Author’s note:  Star Trek Voyager is copyrighted by Paramount.  Joe, 
Samantha, Tom and B’Elanna belong to them, the story belongs to me.  
Lauren’s her own boss.  And yeah, I know most three-year-olds aren’t as 
smart as that, but who cares?  It’s my story!  HAHAHA!!!!  =)

Dedication:  To Claire, who came up with the idea of Carey/Wildman in 
the first place.  And to Josh Clark and Nancy Hower, who play Joe and 
Sam on the show.  Note to TPTB - bring ‘em back!

Little Matchmaker
by Cheile
(Parisite-P/T fans series #23)


	Three-year-old Lauren Carey thoughtfully brushed the hair of her doll 
as she observed the goings-on around her.
	Her half-sister Brenda grouchily fussed with her Vulcan puzzle cube.  
Lauren knew she was mad because their parents were going out and Mommy 
had told her she couldn’t visit with Aunt Kathryn---that she had to stay 
home.  Sometimes Lauren thought that Brenda spent more time with Aunt 
Kathryn than she did with the family.
	Her daddy was already ready and as usual while waiting, he adjusted the 
figurines in the curio cabinet.
	Lauren had always thought her daddy handsome, with his curly brown hair 
and hazel eyes and the faintest Irish brogue.  She had inherited his 
eyes, but her hair was a darker brown, inherited from her Grandma Sara, 
Daddy’s mommy.
	Lauren looked up as her mommy walked in.  Her blond hair was done up in 
a French twist and her blue eyes sparkled.  Her parents exchanged a kiss 
just as the door chime sounded.
	"Come in," Samantha called.
	The door opened.  "The babysitter is here," came the cheerful reply.
	"Uncle Tommy!" Lauren squealed.
	"Hey, Lauren."  He gave her a kiss and a hug.  Joe and Samantha kissed 
both girls, then left.
	After a rather amused Tom watched Brenda humph off to her room, he got 
down on the floor next to Lauren.  "What do you want to do today, 
Lauren?"
	Never looking up, she handed him a Barbie.  "Here."
	Tom shook his head with a grin and took the doll from her, then rose 
and went to the box of accessories sitting on a chair, setting the doll 
beside it.  "Now I know that there has to be another one of those 
ridiculously small brushes in here somewhere……"  He began to poke around 
in the box.
	Lauren looked up again when the door chime sounded.
	"Come in."
	The door opened, admitting her Aunt 'Lanna.  She smiled at Lauren 
before going straight to her uncle.  He swept her into his arms and 
kissed her.  After they kissed, she hugged Lauren.
	Lauren never could figure out why Aunt 'Lanna thought of herself as 
ugly.  It couldn't be further from the truth.  Lauren loved her aunt's 
soft raven hair (though Brenda liked Aunt Kathryn's auburn hair better), 
and her dark brown eyes (though Brenda preferred Aunt Kathryn's aqua 
ones, and pointed out that Uncle Chakotay did, too), and besides, Uncle 
Tommy loved her just the way she was.  Wasn't that the important thing?
	Lauren turned her attention back to her Barbies.  She never minded when 
her uncle would spend time with her aunt.  She knew they were very much 
in love, like her mommy and daddy, and it made her happy.
	Two hours later, she picked up her dolls and put them away, then Aunt 
'Lanna tucked her in and both she and Uncle Tommy hugged her good-night.  
Lauren fell asleep happy.

*

	(Two days later)
	Lauren was working on a puzzle one day after lunch when she heard her 
mother's voice in the other room.
	"Another fight?"
	Lauren did not mean to eavesdrop, but her incredibly keen ears picked 
up on her parents' conversation.
	"It's some senseless argument," her daddy said in exasperation.  "'Lan 
was storming around Engineering like a kelpie from hell and according to 
Harry, Tom's mood wasn't much better, either."
	"Can't you talk to B'Elanna?" her mother suggested.
	"I'd rather keep my nose intact, Sam."
	Brenda snorted as she passed by Lauren.  "Uncle Tom and Aunt B'Ela are 
fighting again.  So what else is new?"
	Her parents came out at that minute, Samantha looking worried and Joe 
shaking his head.
	The door chime sounded.
	"Come in," Joe called.
	The door opened and Tom stepped in.
	"Uncle Tommy!" Lauren cried.
	Tom lifted Lauren up for a hug, but his smile didn't quite reach his 
eyes.  Brenda came in and said she was going to bed.  Lauren figured she 
was just ignoring him, but when she went into their room ten minutes 
later to get a book, Brenda was sound asleep.
	"Here," Lauren said, pushing the book into Tom's hands.
	She was startled to see him blink several times, as if holding back 
tears, then he lifted her into his lap, opened the book and began to 
read.

