UNEXPECTED NEWS
By: Amy Michelle Bitter, (c) 1997

"Good Morning, Sweetheart." Tom greeted B'Elanna when she finally woke
up. He had been lying there for the past twenty minutes just staring at
her. Thinking about how beautiful she was and contemplating whether or not
to wake her up.
"Good morning." B'Elanna smiled and kissed Tom. It was her first time
waking up to him and she loved it. It was wonderful having him there all
night and waking up to him the next morning.

**************

Tom and B'Elanna walked into the mess hall, holding hands, and both
grinning from ear to ear. *That's odd,* thought Neelix, *They never walk in
together. They always meet there for coffee.* Oh well, they seemed happy and
as morale officer, he couldn't complain about that.
"Good morning." Neelix greeted them cheerfully. He definitely was a
morning person.
"Hi, Neelix." B'Elanna greeted him just as cheerfully. Neelix noted her
good mood. B'Elanna and Tom both seemed to smile more now that they were
an 'item'.
"Can I interest either one of you in some breakfast? We're serving leola
root surprise this morning." Neelix offered.
"No thanks, Neelix. Just coffee for me." Tom politely declined.
"I'm kind of hungry." B'Elanna said, "I'll have some of that leola root
surprise."
This shocked Tom. B'Elanna hated Neelix's cooking.
"Here you go, Lieutenant." Neelix smiled handing her a plate full of mush.

****************

"How was your day?" Tom asked B'Elanna when he arrived at her quarters
after his shift.
"Much better now that you're here." She said, "Actually, I have been
feeling a bit queasy all day. It must be Neelix's cooking."
"Are you sure you're OK?" Tom asked, "Maybe you should go to sick bay."
B'Elanna smiled at his concern. It was so cute the way he fussed over
her. It was just like him to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
"I'll be fine." B'Elanna insisted, "If I'm not feeling better in a
couple of days, I'll go see the Doctor. I promise."

*****************

Two weeks passed and B'Elanna still wasn't feeling better. In fact, the
nausea had gotten worse and was often accompanied by headaches
and swollen ankles. Her coworkers had even begun to comment to her
about it. Asking worriedly, "Are you feeling all right, Lieutenant?" or "Are you OK,
B'Elanna, you look a little pale."
B'Elanna had gotten tired of the headaches and nausea, and especially of
the comments. So she finally got over her Klingon stubbornness and decided
to go see the Doctor.

******************

"Could you repeat that?" B'Elanna asked the Doctor in disbelief.
"You're pregnant." the EMH repeated.
"Are you sure? How could this happen? I mean, I know *how* it happened.
But, are you sure, Doc?" B'Elanna asked.
"I'm absolutely positive." The Doctor reassured her, "You are exactly
two weeks pregnant."
"How am I ever going to tell Tom?" B'Elanna wondered aloud, "We've never
discussed having children."
"I could tell him if you like." the hologram offered.
"No!" B'Elanna said, "I think I should tell him."
"You're free to go now," The Doctor dismissed her, "but, I want to see
you once a month for a complete examination."
"Bye, Doc." she said, "Oh, and don't tell anyone."

****************

B'Elanna paced her quarters. Tom should be there any minute. He always
stopped by after his shift, and she had no idea what she was going to tell
him, but, what worried her most was what he would say. She'd gone over
his reaction a million times in her head, but nothing could really prepare
her. The doorbell sounded.
"Come in." B'Elanna said timidly. Tom entered her quarters and after a
quick hello and kiss B'Elanna said,
"Tom, we need to talk."
"What's wrong?" Tom asked.
"I have something very important to tell you. Maybe you should sit down."
She offered.
Tom took a seat on the couch.
"I went to see The Doctor today," B'Elanna started, "and he gave me some
very unexpected news."
"What is it? What's wrong? Are you OK?" Tom asked quickly with a look of
concern on his face.
"I'm pregnant, Tom." She announced.
"Wha...what?" Tom asked, staring at her in amazement.
"I'm exactly two weeks pregnant." she said, "We're going to be parents."
Parents, that word hit Tom like a ton of bricks. B'Elanna looked at him
trying to get some idea of what was going on inside his head.
"Parents.." Tom said in disbelief. Then he smiled and looked up at
B'Elanna.
"We're going to be parents!" He said this time happily. He ran over and
hugged her.
"Are you happy?" She asked.
"Happy? Of course I'm happy. We're going to have a baby!" Tom exclaimed.
"I'm happy, too." B'Elanna said.
"I just have to ask you one thing." Tom said seriously. He got down on
one knee and looked deep into her eyes. "B'Elanna, I love you with all my
heart. Will you marry me?"
"Yes, Tom, I'll marry you." B'Elanna answered, she never could say no to
those twinkling blue eyes.

****************

By the end of the day, Voyager was buzzing with the news of B'Elanna's
pregnancy and the engagement. On a ship lost in the Delta Quadrant,
gossip traveled at warp speed. Coworkers began to make comments to
B'Elanna again, but this time she like them. People would smile and say,
"Congratulations!" as she was walking through the corridors.
Tom and B'Elanna had begun making wedding plans as well. The ceremony
would take place in one month. Tom had already asked Captain Janeway to
perform the ceremony and Harry to be his best man. B'Elanna had given a
lot of thought to who would be her maid of honor and finally asked Kes.
Also, since it was going to be a traditional Earth wedding, B'Elanna asked
Chakotay to walk her down the aisle. He responded that he "would be
honored", and he also threw in something about how Chakotay was a nice
name for a boy.
For once in her life, B'Elanna felt everything was perfect. She was going
to be married to a wonderful man that she loved, and they were going to
have a baby.

*****************

A few days later, B'Elanna was working diligently at her station in Main
Engineering when she got a sharp pain in her abdomen. The pain was so
great that it caused her to hurl over and grab her stomach in agony.
"Are you all right, Lieutenant?" Carey asked. "Is it the baby?"
"I don't know." B'Elanna responded. "I'm going to Sickbay. Take
care of everything down her while I'm gone." She turned to walk out of
Engineering, but before she could reach the door, she got another pain in
her abdomen. This one caused her to collapse. Carey saw this and quickly
pressed his comm badge.
"Medical emergency in Main Engineering!" he reported.

***************

B'Elanna awoke in Sickbay on a biobed, with the Doctor and Kes standing
over her.
"Where's Tom?" she asked.
"He's on his way." Kes reassured her.
Tom entered the room and quickly ran to be by his fiancee's side.
"Doc, what's wrong?" Tom inquired, "Is it the baby?"
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Paris." The Doctor said grimly, "B'Elanna went into
labor and I haven't been able to stop it. I'm also getting some very weak
readings from the baby."
"Do something!" B'Elanna screamed at the hologram, tears running down her
face.
"I'm doing everything I can." The Doctor told her, "You need to
remain calm."
Tom stood there helplessly. There were tears in his eyes, too. He
grabbed B'Elanna's hand.
"It's going to be OK, B'Elanna, I promise." Tom said. He wished he could
believe that himself.
"I'm sorry, B'Elanna." The Doctor said softly, "We've lost the baby.
There's nothing more I can do."
"No!" B'Elanna screamed, "You have to do something!" she began to cry
uncontrollably. Tom moved to the edge of the biobed and held her close to him.
She looked and him with tears running down her face. "Why?" she asked him.
"Why is it that everyone I love is taken away from me?"
"Don't worry, B'Elanna," Tom said softly, "I won't leave you." he held
her tightly in his arms.

***THE END***

I know, it's kind of depressing. It's not the usual happy endings
that I'm used to writing. Let me know what you think.

Amy <borgqueena@yahoo.com>