tp32


	Thanks to my twin for her help with the star dates. I don't know what I'd do without you, Sweetheart. *********************************************** Part 32** "Good morning, Doc." Dr. Kéla'an turned away from the biobed when he heard Tom Paris' voice. He smiled slightly when he saw that the young man was accompanied by Commander Chakotay. "Good morning, Mr. Paris. Commander. I assume that you have taken care of the problem with your bond." It wasn't quite a question, but Tom answered anyway. "Yep. It's all fixed." "Hopefully, it won't happen again," Chakotay added, the seriousness of his voice belied by the amusement in his eyes. Dr. Kéla'an laughed while Tom tried to look insulted. When it didn't work, he gave up and chuckled. "Oh, c'mon, Chakotay, it wasn't that bad." Chakotay smiled at his mate. "No, it wasn't. As you very well know, I thoroughly enjoyed it." When Tom opened his mouth, Chakotay held up a hand to forestall any comments. "However, it prevented us from doing our duty." "For all of three days," Tom said in a slightly exasperated tone of voice. "With Voyager on a peaceful, uninhabited planet and the crew on shore leave." When Chakotay opened his mouth to reply, Dr. Kéla'an decided to interrupt before the conversation turned into an argument. "I take it that you're here for your physical exam, then, Mr. Paris?" Tom turned his attention to the doctor. "Yeah. You're the first one we see after our... 'confinement'," he said, thinking, {That ought to please him.} Sure enough, Dr. Kéla'an seemed very pleased upon hearing this. "Very well, Mr. Paris, you know the drill." He gestured to an empty biobed, then fetched a tricorder. A moment later, he returned to the bed where Tom now sat. Dr. Kéla'an opened the medical device and scanned the young man. When he was finished, the doctor closed the tricorder and looked at Tom with a smile. "You're fine, Mr. Paris," he stated. His smile widened slightly and added, "I am gratified to see that you listened to me and didn't overdo it on the physical exertion, even when you weren't able to get to sickbay every day." Tom grimaced. "Yeah, well. You did tell me that if I overdid it, you'd keep me here for the rest of my pregnancy." He glared at Chakotay when the other man snickered. Then he turned his attention back to Dr. Kéla'an. "No offense, Doc, but I'd rather not spend that much time in sickbay." Dr. Kéla'an smiled again. "No offense taken, Mr. Paris. I'd prefer not to have you here for that long," he said, making his two visitors laugh. When the laughter died down, he turned his attention to Commander Chakotay. "How do you feel, Commander?" Chakotay lifted an eyebrow. "I'm fine, Doctor." Dr. Kéla'an opened the tricorder again and did a quick scan of the First Officer. After a moment, he shut the medical device and looked back at Chakotay. He gestured with it, saying, "This agrees with you, so you can both go back on duty." Before Chakotay could say anything, Tom slid off of the biobed and stood beside his husband. "Thanks, Doc," he said. Remembering the sick crew, he asked, "How long will it be until everyone's out of stasis and back on duty?" "A little under three weeks," the doctor replied. At Tom's questioning look, he elaborated. "I did some calculations and discovered that it would take just over six weeks if I cure one crewmember at a time, so I decided to treat two crewmembers simultaneously. That way, it only takes half the time. I contemplated healing more than two at once, but that would be too much as long as I don't have anyone to help me," he explained. Tom nodded in approval. "Good thinking, Doc," he said. He thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you want some help down here?" Dr. Kéla'an considered it for a few seconds before he answered. "Only if you want the crew back faster." Tom shook his head. "No, that isn't necessary," he said, then smiled. "This way, the recovering crewmembers can ease into things." He looked questioningly at the doctor. "Anything else?" "As a matter of fact, there is one other thing. Lieutenant Torres commed me three days ago about the Torres-Kim baby's name," Dr. Kéla'an informed the Acting Captain. Tom lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Did she and Harry decide what to call him?" The doctor smiled. "Yes, they did. They're naming him Jonathon Kor Torres-Kim." "Jonathon Kor," Tom repeated thoughtfully, then smiled. "I like it. Computer," he called and waited for the computer's acknowledging beep before continuing. "Enter into the official ship's log that on star date 48975.3, Lieutenants B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim finally gifted their infant son with his name. Born on star date 48970.6 was Jonathon Kor Torres-Kim." "Information entered," the computer stated blandly. Tom turned back to Dr. Kéla'an. "If that's all...." He trailed off questioningly. When the doctor nodded, indicating that it was, Tom continued. "Then Chakotay and I are off to the mess hall to see what Neelix has decided to call breakfast today." "Hopefully, it's something edible," Chakotay remarked. "Well, I, for one, am grateful that I don't have to eat," Dr. Kéla'an said, remembering the complaints over the Talaxian's cooking he'd heard from the crew in the past. Tom mock-glared at the doctor. "Rub it in, why don't you?" Dr. Kéla'an raised an eyebrow. "I thought I just did." When Tom muttered something obscene under his breath, Chakotay decided to get the younger man out of sickbay before he tried to strangle the hologram. He grabbed his husband's arm and steered him towards the doors. "C'mon, Tom. We can stop by Harry and B'Elanna's quarters and see if either of them wants to join us for breakfast." When they reached the doors, Chakotay stopped and turned around to look at Dr. Kéla'an. "I'll see you later, Doctor." Seeing the hologram's nod of confirmation, he turned back to the doors and led Tom out of sickbay. ***** When Tom and Chakotay arrived at the Torres-Kim quarters they were greeted by Harry, who stepped out into the corridor, dressed in his uniform. He grinned at the two men. "Good morning, Tom. Chakotay. Nice to see you two again," he said. Chakotay smiled. "Good morning, Harry. It's nice to see you, too," he said, then cocked his head slightly in a gesture he'd picked up from his mate. "Is B'Elanna still asleep?" Harry nodded. "Yeah, she kicked me out of bed at 0630 when she had finished nursing Jonathon," he answered, and glanced at Tom. Seeing his friend's sullen expression, he refrained from addressing him, having learned that doing so when Tom was in this mood usually meant that he would get his head bitten off. Instead, he looked back at Chakotay and asked, "Are you two on your way to the mess hall?" Chakotay nodded, indicating that they were. "You wanna join us?" he asked. Harry smiled. "Sure." The three men went to the turbolift. Once they were inside, Harry stated their destination, then turned to Chakotay. "I'm glad you're back," he said. Chakotay chuckled softly. "I can imagine," he said, then smiled wickedly. "Tom told me that he assigned my duties to you and B'Elanna. I hope you didn't have too many problems." "No, not really," Harry answered, then got a devilish glint in his eyes. "But then, B'Elanna's the one who got stuck with all the paperwork." Chakotay laughed at this. "I know. I'll bet she wasn't pleased with being banned from Engineering." Harry shrugged. "Not at first, no. But she adjusted quickly. Actually, I had more to do than Tom and B'Elanna combined," he said. Chakotay lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?" "Yeah. Besides my duties at Ops and the First Officer's duties, I also had to take care of two pregnant people," Harry explained. "And I'll tell you, it was harder to deal with Tom and B'Elanna pregnant, than it was doubling as Ops and First Officers." Before Chakotay could reply, the 'lift arrived at their destination, and the three men got out and walked to the mess hall, hoping that Neelix didn't serve something completely inedible for breakfast. Next