"Hi, Tom!" Naomi positively bounced into the Torres-Paris quarters. "Am I really going to stay with you and B'Elanna while Mom and Neelix and Seven are gone?"

"You sure are," Tom said, the grin on his face matching hers.

"Tom, thank you so much for watching her," Sam Wildman sighed, following Naomi into the living room.

"Wow! Is that the television? Can I watch it?" Naomi ran over to the old-fashioned appliance and turned it on, her eyes glowing with fascination.

Tom chuckled and turned to Ensign Wildman. "Always glad to help, Sam. B'Elanna and I know how much both you and Neelix wanted to go on this away mission."

"Still – we're going to be gone for an entire week. Are you sure it won't be too much trouble? Is B'Elanna feeling up to it?" Sam asked anxiously.

"She's fine. Never felt better," Tom assured her. "She isn't having much morning sickness anymore. Besides, the captain made her cut a few shifts, so she has more spare time than she knows what to do with. It'll be good motherhood experience, too."

"Well, if you're sure – " Sam began, but was interrupted by a beep from her commbadge.

"Seven of Nine to Ensign Wildman. Please report to Shuttlebay Two."

"Acknowledged," Sam answered. "I'll be right there." To Naomi, she called, "I'm leaving, sweetie."

Naomi tore herself away from the television, which was showing an ancient Earth cartoon called "Popeye the Sailor," long enough to give her mother a hug and a kiss. "Bye, Mom, have fun!" she said cheerfully.

Samantha smiled. "I'll miss you too," she said wryly. "Thanks again, Tom. Tell B'Elanna I said so."

"I will, and you're welcome," Tom said, ushering her out the door. Seven tended to get annoyed when away team members were late. "Have fun, and see you in a week!"

With one last wave to her daughter, Sam hurried away. Tom chuckled, then walked over to Naomi, who was once again engrossed with the television. "Hey, Naomi, don't sit so close. You'll ruin your eyesight. Come sit on the couch."

"Okay." She clambered onto the couch beside him just as the cartoon was ending. "Now what should we watch?"

Tom smiled. "Ever hear of a show called 'Johnny Bravo'?"

*** *** ***

"When's B'Elanna getting back?" Naomi asked a little while later, after she and Tom had watched a few more cartoons and eaten supper.

Tom looked at the chronometer. "Her shift gets over in about an hour. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Naomi wandered over to the couch, looking vaguely disturbed about something.

"Something wrong?" Tom asked, sitting down beside her.

"I was just wondering..." Naomi hesitated slightly. "Does the baby hurt her?"

"Nope, not at all. Sometimes the baby kicks a little, but B'Elanna says it feels like having butterflies in her stomach."

Naomi looked relieved. "Oh. That's good."

"Yup. Any reason you were wondering?"

Naomi was silent for a few moments. "I got a letter from my father in the last data stream. He said that when we get back to the Alpha Quadrant, he and Mom want to have a little brother for me."

"Well, hey, that would be great – wouldn't it?"

"I guess." Naomi didn't seem too enthused. Tom guessed that the prospect of having to share her mother with a brother – and a father, for that matter - didn't appeal to her.

"Your dad sounds like a really nice guy."

Naomi nodded grudgingly. "He is, but – well - sometimes he makes Mom cry."

"He makes your mother cry?" Tom repeated, growing concerned. "How?"

"He puts mushy stuff in his letters, like 'I miss you more than anything, Samantha,' or 'I wish I could have seen our little Naomi grow into such a beauty,' or 'I love you, my darling.'" Naomi made a face. "Gross stuff like that. I don't know why it makes Mom cry – it'd make me throw up."

Tom smiled, his concern alleviated. "Well, Naomi, sometimes adults cry when they hear – uh – 'mushy stuff.'" Your mom's happy because your dad loves her but she's sad because she misses him. That's why she cries."

"Does B'Elanna cry when you tell her you love her?" Naomi asked curiously.

"Well – " Tom thought. And thought. And thought. "I – I don't know," he said slowly. For the first time, he realized that he couldn't remember a time when he'd actually told B'Elanna that he loved her.

"You don't know?" Naomi repeated, her brow crinkling in confusion.

"I – don't think I've ever told her," Tom admitted, feeling slightly ridiculous for confessing that fact to a ten-year-old – or the equivalent of one.

Naomi, however, still possessed the unashamed innocence and simplistic naivetι of a child. She didn't jump to any conclusions or express any measure of shock. Instead, she cocked her head and asked, "Why?"

Tom pondered her question for a few silent minutes. "Well," he began, trying to find the words to simplify his explanation enough for her to understand, "I guess it's because – when I was younger I said it a lot, to many other girls, even though I didn't really mean it. I said it so much that it's kind of lost its meaning. Do you know what I mean?"

The child thought for a moment, then nodded pensively. "I think so. It's like chocolate ice cream."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Chocolate ice cream?"

"My mom used to only let me have chocolate ice cream on my birthday or at a crew party – you know, a special occasion. When I got older, she let me have some every day. Now it's not a treat anymore, because I've it so much. It's not special anymore."

Tom was impressed. "Exactly. I just never realized until you brought it up that I've never actually told her that I love her."

"Then why don't you?"

"I'd like to, but – I don't know how to say it, I guess. I want to be sincere but I don't know how. I mean, I try to show her that I love her, rather than tell her. I wonder, though – I wonder if I should actually tell her – if she wants me to tell her."

Naomi considered this for a few moments. "You could do what my mom says my father did," she suggested. "Use 'shmily.'"

