"Captain's Log, stardate 50206.7. The Enterprise has been ordered to the Tarquenian system to mediate a trade dispute between the two nation-states of Tarquenia, Veriia and Soquania."
Captain Jean-Luc Picard studied the viewscreen thoughtfully, carefully reviewing in his mind the situation on Tarquenia. Their trade dispute had only come about over the last few years, but their diplomats had reached an impasse. As a last-ditch effort they had called on the Federation for assistance before the nation-states went to war.
Sighing quietly, he rose from his command chair. It had been a long day, full of briefings and last-minute messages from Starfleet. He nodded to Lieutenant Commander Data, who had just come on duty for the night watch. "You have the bridge, Commander." Data acknowledged with a tilt of his head and wordlessly took the center seat.
=/\=
Picard entered his quarters and stopped dead in his tracks. He studied the sleeping form sprawled out on the couch, a padd lying forgotten on her stomach, then smiled. Taking in her pose with amusement, he walked over to the couch and bent slightly, kissing her on the forehead. There was a muffled groan as she stirred.
Dr. Beverly Picard opened her eyes sleepily, then smiled up at her husband. "Well, hi there, Jean-Luc."
He sat down on the edge of the couch and took her hand in his, squeezing it affectionately. She started to sit up, but he motioned for her to stay where she was. He looked around the room for something, then glanced at his wife questioningly. "Where's Beth?" he asked, although belatedly realized how late it was.
A tired look crossed Beverly's face. "She's in her room, hopefully asleep. If she isn't asleep, I don't want to know about it."
Jean-Luc chuckled. "She was a bit... rambunctious... today, hmm?"
Beverly's facial expression confirmed that, and he smiled. He stood and headed for a small bedroom off the living room. Beverly looked alarmed. "You're not going to wake her up, are you?" She received a mischievous grin in response.
Jean-Luc disappeared, and returned a minute later with a sleepy, chocolate-brown haired one-year-old on his arm. Elizabeth Marie Picard rubbed an eye with a small, tightly curled fist, then blinked, regarding her father with big hazel eyes. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and grinned at her. "I heard you got into trouble today, Miss Elizabeth."
Beth, obviously not caring if she was in trouble or not, burrowed into her father's shoulder and fell asleep again. He readjusted his hold on her and sat down on the couch again. Beverly smoothed her daughter's rumpled hair, then watched her sleep for a moment. "What happened today?" Jean-Luc asked quietly.
She smiled affectionately at Beth. "According to her primary care teacher, she was a holy terror. Absolutely off the wall. There was mention of finger paints being thrown on the ceiling, blocks in the fish tank, and the class hamster getting painted purple."
A surprised grin crossed his face. "Beth? Our sweet, quiet Beth?" Then he thought a minute, as Beverly fixed him with an accusing stare. "All right, all right. I shouldn't have let her drink my coffee this morning. But she didn't seem bothered by it."
A smile from Beverly. "Yes, because 20 minutes after you gave it to her, you were safely on the bridge, away from Hurricane Elizabeth." She took Beth from him, and they both walked into her room and put their daughter back to bed. Then they stood there, watching her sleep.
Jean-Luc wrapped his arms around Beverly's waist, and she covered his hands with hers. "She's something, isn't she?" Beverly murmured.
"Yes. So are you."
She turned her head and glanced at him. He smiled. "Have I told you lately how much I love you, Beverly Picard?"
She turned fully now, and slid her arms around him. "And have I told you how much I love you, Jean-Luc Picard?" He hugged her close, then laid a gentle kiss on her lips. She leaned in and returned it, and a few ardent minutes later, she whispered, "How about we let Beth sleep in peace, and continue this elsewhere?"
He gazed into the fiery blue eyes he loved so much, then swept her off her feet and into his arms. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he whispered back, as he carried her off to their bedroom, both of them grinning widely.
=/\=
"Captain, we are approaching Tarquenia." Commander Riker's
voice sounded through the ready room.
Picard looked up automatically from the document he was reading on
the viewscreen. He touched his comm badge. "Acknowledged, Number One." A quick
glance out his window confirmed the fact of their approach, and he studied the the
blue-green and beige planet thoughtfully for a moment. Finally, he rose and took a final
glance at his desk. As an afterthought, he turned his viewscreen off. It was then that his
gaze fell on a framed picture just to the side of the desk. It was a photograph taken a
few months after Beth had been born, of the three of them: Jean-Luc, Beverly, and Beth.