*

	(Six days later)
	Lauren sighed.  She was bored, bored, bored.  Brenda had gone off to 
the holodeck and said quite pointedly that Lauren was *not* invited.  
Her mommy was helping Uncle Harry with some experiment.  And Daddy was 
on duty.  Uncle Gerron was babysitting, but he was no fun.  He probably 
wouldn't even notice if she was gone.
	She decided to go find Uncle Tommy.  *He* would play with her.
	After making sure Gerron wasn't looking, she slipped out the door and 
headed for the turbolift.  If anyone saw her, they wouldn't think 
anything of it.  Except for the cargo bays, Engineering, the bridge and 
the astrometrics lab, she was basically allowed to go anywhere.
	Taking the lift one deck up, she headed down the hall to Tom's 
quarters.
	One small hand touched the chime.  But no one answered it.  Opening the 
door, she looked inside.  "Uncle Tommy?"
	Still hearing no response, she moved farther in.  A quick look gave no 
sign of his presence.  Heading for the door, she bumped into the desk, 
knocking a couple things down.  One was a framed picture of her uncle 
and Aunt 'Lanna.  Climbing up onto a chair, she set it in its place, 
then hopped back down to retrieve the second item.
	It was a padd.  Though Lauren didn't mean to look, she realized that it 
was a note of some sort and her aunt's name was at the top.  Most of it 
was indecipherable to Lauren's untrained eye, but she did read "I'm 
sorry" at the bottom, and Tom's signature beneath it.
	A smile lit up her small face.  It was an apology note!  They were 
going to make up!  Then a frown replaced her smile.  The note was still 
here.  He must have forgotten to give it to her.  Her smile came back.  
She'd save him time and deliver it to Aunt 'Lanna herself.
	With a gleeful skip, she headed out and down the hall.  When again, the 
chime got no answer, she opened the door and peeked inside.  "Aunt 
'Lanna?  Are you here?"
	A quick search proved that B'Elanna was gone as well.  Lauren sighed.  
Well then, she'd leave the note here.  Going to B'Elanna's desk, she 
climbed up onto the chair and set the padd down, noticing a second padd.  
Happening to glance at it, she saw that it seemed to be similar to Tom's 
note.  Her aunt's cursive wasn't legible to Lauren, but she could read 
the words "I'm sorry".
	Lauren giggled.  "They write 'pology notes an' then forget to give 'em 
to each other!" she said aloud to the empty room.  "I'll take this to 
Uncle Tommy, then."  She picked up the second padd and hopped down.  
After pausing to fold B'Elanna's nightgown, which lay tossed across her 
pillow, she left.

**

	Four hours later, B'Elanna entered her quarters, deciding to take a nap 
before dinner.  She kicked off her boots as she entered her bedroom, 
then stopped.
	The desk chair was halfway pulled out.  And her nightgown lay crookedly 
folded at the foot of her bed, instead of on her pillow.
	Shrugging to herself, she flopped into her desk chair and picked up her 
padd, surprised to find a note from Tom on it.  She skimmed it, then 
read it more slowly.  Tears pricked her eyes.  Then she got to her feet 
and headed out the door.

	Tom entered his quarters, ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  Five 
days and he and B'Elanna had barely spoken to each other.  This was 
ridiculous.
	Shaking his head, he picked up the padd on his desk.  To his surprise, 
on the screen was not the apology note he'd written to B'Elanna, but a 
note *from* her.  He read it once, then a second time, then a third.  
Then he hurried out the door.

