Work Text:
Three pulled herself up on the edge of the bed, smiling that 'I've conquered the galaxy' smile that was so much like Kathryn's.
Setting down the PADD she'd been trying to read, Beverly rubbed her eyes. She only managed one paragraph at a time, and her head hurt, so it had been the same paragraph for the last five minutes.
"Where did you go?" Kathryn's voice carried from the other room.
Beverly returned her daughter's smile. "You're not supposed to be in here," she whispered.
Three grinned even more, hiding her eyes behind the edge of the bed. Her head popped back up a moment later, pleased with her escape from her mother.
"In here," Beverly called.
"You're supposed to be asleep," Kathryn said, shaking her head as she emerged in the doorway. "And you!" She pounced on Three, scooping her up and gliding her through the air until the toddler shrieked laughter. "You're not supposed to be bothering Mommy."
"She's no bother."
Kathryn held Three against her chest and narrowed her eyes at Beverly. "United front, remember? She's supposed to be out here with me and the Maestro, working on her shape and colour recognition."
Beverly smiled at her daughter, as if building a conspiracy between them. "She knows her colours."
"Fine motor skills are essential for brain development," Kathryn said. Dodging Three's wild hand, she sighed. "Something we need to work on."
"She's fine, sweetheart. She's perfect as she is."
Three swatted at Kathryn's face again, giggling as Kathryn caught her hand and kissed it. She continued to push her hand towards Kathryn's mouth, amused each time Kathryn kissed her fingers away.
Kathryn's voice lowered even though she kept smiling at Three. "Mommy's supposed to be resting, not reading medical journals."
"I am resting," Beverly protested. Sitting up too fast made her head spin, and her nausea, forgotten while she'd been watching Kathryn and the baby, roared back. She hid it, keeping her smile even as she dug her hand into the sheets of the bed.
"Liar." Kathryn kissed Three's nose and moved the baby to rest on her hip. "Isn't she a liar?"
Three looked from Kathryn to Beverly without understanding. Grinning again, she chirped, thrilled to be in the middle of the conversation. Kathryn lowered her, letting her squirm free onto the bed with Beverly. Kneeling beside the bed, Kathryn sighed.
"You're sick."
"I'm fine."
Three crawled up along her mother's side, threatening Beverly's stomach with her flailing hands. Grabbing her, she moved the baby a safe distance away.
Kathryn's eyebrows narrowed. "Fine?"
Beverly shut her eyes, smiling, resigned. "If I don't move."
"When she's in here, you have to move!" Kathryn caught Three around her round little stomach and distracted her with a bright blue toy sehlat. Grabbing for that, Three held still for the moment, fascinated.
"I love her."
"I know. And I love you, and you came home sick."
Beverly shut her eyes, listening to Three babble to her toy. She could picture Kathryn's expression. "I was sent home."
"You, you who insists that you're never ill, let yourself be sent home?"
"I'm not ill," Beverly reminded her. Opening her eyes again, she found Three had started sending the sehlat on an adventure through the sheets. This one flew when it needed too.
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "You're pregnant."
"You were sick too."
"I only wanted to vomit for a few weeks. You have, twice this week."
"I told you I was worse, the whole time you were pregnant with Three."
Kathryn leaned close, brushing Beverly's hair off her cheek, her eyes soft with concern. "I thought you were lying to make me feel better."
Swallowing hard against her nausea, Beverly reached up to pat Kathryn's cheek. "See how honest I was?"
"Beverly--"
"I'm fine."
"You're so pale you'd get lost in a blizzard."
"I'm always pale."
Three returned her attention to Kathryn, offering her the damp sehlat she'd just been gnawing on.
"Thank you," Kathryn said, taking the toy. She kissed their daughter's head and flew the sehlat back down, making Three laugh as her concern faded. She sighed again, resting her chin on her hand. "What can I do?"
"Nothing." Beverly let Three knock the PADD off the bed. Kathryn reached for it, but Beverly shook her head. "It's not important."
"It's work," Kathryn said, retrieving it so she could glare over it. "Don't make me reprogram all your PADDs so you can only read trashy Klingon novels."
"Trashy Klingon novels will make my nausea worse."
"Then you'll stay in bed and rest."
"Yes ma'am."
Kathryn winced, the way she always did. "You're horrible."
"You love it when I'm horrible."
Three tugged Kathryn's hair. Deciding the blue sehlat would be happiest nestled there, she tried to make it a home on her mother's head. She held so still that Beverly had to laugh, which only made the ongoing ion storm in her stomach even worse.
"I'm fine."
"You're almost green," Kathryn corrected. "I want to do something."
"I already took a hypo, it'll start working."
