Miral's Daddy

By Diane Klepper 

(Author's Note: This story takes place five years after Voyager returns to Earth. The name of Tom's 
sisters Kathleen and Moira was taken from Jeri Taylor's novel Pathways. Since Tom's mother was never 
given an official name I decided to use the name Maggie. The characters belong to Paramount and I'm 
just borrowing them.)

Tom Paris took the big bowl of tomato soup out of the replicator and placed in the middle of the already 
set table. He smiled at the three place setting knowing that in a few months there would be another Paris. 
The Doctor just told them last week that B'Elanna was pregnant again and Tom was looking forward to 
having another child. Tom always wanted to give Miral a sibling because he liked growing up with two 
older sisters. All of Tom's childhood memories weren't pleasant but the times he spent with his sisters 
Moira and Kathleen were some of his happiest memories. Tom also felt that B'Elanna's childhood would 
not of been as lonely if she had a sibling with the same mixed heritage as she had to grow up with.

Tom looked around his house and smiled. For the first time in his life Tom felt like he had a real home. He 
went straight from his father's house to Starfleet Academy and then to his first mission on the Exeter. 
Then after Caldik Prime he wandered around for a few months until he joined the Maquis and then within 
a few weeks of joining the Maquis he ended up in the New Zealand Penal Colony. Until he was on 
Voyager he never felt like he belonged anyway. His cabin on Voyager, even though at times it made his 
claustrophobia act up still felt like his first real home and even more sure when B'Elanna moved in. The 
idea of living there with a baby may of seemed a little cramped to him, but as soon as Tom found out 
Miral was on the way he couldn't wait to meet his precious little girl.

He looked around the living room and picked up a few of Miral's dolls that she was playing with before 
breakfast that was still lying on the floor. Miral tended to leave her stuff lying around just like B'Elanna 
often did but Tom didn't mind cleaning up after them. He often felt that a home was more lived in if there 
was a little clutter. The Admiral's home had to always be spotless because you never knew when an 
important Federation official or a fellow Starfleet officer would stop in unannounced to discuss something 
with the Admiral. Tom walked to Miral's room and put the dolls in the open toy box and closed the lid. He 
glanced at the walls and saw some of his little girl's latest artistic creations. One crayoned picture has 
Tom flying Voyager and another picture had B'Elanna working on fixing an engine with a tool in each 
hand and a growl on her face. Tom laughed at that picture thinking about her accurate Miral's drawing 
was of her mother when she was in the middle of a difficult repair job. 

Tom walked out of Miral's room and closed the door behind him. He looked up at the old grandfather 
clock that his parents gave them for their last anniversary and glanced at the time knowing that B'Elanna 
and Miral would be home soon. They took turns picking Miral up from after-school. Tom had promised 
himself as soon as he knew that Miral was coming that he would be a hands on father. He resented the 
times his father spent away from home when he was small and he promised himself he would not do that 
to his own child. His job teaching at the Academy gave him the chance to be home every night with Miral. 
BE'lanna's work schedule was a little more hectic since she joined the design team to build a new 
prototype ship but she tried to make it home to dinner as much as she could.		

Just then the door opened and Miral ran through the dinning room and straight to her room without saying 
a word. Tom turned to face B'Elanna and saw her frowning. "What's wrong?"

B'Elanna walked over to her husband, "One of the boys in Miral's class told her that you was a bad 
person because you were in a penal colony before you came on Voyager. Her teacher Mrs. Murphy said 
that she punched the boy out and then ran into the corner and started crying."

Tom gave a little smirk. "I see Miral has gotten your temper."

B'Elanna frowned, "Tom...this is not funny. Miral is very upset. She barely said three words to me all the 
way home. We should of told her about our pasts."

Tom started pacing back and forth. "I know, but the time never seemed to be right. I just want my little girl 
to be proud of me."

B'Elanna smiled at him. "She will be proud of you. She will be proud of the way that you turned your life 
around."

"When I was Miral's age I was so proud of my Dad. I wanted to be just like him I have done so many 
dumb things before I was on Voyager. I made an error that caused an accident that killed three people. I 
lied about the accident...I joined the Maquis."

"Hey watch it Flyboy...I joined the Maquis too."

Tom gave her a little smirk. "Yeah but you joined for all the right reasons. I joined to pay my bar tab."

"Tom you're a different person now. Everyone makes mistakes. Miral knows what kind of man you are. 
She just needs to hear the story from you."

Tom smiled at his wife. "Yeah your right." He patted her still flat stomach. "I guess I have to tell our baby 
too the story when he or she is old enough to understand."

B'Elanna smiled at him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Just think of this as practice for the new 
one." B'Elanna then smirked at her the husband. "By the way weren't you suppose to carry the next one."

Tom gave his wife a small laugh. "I call the Doc tomorrow. I ask him to transport the baby to me."

B'Elanna punched him in the shoulder gently, "Don't you dare. The baby is staying right where she or he 
is. Want me to come in with you?"

Tom kissed B'Elanna on her lips and said, "No I think I can handle this alone."

Tom walked over to Miral's bedroom and knocked on the door. Miral small voice said, "Go away."

Tom frowned, "Miral...it's Daddy. Sweetie, can I come in. I just want to talk."

After a few seconds on silent she replied. "Okay."

Tom walked into the bedroom and found Miral sitting on the bed clutching her two most cherished 
possessions. Her pink teddy- bear which her Grandpa Owen and Grandma Maggie gave her when 
Voyager first came home and her baby blanket that Aunt Kathryn made her.  Tom walked over to the bed 
and sat next to his daughter. Miral climbed into her father's lap. Tom hugged his daughter and said, 
"Mommy told me what happened in school today. You know it's wrong to hit."		Miral turned to 
face her father with blue eyes identical to his own. "But Daddy Billy said means things about you. He said 
you were in a penal colony before you were on Voyager. He said you were a bad man because you were 
in jail. He was lying right Daddy."