Now that Beth was a year old, they planned to have another one taken, and every year after
that.
*"Beth, give Papa a smile. Show Papa your pretty
smile," Beverly cajoled. Beth stared at her mother, blinked, then squirmed a little.
She did not smile. Her gaze refocused on her father, who came looming into view.
"Elizabeth Marie Picard, I order you to smile."
Beverly stifled a laugh. "Jean-Luc, she's not one of your officers. She could care less what you order her to do."
Jean-Luc clapped a hand over Beverly's mouth. "Shhh!" he whispered. "She doesn't know that yet!" Then he flashed her one of his rare, full smiles.
Beth, suddenly ignored by her parents, decided to turn the spotlight back on. She flailed her arms slightly in that universal baby body language that says 'Pick me up and hold me now or I'm going to start crying really loud until you do.'
Jean-Luc turned and reached down, scooping his daughter up. He was rewarded with a hard-won smile. Beverly abruptly yanked them over to where the picture was going to be taken before the smile disappeared.
When the camera clicked, they were all smiling.*
The captain pulled his mind and his gaze away from the picture and
exited his ready room for the bridge. He took his place in the center seat as the Enterprise
slipped gracefully into orbit around Tarquenia. His head turned and he fixed Commander
Riker with a questioning look. "Have the Prime Ministers signaled yet?"
Will shook his head. "No, sir. We transmitted our greetings a few moments ago, but still have not received a response."
Picard nodded. "Very well, Number One. Re-transmit in five minutes if they still have not answered. In the meantime, I and the rest of the Away Team will wait in Transporter Room 3." With that, he rose from the chair and headed into the forward turbolift. Just as the doors slid open, he turned and said, "You have the bridge, Commander."
Riker smiled. "Yes, sir. And, Captain, good luck." The
turbolift doors closed on Picard's slight smile.
Counselor Troi met up with Beverly on the way to the transporter room. She immediately grew concerned at the stunned expression on Beverly's face. She placed a hand on her friend's arm. "Beverly, what is it?"
Beverly quickly shook herself out of her reverie and managed a small smile. "I'll tell you later. It can wait." Deanna opened her mouth to object, but then the doors of the transporter room were in front of her, and the opportunity for questions passed.
They entered the room to find Captain Picard already there. He smiled at his wife and Deanna. "You're just in time. The Prime Ministers just signaled, and are awaiting our arrival." He gestured to the transporter pad. "Shall we?" The trio took their places on the pad and Picard nodded to the transporter chief. "Energize."
The Picards and Counselor Troi materialized in a large, opulent hall inside the Tarquenian Congressional Building. The sheer size of the building was staggering, as it boasted 40-foot ceilings, the surface of which was covered in rich, colorful tapestries, and wide, ornate marble floors. It seemed as though their very breathing was echoed in the expansive hall. Suddenly, they heard the loud, resonant sound of footsteps approaching. The Prime Ministers of the Tarquenian nation-states, Veriia and Soquania, appeared.
As they stood before the delegation from the Enterprise, they bowed slightly. "Captain Picard, allow us to formally introduce ourselves. This is Prime Minister Aimyea Jerdes of Veriia," A tall, stately woman bowed once more. "And I am Prime Minister Herdec Kislac of Soquania. We welcome you to our world."
Captain Picard nodded to each one of them, then turned and motioned to Beverly and Deanna. "Allow me to introduce two of my senior officers, Dr. Beverly Picard and Counselor Deanna Troi."
Minister Jerdes' mouth upturned at one corner in a slight grin of amusement. She looked at the captain and doctor. "Two Picards? We've heard legendary tales of the formidable Captain Picard, and now there are two?" Her smile grew as she trained it on her fellow minister. "We had better tread carefully, Kislac, before the two Picards and their counselor get warmed up negotiating, and we agree to actually like one another as well as not go to war."
