Kathryn and Chakotay were sitting on their couch with a stack of pads on either side of them.  The stack next to Chakotay was down to one while the stack next to Kathryn was growing steadily.  Both were pleased because the stack that was growing was the one they had completed.  He picked up the last pad and passed it to her without even glancing at it.

“This is the last one, Kathryn.  It’s the duty roster for next week and it is identical to this week’s roster.”  Kathryn glanced at it and scrolled to the bottom where she marked it approved before putting the pad on the top of the stack.

“Thank goodness!  I thought we’d never get finished with those reports.  I did not miss all the routine paperwork while we were on that planet.”

“At least everything has gone well our first week back in space.”

“That’s true.  The crew seems to have settled back into the routine rather easily.”

“I don’t know if I’d say easily.”

“What?  Were there problems I should know about?”  Kathryn gathered the pads from the couch and passed them to Chakotay to put on the table next to his end of the couch.

“Yes, there were problems, but not any that you needed to know about. I dealt with them. It was nothing that I couldn’t handle or that needed to make its way into personnel files. OK?”

“I guess I don’t want to know, do I?”

Chakotay thought for a moment about Kathryn’s question before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“OK, if you say so.” Kathryn sighed and pulled his arm around her shoulders so she could snuggle against him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Well, ever since we decided we’d try to have a baby I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh? Are you wondering whether we should have waited a while longer?”

“No! No, nothing like that. I’m sure about having a baby now.  I have a lot of questions about how I’ll run this ship with an infant or toddler around, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“What then?”

“Children always ask questions and their favorites are about their parents.  How did you meet?  Where did you meet?  What if you hadn’t met?  Well, I’m not sure I know how to explain to our children when they’re young all the details about us in terms they can understand.  There was so much turmoil in the Federation and misunderstanding and political maneuvering that I know I won’t be able to explain us without confusing them completely.”

“You’re worried about when they’re young, right?”

“Yes.  When they’re older, I know they will understand at least part of the confusion surrounding the Cardassians and Dominion.”

“You’re right about when they are older, but it isn’t that much different when they’re younger.  They don’t need to know all the facts and details.  They just need to know that we met, fell in love, and got married.  They don’t even need to be told we wanted children because they will know they are wanted and loved before they can ask the questions.”

“You mean leave out information?”

“Kathryn, you know that you don’t have to fill in every fact.  We tell them what they can understand in terms they can understand.  That’s all.”

“All right, then tell me in terms a three year old can understand.  What do I say when our first born comes in and wants to know how we met.”

“That’s easy.  You send our first born to me, and I will answer this way.

"I'm not going to tell you how your mother and I met, but I can tell you a story.  It’s an ancient legend among our people.  It’s a story about an angry warrior who lived in conflict with the rest of his tribe, a man who couldn’t find peace – even with the help of his spirit guide.  For years, he struggled with his discontent, but the only satisfaction that he ever got came when he was in battle.  This made him a hero among his people, but still the warrior yearned for peace within himself.  One day, an enemy tribe captured the warrior leaving the angry warrior’s tribe with no one to lead them.  A woman warrior found his tribe and offered to lead them.  Led by the woman warrior, the two tribes found the angry warrior and freed him from the enemy tribe.  The woman warrior called on the angry warrior to join her.  The woman warrior was brave and beautiful and very wise.  The angry warrior swore to himself that he would stay by her side, doing all that he could to make her burden lighter.  From that day on, her needs would come first.  And in that way, the warrior found the true meaning of peace and love."

Chakotay looked down where Kathryn was sitting with glistening eyes.  He leaned down to kiss the top of her head and pulled her closer to his side.

“Ours is a beautiful story, Kathryn, and one our children will understand because it comes from the heart not the head.”