Work Text:
Kathryn's room at the Academy residence was a mess. Her clothes were all over the bed, next to the small suitcase she was getting ready for the weekend. On the desk, the computer displayed the face of Phoebe Janeway, who was talking to her sister while she ran up and down the room, shirtless, gathering her things.
"Phoebs, what do I wear tomorrow?" Kathryn asked her sister.
"Show me what you have."
Kathryn picked three dresses and stood in front of the computer to show them to her sister.
"Not the black one." Phoebe said. Kathryn tossed it to the bed and waited. "Do you have the silver heels?"
"Yeah, somewhere in the middle of this mess." Kathryn answered, grinning.
"Great. Pack the blue one, it shows your legs and a lot of cleavage."
"Phoebe!"
"What? I bet he has already seen a lot more than that." Phoebe laughed out loud.
"Annoying little pest." Kathryn murmured but her sister heard her.
"Ma wants to speak with you. I'll see you on Sunday, dorkface. Love you!
"Love you too, idiot."
Phoebe disappeared from the screen. Kathryn used the opportunity to go to the bathroom and pick up her make-up case. She heard her mother's voice on the main room and shouted.
"I'll be right there, Ma!"
She returned to the bed and left the make-up onto it. Then, she grabbed her clothes and shoes and began to put them into the suitcase while she talked to her mother.
"Hi Ma!"
"Hello, honey. Where are you going? Phoebe said that she'll see you on Sunday. I thought you'd come home tomorrow."
"No. We'll be there Sunday morning, after breakfast."
"We?" Gretchen asked, confused.
"Will's coming with me."
"You could have told me."
"Well, I forgot. Sorry."
"Katie, stop for a moment and sit to talk with me."
Kathryn stopped packing and sat in front of the computer.
"Thanks. Now, tell me, what are your plans for the weekend?" Gretchen asked.
"We're going to LA to have dinner with his grandparents and we'll spend the night. Tomorrow, we're gonna go visit the city before transporting to Alaska for lunch with his parents. Then, he's taking me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We'll sleep there and transport home after breakfast."
"Busy weekend."
"I know, but is gonna be fun!" Kathryn grinned.
"Your father won't like this."
"I know and, for once, I don't care. It's my birthday and I want to be with him. I think it's time to include him in our family."
Gretchen wanted to reply but saw that her daughter wasn't paying attention to her. Her sight was fixed behind her. Kathryn got up quickly. Then, Gretchen saw Will entering the room and approaching her daughter. Kathryn stood on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the lips but Will, who hadn't noticed the open commline, embraced her and kissed her passionately. A few seconds later Gretchen interrupted them.
"I'm still here, you know."
Quickly, they broke the kiss and the hug. Embarrassed, Kathryn put on a shirt and sat down again.
"Sorry Ma."
"Hi Mrs. Janeway." Will saluted appearing behind Kathryn and blushing.
"Hello William." Gretchen said. "I'll leave you two alone. Don't be late on Sunday, you know how your grandmother is and I don't wanna have to hear her speech about punctuality."
"Don't worry. We'll be on time."
"I hope so. Bye Katie."
"Bye Ma."
Kathryn ended the call and got up. Will hugged her again, enjoying that they didn't have an audience anymore.
"You could have warned me, Kitty-Kat, that you were talking with your mother." He said, laughing softly.
"You didn't give me the opportunity!" She laughed with him.
"Are you ready?"
"I'll be in a minute."
Kathryn tried to go to the bed to finish but Will didn't let her leave his arms.
"No need to rush. We have plenty of time." He said, huskily, before helping her take off her shirt.
The Janeway's household glowed with the mid-May sunshine of Indiana. Kathryn and Will walked the front path, slowly, enjoying the sun and the warm atmosphere. A loud bark could be heard approaching them. Kathryn knelt to greet the little ball of fur, who jumped onto her.
"Hey there, little one!" Kathryn picked her up and got up. "Look at you! You're nearly all grown up!" She said while laughing at the dog's licks on her face.
Will dropped Kathryn' suitcase and petted the dog's head.
"Big Guy, meet Lexie. Lexie, this handsome guy next to me is Will, my boyfriend. Don't be jealous, ok?"
"Where you talking to Lexie or to me?" Will asked, grinned.
"To the both of you. Come on, let's go inside."
Kathryn left, carefully, Lexie on the floor and grabbed her suitcase while taking Will's hand with her free one. They walked together to the front door and Will opened it letting Lexie enter first.
"I am hoooooooome!" Kathryn yelled.