Her "enemy" laughed heartily. "And here I thought you did like me, Jerdes. After three years of constant negotiations, you seem like my best friend!" Both the Prime Ministers chuckled at that, and Jean-Luc's trepidation about this mission lessened slightly. Things didn't appear to be as tense as Starfleet made them out to be.
=/\=
The first day of Federation-mediated negotiations concluded on a
high note, with the two Prime Ministers and their accompanying congresses agreeing on
dropping a major trade sanction. The team of Picard, Picard, and Troi appeared to be
invincible at the negotiation table, and the three met in the Picards' quarters on
Tarquenia after the days' negotiations drew to a close. Their meeting was informal, and
they shared dinner while they discussed the events of the day. After dinner, Deanna
returned to her own quarters to get some sleep.
Beverly was rummaging through her carryall, yanking things out and
tossing them on the bed. Jean-Luc entered the bedroom in the midst of Beverly's chaos. She
looked up and fixed wild eyes upon him. "Where's my medkit? I told you to pack
it!" Before he could answer, she made a hasty retreat to the bathroom.
She emerged a minute later, looking slightly paler than before. Jean-Luc wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "What's wrong?" he whispered into her hair.
She sighed. "Jean-Luc, there's something I've been meaning to tell -"
"Enterprise to Captain Picard." Commander Riker's voice sounded over his communicator.
"Damn it," Picard muttered. His sigh echoed his wife's as he touched the comm badge. "Picard here. Go ahead, Number One." Beverly disengaged herself from his embrace and walked back out into the living area.
"I'm patching Admiral Sanders through to you, Captain. He says
it's urgent that he speak to you."
After a brief conversation with the admiral, Jean-Luc joined Beverly in the living room, where she was curled up on the couch, staring blankly at a padd. He sat down beside and tucked a fiery lock of hair behind her ear. She smiled tiredly. "What did the admiral want?"
He took the padd out of her hands and set it on the table. "He felt it imperative to warn me once again about the rebel factions on this planet. Intelligence says they're becoming more and more aggressive in their demands. He warned us to be cautious."
Beverly's eyes began to drift closed. Just before they shut entirely, she muttered, "Don't worry. You're always careful."
Jean-Luc studied his sleeping wife for a moment, then gently picked her up and tucked her into bed. He slid in behind her and wrapped his arms around her warm, relaxed body. Just before he fell asleep, he thought, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to ask her about what she wanted to tell me. But I'm sure it can wait...
=/\=
Three days later, all that there was left to do was to have the
nation-states sign the final treaty. It had been a long, arduous process, but all three
parties felt it was worth it not to have to go to war.
Captain Picard, Counselor Troi, and Dr. Picard were seated in the
visitor's galley above the Congressional Parlor while the voting was taking place. As each
chorus of "Aye" sounded through the parlor, Picard's spirits rose just a bit
more. It appeared that it would be a unanimous vote in favor of the treaty.
Footsteps sounded in the doorway to the visitor's galley. All three Enterprise officers turned to see who it was, and they found themselves staring down the business end of a very lethal looking blaster. Far below, they heard the astonished gasps of the congressional members as similarly-armed men stormed the parlor. Their leader personally trained his two blasters on the Prime Ministers and called out, "Vote's over! You lose, Federationers!" He gestured with one of the blasters at the galley where the captain, doctor, and counselor were seated.
Before Jean-Luc could react, the blaster fired, slamming into Beverly's upper body and propelling her into the wall, against which her head cracked audibly. The blaster swung to Jean-Luc next, but the gunman had no chance against Picard. He'd made a serious mistake in firing on Beverly, for Picard was no longer acting as the captain of the Federation flagship; he was acting as Jean-Luc Picard, husband to Beverly, a man protecting the woman he loves.
Pumped up by rage, Jean-Luc rammed into the gunman headfirst, knocking him to the ground in the doorway before the man had a chance to fire again. He pummeled fist after clenched fist into whatever flesh his hands could find, and finally wrenched the blaster away and stood, aiming it directly at the gunman. Before he could fire, Deanna's anguished voice cut through the haze of anger clouding his mind. "Captain, don't! You'll be no better than he is!"
Picard re-aimed and growled through clenched teeth, "I'll be no better than he was, Counselor," and pulled the trigger...
