Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable and if I did, Tom would've died a looooong time ago.

Author's Note: I have a lot of stories to update but my muse isn't playing nicely. She's been on strike for a long while and when she finally decided to play nicely, this is what I got. *shrug* This is unbeta'd so, as always, all mistakes are mine.

"Why'd they choose us?"

Looking up from the padd he's been attempting to read for the last twenty minutes, Chakotay watches as the small redhead in front of him frets. She's been flustered since they got home and while he can't blame her for her anxiety, she's starting to make him dizzy with her constant pacing.

"Kathryn, come sit down," he says, patting the empty spot next to him on the sofa. She wrings her hands for a moment longer and then visibly droops, moving slowly to sit next to him. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her close, shaking his head slightly.

"You know why they chose us," he replies, pressing a kiss to her temple. "We're her godmother and they knew we'd take care of her."

"Did they even take into consideration how we'd feel about this? I mean, we've been home for six months and we just got married," she says softly, looking across the room at the fire dancing in the fireplace. "They didn't even ask."

"They didn't even ask?" he repeats, staring at her. He fights the urge to take her by the shoulders and shake her but pulls his arm from around her and stands, taking a couple steps away to look out the window at the snowy fields of their Indiana home. He can't fathom Kathryn's line of thinking and his grief and anger from the last few days finally boils over as he loses his calm. "At which point were they supposed to ask, hmm? As the test engine failed? As the shuttle went down? As they died on impact on an uninhabited planet? At which point, Kathryn, should they have commed us and asked?"

He regrets the words as soon as he says them. He hears her inhale shakily and the sound of a door clicking shut makes him wince; he didn't mean to take everything out on her. The call they received three days ago from Admiral Paris, informing them that Tom and B'Elanna were gone, is still fresh in his mind and in his grief, he's lashed out at Kathryn. Rubbing a hand over his face, Chakotay tries to make sense of everything. He's not handling things well and he knows that he needs to apologize to Kathryn.

He finds her in the guest bedroom, now a nursery, sitting in the rocking chair her mother brought over yesterday. Kathryn's facing the crib but he knows she's not really seeing anything; she's crying harder than he's ever seen her cry. Moving slowly, he kneels in front of her and touches her knee, his heart aching at the pain on her face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did," he whispers, mindful of the sleeping baby across the room. She shakes her head and hiccups softly, her eyes finding his as she reaches out and touches his cheek with a shaky hand.

"I don't know how to do this," she confesses. "I don't know how to grieve for them and take care of Miral at the same time. I look at her and see her parents and I just … I'm not ready for a baby, Chakotay. I don't know how."

"Oh Kathryn," he sighs, everything clicking into place in his mind. She's terrified and he feels like a heel for not realizing it sooner. Taking her hand, he stands and pulls her up, leading her over to the crib. She's hesitant but he tugs her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist as they look down at the sleeping child. "You'll be brilliant, sweetheart. You'll teach her everything you know and she'll be doing quantum physics by the time she's two. You'll tell her stories of her mother's bravery, her father's humor, and their love for her and each other. I know you're scared and that this seems terrifying but you'll love her and that'll be enough."

They hold each other and stare at Miral, each thinking of the future and the new path their lives have taken.