Chakotay wandered into the child care center hoping to pick up a date for lunch.  He didn't have to look far for a date; Taylor and Kay came tearing across the room before the door could close behind him.  "Daddy!"  Their cries were timed with their assault on his legs which nearly knocked him down.

Across the room Kathryn looked up in time to see Chakotay pick up both girls for hugs.  He had barely put them down before the rest of the children gathered around to talk to him.  He had been involved in lengthy negotiations making arrangements to trade for some fresh foods.  The challenge had been finding something Voyager could spare that the local population wanted or needed.  The negotiations had been very amicable but finding common trade items had been a very length process.  In the end the item had been something Chakotay would have happily given away.  Neelix had managed to sneak some leola root seeds on board years earlier and had placed them in stasis.  The seeds had been noticed when the hydroponics staff were searching through stored seeds for possible trade items.  They had been put on the list of available items and the other side had immediately made a very attractive offer for them.  Voyager had left the friendly people behind about eighteen hours earlier.  This was his first chance to spend any time with his family for several weeks.

Kathryn had left him sleeping earlier in the morning when she took the children to the center.  She had hoped he would have time for lunch but hadn't mentioned it to him.  She had, however, made sure the boys were both fed and back down for naps before lunch time.  Kathryn spoke to one of the crewmen assigned to the center letting him know the boys had been fed and should sleep for at least an hour.  She then walked over to join the throng near the door.  She picked up the end of another negotiation that had quickly embroiled the captain.

"Ok, kids, here's the deal.  You eat your lunch here and get everything all ship shape.  Captain Kathryn wants me to eat lunch with her and you know it's not a good idea to disappoint her.  I'll be back after we eat and tell you a short story.  Deal?"

The children exchanged looks.  Usually they tried to wheedle him into eating with them, but he had mentioned Captain Kathryn and she had just walked up looking like she expected to eat in the mess hall.  They all quickly agreed with his offer.  As the group started to move away to other interests, Kathryn took Kay by the hand and nodded to Chakotay to get Taylor's as she spoke.

"Looking for a lunch date, Captain?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"You're in luck. We just happen to be available."  Her words surprised Taylor and Kay, who usually had to stay and eat with the other children.  Their grins told how excited they were.  Eating in the crew mess hall was a treat for them.

"Give me a minute to say 'hi' to the boys and I'll be right back."  Chakotay didn't wait for a reply but quickly moved across the room when the infants were sleeping.  Unerringly he found Chad and Cody's cribs.  He touched each dark head, still in awe at how small they had been when they were born.  They barely stirred as he whispered a greeting and farewell to each.  After more than six months in the child care center, it took more than a visit from their father to wake them.  Smiling to himself, he returned to where the women in his family waited for him.

Two hours later, having enjoyed a happy, if not exactly peaceful, lunch with their daughters, Kathryn and Chakotay returned to the child care center.  Surprisingly the room had been picked up and the cushions arranged neatly in the story corner were arranged and waiting for the captain.  Someone must have given very strict instructions while they were gone, because instead of mobbing the captain as usual, the children all moved quickly, if not quite quietly, to the story center.  RT must have been the designated spokeschild, for he was the only one who spoke.  "We're ready whenever you are, Captain."

"Girls, go join the others. I need a word with your mother."  Taylor and Kay quickly ran over to the story corner intent on getting good seats.  "What kind of reward can they have for being so orderly?"

"Stick with verbal praise.  I'll work something out with the staff while you're telling the story."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sam is keeping the girls tonight and B'Elanna is keeping the boys.  Don't ask me; B'Elanna worked this out with Sam, and she has somehow involved Tom and Harry as well. The important thing is the girls and twins are spending the night with friends. Dinner at 19:00, ok?"

"It's a date. See you then." Kathryn smiled before moving toward the cribs to check on Chad and Cody. Chakotay approached the story corner.

"You all did really well getting the area organized.  Ready for a story?"  His question was met with a solid confirmation that the children were indeed ready for a story.  Chakotay settled into story-teller mode.

Ok, as far as I know this is not a true story, but with all the things we've seen on our journey, maybe it could happen.  So, once upon a time, King Papyrus wanted to open trade negotiations with a neighboring king, named King Bell.  He thought that inviting King Bell to a banquet given in his honor was a wonderful way to begin the negotiations.

With that in mind, he searched all through his kingdom for his bravest and most loyal knight.  When he found that knight, he explained that he was to journey to the neighboring kingdom and invite the King Bell to the banquet.  King Papyrus warned his loyal knight that the only route to King Bell's castle was a mountain pass that was inhabited by the dreaded Yellow Fingers.  Very little was known about the Yellow Fingers because no one had successfully made the journey through the mountain pass.

The knight promised faithfully that he would make the journey with great speed and that he would defeat the dreaded Yellow Fingers.  King Papyrus watched as his loyal and faithful knight rode away headed for the mountain pass.

A week later, news reached King Papyrus that his knight had been killed by the Yellow Fingers.  Disappointed, King Papyrus decided that perhaps a hunter would be able to succeed where a knight had failed, so he searched his kingdom for his most skilled hunter.  Again King Papyrus warned his loyal subject of the danger posed by the dreaded Yellow Fingers and, like the knight, the hunter promised to make the journey and defeat the Yellow Fingers.  As King Papyrus watched the hunter start off on his journey, he was reminded of the knight and feared that this effort would also be unsuccessful.

A week later, news reached King Papyrus that his hunter had been mangled and mauled by the Yellow Fingers, but had managed to escape with his life.  Extremely disappointed, King Papyrus wondered what to do next.  He was contemplating which other profession might be successful when he felt a tug on his sleeve.  Looking down, he saw one of the pages from his Court.

"What do you want, Page?"

"I can make the journey for you, Your Majesty."  The page spoke with confidence but, quite frankly, sounded barely old enough to send to the local market and definitely not old enough to face the dreaded Yellow Fingers.  "Please, Your Majesty.  I promise I can make the journey and deliver your message for you."

Having no one else to send at the moment, King Papyrus decided to send the page.  He had half a dozen, so one more or less was not a problem.  "All right, you can leave tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sir."

The next day, King Papyrus explained everything again and the page made the same promise as the knight and hunter had before heading down the road toward the pass and the dreaded Yellow Fingers.  King Papyrus didn't even watch until the page passed through the castle wall; he just turned away wondering who he could send next.

A week later, King Papyrus hadn't heard anything.  Another week passed and still no news.  Finally, in the middle of the third week, the page returned with news from King Bell accepting the invitation to the banquet and with news of an alternate route to avoid the dreaded Yellow Fingers.  King Papyrus decided that in the future he would always let his pages do the walking through the Yellow Fingers.

True to form, RT was rolling on the floor laughing as the story ended.  The rest of the children were giggling or laughing as well.  Chakotay didn't understand exactly but didn't question their enjoyment of the story.  He made good his escape from the children only to be intercepted by his wife at the door.

"What story did you tell them?"

"I turned one of Tom's jokes into a story.  I still don't understand why it's so funny.  It was something about a mid-twentieth century slogan for a communications system's advertising materials, if that makes any sense.  I thought that if I didn't understand it and Tom thought it was funny, then the children would be sure to enjoy it.  I was right."

"I don't think I want to hear anymore about that joke."

"I'm glad.  I'll see you tonight."  Chakotay glanced to see who was watching, then decided he didn't care before he bent to kiss Kathryn soundly and left.