Kathryn and Chakotay were walking down the street of the capital city of the Barmini home world.  Voyager had been back in space for nearly seven months and the only thing that appealed to Kathryn was strolling the streets.  Kathryn had refused to appear off Voyager in uniform for reasons Chakotay did not understand.  Since he had been wise enough not to ask for an explanation, they were in civilian clothes wandering the streets hand in hand.

For her part, Kathryn had grown tired of trying to explain to Chakotay why she, now nearly eight months pregnant, hated wearing her uniform.  They had wandered away from the more congested streets of the business district onto a side street and Chakotay was about to suggest they turn around when a man sitting on the sidewalk spoke to them.

"Alms for the poor."

"Alms for the poor?  Nobody says that anymore."  Kathryn's feet hurt and she was not in a very sympathetic mood.

"Oh, sorry.  Buddy, can you spare me a dime for a cup of coffee?"

"Chakotay, get someone to check the universal translator when we get back; it must be malfunctioning.  As for sparing a dime, Shorty, if I had a dime and it could buy me a cup of coffee, I'd buy me the coffee and spare you nothing."  Chakotay groaned.  Kathryn was not pulling her punches at all for the little man.

"Kathryn, I know your feet hurt and you're tired but you're the one who wanted to stay and walk a little longer, but don't take it out on him, whoever he is."

"You're right.  I'm sorry, uh – do you have a name, Shorty?"

"Neelix, ma'am.  My name is Neelix.  I don't suppose you need someone to do some odd jobs around your house?"

"Neelix, is it?  Well, sorry, Neelix.  No, we don't need someone to do odd jobs.  We already have people for that sort of thing.  You're not from Barmin, are you?"

"No, I'm not. How did you know that?"

"That was easy.  If you were from Barmin, you'd know that we're not."

"Listen, Kathryn, why don't we head back for the beam down point and rest before dinner?  We can leave Neelix here to get on with his job search."

"Oh, I can't get a regular job here.  I don't have work permits.  I was put off the ship I was on.  They didn't appreciate me or my work."

"You mean they dumped you for incompetence?"  Chakotay groaned again but the little man didn't seem too upset by Kathryn's words.

"Well, that is how they phrased it, but I wasn't incompetent.  I'm a very good cook."

"How long has it been since you last ate?"

"Oh, I had something to eat this morning, but it wasn't much.  My last meal was three days ago right before they threw me off the ship."

"Chakotay, we can't just leave him here.  Ask Harry to contact the government and get the address of a place where he can at least have a bath and get a meal."

Chakotay sighed; now she decides to get charitable.  Then he grinned.  He had noticed the lightning swift changes of her mood had begun early in her pregnancy and had increased as it progressed.  For him, the baby was more than worth the frustration of dealing with these mood changes, but he wasn't so sure the rest of the crew agreed.  Lately he had resorted to keeping her off the bridge and out of engineering as much as possible but he was running out of equipment that could be inspected by a pregnant captain who could no longer crawl through Jeffreys tubes.  He was getting desperate for some new ideas.  He was so lost in his thoughts that he completely missed Harry's reply to his request and had to ask him to repeat it.  Harry reported patiently that the location of the shelter was on the way to their beam down point.

"Do you know how to find this place, Neelix?"  Chakotay was hoping the little man could find the shelter on his own, but that was not to be.

"No, I can't even read the street signs much less the name of the place you said I could go.  I don't suppose you could take me there?"

"We'll be happy to help you.  Chakotay, which way do we go?"  Kathryn turned to Chakotay for an answer and at a nod from him in the direction they should go, put her hand on Neelix's arm and dragged Chakotay after them.

