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"Seven of Nine to Naomi
Wildman, please report to Astrometrics".
It was time. It was time for five year old
Naomi Wildman to meet the person she had dreamed about
for years.
Her entire future depended on this person. Will
he like me? Naomi had wondered at breakfast.
"He'll love you," Naomi's
mother, Samantha Wildman, had replied encouragingly.
Naomi couldn't eat. Her stomach was doing
the hula dance and she was afraid she'd get sick. Naomi
walked
sullenly down the corridor. She didn't look at
any of the ensigns as she passed. I feel like I'm on a
death march,
she thought to herself. Naomi turned and faced
the door of Astrometrics. But she couldn't go any
farther. Her feet
were glued to the floor. She was shaking. She
could feel her face getting warmer. She tried to lift
her foot but she
wouldn't budge. Maybe this is a bad idea, Naomi
decided. She turned sharply and right into the pregnant
belly of
chief engineer B'Elanna Torres.
"Where are you going?"
B'Elanna asked.
Naomi looked down at her feet and muttered
something.
"What? I couldn't hear
you."
Naomi shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm suppose to call my
father," Naomi repeated.
B'Elanna nodded her head knowingly.
"I don't want to."
B'Elanna raised her eyebrows.
"Why don't you want to call him?
That's all I've heard you talk about for the last year
is how much you want to
meet him."
"But now I actually am,"
Naomi replied, throwing up her arms.
She leaned against the wall, arms folded
across her chest.
"Come here," B'Elanna said,
as she carefully and slowly sat down on the floor.
As soon as she was on the ground B'Elanna
let out a sigh of relief. Naomi slid down the wall and
sat next to her,
her knees tucked under her chin.
"I'm going to tell you something
about myself."
Naomi nodded.
"When I was a little older than
you, my father left me and my mother. I went almost
twenty years without
speaking to him."
Naomi's eyes went wide.
"A few weeks ago, I spoke with
him again. It was short, of course, and it didn't make
up for the twenty years we
didn't talk. But it does help because
now I know that my daughter will be able to have both
grandfathers in her
life. Now you have the opportunity to
see your father. Your father. Not someone else's father,
not some uncle,
or some distant relative."
Naomi wasn't buying it. "But what if
he doesn't like me. Just because my DNA is half his
doesn't mean I'm
going to be anything like him."
B'Elanna had to think about this for a
minute. It was true that Naomi inherited a lot of what
Sam was, and
everything else was learned from the rest
of the crew, especially Neelix, her godfather, and Seven
of Nine, her
mentor. Despite wherever Naomi got her
personality and traits from, she was still a funny,
caring, intelligent
little girl.
"Naomi, listen to me,"
B'Elanna began. "You are a funny, caring,
intelligent girl and any man would be incredibly
privileged to be called your father.
You have so much to give to people, and this man
deserves a chance, and he
deserves to give you a chance."
"I suppose," Naomi replied.
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right,"
B'Elanna replied. "You just listen to B'Elanna
Torres. She knows what she's talking about."
"Were you nervous?" Naomi
interrupted. "Like, shaking-nervous?"
"More like
can't-eat-because-I'm-going-to-puke nervous,"
B'Elanna replied, matter-of-factly.
"Me too!" Naomi smiled.
"I couldn't sleep all night."
"I couldn't concentrate and Joe
Carey reprimanded me," B'Elanna replied, with a
smile on her face.
"Carey?" Naomi replied,
giggling.
She felt better. Some understood what she
was feeling. B'Elanna nodded. Naomi still didn't want to
go in.
B'Elanna reached over and patted her on the head,
stroking her long, strawberry blond hair. Naomi sighed
and
leaned her head against the wall.
"I still don't want to go,"
Naomi complained.
B'Elanna looked sympathetically down at
Naomi.
"Will you come in with me?"
This surprised B'Elanna. She and Naomi
didn't know each other very well. They were good
acquaintances
because B'Elanna often allowed Naomi to help out
in Engineering for special projects Seven assigned.
Naomi
was a very competent child and she knew that she
would make an excellent Starfleet officer when she
reached
the age of eighteen. B'Elanna frowned. She didn't
want to intrude in what she felt was Samantha's domain,
but
the puppy-dog look on Naomi's face was hard to
resist.
"Please?" Naomi pleaded.
