed at the picture of their daddy screaming, and Kathryn bemoaned her appearance in the family shot. This was what he had always wanted. This was heaven.
"Merry Christmas, guys."
They turned to him and smiled.
"Merry Christmas Daddy!"
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