"Kathryn, you know better than shouting inside the house." A voice told her from the stairs.
"Sorry, Daddy."
Edward descended quickly the remaining steps and hugged his daughter.
"Happy Birthday, Goldenbird." He said before kissing her cheek.
"Thanks Dad."
"Mr. Riker, welcome to our house." Edward said diplomatically.
"Thank you for having me, Admiral."
Gretchen appeared through the study's door and smiled when she saw her daughter.
"I thought I heard my oldest daughter lovely voice. Happy Birthday, Katie." Gretchen said while embracing her, too.
"Thank you, Ma."
"Hi William."
"Hello Mrs. Janeway."
After a few awkward seconds, Gretchen spoke again.
"You look lovely, dear. This green sundress really suits you."
"Do you like it? It's a birthday gift from Will."
"Well, you have good taste, William."
"I had help." Will grinned.
"Why don't you leave the suitcase in your room and show William the house?" Gretchen said.
"Oh! No need. Will's been here before." Kathryn answered.
"What?" Edward asked.
"Uhg ... Well ... Yes." Quickly, Kathryn tried to change the subject. "Where's the idiot?"
"In her studio." Gretchen answered as quickly while grabbing her husband arm, preventing him to continue with his line of thought.
"We'll go get her."
Kathryn grabbed Will's hand and dragged him outside the room. Just as they walked through the back door, they bursted out laughing.
"Smooth, Kitty-Kat." Will grinned.
"I forgot!" She exclaimed.
"That's what happens when you go behind your parents backs."
"Shut up, Big Guy." Kathryn said, elbowing him lightly before kissing him.
"Let's go find my sister-in-law."
Hand in hand, they walked to the barn but stopped when they found that the door was locked. Kathryn knocked but nobody answered. They could hear music coming from inside so Kathryn knocked again, louder, while she shouted.
"Phoebe!! Are you here?"
They stood there for a few seconds before Will decided to go around the barn to locate Phoebe's window. He found it and knocked lightly on the glass making her look up from her canvas. A big smile appeared on her face before she went running to open the door. Will returned and smiled at the sight of the two sisters hugging and jumping together. He waited until they finished to approach them. Phoebe hugged him quickly and kissed his cheek.
"Can we come inside?" Kathryn asked,
"No!" Phoebe nearly shouted, surprising her sister.
"Why?"
"I'm finishing something."
"What are you doing?" Kathryn asked, intrigued.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Phoebe laughed. "Go inside and spend some quality time with our parents. I'll be there soon."
An hour before lunch time, almost everybody had arrived. Kathryn introduced Will to the ones on her family that didn't know him. They seemed to accept him right away. The only one who, apparently, had her reservations was her grandmother. Kathryn Andrews, or Kate as everybody called her to prevent confusion, spent her time observing her granddaughter and the boyfriend with a disapproving look. The couple, aware of it, decided to ignore the older woman and enjoy the rest of the family.
A knock on the door alerted them and Kathryn got up from the couch to open. She smiled when a little boy threw himself onto her. She picked him up and tickled his side. The boy laughed while his parents smiled at them.
"Happy Birthday, Katie!" The boy said loudly.
"Thank you Matt!" Kathryn said, kissing his cheek.
The boy wanted to be left on the floor and Kathryn quickly complied. She greeted her cousin and her husband before taking the baby from the stroller.
"Hi there, Mimy!" Kathryn said while making funny faces to the little girl, trying to make her laugh.
Will joined them and introduced himself. Matthew, the little boy, seemed delighted with Will and decided that he had a new friend to play with. Will complied, happy, while smiling at the sight of Kathryn with a baby on her arms. Another knock on the door made him take his sight off Kathryn and return his attention to Matthew.
"Aunt Alynna! Uncle Theo! I didn't know you were coming!" Kathryn squealed in delight.
"Your mother wanted to surprise you." Theo Patterson said. "Happy Birthday, Katie."
"Happy Birthday, dear." Alynna said.
"Thank you. Come in! Everybody is already here."
The couple entered and Kathryn closed the door. Patterson went directly to greet his friend Edward while Alynna put her arm around Kathryn's waist and walked with her to the living room.
"You look great with the baby on your arms, dear."
"Don't get any strange ideas, Auntie. We're too young and totally not ready."
"I know. And your father would end with a heart attack."
"That too." Kathryn laughed out loud.
Will, who was sitting on the floor, looked up when he heard Kathryn's voice next to him and his mouth hang open when he saw who was standing next to her.
