by Dakota

"I've got to go. Talk to you later."  Kathryn clicked off the communications terminal quickly, hoping Chakotay hadn't seen B'Elanna's face or heard her voice.  Chakotay had and it aroused his curiosity.  He walked over to stand behind Kathryn where she sat. Wrapping his arms around her neck, he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"What was that all about?" He whispered in her ear.

"What was what all about?"

"You and B'Elanna."

"Oh, that.  It was nothing." Kathryn paused as if thinking. "We're, uh, we're going to go shopping one day soon."

"Well, don't spend all your back pay in one place. Unless, that is, you don't want to build that house we've been talking about."

"Oh, I want that house but you have enough to pay for it."

"I thought we were going to keep that for our retirement."

Kathryn stood up and turned to move into his arms. They had been back on Earth for nearly a year and living together for more than eight months yet she still felt like she was breaking the rules being with him. After the dust settled from their return and the courts had sorted out all the issues regarding the former Maquis members of her crew, Kathryn had surprised not only her crew and family, but herself as well, by accepting a civilian job working with Starfleet. Chakotay had been the one who stayed in Starfleet when he accepted an assignment in personnel at 'fleet headquarters.

She kissed him gently. "You're not old enough to worry about retirement for a long time yet so you'd better not be hinting that I am."

"Never. We're just a couple of kids."

"Please, you're nearly fifty and I'm almost as old even if you do make me feel about twenty years younger." Kathryn kissed him again before pulling reluctantly away. "We'd better stop or we'll both be late for work today."

"We could call in sick."

"We did that last week. Besides, I have plans to meet B'Elanna for lunch."

Chakotay watched Kathryn's face as she realized she had mentioned B'Elanna. It reminded him of the hastily terminated call he had interrupted a few minutes earlier.

Two days later, Chakotay unexpectedly found himself without a lunch commitment so he called Kathryn to see if she could join him. Her face appeared on the monitor clearly happy to see him.

"Hi! I thought you and the personnel officer from Enterprise-E were meeting today."

"She had to cancel because they were delayed at Vulcan. They are expected to arrive later this afternoon. That's why I called. I thought maybe you could meet me for lunch since I'll probably have to work late tonight because of their delay."

"Oh, I can't." Kathryn's smile faded. "I promised B'Elanna and Sam to go with them to this new coffee bar. Maybe another day later in the week. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'll probably just grab a sandwich and eat at my desk."

"How late do you think you'll have to work?"

"I'm not sure. I'll call and let you know when I leave. We can go out for Chinese."

"It's a date. Make sure you call when you leave headquarters. See you later. I love you." Kathryn was gone before Chakotay could reply. Her abrupt termination of the call puzzled him.

Shaking his head, he decided to go down to the cafeteria before the lunch crowd rush. Chakotay had originally intended to take his sandwich back to his office, but instead ended up eating at a small table off in a corner near the windows. As he was finishing and preparing to leave, his attention was caught by the faint sound of familiar laughter. He looked across the room to see Kathryn, B'Elanna and Sam heading for the salad bar. He hadn't thought too much about the call a few days earlier, but now he was starting to wonder.

Enterprise-E was delayed again so Chakotay's meeting was set back another twenty-four hours forcing him to work late the next day. He had called Kathryn when he was ready to leave and offered to pick up dinner on his way home. She had readily agreed to his suggestion and terminated the call as soon as she knew he was on the way home.

An hour later as Chakotay neared the entrance to their apartment complex, he thought he saw Tom and B'Elanna leaving. If he had been uncertain before, he was no longer. Kathryn was up to something, but what? His mind was replaying a few of the suspicious incidents when one comment snapped into focus. "You're nearly fifty." He stopped and thought about the date. That had to be it. His birthday was only three days away so she must be planning a surprise party for him with the help of a few of their friends from Voyager. Chakotay briefly considered telling Kathryn he had discovered her plans but decided against it. She was probably enjoying herself and keeping it a surprise was at least half the fun.

He couldn't resist testing his hypothesis though. About halfway through their meal as an aside to his description of some of the more humorous tales he had heard from the personnel officer of Enterprise-E, he commented. "You know, we haven't been back to Indiana to see your mother lately. I should be finished with Enterprise-E's matters late tomorrow. I can clear my calendar the next afternoon. Why don't you ask to get off early and we can go visit her this weekend?"