	Both were so preoccupied that they almost passed each other in the 
corridor without noticing.  For a long minute, they couldn't look at 
each other.  Then finally, they moved toward each other.
	"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.
	"I am, too," she whispered back, hugging him tightly.
	"C'mon---why don't we talk in your quarters?"
	They headed to her quarters.  Once inside, he pulled her close for a 
long, gentle kiss.  They broke apart, and he kissed away her tears.
	"Tom, why do we fight so much?  I hate fighting with you."
	"I don't know, B'Elanna love.  I hate it, too."
	He led her to the couch, where they sat down.  They held each other for 
a long time, neither saying a word.  Then he reached down, cupping her 
chin, tilting her face up so she could look into his eyes.
	"B'Elanna, even though we don't always get a long, I love you and I 
can't imagine life without you.  What I'm trying to say is---"  He moved 
to one knee in front of her.  "Will you marry me, B'Elanna?"
	B'Elanna felt her eyes fill with tears again.  "Yes, Tom, I'll marry 
you," she whispered.
	Taking a ring from his pocket, he slipped it onto her finger, then drew 
her close for a kiss.  When they broke apart, he smiled down at her.  "I 
think we should tell Joe and Sam, don't you?"
	"Let's go."

	The door chime sounded.
	"Come in," Joe called.
	The doors opened, admitting Tom and B'Elanna, hand in hand.
	"Well 'Lan, I see you're in a better mood."
	"You could say that, Carey.  Considering you'll be in charge more often 
for a while since I'll need to start planning for my wedding."
	"Wedding?" Samantha repeated.
	B'Elanna showed her the ring.  Then Samantha and Lauren both hugged and 
congratulated her.
	"So how many things did she have to throw at you to get you to 
apologize?" Joe teased Tom.
	"Carey, don't start."
	"Joe, stop it," Samantha admonished, gently slapping his arm.
	"It's kind of funny, actually," Tom said.
	"What?  You mean she really *did* throw stuff at you?"
	"Joe," Samantha and B'Elanna chorused in a warning tone.
	Joe held up his hands.  "All right, all right," he grinned.  "I'll shut 
up now."
	"No, the funny thing is that we had both written apology notes to each 
other, but we hadn't gotten the courage to give them to each other," Tom 
began.
	"But when we got off duty, the notes had somehow been switched," 
B'Elanna finished.
	"That's odd," Samantha said.  "I wonder who switched them."
	"I did."
	Four heads turned toward Lauren.
	"When?" Joe asked.
	"Today.  I was bored, so I decided to go visit Uncle Tommy.  Only he 
wasn't there an' I was leaving, but I bumped into his desk and knocked 
some things off.  One of them was the note.  I thought Uncle Tommy f'got 
to deliver it, so I took it Aunt 'Lanna's quarters, only she wasn't 
there either.  So I left it and then found the note she wrote---and 
thought that she f'got, too."
	To her surprise, her parents didn't yell at her.  Samantha looked 
bewildered.  Joe was shaking his head.  B'Elanna was trying to hold back 
a smile.  And Tom burst out laughing.
	"Well, Joe, Sam, it seems your daughter is quite the little 
matchmaker," he chuckled, reaching out to ruffle Lauren's hair.
	"I'm kind of glad she did switch the notes," B'Elanna smiled, lifting 
Lauren into her lap.  Both she and Tom hugged her, then ended up kissing 
over top of her.  Brenda made faces, while Joe and Samantha laughed.
	Lauren didn't care.  Uncle Tommy and Aunt 'Lanna were happy once 
again---and that was all that mattered.

*

	(Fourteen months later)
	Four-year-old Lauren looked down at the tiny sleeping form of Kimberly 
Marianne, nestled in B'Elanna's arms.
	"I'm afraid Kim fell asleep on you, Lauren," B'Elanna said with a 
smile.  She reached out one arm to briefly hug Lauren.  "But you can 
come back later."
	"Okay, Aunt 'Lanna.  'Bye."
	After another hug, Lauren headed for the door just as Tom came in.  
Lauren watched as he approached her aunt.  He touched Kim's cheek 
gently, then leaned down to kiss B'Elanna, happiness shining in both 
their eyes.


Legal junk above.  My story, mine, mine, mine.  Tom and B'Elanna's 
daughter was named after Kim and Marianne of the Feverites.  *waves to 
Kim and Marianne*  Copyright 1997, by Cheile.  Comments?  
cheile@hotmail.com