Harry and Megan slowly recovered from their grief.  Together they took the first steps to rebuilding their lives without Jenny and Aaron.  Their shared loss drew them together.  Despite the urging of the doctor, Megan refused to terminate her pregnancy.  The doctor finally enlisted Harry's help to try to change her mind, taking more than an hour to explain the situation to him.  While he didn't understand all the technical details, what Harry did understand was that Megan has suffered a breach in her uterine wall that had allowed small amounts of placental tissue to enter her abdominal cavity.   The actual amounts were small but were too scattered to be sure of removing them all safely without endangering the pregnancy.  During the pregnancy the tissue would proliferate and again there was no way to stop that without also damaging the placenta and putting the baby at risk.

By the time the baby reached full term there would be large quantities of placental tissue in Megan's abdomen which would cause uncontrollable bleeding following delivery when the placental tissue detached from the surrounding organs.  The sinecure of so many problem pregnancies, fetal transport, was not even a possible treatment since the problem was the pregnancy itself, not the birth.  Harry had not realized until the doctor approached him that Megan would most likely die in childbirth if she did not receive the necessary treatment.  Megan listened to Harry patiently, then simply said no.  Harry pushed the issue one day and Megan turned on him.

"I've lost Jenny.  I've lost Aaron.  I won't lose my baby, too!"

Any other words would have fallen on deaf ears, but Harry understood those words.  He had lost Libby, then Jenny so he fully understood her decision even if he could not agree with it.  He never questioned Megan about her choice again.

After the first time she slept on his couch, Megan began spending more time in Harry's cabin.  Harry never knew whether it was to escape reminders of her time with Aaron or to find companionship with her last link to Jenny.  Eventually she was there more than she was in her own quarters.  After a week or so, Harry insisted she take his bed and he slept on his couch.  The entire situation brought back bittersweet memories of his early days with Jenny.

As her pregnancy progressed, Megan seemed to tire more easily.  She went to bed as soon as she was off duty.  When the doctor realized what was happening, he put her on restricted duty.  Megan protested the change at first, refusing to reduce the number of shifts she worked each week or to shorten them.  She got away with it the first day.  The second day, Chakotay sent security to escort her off duty.  She yielded after that.  About midway through her sixth month, the doctor put her on the disabled list.  For a few days Megan rested, but she soon grew restless and, following Harry's advice, sought out Chakotay begging for something to do.

"Commander, please.  I need something to do.  Without duty shifts I have too much time to think and remember.  Please?"

"Megan, the doctor has you on the disabled list, and I agree with his decision.  You need to rest more and your duties in stellar cartography are too much for you right now."

"It doesn't have to be in stellar cartography.  There must be something on this ship I can do in my quarters for a few hours a day.  Or I could help in the mess hall or airponics.  I need to get out of my cabin to do something constructive.  Please?"

"I'll talk to the doctor.  If he says it's ok, I'll try to find you work you can do for a few hours a day.  But if he says no, I won't override him.  Understood?"

"Yes, sir.  Thank you, Commander."  Megan left before Chakotay could change his mind.

A few days later, Megan was asked to report to hydroponics.  There she received a crash course in cataloging previously unidentified plants and shown where to retrieve the files from the ship's database.  She was warned that her access to the files was limited to two consecutive hours with a minimum of one hour between her access times.  She also had a five hour per day maximum.

At first Megan worked on the project alone.  As she became more familiar with the project, she had more questions and sought out the people in hydroponics for the answers.  After the second visit, she accepted their offer of a quiet corner as a workstation.  Eventually she started taking her enforced breaks in the quiet corners among flowering shrubs.  By her eighth month, she was working an hour and resting an hour.  The ever watchful doctor had originally planned to reduce her workload but when he saw she was adapting it to her physical needs, made no changes.

About a month after Megan started working in hydroponics, Harry was awakened by her screams.  She was still dreaming when he reached the bedroom.  He sat next to her and gently shook her shoulder.  He managed to make out Aaron's name and Jenny's name before she woke and sat up.  Her initial confusion was soon replaced by the realization that she had been dreaming.  Megan collapsed into tears on Harry's shoulder.

"Hey, it's ok, Megan.  Everything 's fine.  It was just a dream."

It was several minutes before Megan could speak coherently.

"It was so real, Harry.  It was like reliving everything all over again."

"What was?"

"The accident.  I saw Jenny and Aaron fall over the edge.  Then I fell after them.  But we didn't hit bottom.  There wasn't any bottom.  We just kept falling and falling, and they were getting farther and farther away until I couldn't see them anymore."

"It's ok.  It was just a dream."

After about fifteen minutes, Megan seemed calm enough to go back to sleep, but she refused to consider it because she didn't want to be left alone.  Harry checked the time – 02:40 -- too early to stay up.  He looked at Megan and knew he had no choice if he wanted to get more sleep.

"Ok, I'll lie here with you until you fall asleep."

"Promise you'll stay after I fall asleep?"  Her question negated his original plan.  Unless he lied, he was either spending the night with Megan or giving up any chance to sleep.

"I promise.  Now, go to sleep."

"Thanks, Harry."