Kathryn looked and sounded flustered, almost as if she were lying. "Uh, I don't think I can. We're right in the middle of some tests and the others just haven't quite got the knack with the adapted Borg technology yet. Next weekend would be better, don't you think?"

"Ok." Chakotay accepted her excuse even though he knew quite well that Seven was part of the team conducting the tests at the moment and definitely possessed the knack of Borg technology.

The morning of his birthday was almost disappointingly uneventful for Chakotay. Kathryn didn’t even mention it. If he hadn't stumbled upon her plans, he would have wondered if she even knew it was his birthday.

As they were getting ready for work, Kathryn finally commented about her plans for the evening. "We're having problems with those tests I mentioned the other day so I might be late tonight. I won't know until this afternoon. Would you mind terribly if we stopped for pizza on the way home if I'm delayed too long?"

"Of course not. You sure you wouldn't rather I came home and fixed dinner for us?"

"No, it's Friday and I could use some time out of this place and the lab. A nice noisy pizza parlor sounds like a welcome change from our routine."

"Don’t tell me you're tired of our routine already."

Kathryn glanced at Chakotay knowing he was flirting with her. His dimples were obvious and she just stared at him enjoying the moment. She debated how to answer him knowing that there was a serious question buried beneath the flirting. She tilted her head up to kiss him lightly.

"Even if I think our professional routine is boring, I'm certainly not tired of sharing it with you. As for our private routine...."

"I'll try to think of some ways to reduce the boredom for us."

"You do that. I've got to go or I'll be late. I'll call you this afternoon and let you know what time to meet me. Bye." Kathryn kissed him again and left.

At work, Chakotay was distracted all morning by Kathryn's behavior and comments. He was certain she was planning a surprise party yet she didn't seemed concerned about his whereabouts later in the evening. Finally, he was forced to conclude that as unlikely as it seemed, she was holding the party somewhere other than their home. He was willing to bet that when she called that afternoon she would change the place she wanted to eat dinner tonight.

Chakotay would have won that bet. Kathryn called about a half hour before he was scheduled to go off duty and told him she was too tired to stop for dinner. They had worked through lunch and had just decided to take a few hours break before starting the next phase of the testing later this evening. She was going home and would have sandwiches and soup ready when he arrived.

Chakotay took his time going home, fully expecting to find a crowd in his living room when he arrived. He kept an eye out for familiar faces as he entered the building but saw nothing unusual. When he entered their apartment, he found Kathryn half asleep on the couch, sandwiches on the counter and hot soup in a stasis container. Kathryn sat up when she heard the door close.

"I'm sorry. I meant to have everything ready when you got home. Go change and I'll have it ready when you come back."

Chakotay walked over to help her to her feet and kissed her.

"I should be apologizing. I didn't realize how tired you were. I'll finish dinner." Chakotay truly felt guilty. He had been so distracted with his analysis of Kathryn's plotting that he had not realized how tired she had been.

"No, go on and change. I'm awake now."

Chakotay yielded and went to change. When he returned he found the soup and sandwiches on the table along with sliced tomatoes and melon. He smiled. Kathryn might not like to cook but she was pretty good at it anyway.

"Why are you smiling?" Kathryn walked over to him and handed him a wine glass. She took his hand and led him to the couch.

"I was just thinking that for someone who hates to cook, you put together a pretty good meal."

"It's not that hard to do basic meals. Besides, for you I'd try to cook pot roast every night if it's what you wanted."

They sat down on the couch and Kathryn leaned against Chakotay's shoulder. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box. After looking at it for a few seconds, she handed it to him.

"Don't open that yet. I want to say something to you first."

"What is it?"

"You'll see. Just listen for a moment. First of all, I really am sorry about dinner tonight. I had planned to take the afternoon off and fix a really nice dinner for the two of us but they moved up these tests and totally ruined my plans. I'm sorry, I really wanted your birthday to be something special."

"Hey, as long as you're part of my day, it is special." Chakotay debated for a minute telling Kathryn what he had thought. "You're going to laugh. I thought you were planning some kind of surprise party for me."

