Kitty rested as comfortably on the couch as she could. Kassia was watching Arianna and Pikachu for her for the time being. With her concussion watching a toddler was not advisable, Dr. Cherrin had told her. She needed to rest. But she did very little resting as mentally as her mind went back and forth between thinking about Zac and this new child. Several times she found herself crying. She was scared that she would never see Zac again... that some how this child was being give to her to replace him as irrational a thought as that was... And her head would ache from time to time and if she moved wrong her head would start to swim again. Suddenly the door sounded.
"Enter," she called. She knew she probably still looked pretty bad.
Troy entered, and immediately rushed to Kitty. "Gods! What happened to you!?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay," she replied as she tried to smile. "I had a run-in with a imposter Starfleet officer... apparently he got the upperhand... and Zac," she said as her voice broke.
"They got Zac?" Troy said, glowering. "What's being done about this? Is he all right?"
"I don't know if he's all right..." she said. "I hope he is. The same people also grabbed K'Tag's daughter, N'Garen." Kitty's green-brown eyes were showing signs of the tears she had already cried. "A rescue mission was launched to retrieve them."
"Let me know as soon as you find out what the status of that mission is -- that is, if you can," Troy said. "I know this is a little strange, but I sometimes think of Zac as my own son."
"It is kind of strange since you've only known him a month," Kitty smiled, "But he's just that loveable, isn't he?" Suddenly, she started crying again. "I can't lose him again... not now... Not when I've just gotten him back! Jonas can't do this to me again!"
"He won't," Troy said flatly. "You'll get Zac back. And something's telling me it won't be long, either. Who'd you send on this rescue mission?"
"Tarik and K'Tag both went with Jarrod Tadanni - you might not know him. Then Johnny Chee from the Hornet and Ming Wang from the Ronin... All are excellent Starfleet Officers..." She said as her tears quieted a bit.
"That would explain why Tarik cancelled on dinner tonight," Troy said. "They'll get Zac back, and more than likely Jonas' head on a pike in the bargain! Let them do their work. Zac will be fine!"
"I wish I could believe that..." she replied. "I want to believe that..."
"Believe it. Talk to Kassia if you need to; she can see these things," Troy told her. Perhaps, he reasoned, a feminine perspective might be a little more capable of dealing with this situation.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'll talk to Kassia," she replied, "Of course, I'm glad you came by. There's... something I need to talk to you about too..." She said, taking his hand in hers, but not meeting his gaze.
"Yes?" Troy said, steeling himself for the worst.
"You know I'm a shapeshifter, right?" she asked.
"Yes, I do, but I don't think I've ever actually seen you change shape," Troy replied, not sure where this was going.
"I have a concussion right now because I tried to protect Zac by shapeshifting, only I couldn't do it. Left me without the advantage in a hand to hand fight with a man with a phaser."
"Why couldn't you shapeshift?" Troy asked.
"Well... remember our celebration of my promotion to Captain with Paul where we bar hopped and then ended up here...?" she asked. She knew he would. It was, after all, the turning point of their relationship.
"I remember some of it. We did do an awful lot of drinking that night..." Troy said, then realized where she was going. "Do you mean to say that you're--"
Finally she met his dark gaze. "I'm pregnant..." She said, with a soft smile.
Troy looked absolutely stunned. "You mean... you mean you're all right with this?" he asked, not sure just how to respond.
"The only thing I'm not all right with, is not having my son," she replied. "I just don't want this baby to be his replacement..." She had actually spoken her fear outloud and her eyes teared up once again.
"No, you can't think like that! Zac's going to be a big brother for the second time!" Troy said. "And I'm going to be...a father..." It was finally sinking in.
"Are you okay with being a dad?" she asked, as she wiped the stray tears away.
"Okay? This... this is the greatest moment of my life!" Troy said, his face tearing with joy. "I wasn't expecting it, but I'm glad!"
"Believe me, I wasn't exactly expecting it myself," she laughed softly. "But surprised do happen." As she moved a bit her head began to swim again.
"I want to do the right thing by you, whatever that may be," Troy said, his ingrained sense of responsibility kicking in.
"Just be here for me," she said. She moaned a bit as the dizziness hadn't gone away. Her face began turning a bit pale.
"I'll be here. All you have to do is say the word," Troy said. "Can I get you anything? You don't look well..."
"My head is swimming... It's the concussion," she said. "The best thing you could do is just stay with me... so I'm not alone."
"I've got the day off. I can do that," Troy said as he smiled at the pictures of the kids that filled Kitty's quarters. How many of these will include me? he thought.
As much as her head still swam she was able to pick up on his thoughts. "Over time, I image you might be in many of them," she said.
"I'm glad," Troy said. "I'm glad you want me to be a part of your family."
"You already are, Troy," she replied.
He smiled. "That's a relief to know," he said. "It's been a long time since I've felt like I've had any more than Kassia for family. And now she's moving on... I've felt at odds with myself lately, not sure where to go or what to do..."
"And now you know both," she smiled. She sighed, "I wasn't sure how you would take finding out you were going to be a father. I'm glad you're happy. It eases my mind... Now if only my mind would stop turning in circles I would feel even better. But I suppose some things take time..."
"Yes. It's going to take a lot of time. How much longer do we have before the baby is due?"
"About seven and a half months," she replied.
"Would you like me to move in with you, or is this too soon?" Troy asked. "I mean, I could help you with a lot of things..."
She smiled. "You'd want to move in with me? It doesn't scare you to death to be the father to two kids and have one on the way? Of course you can move in... I didn't suggest it because I didn't know if you'd want to..."
"I pretty much raised Kassia," Troy said. "So you can say I've had some practice. And with Kassia taking up with Tarik, and the two of them adopting Tiyanna, there's not a lot of room for me and I'm not used to living alone," Troy said. He then gave Kitty a wink. "I notice you said two kids. That's good -- you think Zac is going to be all right!"
She smiled softly. "Maybe I do... Maybe I'm just forcing myself to believe that, because I need to."
"Believe it. They'll get Zac back!"
She smiled, but suddenly was hit with a wave of nausea. She again grew very pale.
Troy saw what was coming and grabbed the wastebasket next to Kitty's desk.
She retched into the basket and slumped back into the couch, her head swimming once again. She had never had a concussion before and she hoped that she never had another again.
"That could be the pregnancy or it could be the concussion. Either way, I'm getting the doctor!" Troy said as he reached for the comm.
"There's nothing else he can do for me. He told me to rest... Said I would be off my feet for the next couple of days..." she explained.
Troy replicated a glass of water for Kitty and brought it to her. "This should help, anyway."
"Thanks," she said as she took it and sipped it gratefully. As he took it from her, she looked exhausted. Between the turmoil of the day and the concussion and the pregnancy it was wearing her thin.
"Do you want to stay out here?" Troy asked. "This couch doesn't look comfortable."
"I would rather be in bed... Better for sleeping," she said, as she managed a smile.
Troy very carefully picked Kitty up, making sure to keep her head from slumping, and carried her to bed. He found a blanket and gently placed it over her, then sat by the bed.
"Thank you," she said weakly. "Stay with me, please..." she said, as she grabbed his hand gently.
"I'm right here," Troy said. "I'm not going anywhere."
He settled carefully on the bed beside her, carefully keeping watch as Kitty quickly drifted to sleep.