"I see that he wasn't expecting to see me here." Alynna grinned.
Will quickly stood up and both women laughed at his surprised and astonished face.
"Admiral Nechayev!" Will said.
"At ease, Will. Today, the only person you should call Admiral is her father." She said, pointing to where Edward and Theo stood. "Call me Alynna."
"I'm gonna need some time to be able to do it, ma'am."
"Well, see to do it quickly."
"Yes ma'am."
"I'm gonna find your mother and help her. I'll leave you lovebirds together to drool all over the baby."
Alynna went to the kitchen. Will and Kathryn sat down again on the couch. Kathryn put baby Mimy on her legs so she and Will could play with her.
"I knew you had a close relationship with Admirals Paris and Patterson, but Nechayev? You called Admiral Ice Queen Nechayev auntie. How many Admirals do you call by their first name?" Will asked.
"There are a few more who are close friends with my parents. But Alynna and Theo are another story. Alynna and my mother grew up together and both were daughters of Starfleet Admirals. Theo and Dad met at the Academy and he was the one to introduce them. After they got married, she decided to keep her surname at work to avoid confusions. Ah! And they are my godparents."
"Unbelievable."
"Don't worry, they don't play favorites. I think they're even tougher with me than with the rest. Do you remember when we had her on our first year?"
"Yeah, in Federation Law and Prime Directive."
"Right. I had to repeat an entire paper because she thought that I wasn't explaining myself well. I went to talk to her and told her that my arguments were valid enough. Do you know what her answer was? That the paper was fine but she knew I could do better! She gave me an F and twenty-four hours to write it again!"
"You repeated it?" Will asked, intrigued.
"Of course! I couldn't return home with a failed paper on my record! My father would had killed me!"
"And?"
"I did it again and went to her office to deliver it. She read it right there while I stood at attention. When she finished, she raised her eyes and looked directly at me with her scary look on her face. Then, she smiled and said: Great work, Katie. See? I knew you could do it better."
Will laughed out loud and Kathryn joined him. Just at that moment, Gretchen walked into the room and announced that lunch was ready. Everybody got up and went to the dinning room to enjoy the meal.
After the meal was eaten and coffee was served afterwards, Kathryn opened her gifts and thanked everybody for coming. At mid-afternoon, almost everybody had left, except Theo and Alynna who were waiting for her friends to go out for a while. Both sisters and Will were sitting at the table enjoying Gretchen's caramel brownies. The adults joined then for a few minutes before getting up to leave.
"We'll be back at eight. Will you be still here, Katie?" Edward asked.
"If you don't mind, we'll return to San Francisco after dinner so I can spend some more time with you."
"Perfect!" Gretchen said. "Can I trust to leave you two alone here?"
"Ma!" Kathryn said, startled at her mother's words.
"I'll be here too, you know." Phoebe murmured.
"Well, behave yourselves." Edward said.
They said their goodbyes and left the house. Phoebe, surprising her sister and her boyfriend, jumped out of her chair and ran upstairs. She returned a minute later carrying a medium sized canvas wrapped in bright blue paper. She made room on the table and put it carefully on it. Kathryn looked at her with a mix of surprise and curiosity.
"My gift. I didn't want everybody to see it. Happy Birthday, sis."
Kathryn got up and carefully unwrapped it.
"Oh! Phoebs! It's perfect!" Kathryn said with tears on her eyes.
Kathryn took the painting with her hands to look at it better. Phoebe's painting was a copy of one of Kathryn's favorite photos: Will and Kathryn standing in front of a beach, kissing, while the sun light bathed them from behind.
"I know you love that picture. I stole it to make a copy so I could paint it for you."
"You are really awesome, idiot sister of my heart."
Kathryn gave the painting to Will while she hugged, fiercely, her sister.
"I'm glad you like it." Phoebe said, touched.
"Like it? I love it! I'm gonna hang it on my room, right now! Well, Will's gonna do it while I admire his butt." Kathryn said grinning.
"TMI!" Phoebe yelled.
"Thanks, Phoebe."
"You're welcome, dorkface."
Kathryn kissed Phoebe's cheek before letting her go.
"I'll be in the studio. Behave yourselves!" Phoebe joked, impersonating her father's voice.
Will got up while Phoebe left the room. Together, they walked up the stairs to Kathryn's bedroom. Kathryn took down an old painting of the Milky Way and Will put up Phoebe's one. They sat on the bed and admired it for a few minutes, in silence.
"Phoebe has a lot of talent." Will commented.
"She's truly gifted." Kathryn said in awe.