Kathryn asked Neelix questions about his family and work and when she let him say a few words he asked about them.  Kathryn had a way of seeming to answer his questions without actually giving out very much information.  Chakotay listened and studied the man.  His skin reminded Chakotay of a snake’s skin with its slight scaling, yellow coloring and darker spots.  His hair was crested and tangled now, but looked like it would be straight and smooth* when clean and combed.  It took about fifteen minutes to reach the homeless shelter where they made sure Neelix would be fed.  As they were leaving, a young woman bearing a startling resemblance to Tinkerbell approached them.

"Excuse me.  I just wanted to thank you for helping that man.  We don't see many visitors taking an interest in the unfortunate."

"It was no trouble; we were headed in this general direction anyway."  Kathryn smiled at the young woman.  "Have you worked here long?"

"No, only about six months.  I'm from another planet and this was the only job I could find when I first arrived, so I took it thinking I would try to find another after I'd been here a while.  But I found I liked the work and helping others so I've just stayed.  Most of our clients need someone who cares about them and I'm very good at that.  If you don't mind, I’d like to ask you a favor.  Most of the people who come here don't have any friends. If you have time before you leave Barmin and could stop and just check up on Neelix, I know it would mean a lot to him.  It would encourage him to keep looking for work and cheer him up immensely."

"I don't know if we'll get back here before we leave so I can't make any promises, but if we can, we will.   I'm Kathryn; this is Chakotay.  What is your name?  We can ask for you if we come back?"

"I'm sorry.  My name is Kes.  Thank you so much."

A week later, Voyager was completing preparations to leave Barmin space.  They had not planned on staying in orbit around Barmin quite so long, but B'Elanna had gone into labor and Kathryn had decided to wait until her chief helmsman had calmed down.  She also thought her chief engineer could use a few days to adjust to a newborn making demands on her time.  Robert Thomas was making his presence known in their quarters and his proud father was making it known everywhere else.

A few of the crew, including Kathryn and Chakotay, were on the planet having a last walk around.  At first Chakotay was really paying attention to where they were walking.  They had visited all the tourist traps and found most of the local places that were really interesting.  Today was just for the fresh air and a leisurely walk before continuing their journey.  As they wandered, Kathryn would occasionally tug slightly on Chakotay's hand to turn down one street or another.  Gradually Chakotay noticed a pattern to the turns but it took a while to figure out where she was going – or rather, not quite going.

"Kathryn, if you want to check up on that man, why don't you just say so?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.  You know perfectly well you've been making sure we stayed in the vicinity of that shelter.  You've also made sure we didn't walk past it.  If we get more than a few blocks away, you make sure we head back towards it, and every time we've approached the block it's on, you've made sure we turned before we got to it."

"You're no fun.  You were supposed to notice we were near the shelter and suggest we stop to check on Neelix."

"I just did that."

"No, you didn't.  You asked me if I wanted to check on him."

Chakotay mentally shook his head thinking it was a good thing he loved this woman because he just could not keep up with her moods the last few months.  "Why does it matter who asks?"

"I don't know.  I guess it's a side effect of being pregnant, but I am worried about him.  I know we aren't responsible for him, but he was so pathetic. Can you imagine actually letting him near the food supply?"

"Maybe they were desperate.  Come on, we just happen to be near that shelter; let's go check on Neelix."

"Thank you.  I knew I kept you around for a reason." Kathryn grinned as they turned toward the shelter.

"You mean it isn't my dashing good looks and witty conversation?"  They both tried to keep a straight face but ended up chuckling all the way. They were still smiling as they entered the shelter and were trying to decide how to find out about Neelix when Kes saw them from across the room.  She quickly came to them.

"I'm so glad you came back to check on Neelix.  I think he's been a bit discouraged about finding work.  He isn't here right now, but might be coming in the next half hour or so if he follows his normal routine."

Kathryn and Chakotay both glanced at the room slowly emptying as the stragglers for the midday meal finished.  Kes noticed their glances.

"Neelix is having a little problem being accepted by the others here at the shelter and has been coming in after most of them have eaten.  His first day here, he gave the cooks a recipe for a delicacy from his home world and they served it for the next day's main course without tasting it first.  Our other clients have neither forgotten nor forgiven but at least they've stopped chasing him away."