...and nothing happened. The gunman at Picard's feet let out a gasp... which was quickly followed by an explosive expulsion of air as Picard rammed the butt of the blaster into the gunman's gut. "I had the safety on, you bastard. Remember that," snarled Jean-Luc through clenched teeth. Never taking his eyes off the gunman, he almost violently yanked Deanna to her feet and shoved the blaster into her hands. "Watch him," he whispered harshly.
The chime of the transporter sounded below as Enterprise security began materializing in the parlor. On the bridge, Riker had kept an open commlink with the Congressional Building to monitor the voting. At the first sound of trouble, he had had Commander Worf dispatch security teams to the transporter rooms for immediate beamdown.
Picard dimly noted the transporter as he knelt beside his wife. He gently took her wrist between his fingers, and found a fading pulse beneath the cold, clammy skin. He stabbed viciously at his communicator as a security team made its way up to the galley. "Picard to Enterprise. Three to beam directly to sickbay." The cold tingling of the transporter was the last thing he felt before rematerializing in sickbay.
=/\=
Dr. Selar had quietly escorted the captain into his wife's office. She looked haggard and drawn, and as aggrieved as a Vulcan can look. "Beverly is alive, for now. We have her on full life support, and she is in a deep coma. We have repaired the damage caused by the blaster, as well as a portion of the damage caused by her subsequent impact into the wall. The rest of the healing is up to her. You may see her now, if you wish."
He stared the desktop blankly, his eyes focused on his daughter's baby picture sitting next to a stack of padds. He heard the words in a daze, and vaguely recalled thanking the doctor as he walked out of the office.
A chair had been left at the bedside and he sank into it gratefully.
As he took Beverly's hand in his, he studied her face intently. Aside from being slightly
pale, she merely appeared as though she were sleeping, and would open her eyes and smile
at him like she always did. He kissed the palm of her hand, as he had countless times
before, and tried to push from his mind the fact that it might be one of the last. His
head rested on the edge of the bed, and he closed his
eyes tiredly.
*A barely controlled scream filled the room. It was
followed by a fevered gasping, and another breathless groan. Then, finally, a thin, reedy
wail, and a relieved cry sounded. "It's a girl!" Alyssa Ogawa exclaimed.
The baby was soon wrapped and placed in Beverly Picard's tired arms, and she smiled at her daughter for the first time. She kissed the warm, soft forehead as her fingers stroked the fine brown hair that covered her head.
Jean-Luc stared at his daughter with amazement, his eyes wide and proud. His wife gazed at him with happy eyes, and she said softly, "Want to hold your daughter, Papa?"
He was filled with complete, total joy as he held his
baby girl in his arms for the first time. "So tiny. So perfect," he whispered,
as he bent down and kissed Beverly gently, with tears streaming down his face. His tears
were matched by his wife, and they both wondered if it was possible to love anymore than
they already did... and they both answered yes...*
"Captain Picard? Captain, wake up."
Counselor Troi's voice came flooding through his mind and pushed away the blissful memories. He sat up, ignoring the cramp in his lower back. Alarmed, his head jerked up and quickly took in the tell-tales on the biobed's monitor. "Is Beverly all right? Nothing's - "
"She's still the same, Captain. I came to check on you, though."
He quickly squelched the flash of irritation that cropped up. "I'm fine, Counselor."
She shook her head. "No, Captain, you're not. You're exhausted. And you have a daughter who would very much like to be with her father right now."
At the mention of his daughter, he bit back the angry retort he was about to fling at Deanna. She was right. He had other obligations besides the one to his wife. He stood and bent slightly, placing a gentle kiss on Beverly's lips. Bending even lower, he whispered into her ear, "I love you, Beverly. Please come back to me soon."
=/\=
Jean-Luc studied his sleeping daughter for a moment, then left her
bedroom and headed for his own with a feeling of dread. He slipped off his boots, making
only that one concession to comfort. He eased onto his side of the bed, and rolled onto
his back to stare at the ceiling. His elbow brushed against Beverly's empty pillow, and he
turned and stared hollowly at it. Here, in the privacy of his bedroom, the one he shared
with the comatose woman now lying in sickbay, the barriers and walls came crumbling down,
and the captain of the starship Enterprise sobbed until the
oblivion of sleep claimed him.
