Chapter 1: Seven Year Itch
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Seven, a.k.a.. Nikki, slid a long, liquid, saccharine glance at Kathryn, "No one told you. How dreadfully embarrassing for you, dear."

"Yes," said Kathryn, feeling her own inner cat coming forward, "it is. But you will tell me now, won't you….dear?"

Seven studied her nails in a show of utter boredom. Her nails, all tapering, twinkling centimeters of them matched her hair. Kathryn thought of her own unvarnished, functionally short nails and began to feel downright shabby next to this walking advertisement for sequins.

"Why, O. F. and I divorced three years ago."

"I'm so sorry Seven..uh..Nikki."

"Don't be. Seven years with O.F. is more than enough to give any woman the itch to move on."

Chakotay reentered the bedroom holding the cleaner, but no less squirmy child by her ankles as she swung herself back and forth singing, "I'm a qualtos, I'm a qualtos, I'm a qualtos."

"A Dorvanian form of bat," Chakotay clarified for Kathryn before responding to Seven's statement, "and so you pick a jerk like Drabble to move on to?"

"Drabbon. I'm moving up the food chain, O.F. This one came with a backbone," Seven countered.

"O. F.?" Kathryn murmured.

The swinging child happily translated, "Old Fart! Old Fart! Old Fart!"

"Oh, Seven, you didn't!" Kathryn tried to stifle her laughter.

Seven gave her first genuine smile, "Oh, but I did."

Chakotay set the child down on the bed. She promptly shook her hair in her eyes and started growling and prowling around Kathryn. He watched as Kathryn rather distractedly tickled her each time she made a round. "I want to thank you ever so much for teaching her that," he said.

"You are so very welcome. You've more than lived up to it."

"That's enough!"

"Oh, don't be so shy. She knows anyway." Seven slid him an acid smirk, "Everything."

Kathryn tried to disappear as she pretended to be totally engrossed in the child.

"You told her! You've been in this house less than five minutes and you've already shared those little tidbits with her?" Chakotay got very still as he turned to his ex-wife.

Kathryn remembered his rage threshold. Grabbing the child in her arms, she stepped between them, "Kit, how about you showing me the rest of the house?" Kit was busily trying to unfasten Kathryn's Admiral insignia from her uniform and didn't answer.

Seven batted her eyes at him. "Oh, I didn't tell her now. She's known for years. Who do you think I asked for advice, the Doctor?" Seven had shifted again and effectively blocked the doorway.

Chakotay's voice was steadily rising, "That's who I went to. Yes, I would have expected you to ask the Doctor. I suppose you didn't bother to tell her that we found a remedy." Chakotay advanced another step toward Seven, spitting his comments over Kathryn's head. Kit buried her face into Kathryn's shoulder and began to cry quietly.

Seven smirked at him again, "It must have slipped my mind."

He glowered at her. "Your mind.."

"Stand down, the two of you!" Kathryn hugged the whimpering child closer, "Either let us through or go finish this somewhere else and let me calm down your daughter."

The warring parents quieted immediately, each reaching to take the child. Kathryn backed off protectively. "Oh no. I'm not going to have you each pulling at an arm. Go settle whatever it is you have to settle and I'll stay in here getting to know your daughter."

They looked at each other, nodded their compliance and left. Kathryn walked back to the bed and tried to pry the little girl loose, but the child wasn't about to let go. It occurred to Kathryn she really didn't even know what Kit looked like. The little dervish had been in constant motion, hair flying in her face, until she had attached herself to Kathryn's neck. It also occurred to her that she held Chakotay's child in her arms. She felt her knees buckle at the bittersweetness of it and collapsed back onto the bed, the child still hugging tight to her. They both needed a distraction.

Reaching into the bag at her feet, Kathryn pulled out a padd. "Kit, would you like to see pictures of my puppy back on earth?"

The little girl nodded yes, let go and settled herself around so that she was nestled with her back against Kathryn's breasts. Kathryn buried her face in the child's hair, trying to control the surge of something that this child was causing in her heart. Kit scrolled contentedly through the padd images as Kathryn was lost in the huge wash of 'might have beens' that was assaulting her mind.

"Who is that lady?"

"That's my mother."

"Who are the little girls?"

"Those are my sister and me. The little baby with the dark curly hair and big smile is my little sister, Phoebe and the one with her back to the camera hugging Mom is me when I was about your age."

"Do you have one of you turned around?"

"I think so. Ah, I found it." The picture showed a child with fly away hair, a freckled nose and kind of a lopsided grin, all arms and legs. One could see the woman in the child, but Kathryn had one of those faces that had changed considerably once reaching adulthood.

Kit laughed delightedly. "It's me! You have a picture of me!"

"No, honey. That's a picture of me when I was four years old." Kathryn found it cute that any four year olds picture automatically became Kit's picture. Phoebe's son, Eddy, had done the same thing when he was four.

Kit turned around, holding the padd up to her face, "No, it's not! It's me. See?"

For the first time Kathryn got a good look at the child. She wasn't the dark bronze of her father, nor did she have his deep chocolate eyes. Her skin was more of a light honey color with freckles, like the pollen from a flower, sprinkled over her nose. Her eyes were a lighter, golden brown, liquid amber, just like Kathryn's Grandma Meade's eyes. But for the dimples, Kathryn was looking at a sepia doppelganger of her younger self.

Kit scrambled off Kathryn's lap and ran into the other room shouting, "Mommy, Papa! Auntie Katty's got my picture! See!"

A stunned Kathryn followed, whispering, "How is this possible?"

Chakotay sat staring at the padd, mesmerized and speechless. Seven sat rigid on the other side of the room, her gaze fiercely locked away from them all and out the window.

Continue to Chapter 3: Three's a Crowd

     
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