"Was it the recipe or the ingredients that caused the problem?  If it was the ingredients we might want to put them on our list of foods to be avoided."

"It was something called leola root surprise and had quite a few things in it, but I think the problem was the leola root itself."

Kathryn looked at Chakotay who nodded his head in acknowledgment.  Kathryn immediately forgot about the leola root knowing it would never pass through Voyager's airlocks or transporter beam.  She returned her attention to Kes.

"He has bigger problems than just bad food.  Not only does he not have work permits for Barmin, his ship left him behind without any of his personal papers.  He can't even prove his name is Neelix much less offer any credentials that would make him employable.  As far as our government is concerned, Neelix is not much more than illegally dumped garbage.  He's extremely lucky that the government is letting him come to this shelter.  If he had some useful skills he would have some hope of finding some kind of job.  Since he says he is a chef, or cook, and we know what his recipes are like, we can't even let him earn his way here at the shelter."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"I don't know.  I haven't been here long enough to have encountered a case like this before and the others won't tell me what has happened to others like Neelix."  Kes paused and looked at them both.

"I'm sorry.  Here I am going on and on leaving you standing in the door. Come in."  She led them into the room and towards an empty table off to the side.

Kes glanced at Kathryn."Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"No, not at all.  What do you want to know?"

"Well, your species is new to me and I haven't had the chance to meet anyone else from your ship, but are you going to have a child?"

"She is."  Chakotay answered quietly before Kathryn had a chance, his smile telling Kes how pleased he was with the news despite his calm voice.  He received an elbow in the ribs for his efforts but the smile never wavered.

"That's wonderful!"

"Why did you ask?  Is there something I should know?"  Kathryn was slightly apprehensive.

"No.  I just enjoy sharing in other's happiness.  I wasn't sure because I knew you were the captain of your ship and a baby can be very time consuming.  It's pretty clear you are the baby's father, Chakotay, but I don't think you told me what your responsibilities on the ship are.  Do you mind my asking that?"

"I guess my responsibilities are about the same as Kathryn's; I'm her first officer."

"How romantic!  A shipboard romance!"  Kathryn and Chakotay both smiled.  Kathryn was the first to comment.

"I'd hardly call the beginning of our relationship a romance.  We did meet on Voyager but he wasn't my first officer.  It's a very long story so I won't bore you with details.  I guess it did turn into a shipboard romance."

"I know I'm being very curious about you and your ship, so tell me if you don't want to answer any of my questions.  Aren't you a little worried about raising a baby on your ship?"  Kathryn looked to Chakotay and nodded for him to answer that one.

"We are.  We know there are risks traveling in space but we have a journey that could well take the rest of our lives.  We want children.  If we wait until we think it's safe we could wait forever.  The ship's first child was born eleven days ago."

"How wonderful!  Was the baby a boy or a girl?"

"A little girl.  She's adorable even though she looks like her father.  He insists she looks like her mother but everyone says he's wrong.  Joe is going to be a good father."

“I have a feeling you will be, too.”  Before either of them could respond to Kes’s words, a loud crash rang out from the kitchen.  “I’ll be back.”

Kathryn and Chakotay watched Kes's back disappear through door on the other side of the room.  Kathryn broke the silence that settled over the room after the echoes of the crash died.

“She's right, you know.”

“About what?”

“About you being a good father.  You're the patient one.”

“You're going to be a great mother, too.  You've been hanging around Carrie almost as much as I have.  Joe and Sam are going to very glad when ours is born and we leave them alone.”

“I know.  We have been frequent visitors lately.  Let's at least try to visit together from now on.  Kes drew attention to something that we haven't talked about very much.  We're Voyager's two most senior officers and we're having a baby.  We're both going to lose sleep the same nights when the baby isn't feeling well.  We're both going to be awakened when there's a Red Alert.”

