Voyager had been traveling through a fairly heavily populated region of the Delta Quadrant for the last two months.  Populated with stars, that is.  There were very few planets with intelligent life and the few they had found with any advanced civilization were all pre-warp.  They were approaching an M-class planet and would be entering orbit in a few hours.  If preliminary scans were correct, there was a wide variety of plant life and only lower forms of animal life.  Kathryn Janeway sat in her ready room considering the options for renewing some of their resources on the planet when her chime sounded.

“Come,” she was somewhat surprised that her caller was not Chakotay but Ensign Wildman.

“Hello, Captain.  I hope I’m not disturbing you.  I can come back if you like.”  Samantha Wildman was clearly nervous about something.

“It’s all right, Samantha.  You’re not interrupting anything.  What can I do for you?”

“I’m sorry, Captain.  I don’t know quite how to say this.  It shouldn’t have happened and I take full responsibility.  I. . . I’m. . .” Samantha was struggling to find the words she wanted.

“Relax, Ensign.  Just tell me what’s wrong.”  Kathryn was concerned now.

“I’m pregnant!  There, I said it.  I’m so sorry, Captain.  I stopped taking my birth control boosters before we left DS9 because my boyfriend and I broke up.  I didn’t think I would need them for a while and once we found ourselves out here, I didn’t think I would meet someone, much less get so involved.  Neither of us was expecting the relationship to become a physical one so quickly and for the first few days, we each relied on the other having their boosters up to date.  We were both wrong.  So I’m pregnant.  It’s my fault.  I should have known better.  I do know better.”

Kathryn was surprised; Captain Janeway was dismayed.  She was torn in two.  Kathryn was pleased for Samantha; the captain had known this was an issue she would have to address for the crew, and for herself, sooner or later.  She had been hoping on later, much later.  Now it would have to be sooner.

“Sam, I’m sorry I haven’t kept up on friendships among the crew better, so forgive me for having to ask, but who’s the baby’s father?”

“Joe Carey in engineering.”  Kathryn knew Joe.  He was a good man and would be a good father.  She just wasn’t sure this was the time and place for anyone to be a father or a mother.

“Do you want this baby?  Does Joe want this baby?”

“Oh, yes, Captain.  We both do.  He was married a few years ago and his wife died in childbirth.  He’s afraid for me and for the baby, but we both want it; we want to raise a family.  I know Voyager is no one’s idea of the perfect place for any family, but it’s the only home we have right now.  Please, Captain, please understand.”

“I do, Sam.  I really do.  If it’s not touching on a sore spot, why didn’t Joe come with you to talk to me?”

“He wanted to come with me.  I told him I would wait until he was off duty later today, but I came alone now.  I just felt better about telling you this without Joe.  He’s still sorting out how happy he is about the baby and how scared he is that he’ll lose both of us, that I really didn’t want him to have to deal with telling you, too.”

“I think I understand.  Now, don’t worry, Sam.  Everything will work out fine with Joe and the baby.  Was there anything else while you were here?”

“Well, . . . yes.  Joe and I haven’t really gotten into this yet, but I think he might want to make our relationship official.  Like I said, we really haven’t talked this through, but I thought I’d let you know we might be making a request for joint quarters.  If all goes well, we might be asking you to officiate at our wedding, if that’s all right with you.  We’ll go along with whatever you decide is best for the crew and the ship.  I’m only mentioning this now because if there’s going to a problem or if you object, I don’t want to get my hopes up or make plans.”

“Don’t worry about those issues just yet, Sam.  There will be no problem with a joint quarters assignment if you two decide to get married.  As for the rest, we’ll work something out.”

”Captain, I am so sorry to have dropped all this on you like this.  I know you have enough to deal with just keeping us supplied and the ship running without having to deal with a pregnant crewman.”

“Samantha, it’s all right.  I’m thrilled for you and Joe, and the baby will be a wonderful addition to Voyager’s crew.”

“I hope the rest of Voyager’s crew think so.”

“Sam, your baby is going to have more than 100 aunts and uncles making silly noises and faces before it’s a week old.  Trust me, the crew will love your baby.  I only want one promise from you, Ensign.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Promise me that you’ll tell Chakotay if you need to have your duty shifts shortened or changed to split shifts as your pregnancy progresses.  I may not prepare the duty roster, but I still have a little influence with him and I’m sure I can convince him to work something out for you.  Now, you go convince Joe to stop worrying about you so much.  I’ll deal with everything else.”

“Thank you, Captain.  You have my promise.”  Samantha left looking much happier than she had when she entered.

Kathryn walked over to the viewport and reflected on her conversation with Sam Wildman and all the ramifications of her pregnancy.  Kathryn had known she would have to deal with the issue of children and families sooner or later as well as all the problems that came with them.  They were a small community, so any problems would impact everyone.  Children might be nuisances to others at times, but they would not be a real problem.  The real problems would be those when the two people involved did not agree on a serious issue, like ending a relationship or whether to have a child.  It would be too easy for the rest of the crew to take sides.