That night set a pattern for Harry and Megan just as months earlier a similar event set a pattern for Harry and Jenny.  Harry slept better in his bed and Megan's nightmares did not recur so long as he was near. They both drew comfort from the other.

One night before she drifted off, Megan spoke.  "Oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. The baby is moving around and just kicked me. Here, feel."  Without thinking about her actions, Megan grabbed Harry's hand and put it against her belly where the baby was moving.

Harry was momentarily unable to react and by the time he would have, he felt the baby moving and didn't pull away. "Wow! I didn't think a baby moved that much."

"She's an active baby." Megan's voice was full of pride as she spoke about her child, but it grew sad as she continued. "Harry, promise me you'll take care of her for me."

"Me?"

"Yes. You would have been her uncle and I want her raised by family. Everyone else will help you; I know they will. I know that a lot of people would take her and love her, but I want you to be her family."

"I promise I'll help you anyway I can. If you want me to be her father figure, that's fine with me. I'll love her as much as I would have my own child."

"No, Harry. I won't be here to raise her. We both know that even if no one will say it to my face.  I want you to raise her."

"You're going to be around a long time. The doctor isn't going to let anything happen to either of you." Harry denied the facts but could not have told anyone why.

"Harry." Megan's quietly spoken single word refuted his statement and challenged him to be honest with her if not with himself.

"I promise."  Harry's whispered words seemed to be enough for Megan, because she soon fell asleep without further comment, but held Harry's hand firmly against the baby.

The friendship between Harry and Megan grew and Harry's bond with the baby developed slowly but surely. Harry didn't question their friendship; he knew it grew out of shared loss and a shared love for the baby. Even Tom recognized the friendship for what it was and he, unlike most of the crew, knew that it would be a short-lived friendship. Like the others, B'Elanna refused to acknowledge the risk Megan faced when the baby was born.

A few months later, Voyager's command team entered the bridge and noticed that Harry's spot was still filled by the ensign from Gamma shift. They glanced at each other then turned to leave the bridge. Before they entered the turbo lift, the captain told Tuvok he still had the bridge and to get a replacement for Harry. Once in the turbolift, Chakotay designated sickbay as their destination.

Kathryn and Chakotay were both reluctant to voice their concerns on their way to sickbay. An unsuspecting crewman who joined them for part of the journey wondered what the problem was but wisely kept her questions to herself.

Kathryn grasped Chakotay's hand as they approached the doors to sickbay. Their worst fears were realized. Harry stood off to one side carefully holding a baby as the tears forced their way past his resolve. The doctor stood next to a biobed with a carefully covered body. When he saw the command team enter, he nodded to his office and moved to meet them there.

"I'm sorry, Captain, Commander. Ensign Kim wouldn't let me call you earlier. Apparently Megan made him promise to keep the birth private until the baby was born. I did everything I could which in the end was really very little. She refused to do anything that was any kind of risk for the baby."

"How's Harry doing?"

"So far he's taking this very well. Megan seems to have planned for this. She carried in a padd with all the papers to transfer guardianship of the baby to Harry. Before she would even let me examine her, she made me enter them into her medical records. Harry accepted the guardianship as soon as I had finished."

Kathryn and Chakotay were still trying to accept Megan's death. They had known it was possible that she could die when the baby was born, but had somehow thought the doctor would manage to find a way to save her and the baby. Kathryn finally said what the others had only thought.

"I don't think she wanted to live after Aaron and Jenny died. She only stayed with us this long because of the baby. Thank you, Doctor. I guess I should go see the latest addition to my crew."

Chakotay told the doctor that he would make the announcement about Megan and the baby from the bridge later in the morning, and then he and Kathryn left the doctor's office and walked over to where Harry was quietly talking to the sleeping baby.  He looked up as they approached.

"Hi, Captain, Commander."

Kathryn held her arms out slightly.  "May I?"

"Sure, Captain.  She's so tiny.  Was Taylor this small?"

"Yes, she was. But they grow up too quickly. Treasure the moments while you have them.  Here, Chakotay, your turn to hold our newest crew member." Kathryn skillfully passed the baby to Chakotay's waiting hands. Harry was amazed.

"How can you do that so easily? I'm afraid I'll drop her."

"It's easy, Harry. Just take your time until you get used to it. Babies are a lot sturdier than they look." Chakotay spoke with the confidence of a father who actually spent time with his child. "The most important thing is that you let her know she is loved."

"That I can do, Commander. I'm not so sure about the rest."

"You'll do fine, Harry. The ship is filled with people who will help you. All you have to do is ask. You have two weeks off duty to sort things out."

"Thanks, Commander, I appreciate that." As Harry reached to retrieve the baby from Chakotay, Kathryn spoke.

"What are you going to name her?"

"Well, I was going to call her Jennifer Elizabeth Megan, but she's seems too tiny for such a long name and I really don't want one name to seem more important than the others, so I thought maybe I could call her Jem for short. Then she'd know that all her names are special."

"That's a beautiful name, Harry and a wonderful idea. I think you two are going to be just fine.  We'll be back to check on you later."

"Thank you, Captain, Commander." Harry turned his attention to Jem as the command team left the sickbay to return to the bridge where they would tell the crew of Voyager's latest loss and newest addition. This time Voyager's grief would be balanced by joy.