“That's already a problem and it hasn't been a problem.  The baby kicks, you wake up, I wake up.  Harry hits the wrong button and we both wake up to red alert lights and klaxons.  We share our lives.  Sure, there will be problems, but we will deal with them.  Sam and Joe are dealing with the same problems and so are Tom and B'Elanna.  They just have different jobs on Voyager.  We'll work it out because we have no choice.”

“I believe you.  At least I think I do.  I know I want to believe you.  Voyager wasn't designed for families.  I never expected to command a generation ship.  Why am I so worried now when I wasn't worried when we left the Caretaker?”

“Back at the Caretaker, this was all just a possibility; now it's reality. You're going to be a mother very shortly.  You're worried about your baby.  You are also worried that you're letting your crew down by having the baby.  It will all work out.  Don't believe it because I say it; believe it because you know we will make it true.”

“Right.  Why should I believe we can handle anything that comes up?”

“Because you're the captain.”

“What kind of reason is that?.”

“A factual reason.  It won't happen just because you're the captain.  But all the things that make you a good captain are the things that will help us handle anything we need to handle.  We love each other and we love our baby so we will work together on this.  There's the added fact that in the long run, what is best for the baby is what is best for the crew because the entire crew contributes to the safety of the ship.  Now, did you really need to hear me say all that, or do you just need a hug because you're getting nervous?”

“Both.”  Chakotay stood up and pulled Kathryn to her feet before wrapping her in his arms.  He could feel the tension in her body.  She was so tense she was almost trembling.  Eventually the tremors stopped and she slowly relaxed.  He waited until her hands behind his back started to fidget before he spoke.

“Feeling better now?”

“Yes.  You give good hugs.”

“Thank you.”

“You're good to me, Chakotay.  And you're good for me, personally and professionally.  I wish I could return that.”

“You give me what I need and you are what I want.  Kes is going to be back soon.  What was it you really want to do here?  I’d rather hear it now than look like a fish with my mouth open when you tell Kes what you're planning.”

“You big oaf!  What makes you think I'm planning anything?”  Kathryn leaned back so she could look him in the eyes. Her glare was insincere at best.

“I can tell.  I know you and you're planning something.  So just tell me, ok?”

“OK.  I was thinking that we are entering a region with lots of planets and at least one of them must be a better place for Neelix than Barmin.  We have lots of room and one person won't be that much of a drain on our resources for a few weeks.  There must be a few bulkheads that need polishing and carpets to be cleaned to keep Neelix busy for those weeks.  We could just give him a ride to a friendlier planet.  What do you think?”

“That's all of your plan?”

“Yes.”

“I must be slipping.  I thought there was more.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had the crew clean out some quarters for him the day after we found him, but I expected you to have more plans for him than just carpet and bulkheads, so I must be slipping.  Or maybe you forgot to tell me something?”  This time the glare directed at him was very sincere.

“All right.  I was thinking that, depending on lots of things, maybe, just maybe, he could help with the babies until we all get used to having infants in our lives.  We could use a cook, but after what Kes told us there is no way I'm letting him near the food supply.  Did you get a chance to taste that leola root?”

“I did and I agree about the food supply.  I’d like to think about having him help with the babies though.  We don't know anything about him except what he's told us.  Trust me to keep him busy and out of trouble?”

"You know I do."

"Consider it done.  Kes is coming back now and she's evidently found Neelix while she was gone.  I’ll let you tell them your idea."

That night as Chakotay was drifting off to sleep with Kathryn at his side she whispered.

"Thank you for letting me have a pet on the ship, Commander."

"You're welcome, Captain, but he's your pet, so you're the one who gets to housebreak him."

"I'll get my husband to do it. I have him wrapped around my little finger pretty tightly."

"You sure do, Kathryn, but it's only because he loves you."

*See Chakotay Years part 4.