Another problem, not nearly as likely to divide the crew into warring factions, was housing.  Where did she put couples and their children?  There were traditions on board ships regarding who was assigned what type of quarters.  It was risky to go against tradition.  It could cause hard feelings and lead to charges of favoritism by those who received less desirable quarters.  Kathryn smiled.  Tradition might be the reason for problems with housing assignments, but it also meant that she didn’t have to deal with it.  Tradition said the first officer had to deal with housing assignments and complaints as part of his duties.  Who was Kathryn Janeway to fly in the face of tradition?  She would have to discuss the joint quarters question for unmarried couples with him.  She could understand why a couple might make that request but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

Chakotay entered the ready room unannounced.  Kathryn had long since programmed the access controls to admit him without signaling her.  He had all her override codes anyway, so why slow him down?  Kathryn was so occupied with her thoughts that she didn’t hear him enter.  She jumped when he spoke.

“Kathryn, what’s got you so distracted you forgot our lunch date?  I waited for 30 minutes before tracking you down.”

“What?!  Oh, . . . what time is it?”  Kathryn hastily checked a chronometer.  “I’m sorry.  Samantha Wildman stopped in and got me thinking.  I didn’t realize how late it was.  I‘m glad you came to find me.  We need to talk.”  Kathryn had started off slowly, and then picked up speed as she gathered her wits.  Chakotay chuckled as he kissed her forehead.

“Slow down.  We’ll talk, but not before you have something to eat.  What would you like?  Soup?  Salad?  Sandwich?”

“Soup.  I can eat that and talk at the same time.”  She didn’t even bother arguing with him.  Chakotay brought a bowl of vegetable soup and coffee for Kathryn and a sandwich and tea for himself to her desk. “So, who’s holding this conversation, Kathryn and Chakotay, or the captain and first officer?”

“Both.”  Her response put a confused look on Chakotay’s face.  “All four.” The confused look grew before relaxing as she continued.  “It’s all mixed together.  Really the captain and first officer need to talk, but I honestly don’t think we’ll be able to keep Kathryn and Chakotay out of the final decisions.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is.  Not life and death, survival serious, but something that could lead to real problems among the crew if not handled properly.”

The confused look was returning. “What exactly did Sam say to you?”

“She’s pregnant.”  Chakotay’s first response was to wonder how this could be a problem for the crew.  Kathryn recounted her conversation with Sam Wildman.  Then she gave him a minute or two to consider the implications of her summary.

Eventually he spoke. “First of all, I’m thrilled for Sam and Joe.  I hope they make this work.  None of the couples that were together before we came to the Delta Quadrant have had problems, though one or two have mutually agreed to end their relationships.  Sam and Joe are the first new couple on Voyager since we came to the Delta Quadrant, so they will be the example for the entire crew.  Are you OK with this?”

“Yes, I am happy for them.  I’m just not too happy that I have to deal with all the issues that are going to be coming along with the baby.”

“You couldn’t avoid those issues forever you know.”

“I know.  I was just hoping I could put it off for a while longer.  Let’s start with an easy question first.  Do you think I should permit you to assign unmarried couples to joint quarters?  I have mixed feelings about this one.  I don’t like telling the crew they can’t be together, but I can see a lot of problems if everyone starts to ask for joint quarters, then the relationship ends a few weeks later.  You would spend all your time moving people around the ship.”  Chakotay considered her words before he responded.

“Let’s look at this another way.  Are you going to tell them they can’t do what we are doing?  After all, the crew doesn’t know we are married but they do know I share your quarters.  The easy answer is we let them do exactly what we are.  They each have their own quarters officially, but we make sure they know unofficially they are free to share.  I suspect there are more couples already following our lead than we would estimate.

“You’re right. I knew I could count on you for the solution.  We do nothing about joint quarters.  That was easy.  OK, ask me another question.”

“All right.  If Sam and Joe want to get married, will you perform the ceremony?  If anyone else wants to get married, will that also be acceptable?  In other words, are you going to put any limitations on marriages among the crew?”

“I can’t.  How can I tell them they can’t get married when I am?  It’s possible that none of us will live long enough to get back to Federation space.  How could I tell them they have to give up the choice to make a lifetime commitment to another person? The only requirement I can put on marriage is that I want them to convince me they are making a serious commitment to a shared future.  With that kind of commitment comes a desire to have children.  I know because I want children, too.  That brings up another matter I have avoided.  If we take more than 25 years to get back to Federation space, we will need more crew to run the ship, but we can’t wait 25 years to start replacing crew.  We would have to start in the next five or ten years, so the children have time to grow up.  I can’t tell them they can’t have children now.  In a year or two I might be telling them they should have children to protect Voyager’s future.  But how do we raise children on a ship this small?  Voyager was not designed for families.”

“Kathryn, you have already decided the two most critical issues.  Marriages and children will be part of Voyager’s future.  You can put reasonable requirements on marriage.  You can even put some limitations on the number of children.  We have room for children and we have lots of time to work out the details.”

“I guess you’re right, Chakotay.  I have already decided the two most important things.  I guess the reason I needed to talk to you was so I could reassure myself that my decisions aren’t going to hurt the crew or put Voyager at risk.”

“That’s why I’m here.  Come on.  I have some files in my office that relate to this discussion.  We can pick them up on the way to your briefing room.  We’re less likely to be interrupted there and we will have more room to spread out a bit.”  While he was speaking he took their lunch dishes to the recycler.  He pulled her to her feet from her chair and hugged her briefly before practically dragging her out the door.