Fan Fiction
TITLE: A Conversation With Kolopak
AUTHOR: Brenda Shaffer-Shiring
RATING: G
CODES: C/T, AU
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Paramount owns the characters and situations, but they probably never anticipated this particular use of them. A response to the Light and Dark challenge: "Write a short fic or drabble in Chakotay's point of view that deals with his feelings immediately after finding out that he and B'Elanna are going to have a baby." The basic scenario of the baby's conception is pretty much swiped wholesale from Briana L. Wright's "Fruited Labor," a Blood Fever AU in which B'Elanna turns to Chakotay, rather than Tom, for sexual release while under the influence of pon farr.
SUMMARY: Chakotay asks his father how he should react to the news that B'Elanna is pregnant with his child.
Father...
Yes, my son?
You look as if you were expecting me.
At such a time, Chakotay, should a man not expect his son to come to him?
I suppose that's true. So you know it then, the news I'm here to tell you?
I know it. But I want to hear it, and you need to say it. So come, sit by the fire and we'll talk.
All right, then. B'Elanna is pregnant with my daughter. Your granddaughter.
Wonderful!
I'm not so sure. There are -- complications.
She isn't well?
No, it's not that. It's that -- well, B'Elanna wasn't my lover when this child was conceived. She was involved with someone else, one of our shipmates, Tom Paris.
Forgive me, son, but it seems to me that if this B'Elanna were not your lover, she wouldn't have conceived your child. Though perhaps you do things differently in that great ship of yours.
Very funny. No, Father, this child was made in the traditional way. But B'Elanna -- she didn't really have much of a choice about the making.
You do not tell me you forced her.
No. No, of course not. But she was under the influence of an alien condition. One of our Vulcan crewmembers invaded her mind and forced her to experience his Time of Mating. She had to mate with someone, or the hormone imbalance would have killed her.
So you heroically volunteered to save her from that fate. I must admit, son, I'm impressed by your gallantry.
Dammit, this isn't funny!
No, no, I suppose it isn't. Forgive an old man's sense of humor. So you encountered her while she was in this state, correct?
She came to me.
She came to you?
Yes.
And not to this other man of hers, this Tom Paris?
She was confused. She didn't mean to --
She didn't mean to come to you?
She didn't mean to go to bed with me. She wouldn't have chosen me.
You're so sure about that?
Excuse me?
Because it seems to me that she *did* choose you. She must have known what she required, and she came to you. But leave that aside for the moment. So you -- ah, satisfied her needs.
...yes.
And now she carries your child.
Yes.
And how do you feel about that?
I don't know.
You don't know?
I don't know!
How do you feel about the woman?
She -- I -- she's very dear to me.
You care for her.
Yes.
Do you love her?
I...it depends on what you...yes.
You love her, and she carries your child.
Well...yes --
And you don't know how you feel about that? Good gods, son. You've been given the greatest gift the spirits can give a man, and you don't know how you feel about it?
I don't -- it's more complicated than that.
Why? No, never mind. I swear to you, son, I don't understand why everything is so complicated to you. Some things are very simple. I see you don't believe me. All right, then. Close your eyes.
Close my --
Indulge me. Picture this woman, this B'Elanna, in your thoughts. Is that a smile I see? All right. Now picture her proud-bellied, full of your child....that's a smile, son. Don't try to deny it. And quite a smile, at that.
...happy. I'm happy.
Of course you are. What man wouldn't be, in your circumstances?
But I shouldn't -- I took advantage of her.
Does she feel that?
She hasn't said it. But --
But what else would you have done, son? Sent her on her way? Perhaps to the Vulcan who tried to force her?
No, of course not!
Then what else could you have done?
...Nothing. There wasn't anything else I could have done. But --
Then why regret that you're happy with the result? Or is the woman unhappy?
Not unhappy, exactly. Just -- unsure.
Of what she wants?
Of what happens next.
Perhaps she would like to know what it is that *you* think will happen next. Is that possible? Eh?
I guess that's possible.
Well? What do you want to happen next, son? No, no. Forget the proprieties. Forget what people will think. Forget this Tom Paris and the cold woman you keep thinking of, but who doesn't love you. What do you *want* to happen next?
I want -- I want to marry her.
Because she bears your child?
Because she bears my child, yes. But not just that. Because she's B'Elanna.
Two excellent reasons. Go to her then, son. Ask her.
What if she says no?
What if she says yes?
....I see your point. All right, then. That's what I'll do.
Go with my blessing, son. And, son --?
Yes?
Try not to make everything so difficult. Life is to be lived, son, and not merely thought about.
If you say so, old man.
I say so. Farewell, then, Chakotay.
Goodbye, Father.