*"Jean-Luc, where are we going? And can I take the
blindfold off yet?"
He batted playfully at Beverly's hands, keeping her from pulling at the blindfold she wore. "It's a surprise. Now behave." He could almost see the eyebrow arching underneath the blindfold.
"Jean-Luc Picard, I always behave." She wished she could see him, so she could smack him as he erupted into laughter.
"SURPRISE!! Happy birthday Beverly!!" Jean-Luc pulled the blindfold off to reveal Ten Forward decked out in birthday decorations. Will, who was holding Beth Picard on his arm, Deanna, Geordi, Worf, and Data were all smiling, surrounding a large chocolate-frosted cake, covered with sparkling candles. Next to the cake on the table was a stack of brightly wrapped gifts.
Beverly turned a stunned gaze to her husband. "You did all this?"
He planted a quick, smacking kiss on her mouth, much to everyone's amusement. "I had help. Do you like it?"
She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Like it? I love it! Thank you!" And then the second kiss in as many minutes
occurred, but this one lasted far longer than the first...*
Beth's disgruntled cries shattered Jean-Luc's peaceful dreams. He fixed
a bleary eye on the chronometer next to the bed. The numbers displayed caused him to sit
bolt upright in bed. 1030? I'm over three hours late for my shift! Why didn't
Beverly... Then he remembered. The events of the previous day came flooding
back to him in a horrific torrent. He realized that no one had paged him because they
thought he could use the rest. They were probably right, but after the dreams he'd been
having all night, sleep was the furthest thought from his mind.
He got up and went to get his daughter out of bed. Beth was in a horrendous mood after being left in her crib four hours longer than usual. Jean-Luc scooped her into his arms and talked to her in a quiet, soothing voice to calm her down. After he had changed and fed her, Beth was in her usual good spirits once again. Watching his daughter toddle through the living room, smiling and laughing, helped to lighten the heavy weight upon his heart.
=/\=
It was all Jean-Luc could do to keep from running full out down the corridors on his way to sickbay after his shift. His brief shift had seemed to drag by endlessly, and now that he was free, the only thing he could focus on was being with Beverly.
He strode purposefully into sickbay and quickly made his way to his wife's bedside, where Dr. Selar was quietly checking on her. "How is she?" he asked in a low voice.
Selar shook her head slightly. "We are having difficulties keeping her stabilized. We are unable to give her some of the medications that are normally used in cases like this, due to her condition."
The look of worry on his face was replaced by one of slight confusion. "Condition?" he repeated.
One Vulcan eyebrow arched. "I would assume from your reaction that you do not know."
Picard, by now, was rapidly losing patience. "What condition?" he repeated almost frantically.
Selar sighed. This was not the best day to be acting CMO, and it was certainly not a good time to tell the captain of the ship something his wife should have already told him. "Dr. Picard is approximately eight weeks pregnant. That is the reason we are having problems treating her."
Jean-Luc had already stopped listening after he heard the word "pregnant". Beverly is pregnant? We're going to have another baby?! But why didn't she - The he remembered. She had tried to tell him when they were on Tarquenia, but they had been interrupted. And it would explain why she had been so tired lately, as well why she hadn't been eating much.
He tuned back in just as Selar was saying, "...it may be necessary to terminate the pregnancy in order to save Beverly. I will inform you immediately should that become a necessary action."
This was too much. First his wife was lying in a coma, and now he was being told that possibly the only way to save her was to terminate the life they had created together out of love. He backed away from the doctor, as if to put distance between the ugly truth behind her words. Before he lost composure, he quickly turned and retreated to Beverly's office.
Once inside, he sat down behind her desk and stared at the shiny
top. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that captured his attention. There,
off to the side on the desk next to Beth's baby picture, was his and Beverly's wedding
picture. In it, they were both smiling happily, hands clasped tightly. The glint of
matching gold wedding bands was visible on their joined fingers, the rings signifying
their promise of
forever...
*"Okay, one more..." _Click_. "All right,
that should do it, Captain, Doctor. I'll let you know when these are done."
Lieutenant Benson, ship's official do-everything officer, put her camera away and went off
to develop the pictures. As at all shipboard events, she was functioning as photographer
today.