"Whatever made you think that?"

"Oh, you and B'Elanna getting together so much lately, then you and Sam and B'Elanna eating lunch together. I even thought I saw Tom and B'Elanna leaving one evening as I was coming home."

Kathryn blushed. "Well, Tom wanted to have one of those 'over the hill' type parties but I wouldn't let him. It seemed too undignified for a Starfleet officer. B'Elanna and I finally convinced him to drop his plans."

"Thank you for talking him out of it. I would have hated the fuss. Now tell me about that box. Is it my present."

"No, not exactly. It's as much my present as yours but I hope you like it. Now you can go ahead and open it."

"I'm opening your present on my birthday?"

"Just open it. It will make more sense when you see what it is."

Chakotay carefully removed the paper from the box and opened it.  He stared at the contents for a few seconds, unsure what to make of his gift.

"Kathryn, maybe you better explain this to me."

"Don't you know what those are?"

"Of course I know what they are.  I just didn't know you were ready for this yet."

"Well, I am. Now the question is, are you?"

Chakotay turned to look into Kathryn's eyes and saw a trace of fear. Carefully he removed one of the objects in the box. He studied it briefly before taking Kathryn's hand and sliding the ring on her finger.

"I've been ready to marry you for a very long time, Kathryn Janeway." Chakotay pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. "This is the best birthday present you could have given me. Now how soon are we going to put those other two rings on?"

"Whenever you say."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course."

Chakotay glanced at his watch then stood up. "Come on. Put on a dress. If we hurry, we can catch a justice of the peace in Honolulu."

"Now?"

"You said whenever I wanted."

Kathryn was caught completely unprepared for this. She had expected him to suggest sometime in the coming week, not a mad dash on a Friday night to Hawaii.

"How will we get there? We don't have time to catch a transport."

"It's time we abused some of the privileges that come with a Starfleet uniform. Now come on."

Three hours later, they were on a commercial transport en route back to the mainland from Hawaii. Kathryn had refused to use Starfleet transporters for the return trip and was now sleeping with her head against Chakotay's arm. Chakotay looked over at the woman sleeping next to him. Never had he dreamed when he awoke that morning that she would be his wife when he fell asleep tonight. As the transport settled to its assigned spot, Chakotay gently woke Kathryn.

"Wake up, Kathryn. We're here."

"I'm sorry. I keep falling asleep tonight."

As they stood and made their way to the exit with the other passengers, Chakotay kept a firm grasp on Kathryn's left hand. He liked the feel of the rings on her finger. They made their way to the center for ground transportation and got a cab to take them home. Kathryn nearly fell asleep on the ride to their apartment complex and was quiet until they were inside. As they made their way to their room, she broke the silence.

"I still didn’t give you the rest of your gift."

"You mean there's more?"

"Yes."

"I don't need anymore. I have everything I want right now."

Kathryn was silent and moved to stare out their window at the small park in the next block.

"I'm afraid that maybe that's the truth."

Chakotay watched her pensively from across the room. Her voice hinted at a lack of confidence that he would like the rest of his gift.

"Kathryn, whatever you give me, I will love. Where is it?"

Kathryn turned back to face him, then walked across the room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to kiss him. Chakotay smiled against her lips and deepened the kiss.

"You thought I wouldn't like this present?"

Kathryn whispered something in his ear but he couldn't make it out. The next time her whisper was louder.

"I'm pregnant."

Chakotay was stunned. He knew that people said your life changed at fifty but he didn't think they meant the kind of changes he was facing today. He didn't know what to say.

"Chakotay?" The uncertainty in Kathryn's voice would have been apparent even to a stranger. "Say something."

"Spirits, Kathryn, I don't know what to say." Chakotay tried to put his thoughts in some order. He glanced at Kathryn's face and immediately felt guilty. She thought he was upset. "Just when I think my life is perfect, you make it better."

Chakotay pulled her close and kissed her, making it very clear that he was ecstatic about the baby then he took her hand and led her to their bedroom.

Later as Kathryn fell asleep in Chakotay's arms, she wondered how he would react the next evening when a supposedly spur of the moment invitation to join Tom and B'Elanna for dinner turned out to be a surprise party.