Tom looked at his daughter and said in a soft voice. "Miral...Billy wasn't lying. Before I was on Voyager I 
was in a penal colony. Your Aunt Kathryn got me out of prison to go on a mission to the Badlands."

Miral frowned, "Daddy were a bad person? Mrs. Murphy says only bad people go to prison."

Tom hugged Miral tightly, "No sweetheart...I wasn't a bad person. I made some mistakes and I was being 
punished for them."

With a confused look on her face Miral asked, "Daddy...what kind of mistakes did you make?"

Tom licked his dry lips. "I was flying a shuttle and I made an error while I was flying and three people who 
were close friends of mine died."

"But Daddy if it was an accident couldn't you just say you were sorry. Yesterday when I spilled my milk at 
breakfast I said I was sorry and Mommy told me it was okay  because it was only an accident and then I 
helped Mommy clean it up."

"Miral it wasn't just the accident...I lied about the accident. I told everyone one of my friends made the 
mistake."

"But Daddy...lying is wrong. Grandpa Owen says the first duty of every Starfleet officer is to tell the truth."

"It is Miral... I got scared and I lied. But I knew what I did was wrong so I told everyone the truth about the 
accident."

"Then everybody forgave you?"

"No, Miral...sometimes telling the truth is not enough. I hurt a lot of people with my lie. I hurt the families of 
my friends and I hurt your Grandpa Owen really badly."

"Did Grandpa Owen yell at you?"

"No he didn't...he just told me that he was very disappointed in me." Tom's mind flashed back to the last 
time he talked face to face with his father before Voyager returned home:

Tom entered his parents home through the back door. He thought that nobody would be home because it 
was mid-afternoon and his father would be at work and his mother would be at one of the many clubs she 
was a member of.

Tom walked over to the kitchen table and stared at the three pads in his hand. He had used the last of his 
savings to buy a ticket to the outer reaches of the Alpha Quadrant where he was hoping he could get 
work as a pilot. He was hoping to get far enough away where nobody ever heard the name Tom Paris.	
	He was planning on just dropping off the padds with the goodbye messages to his mother and 
sisters Kathleen and Moira and then getting out of the house as fast as he could. He was about to leave 
when he head footsteps and then turned to face Admiral Owen Paris.

Angrily Owen said, "Thomas what are you doing here...You are no longer welcomed in this house."

Tom looked at his father and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I know that sir...I just had to leave 
some goodbye messages to Mom and to my sisters."

"You never told me why?"

"Why what?"

Owen face was getting red, "Why did you lie? ...For seven generations the name Paris has meant 
something in Starfleet..."

Angrily Tom said, "That's it...you never care about me...all I was to you was someone to carry on the 
great name of  Paris."

"Thomas..."

"No Dad...for once you will listen to me. All I was to you was a trophy. I remember when I first learned to 
fly you use to show me off to all you Starfleet friends...Look at my Thomas...he was born to fly...just what 
until he gets into Starfleet...he will be Admiral before you know it."

"Thomas I wanted the best for you...what's wrong with that?"	"Nothing...except you never asked me 
what I wanted...it was always what you wanted...Well Admiral now you will get your way...I'm leaving 
Earth and hopefully I won't be an embarrassment to you anymore."

"Thomas...what should I tell your mother?"

"Everything I want her to know is in the padd. Sir I would appreciate it if you make sure Mom and 
Kathleen and Moira gets them...I couldn't leave Earth without saying goodbye to them...I have a message 
for you on Mom's padd...if you don't want to read it I'll understand."		 

"Thomas...I don't know what to say?"

Tom placed the three pads on the kitchen table. "Goodbye...Dad...have a good life."

Tom shook his head to escape from the memories and he saw Miral staring at him with a tranquil look on 
her face." He smiled at his little girl and said, "I think I just zoned out for a few minutes."                                                                                  
	Miral smiled at him. "That's okay Daddy...Mommy gets that same look on her face whenever she 
is thinking about an important engineering problem." 

Tom smiled at his daughter and kissed her on her forehead ridges. 		Miral smiled at him. 
"That tickles...Mommy says whenever you kiss her on her ridges it makes her feel special."

"Your Mommy is special...and so are you."

Miral smiled at her father and hugged him tightly.  She was about to jump off his lap when a new thought 
entered her mind. "Daddy were you in jail because you lied?"

"No I was in jail because I was a member of the Marquis"

"But Daddy...Mommy says that she and Uncle Chakotay were members of the Marquis. Are they going to 
have to go to prison too?"

"No sweetie...your Mommy and all the rest of the Maquis were pardoned by Starfleet."

"What does pardoned mean?"

"It means they don't have to go to jail."

Miral smiled. "I'm glad Mommy didn't have to go to jail. I would of missed her."

"Me too Miral.".

"Daddy what should I say to Billy tomorrow if he says that you are a bad person because you went to jail."

Tom hugged Miral and smiled, "You tell Billy that you Daddy can't be bad because he is the luckiest man 
in the universe because he has you and your Mommy to love him."

Miral hugged her father back, "I love you Daddy and I don't care what Billy says...you're the world's best 
Daddy and a good person too."

Tom wrapped Miral up in his arms and stood up holding his daughter closely to his chest. "I love you 
Miral...ready for dinner."

"Yeah Daddy...can I have some leola root pudding for desert."

Tom laughed and said, "Miral I think your Mommy had too much leola root when she was pregnant with 
you."

Miral looked confused, "But Daddy I like leola root pudding."

Tom smiled, "I know sweetie...one leola root pudding coming up for desert."