The smiles had not been cajoled and forced on this day. They came easily and often. Captain Picard looked to his bride and gestured to their awaiting friends. Dr. Beverly Picard squeezed his hand tightly and whispered in his ear, "This dinner had better not take long, Jean-Luc. I don't think I'll last."
His mischievous grin mirrored her own. "Dr. Picard, what a thing to say about your own wedding dinner. After all the work they've done..." He tsked.
She trailed the fingers of her free hand provocatively up his arm. "How 'bout we shove some cake in each other's face, eat a few forkfuls of food, and go... elsewhere."
He swallowed thickly, trying to shove from his mind the
effect she always had on him. Then he smiled wide. She pulled him over to the waiting
table, a small triumphant smirk on her face. She had won, again...*
Jean-Luc shook himself out of his daydream. The memories were becoming
easier and easier to escape into lately, since he feared that they might be all he'd have
left soon. Knock it off, Jean-Luc, he told himself. She's
going to be fine, no thanks to you and your morbid thoughts. He stood,
determined, and strode out of the office and to Beverly's bedside.
=/\=
"Just what the hell were you hoping to accomplish with your stunt, anyway?" Commander Will Riker hollered at the leader of the terrorist group. The man sat in the brig with his arms folded across his chest, a smug look on his face.
"I think that is fairly evident, Federationer. We don't want you here, and we're quite happy to prove it. I would have preferred we shot your precious captain, but I suppose his wife will have to suffice. I believe our message is clear. Go home, Federationers. And don't come back." With that, the man leaned back and flashed a toothy grin at Will.
This was more than Riker could take. One of his dearest friends was lying in a coma, and her husband was slowly falling apart because of it. And now this son of a bitch was proud of what he and his cronies did. Something inside Will Riker snapped.
The forcefield flickered and died away. Will's hand no sooner left the control pad than he was inside the cell. With an animalistic growl, he yanked the terrorist off the bunk and landed a fist squarely on his jaw. Just as he was about to nail him again, the security guards rushed in and grabbed Commander Riker, pulling him out of the cell. The forcefield came back up as the terrorist moaned, holding his jaw as a trickle of blood oozed out of his mouth. The jaw was canted at an odd angle. Commander Riker had broken it in three places, much to the grim satisfaction of everyone on board.
=/\=
A communiqué from Tarquenia arrived a few hours after Riker's assault on the terrorist leader. The Congress had voted unanimously to accept the treaty, and had ratified it that same day. They also requested that the Enterprise transfer the terrorists to the planet to stand trial. Captain Picard hollowly noted the message, and sent a brief acknowledgment back to the prime ministers, and agreed to send the terrorists back. All the better, he thought, because if they remained on board, I think something more than a broken jaw would be suffered by them. I would see to it personally.*
Sighing, he set the padd down on the floor, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. I really need to get some sleep. He took Beverly's cool hand between his warm ones and rubbed it slightly. He stood, and was bending to kiss her good night when he heard a slight moan. He froze. Could he have imagined it? Possibly. He was, after all, exhausted, and his wishful mind could be playing cruel games with him.
He brushed her lips with his, and he heard it again. Then, her hand between his moved. Slightly. Almost imperceptibly. But it moved. "Beverly?" he asked. The tell-tales on the monitor above the biobed began to change slightly. The monitor alerted Dr. Selar, who came rushing over. Beverly stirred again, this time moving her head. A nurse appeared and handed Selar a hypospray, which she injected Beverly with.
At Picard's questioning look, Selar said, "A mild stimulant. If she is indeed awakening, this will help her along."
A few moments later, two piercing blue eyes opened, blinking. They took a moment to focus, and, when they did, they found their mates, a pair of smiling hazel eyes. "Jean-Luc?" she whispered thickly.
He squeezed her hand, his smile wide. "Yes," he answered. "You're going to be just fine," he told her. "We're all going to be just fine..."
=/\=
Jean-Luc Picard sat down at his desk in the ready room. He carefully placed something on the desktop, then took the picture frame holding his family picture. He gently opened it up, removed the picture, and put in its place the one he had just brought with him.
In the new picture, he sat next to Beverly, as they held their
daughter, Elizabeth Marie... and their son, Nathan James.
They were all smiling.