Falling Into Grace

Instinct

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0200 hours Captains Quarters

Ara Nekira lay dozing, waiting for her wife to turn in. The
hissing of the outer doors announced her arrival and soft footsteps
carried her into the room.

"Kathryn" Nekira grumbled "Come to bed"

"In a moment" Janeway began to strip down removing her combadge and
four pips before depositing her uniform in the recycler. "Darling do
you think Tom would be a good father?" the question was out before
she could think twice about it.

"Paris? A father? I think he'd make a terrible father. He's as
childish as his offspring would be. But with Harry at his side I
think they'd make a good balance for a child. But alone. No Tom would
make a mess of it" Nekira said staring at her beautiful wife. There
was just something about the older woman that always caught her
attention.

"That's a good point love. I'm trusting you to keep this in
confidence" Janeway said having learned long ago that keeping things
from her wife, even those pertaining to work, was a bad idea, and
didn't help their relationship.

"You know I won't tell. Gossip is Lt. Torres department" Nekira tossed
out dryly.

"Yes well.... along with the 6 crewmembers that were switched
accidentally in the flyby, we acquired the son of Seven of Nine's
counterpart and Ensign Paris"

"Seven and Paris had a son together? Now I've heard 'everything'"

Janeway settled on the bed next to her reclining wife "Well this
helps to support the decision we made to have a generational ship.
Even though now we're less than 2 decades from the Alpha Quadrant."

"True, now back to the Paris brat problem" Nekira was intrigued by
this little revelation.

"Darling Nicodemus is hardly a brat, he's actually rather well
behaved and quiet. Unless you were calling Tom the brat, that's
accurate"

"Tom" Nekira agreed.

"Well the other Seven sent him here because she believed he would be
happy with her counterpart and B'Elanna, she felt that Tom wasn't a
good father to him. B'Elanna agrees with her there, but that
was 'that' Tom not 'ours'. We have to give our Tom the benefit of the
doubt. 'He' didn't do wrong by his son. He deserves the chance to
succeed where his counterpart failed. We can't blame him for
something another 'version' of him has done, can we?"

"You mean to give him a chance to have paternal instinct where his
counterpart didn't. But if he fails as well it could hurt Nicholas
more"

"Nicodemus"

"What"

"His name is Nicodemus"

"Oh didn't I say that?"

"You said Nicholas dear"

"Oops. Nicodemus huh? Seems rather Sevenish"

"So do we take a chance on Tom? Or is it to risky for hurting the
m
more"

"What would you do if he were your child Kathryn? Would you take the
chance of letting his father hurt him, again. Or protect his feelings
at all cost?"

"I feel that Tom deserves this chance. But Nicodemus doesn't deserve
the pain if it doesn't work out"

"Your forgetting something Kathryn"

"What's that dear"

"Your not just taking a chance on Tom. Your taking a chance on
Tom 'and' Harry"

"Together"
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Torres/Hansen Quarters
1100 Hours

Nico sat between Seven and B'Elanna feeling safer than he could ever
remember feeling. He leaned against B'Elanna's side and rested his
head against her arm.

B'Elanna wrapped her arm across his shoulders and rested her hand
against Seven's thigh.

A move not missed by either Harry or Tom.

Silence reigned.

Janeway stood sentinel leaning against the island in the small dining
area. "Well talking to each other instead of staring, would probably
solve this faster people"

Seven shot Janeway a thankful glance.

"Hi Nicodemus my name is Harry, I'm your Daddy's partner"

"Daddy?" Nico turned to his mother confused.

"A slang term for father Nicodemus" Seven clarified.

"Oh. My father told me I was to address him as sir, or Tom depending
on the circumstances"

"You can call me dad, or daddy Nico. Heck you could call me the
Easter bunny if you wanted to" Tom tried to lighten his solemn son's
mood.

"Could I call you helmboy"

Janeway coughed to cover the laugh that was aggressively trying to
escape her lips.

B'Elanna had no such qualm, she roared in laughter.

"Lanna calls you helmboy, may I as well" Nico asked all innocence.