Kathryn's concern radiated from her, more intense than Beverly's nausea. "Like it did yesterday?"
Beverly winced. "That wasn't that bad."
"My mother called twice this morning to make sure you were all right. She doesn't even worry about me that much."
"I'm fine."
Kathryn kissed her, her mouth delicate on Beverly's. "You're not."
"It's just hormones. Mine are a little more intense than most."
"You look awful."
Beverly smirked. "Thanks."
"I'm not kidding. If I came to your sickbay, looking like this, you'd confine me to quarters."
"Aren't I?"
"Officially?" Kathryn looked at Three, then back at Beverly. "No, of course not. If there's an emergency you can pull yourself out of bed and save the day, as always."
"Without an emergency?"
"You're staying here, drinking more tea and waiting for that damn hypo to work." Kathryn snatched Three up from the bed. "Right little one?"
Beverly rescued the forgotten sehlat from the bed and held it close to her chest. "I promise I'm fine."
"You'll drink your tea."
"Yes--"
"Don't even," Kathryn said. "You know how little patience I have and it would be foolish to squander it now, before you're even in tears over something entirely irrational and need me to remind you that you are one of the most intelligent women in the galaxy."
She looked down at Three. "Let's go make tea."
"Intelligence has nothing to do with rationality." Beverly called after her. Kathryn didn't give herself any credit, which made how sweet she was all the more endearing.
"Of that I am acutely aware." Kathryn muttered to the replicator. She'd intended for Beverly to hear and that made her laugh.
She let the sehlat see her wince and swallow again. Three had a teething biscuit in her mouth when Kathryn returned with her tea. Beverly could smell the ginger before she even entered the bedroom.
"You'll drink this and have a nap, then you can have your PADD back."
Beverly nodded at the tea when Kathryn set it on the bedside table. Folding her hands over her stomach, she studied Kathryn's face. "My PADD makes my eyes hurt."
Kathryn's seriousness melted into concern. "Really?"
"I'm still on the second page."
Letting Three free on the bed, Kathryn retrieved the PADD from the floor. "I can read it to you."
Beverly sat up just enough to tug the PADD away. "It's a medical journal. It'll be there tomorrow."
"What can I do?"
"Nothing."
"Beverly--"
Three offered her half-chewed biscuit to Beverly, who pretended to take a bite before handing it back.
"I'm--"
Kathryn held up a hand. "You're not fine."
Beverly rolled her eyes, then let them close. When she held perfectly still, she could almost pretend her stomach was calm. "Stay. Talk to me."
"About what?"
"How was your day? What did your mother say? How tall is Naomi now?"
"One hundred fifty-eight centimetres," she answered. Then Kathryn settled on the bed. Her tone softened. "You were so wonderful when I was pregnant."
"What did I do?"
"What did you?" Kathryn repeated. "You were always so patient. You were never worried, never angry at me when I wasn't making any sense. You came to my office so I'd eat lunch on time. You answered all my questions, ran eight tricorder scans a day when I was nervous."
Beverly almost opened her eyes, just to see Kathryn's face. "Would you feel better if I let you scan me?"
"Yes." Kathryn covered her hands with one of hers. "No. You're a doctor, you say you're fine."
"Being healthy and pregnant does not always mean being comfortable."
"It was easier when I was there and you were up here."
"It was."
Kathryn kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry."
"I love you, I love Three and even when he makes my head spin, I love Four too."
"I thought you wanted a girl." Kathryn sang to Three without much of a tune.
"I want to sit up without my head spinning. Four can be whomever she or he wants."
"We could--" Kathryn let her protest fade. She'd wanted to know from the first tricorder scan, but she'd given in again. Kathryn kept humming, playing with Three while she organised her thoughts. "My mother wants to know when she can visit."
"Whenever she wants."
"She thinks she'll be an inconvenience."
"As long as she doesn't expect us to take her dancing, she's welcome any time."
"She thinks Three looks more like Phoebe than me."
Beverly had to smile. Kathryn's voice held such resignation. "Oh?"
"She claims Phoebe was a more beautiful baby."
"I think you were perfectly adorable."
Kathryn kept talking and Beverly said less. She could repeat tales of her crew with little need for an audience and the sound of her voice, rising and falling as she kept the baby entertained was the most pleasant distraction. So swept up in what she was saying, Kathryn jumped when Beverly found her hand and squeezed it.
"I love you."
"B'Elanna said that--" Kathryn stopped. "You've been letting me ramble."
"I've been listening to you talk about your family. Our family." Beverly opened her eyes.
Kathryn shifted on the bed, flustered. "It's not important. You should rest. The baby and I should--"
"B'Elanna said?" Beverly interrupted. "Finish the story."