by Dakota

Come on, Kathryn, we’re going to be late.” Chakotay stuck his head through the bathroom door to see what was keeping her.

“I’m coming. You know Neelix won’t start anything important until we get there.”

“I know, but protocol demands that the captain arrive punctually.”  Chakotay could not resist reminding Kathryn of her last defense against their relationship. It may have taken him eight years to get past that defense but the last three years were well worth the wait and effort. When Kathryn did not make her usual threat to throw him in the brig for insubordination, he sobered.

"What’s bothering you about this party, Kathryn?"

"Nothing." Her tone belied her word.

"You mean nothing you want to talk about?"

"I mean nothing." Kathryn pushed by him and headed for her closet to get her dress hoping to terminate the conversation. Chakotay was not deterred. He waited while she pulled the dress on and turned for him to fasten the back before pursuing 'nothing'. He took her hand and walked with her to the couch in the next room. He sat down and pulled her down next to him and hugged her close.

“Now, explain why 'nothing' has you so upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

“You are. Why don’t you want to go to this party? It’s just like all the others Neelix has dug up from various Alpha Quadrant cultures over the years. I’ll admit I thought he had run out holidays from Earth but what’s one more?”

“I don’t like this holiday.”

“Everyone seems to be looking forward to this party. B'Elanna and Naomi have thoroughly enjoyed helping with the plans. Naomi will be extremely disappointed if you don’t show up. Now why don’t you want to attend the Mother’s Day Banquet?”

“It’s not my day to celebrate.”

“It’s everyone’s day to celebrate, Kathryn.”

“That’s not what I meant.” The problem finally hit Chakotay. He of all people should have known that Kathryn might be upset about this particular holiday.

“You’re upset that we don’t have children, right?”

“Yes, I mean no.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not upset that we don’t have children. I’m upset that we won’t have children – ever. Voyager is not the best place to raise a family and I’m truly glad some of the crew decided it’s good enough and started families despite the years left in our journey, but I honestly don’t believe you and I could ever have the luxury of raising a family on Voyager and even if we were going to raise a family, our first child should have been born ten years ago.”

“Kathryn, if you really want children, we can still make it work.”

“No! I do want children but not on Voyager. That’s not why I’m upset.”

“Why then?”

“You wanted children. If you were with any other woman on this ship, you would have children by now. It’s the one thing you’ve always said you wanted. But no, you’re stuck with me, the only woman on board who won’t allow herself to have children.” Kathryn cut him off before he could comment, “No, I know. You don’t want any other woman. We’ve had that conversation before. What is bothering me, Chakotay, is that I’ve kept you from having the family you always planned to have.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Kathryn. I stopped planning on a family the day I joined the Maquis. It was only after I met you that I started thinking a family might be possible for me after all. Maybe we won’t have children, but we are family. Nothing can change that.” He tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “I have all the family I want right here, with you, on Voyager. OK?” Kathryn nodded her head slightly before gathering herself.

“I guess we'd better go. Let me check my hair.”

Chakotay watched her go back into their bedroom wondering whether she really believed he was happy. He still hadn’t quite decided the answer when she reappeared every inch the captain in party attire. He stood and extended his arm for her. She put her hand on his arm and together they headed for the banquet.

Kathryn and Chakotay sat at a table with six people from various departments. Neelix had decided that each senior officer should head a table. Chakotay had refused outright to head his own table when he first heard about Neelix’s idea so Neelix had adjusted it slightly to put couples at the same table. Tom and B'Elanna shared a table as well, but Tom barely sat down. He spent most of his time trying to catch their daughter as she flitted from table to table visiting her favorite babysitters.

Once everyone had finished eating, Neelix stood to do the traditional awards for youngest child, most children, and all the other variations only tolerated at a banquet honoring mothers or fathers. Surprisingly, Tuvok accepted an award for most grandchildren on behalf of T’Pel. Once the last award had been issued, Kathryn expected to see the party start to break up, but was surprised when Naomi took Neelix’s place.

“Captain, Commander, ladies and gentlemen, and you, too, Doctor. While we were planning this party I was talking to Lieutenant Torres and Neelix about the awards and who might win them.  I realized that there was a person who deserved an award but would not get one. This really bothered me so I talked to Mom and B'Elanna about it. Together we came up with an idea. Mom and Lieutenant Torres helped me get it all arranged and Commander Tuvok helped me write this next part so I wouldn't leave anything important out."

“Voyager is my home and it’s my Mom’s home and all my friends’ home. I know home for most of us is also Earth or Vulcan or Bajor or some other planet, but Voyager is my only home. Voyager is different from other homes. I know every person on Voyager and every friend or member of my family is here. I don’t know the difference between feelings for friends and feelings for family so I decided that Voyager is special because here there is no difference. We are all one big family of friends; we just don’t have labels for all our relationships. I tried to put labels on relationships but it got all confused, so I decided to see what made Voyager special. That was easy! The captain makes Voyager special. Once I realized that the captain was the reason, the rest was easy.” Naomi paused and reached for the bundle Samantha Wildman was holding out to her before approaching Kathryn, taking her hand and leading her to the center of the room.

“Captain, this paper is signed by every member of the crew except the Commander and Tuvok. It says in really fancy words that we all have chosen you to be our ‘honorary mother.’ As Mom put it, you are the heart and soul that makes this home and you take care of us as if we were all your children. You are more than just the captain of Voyager, you are the mother of Voyager.”

With tears glistening in her eyes, Kathryn reached for the bundle Naomi held out to her. She turned to the group and stared as the tears streamed down her cheeks. She tried to speak several times but the words wouldn’t form. She felt a familiar arm around her shoulders and leaned into Chakotay’s quiet strength.

“Why don’t you give your children a hug, Kathryn?” Chakotay signaled Naomi to approach Kathryn for a hug before motioning others to follow her. After the first one or two had embraced their new 'mom', the entire room started moving at first silently, then gained volume and enthusiasm as everyone finally acknowledged that Kathryn was much more than just their captain.