"Well that's a special name that Lanna has for me, but I'd rather you
called me dad" Tom choked out in surprise.

"I'd prefer to call you helmboy" Nico argued.

This time neither Seven nor Harry could hold in their merriment.
Janeway joined in at the stunned look on Tom's face. Nicodemus met
his father's eyes and didn't waiver in his intense perusal of the man.

"You're not like him"

"Like who" Tom asked when everyone quieted down.

"My other father. He never talked 'to' me. He kinda talked 'at' me
like I was a machine. Sometimes I do not believe he knew I was
present at any given time"

"Your right. I'm not like him. I would never forget you were here.
And even if I didn't Harry would remind me" Tom said touching his
lover's hand "Right Harry"

"Right" Harry agreed "You'd be the most important person in the room"

Nico glanced up at B'Elanna who's face was a show of unmitigated
surprise. Then at Seven who seemed to be studying both men across
from them at a molecular level. Glancing again at B'Elanna who was
now studying him.

"I do not know what to do Lanna" Nico pleaded slightly "My father
neveer spoke to me the way he does. How do I react?"

"You.........hug him" B'Elanna said slowly.

Unsure of himself Nico rose from her perch between his mothers' and
crossed the small space between the cound and the large love seat
that Harry and Tom resided on. First he came to his father, who
without warning wrapped him in a bear of a hug standing and holding
him several feet from the floor, before passing him to Harry.

Harry was a bit more reserved. He stood Nico on his own two feet
after a brief hug and held out a hand to shake. Nico shook it firmly.
Harry sat down so that he was once again eye-level with the four year
old. "That's a strong handshake you have there young man"

Nico nodded at the compliment "Why are your eyes like that"

"Because I'm Chinese" (atleast I think he's Chinese)"Why is your hair
blonde?"

"Because my mother's hair is blonde. As well as my father's. It
became a co gen genetic trait on the Paris side of my family. While
on the Hansen side both grandparents were brunette, but my great-
grandparents were both blonde. Perhaps it 'skips' a generation
every once in a while" Nico answered honestly.

"How do you know about your grandparents and great-grandparents
Nicodemus" Seven asked astounded.

"I looked it up in my family records. It contained images that went
several generations back."

Nico turned to his two father's "However I must now study your's as
well- what do I call you Harry?"

"What do you want to call me"

"I will call you dad"

"Then what will you call me?" Tom asked feeling left out "If you
call 'him' dad what's there to call me"

Nico assumed a stance reminiscent of Seven's "Why I shall call
you 'helmboy' of course"

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1400 Hours

"I thought they would never leave" B'Elanna flounced onto the couch.

"Tom is surprisingly good with Nico. I didn't expect him to be
so......adult about it" Seven said wiping clean an already spotless
table.

"I think that Harry grounds him. Doesn't let him get away with as
much as we thought he did"

"Ensign Kim is...'good' for him"

"Yeah. Seven maybe we should give him a chance. He did well today."

"With supervision"

"Harry will be there"

"Not all the time"

"True, but one mistake and he's going down"

"One mistake could hurt Nicodemus deeply"

"Then I'll hurt Tom deeply"

"But it won't take away Nicodemus' pain"

"I know. When do you think he'll wake up from his nap?"

Seven listened for a moment "He is waking up now. His respiration has
increased"

Moments later Nico padded into the room with he's newly replicated
clothes on. A blue cotton shirt and baggy black cargo pants. He was
rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he spotted B'Elanna laid across
the couch. He threw himself at her and she caught him in a loving hug.

"Lanna" he spoke with his face buried in her neck.

"Yes"

"Can I call you Mom?"

"If you want to"

"Then what do I call her" he asked pointing to Seven.

"Well there's alot of different words for mother. There's: Mom, Mama,
Me, Jult, N'Jewe, Opha, and the list goes on."

"Can I call you Mama and her Mom?"

"Sure. Can he call you Mom Annika?"

Seven was standing back from the couch watching them together with a
most peculiar look on her face.

"Annika are you alrig

"Mom" Nico tried.

It seemed to snap Seven out of her daze "Yes. Please call me Mom"

"Ok. Mom"
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