Love Knows No Boundaries ch. 1 "Two More Weeks"
By Lauren E Taylor

Tom couldn't believe it. The captain needed him to go on an away mission
with Neelix. His baby was due in two weeks, possibly sooner, and he had
to go on an away mission. Now, he had to tell B'Elanna. He paused outside
his quarters and then turned around. He wasn't due to leave for 3 hours,
and he decided that he would go to the mess hall first for something to
eat. This news could wait. 
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B'Elanna took one more look around little Katie/Jeremy's room. They had
decided on those names two days ago. Katie was easy. Tom wanted to name
his daughter after the captain, and B'Elanna agreed to it right away. A
boy name was a little harder. They finally chose Jeremy, just because
they liked the name. There were pictures everywhere in this room.
B'Elanna was going to make sure that Jeremy/Katie knew who everyone was
even before he/she could talk. She looked around the room one more time,
and then walked out. She had an appointment in sickbay, and was just
barely going to make it. 
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom walked to his quarters and hesitated before walking in. He'd spent an
hour in the mess hall talking to Harry, a lot more time than he planned
to spend, and now had to tell B'Elanna. This mission was going to be a
long one. Overnight on a deserted planet. There were some problems
transporting down, so Tom was going to fly a shuttle down there. It was
only for some plants that Neelix said were very delicious and no one else
would probably like them, but they needed them. Tom walked into the
quarters and saw that everything was dark.
"Lanna?"
No answer. 
"Computer, locate B'Elanna Paris," he commanded.
"B'Elanna Paris is in sickbay," the computer replied. Tom realized that
she was seeing the doctor for a checkup.
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It looks like everything is going well. The baby will be here in about
two weeks." the doctor told her. 
"Thanks. Can I go now?" she asked him.
"Yes, you don't need to be cluttering up my sickbay any longer." the
doctor told her as Kes helped her off the bed.
"Lanna!" Tom called out as he walked into sickbay.
"Tom! I didn't think you'd be here. The baby's fine and should be here in
about two weeks." she told him.
"Great," he said nervously, "Lanna, can we go out in the hall? I've got
to tell you something." he managed to say.
"Sure." she told him as she waved to Kes and walked out. "What is it?"
she asked the second the doors closed. 
"I have to go on an away mission. I know the captain promised no away
missions for me until the baby was here, but this was urgent. We're
orbiting a planet that has some kind of plant that Neelix can do a lot
with and that we need. Problem is that we can't fly through their
atmosphere because of some storm, so I have to fly a shuttle through it.
It's overnight, because we can't land near the food, so we have to walk
about 2 miles after landing, gather food, and walk back." he said,
feeling worse with every word. 
"Tom! What if this baby comes tonight? You can't go!" B'Elanna yelled to
him, almost in tears.
"Look, that won't happen. The captain is incredibly sorry about all this,
but it has to be done. You'll be fine. I'll see if someone can stay in
the room with you tonight, OK?" he asked her.
"That's alright. I'll be fine. When do you leave?" she asked him.
"In about an hour and a half. I'll miss you, Lanna." he told her, with a
sad, half-smile on his face.
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'll see you tomorrow, I promise." Tom said for the tenth time. He was
ready to leave, and B'Elanna had come to see him off. 
"I'll miss you." she told him.
"I'll miss you, too. And you." he said as he rubbed her stomach. 
"Bye." he said again. He kissed her, patted her belly one more time, and
then got in the shuttle to begin pre-flight.
TO BE CONTINUED

Copyright junk. Paramount owns them. My story. Blah, blah, blah.