In the end (Epilogue)

She noticed as she turned her key that the locking mechanism to the front door was working better than when she first installed it. She realized that Tom must have tinkered with it, after her third attempt to fix it failed. She felt a slight wave of frustration at her ineptitude at such a menial task, and pushed a strand of hair out of her face with a forced breath.

"Tom?" Kathryn called as she pushed open the door. He hadn't met her at the transporter station, which was unusual. But then, she'd actually transported on time for once, and she suspected he might not have thought to leave the house yet. In the living room, she slung her bag down on the couch and Gavvy greeted her, jumping up on her hind legs. Kathryn pushed her down- she was too old to be jumping on people- but then rubbed the animal's head affectionately. "Where's your daddy, huh?" Gavvy licked her hand, and then turned expectantly in a circle. Kathryn sighed. "Well, you're no help." She looked down the hallway into Tom's office, and then called up the stairs. No answer. She went to kitchen, standing with her hands on her hips. She decided she'd check the backyard before giving up and cuddling in the living room with Gavvy until Tom got back from wherever he'd gone.

Kathryn pushed open the back door and Gavvy bolted out in front of her, jumping onto Tom. He was stretched out in one of the wooden lawn chairs. With him were Seven and Chakotay. Chakotay was telling a story, Kathryn could tell by the tone of his voice even though the wind muffled his words. She recognized Seven standing in front of the men, with her back to her, by the cascade of golden hair and the posture that was still a bit too stiff to be comfortable. She came closer to them, and Tom saw her, his face lighting up in a smile.

"Hey," he said, shielding his eyes from the summer sun with his hand. Her hands moved to her hips.

"You fixed the lock on the front door." It was more an accusation than an observation.

"I did." He nodded.

"That was supposed to be my present to you."

"It's been a year. I need a door that locks, Kath." She huffed, and he held up his hands. "I find it endearing, really I do. You can do quantum physics and end civil wars on far away worlds. But you can't install a simple bolting mechanism." She glowered and he laughed.

"This from a man who built me a bath tub that was so poorly sealed that I could hear the water leaking as I bathed." She finally looked to Seven and Chakotay, smiling. "Hello, you two. I didn't realize you were joining us today." Seven remained where she stood, but angled her face to Kathryn.

"Tom invited us. He thought we could use the weekend away." Seven moved to hug her, and Kathryn saw the cake that sat on the small table next to Tom. It had blue icing, and she knew without asking that it was chocolate with raspberry filling. As she hugged Seven, Kathryn looked at Tom with eyes that held tears. He winked at her, and Chakotay smiled and smiled. "Happy birthday," Seven said, pulling away.

"Well," Chakotay began, after they'd all finished their hugs. "Should we go inside for dinner so we can dig into this delightful looking cake?"

Kathryn shook her head, and the dark-haired man looked puzzled. Kathryn put a hand on his shoulder before moving to stand next to Tom. "Chakotay, Tom and I have tradition." Tom looped his arm around her waist, and Chakotay waited for Kathryn to finish. "First, we eat the cake. And then, if we have room, we eat dinner." Seven and Chakotay laughed, and Tom kissed her before shooing Gavvy away from the cake with his foot.

. . . . .

Tom and Kathryn lay in bed reading, their free hands clasped under the covers. It was late and Chakotay and Seven were asleep in the guest room down the hall. Kathryn was still adjusting to the time change, and would be up for hours. Tom had grown accustomed to the pattern, and had slept in as late as he could that morning so he could stay awake with her that night. Tom put down the book he was reading, excusing himself to the bathroom. She liked that he preferred real books to PADDs, that when they lay together like this she could hear the gentle rustling of paper as he turned the page. That when she found him in his office, lined with bookshelves, it smelled solid and earthy. She put down her own reading, a PADD containing the latest diplomatic update on the Romulan homeworld, and picked up his book. It was a volume of poems by D. H. Lawrence that Harry had given to him on his last shore leave from the USS Hutchinson, two months prior. She was surprised Tom hadn't already finished reading it.

