Lieutenant Tom Paris sat at his customary table in the Mess Hall. It was 2010.Where is B'Elanna? She wouldn't stand me up. I might not even see her for another month.The door slid open and B'Elanna Torres walked over.

"You came!" Tom excliamed in spite of himself.

"Yes, I came. I don't know why, but I came." She replied grumpily.

"What'll be B'Elanna? The green stuff or the purple stuff?" Tom asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, green, I guess. Listen Tom, aboout the..." she started.

"B'Elanna, I was so happy when I heard you kept it. I was afraid that you had trashed it. I want to know, why won't you wear it?"

"I don't even know why I kept it! And I am not going to wear it for you!"

"You know, I think you want to wear it, you want to wear it for me, and you wanted to go out on this date with me. But, something is stopping you. Your pride, perhaps?" Tom's features darkened. "Or maybe you don't trust me enough to open your heart to me. I would have thought that you knew better than to listen to rumors that you know oculnd't be true. I guess I was wrong." He got up and left for his quarters.

How could she just say that. She knows there's something between us, and I'm going to prove it to her if it's the last thing I do. Promising it to himself, Tom fell into a fitful sleep.

"Torres to Paris."

Tom jerked awake, but had no idea what had woken him up.

"Torres to Paris. Tom, are you there?"

"Paris here. What is it, Lieutenant?"

"I need you to look over some specs about the navagational array before I turn my report in at the staff meeting tomorrow morning. Can I come over?"

"Uhh, now?"

"Yes, Tom."

"Okay, fine. See you in ten minutes. Just come on in when you get here. Paris out."

Tom lay down on the couch to wait for B'Elanna. Doing so, he gradually fell asleep. Suddenly, a wave of nauxea came over him and he fell off the couch. Tom sat up. The dizziness had only lasted for a second. He looked around. These were not his quarters. Outside the window, Tom saw a dense wilderness. Just then the door opened.

"Tom, honey, are you still up? I told you not to wait up for me. But, it was sweet that you did." She kissed on the lips then proceeded to the bedroom. Tom followed her in not knowing what she was doing. I thought she had to go over some specs. Somehow, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

"What took you so long? I must have been waiting for 5 hours." He watched as she began to remove her clothes and change into a nightgown. Tom's eyes widened. He immediately turned around so he couldn't see her. B'Elanna laughed.

"After two years of marriage, you're still being a gentleman. You can turn around now. Are the twins asleep?"

Tom started at this piece of new information. "The twins?!" he whispered.

"Tom, you did put them to sleep on time today, didn't you? You know what they can be like if they go to bed late."

"Uhh, of course I did. I'll even go check on them now." Tom quickly went out of the room and shut the room. Now where would the twins' room be? This must be the other Tom Paris' life. Boy, he sure is lucky. He's in the Alpha quadrent, married to B'Elanna, has twins, and a sterling Starfleet career!

Tom crept quietly into the other bedroom. There he saw two identical cribs. He went to the right one and peeked over the edge. A tiny baby girl, about six months old, was fast asleep inside. She had blond curls all over her head, framing her face. A small creased her tiny face. Paris placed a light kiss on the baby's hand. Then, he leant over the other crib. Crying slightly, an identical girl lay there. Tom carefully picked her up and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. I hope I'm doing this right. He began to gently rock and sing to her.

"I always said you're a great father." B'Elanna Paris whispered.

"I feel like I'm doing this for the first time." He whispered back. I am

"You've haven't been able to spend much time with them when you were in the hospital. They've missed you. I've missed you. Megan's asleep and Kelly will sleep quite deeply when you put her back in the crib. Come on. We've haven't spent much time together lately. Let's go to bed." B'Elanna purred.

A warmth shot through Tom from head to toe. He quickly stood and gently placed Kelly back in her crib.

"I'm right behind you, 'Lanna my love."

B'Elanna smiled, took him by the arm and led him towards the bedroom.

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