"Oh all right," B'Elanna
gave in. "But I'm not going to say anything. He's
not my father."
Naomi nodded her acceptance.
"I'll just be there for moral
support."
"Ok," Naomi replied.
They entered the Astrometrics lab. Seven of
Nine was at the right console, tapping in commands. She
briefly
acknowledged their presence with a nod, then
continued her work.
"You have approximately three
minutes to speak," Seven of Nine briefed. "I
will tell you when you when you
have one minute remaining and thirty
seconds remaining."
"I understand," Naomi
replied.
She stood in front of the console directly
in front of the huge view screen. B'Elanna stood a foot
away, behind
Naomi. B'Elanna was curious to know more about
Samantha's husband. Sam spoke often about her husband,
how much she missed him, how much she wanted to
see him again. Most recently, the topic of
Greskrendtregk
has increased since the telecommunications began
with Earth.
"Communications are
beginning," Seven announced.
The view screen flickered as the image came
into view. There he is, Naomi thought. He was young,
around the
age of Tom. He had red hair and blue eyes and
ridges on his forehead, just like Naomi. He had a bright
smile on
his face and his eyes looked very kind. Naomi
smiled.
"I'm Naomi Wildman," she
finally spoke when she realized she didn't have much
time. "I'm your daughter."
"My name is Greskrendtregk,"
the man replied. "I'm your father. I've been
looking forward to this day for a long
time."
"Me too," she whispered, in
awe of seeing her father for the first time.
He was nothing what she pictured. She
assumed he'd look like other K'tarians in the computer
logs. But
Greskrendtregk was much younger than that, and
much more handsome. B'Elanna, who was still standing
behind Naomi, thought to herself that Sam had
good taste in men.
"How are you, Naomi?" he
asked.
"I'm good," she said, then
quickly added, "I'm great. Everyone here is great.
Neelix, too."
She wanted to make sure that her father
knew that she did have someone in her life that was just
as important.
Greskrendtregk nodded. Sam had told him all about
Neelix.
"Yes, your mother told me about
Neelix. I owe a debt of gratitude to him. I look forward
to meeting him."
He seems nice.
"One minute remaining,"
Seven of Nine announced.
Time was going to quickly for Naomi. She
didn't want it to be over.
"I'm glad I got to see
you," Naomi said quickly. "My favorite color
is red and I like playing in the Adventures of
Flotter and…and…I love
chocolate."
She wanted him to know as much about her as
possible.
"I'm glad I got to see you,
too," he replied, smiling. "I'm an engineer, I
live on Deep Space Seven, and my
favorite color is red, too."
Naomi turned around, remembering B'Elanna,
who was still with her. "This is B'Elanna Torres.
She's our chief
engineer and she's going to have a
baby."
"Congratulations,"
Greskrendtregk said.
"Thank you," B'Elanna
replied.
"Thirty seconds remaining,"
Seven of Nine announced.
"I'll see you soon, Naomi,"
Greskrendtregk said. "I love you."
"I love you," Naomi
replied, tears filling her eyes.
She didn't want to go.
"Dad."
Those three minutes of speaking with her
father had changed her life forever. She couldn't
believe that just
minutes before she had resisted seeing this man.
She felt guilty. Terribly guilty for the things she
thought about
her father. She knew she had just been nervous,
and that she didn't really mean the things she thought.
But she
couldn't help feel a wave of guilt overcome her
as she saw the father she never knew smile down on her,
loving
her, even though he didn't know her.
"Transmission ending,"
Seven of Nine announced.
Greskrendtregk waved. Naomi waved back. The
screen went black. Naomi's breath caught in her throat.
Naomi
turned around slowly. A tear fell down her cheek
B'Elanna embraced Naomi. Naomi wept. B'Elanna's eyes
also
began brimming with tears. She sobbed, resting
her head on top of B'Elanna's bulging belly.
At least you have a daddy, Naomi mentally
told the baby. You have a great daddy. Tears rolled down
her face
and onto B'Elanna's uniform. You never have to
worry about missing him. She looked up at B'Elanna. Her
eyes
were wet and red from crying. Her little nose was
turning pink.
"I want my daddy," Naomi
cried.
"I want my daddy, too,"
B'Elanna choked.
Seven of Nine, from a distance, watched the
two hug and weep for the fathers they never knew.
"I want my daddy, three."
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