When Tom returned to bed, his book was in Kathryn's lap, and a far away expression was on her face. He settled into the bed, turning on his side to look at her. When she didn't speak, he wrapped his arm around her, and she grasped his hand.

"Do you think I'm like the woman in Lawrence's poem?" He knew which woman she meant; he'd left the book open to the poem "Intimates" when he went to the bathroom. He fought the urge to sigh. After eight years, her moods were still mercurial on her birthday.

"I've never thought you a particularly vain person." His tone was light, but Kathryn's eyes narrowed. This wasn't what she'd meant, he realized.

"No, I don't mean in that way." She took a deep breath. "I mean. . . Do you think that I'm so absorbed with myself that I fail to see you sometimes?" She looked at him as she asked, and his face softened. Her mood that inadvertently stumbled upon a difficult reality of their relationship. Tom considered his answer, wanting to tell her the truth. Wanting not to hurt her.

"I think. . . Throughout our relationship there have been times that you've been more selfish with me than you are otherwise. Than you are with other people." It was the truth, both of them knew it. "But I've always thought that it was because I was the one person you could be selfish with. The person to whom you didn't have to be a savior or a saint. The person with whom you could just be a human being. A flawed, imperfect human being." His voice was sincere, and his eyes were filled with love. Tears pooled in Kathryn's eyes, but didn't fall.

"I'm so sorry that I cost us so much time. I'm sorry that treated you so horribly after the Moneans, that it took me a year to come here after we got home." She'd apologized for all of this a year ago, when she'd first found him in Saint James. She'd spent her entire three weeks of leave with him in France. The last night in bed, she'd clung to him and apologized for all the mistakes she'd made over the years. He'd held her tightly while she'd cried and cried.

He took the book from her, and pulled her onto him, her face only a few centimeters from his.

"I forgave you, long ago. And without even having to try." She tried to look away from him, and he pulled her face back to his, staring into her eyes. "Kathryn, in the end, you were always worth it. And I would have walked through fire, crawled over broken glass- done anything that you asked- to end up here, like this, with you." She shut her eyes, tears finally spilling out of them. When she opened them, he smiled at her, and she pressed her lips to his. The kiss grew, and soon his hands were roaming her body.

"Tom," Kathryn said in a low voice, "they're just down the hall."

"So, we'll be quiet." His mouth traveled in an agonizing fashion over her neck.

"Still, it just feels. . . Weird." He smirked against her, a small chuckle vibrating against her neck.

"How do you know they're not doing the same thing?" Kathryn let out a horrified gasp and rolled off him, cursing in Bolian.

"Well now we're really not doing this!" she said, grabbing her PADD again. A picture of Chakotay and Seven was the last image she needed in her head while she was writhing against Tom.

"Are you kidding me?" Tom's face was shocked, his body screaming that this couldn't be happening. She shook her head, sending him a warning glare.

"Well now you're really being selfish." He fluffed his pillow with too much force before slamming his head down.

"You said you were willing to climb over broken glass for me. I assume you'll manage a little discomfort."

"I'd prefer the broken glass." He sounded petulant, and she ignored it, trying to suppress the grin from her face.

"Just you wait. The next time you're ready, I'm going to let things get as far as they can before making you picture Harry Kim." He waggled a finger at her. "Or better yet, my father." Her face didn't react, but he was sure he'd gotten to her.

"How do you know that I don't already think of your father during? The two of you look a great deal a like, after all. I imagine in twenty-five years, you'll be the spitting image of him." Her voice was nonchalant, professional. She knew it made the impact of her taunt worse.

"I can't believe you said that!" Tom's face was more horrified than she'd ever seen, and the corners of Kathryn's mouth turned up a bit. "See if I ever have sex with you again." He rolled over on his side, not looking at her. Silently, Kathryn chuckled.

In the end, she always got him.