A Grave New World
Part 8

By: AW

Date: October 2018
Length: 975 words
Summary: What would have happened if during Gravity it had been Janeway and Chakotay on that mission instead of Tom and Tuvok?
What if it had've been six months instead of two weeks?
What would have happened between J/C?

[2 DAYS LATER]

Chakotay awoke to his alarm blaring.

It was time to go feed their daughter and make his way to the bridge.

Kathryn hadn't woken up yet but the doctor – they had managed to get him back online – had said she was out of the woods now.

Nicole Sierra Janeway. He had named the baby after he had found the list of baby names that Kathryn had been fond of.

He hoped she approved of his choice. 'Sierra' was his grandmother's name.

He walked into sickbay and got the bottle from the doctor.

The baby would be the darling of the Delta Quadrant. She had already had more visitors than most people had on a daily basis.

As he fed his daughter he heard a groan coming from the other side of sickbay.

The Doctor approached him and held out his hands for the baby.

Chakotay reluctantly handed the child to the Doctor and made his way over to Kathryn's bedside.

He wanted to be there when she came to.

He slowly brushed her hair out of her face as he hand instinctively flew to her belly. "The baby!"

The fright in Kathryn's eyes tore at his heartstrings. "She's fine Kathryn."

"She?"

"We have a daughter. Nicky is just fine. A little on the small side but the apple of her parent's eye I'm sure."

Kathryn glanced over to the corner of the sickbay where the Doctor was feeding the small child.

"I want to see her."

Chakotay nodded, "As soon as she's done her breakfast I'll bring her over to you."

Kathryn acquiesced and tried to sit up all of a sudden realizing how sore she was.

"Tom saved her Kathryn and saved you too."

She smiled, a real smile that went up to her eyes so blue. "He didn't turn out too bad did he?"

He grinned at her. "Thank you for giving her to me."

"Hey, I didn't do it alone, I remember you being there."

The Doctor approached them. "Well Captain I believe I have something that belongs to the two of you."

The Captain put out her hands to take the child from the trick of light. "She is so beautiful Chakotay. She looks like you."

The baby yawned and opened her eyes momentarily. "Oh look her eyes, they're blue."

She kissed the baby on the head and watched the eyes once again close. "Doctor can I still breastfeed her?"

"I don't think that will be a problem. It's only been a couple ofdays."

Kathryn nodded. "When can I go home?"

"I can release you now if you want but I want Nicky to stay with me for a couple of weeks to be sure everything is okay."

Kathryn nodded, "Chakotay did you bring a uniform with you for me?"

Chakotay smiled. "Of course dear." He pulled out a fresh maternity uniform and handed it to his wife.

Kathryn went to the back of the sickbay and donned the uniform.

She approached Chakotay, "I can't believe how big this is. Was I really that big?"

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "You were pregnant."

Kathryn looked to the back of the sickbay where there daughter was sleeping. "I can't believe we have to go home without her."

The couple took one last look at Nicky and exited for their quarters.

Once they reached what used to be the Captain's quarters they sat down heavily on the couch. Kathryn looked at Chakotay. "I'm so sorry Chakotay." She drew in a deep breath, "I was so mad at you, what if that stress made the baby come early?"

He reached up and wiped the stray tear from her cheek. "I should not have made you that angry; and the baby is fine."

She stared up at him. "If she's so fine why does she have to stay there two weeks longer than I do?"

"Hey, the Doctor just wants to be safe."

"If I hadn't been so careless he wouldn't have to be safe. What happens if one day one of us doesn't come home?"

He looked at her, "It's part of the Job Kathryn leave it at that."

She stared at him, "How can you say that and leave Nicky without a mother or a father?"

"Aren't you the one that's been telling me for years that Voyager is like a family. If anything were to happen to us she would be well taken care of."

"That doesn't mean that I would ever want to leave her Chakotay…"

"Sometimes we don't have a choice; but for now let's enjoy the time we have together and with our daughter."

He looked at her. "Honey when we joined Starfleet we knew there were going to be some sacrifices. Take it as it comes."

"I always thought I'd be able to handle anything… compartmentalize anything… but one look in those deep blue eyes, the perfect combination of you and I and I never wanted to look away."

Chakotay brought her close and wiped the tears from her eyes. "The Doctor said your hormones would be all over the place for a while. Once those settle down, we'll get you back on track.
He kissed the top of her head and remembered that deep down she was a very emotional person that kept it all hidden away; and the vulnerability of child birth broke down those walls for the time being.

He held her close and just let her weep.

Tomorrow would be a new day.

END PART 8
TBC IN CHAPTER 9