"Shmily?" Tom asked, confused. "What's shmily?"

Naomi smiled. "Let me tell you."

*** *** ***

"Good morning, B'Elanna," the doctor greeted her. "How goes the babysitting?"

"Just fine," B'Elanna replied, easing onto the sickbay biobed with grace despite her slightly rounded abdomen. "Naomi's a good kid."

"She certainly is," the hologram agreed, retrieving his medical tricorder from a nearby table. "When does the away team return?"

"In two days. I have to admit, I'm going to miss having Naomi around. She seems to think that my being pregnant means that she has to wait on me hand and foot."

The doctor smiled while scanning her stomach. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"Not really, but Tom's the same way. Having the two of them constantly hovering over me does get annoying at times."

"I suppose Mr. Paris is enjoying Naomi's company. Those two have always been good friends."

"Oh, Tom loves having her around," B'Elanna said with a smile. "I think they're up to something, though."

"Oh? How so?" the doctor inquired, tapping a few commands into the tricorder.

"Every time I walk into our quarters, it seems like they're giggling about something. They stop when I get near enough, but I every so often I catch them winking at each other. I've asked Tom about it, but he just swears that it's nothing. Same with Naomi."

"No doubt Mr. Paris is hatching a new holodeck program or finding a new television show," the doctor sniffed, a trifle disdainfully. "Most likely they'll let you in on the secret sooner or later." He folded up his tricorder. "Everything looks fine. I'll see you in a week."

*** *** ***

As she walked down the corridor towards Engineering, one hand resting on her belly, B'Elanna mused over what the doctor had said. Maybe he was just planning a new holodeck program, but she didn't think that was it. She knew the expression he wore when he was writing a new Captain Proton episode or adding a new dimension to Fair Haven, and it was slightly different from the way he was acting now. Besides, he'd never been secretive about it before. Maybe he was writing something special for Naomi, and wanted it to be a special project just for them.

The more she thought about it, the more she was positive that she was right. Tom and Naomi were collaborating on a new project, something just for the two of them. They didn't want her to feel hurt that she wasn't included, so they didn't tell her. That had to be it. B'Elanna smiled, proud of herself for figuring it out. Tonight, she'd talk to Tom and tell him it was okay to not include her.

She walked into Engineering, nodding at the staff members she passed on the way to her console. A few of them had mysterious smiles on their faces as they said good morning to her, but she chalked it up to what Tom dubbed "Pregnant Woman Syndrome." A few crewmembers seemed to – how had he put it? – go "gaga" over the fact that she was expecting a baby.

Her console, however, told a different story. Resting on the top was a single long-stemmed red rose, with a white ribbon neatly tied around the stem, and a folded piece of paper resting beside it.

B'Elanna smiled, her cheeks pinking with pleasure. Tom often planned little surprises for her, usually when she least expected them. Today was no different. Conscious of the not-so-covert stares of her staff, she picked up the note and unfolded it.

Puzzled, she turned the note over to see if there was any explanation, but she found none. Shmily? What in the world was shmily?

She almost contacted him on the comm to ask what was going on, but decided against it. The captain, while a tolerant person, didn't appreciate shift interruptions with matters unrelated to work. She was sure to see him at some point during the day, and then she'd find out what he meant.

*** *** ***

The opportunity never arose. Tom seemed to be doing his best to avoid her, but his surprises kept coming. She found another rose tied to the upper railing of the warp core, again bearing a note with the mysterious "shmily" written on it. She received another on her tray at the Mess Hall, with Ensign Chell – who was manning the galley in Neelix's absence - winking jovially at her, although he had no more idea than she did about what the puzzling "shmily" meant.

She'd fully intended to corner him at the senior officer's briefing and demand an explanation, but Tom had arrived late, and the captain had kept her after the meeting to ask a few questions about her weekly report. She'd found another rose and "shmily" note on her chair at the beginning of the meeting, but the captain didn't know what was going on, only that he'd told her that he'd be a few minutes late for the meeting, and that he'd asked Harry to put the rose on her chair for him.

Later that day, she worked with Tuvok and Harry in Astrometrics and, finding another rose and "shmily" note, asked them. The two of them didn't know what Tom was up to either, just that he'd showed up a few minutes earlier and asked them to make sure she got the rose.

At the end of her shift, she headed back to their quarters, still puzzled. She stopped short when she saw yet another rose laying on the floor directly in front of the door. B'Elanna shook her head as she picked it up, adding it to the five already in her hand, and read the note:

She firmly entered the command to open the doors, intent on finding out what he was up to.

She took two steps into the room and stopped short, astonished by the scene before her.

The lights were dim, soft music was playing, and the table was beautifully decorated, complete with fine china and candlelight. The centerpiece was a bouquet of six red roses, identical to the six she'd already received. A folded piece of paper bearing her name was propped up against it.

She approached the table and picked up the sheet of paper, unfolding it slowly. Her eyes filled with tears as she read the words written on it.

"Hi there," said a voice behind her.

She turned to see Tom standing in the doorway to their bedroom, looking very handsome in a pair of black slacks and a dark blue shirt.

"Tom – " she began, not sure of what to say or where to start. "Tom, what – why – "

He grinned and walked over to her, silencing her stammerings with a light kiss on her lips. "Naomi brought something to my attention a few days ago," he said softly, tracing her lips with his finger. "She made me realize that I'd never actually told you that I loved you. So, she helped me come up with a – a rather unique way of doing it."

"Naomi thought of this?" B'Elanna said, amazed. "But where – "

Tom once again silenced her by kissing her. "She told me that 'shmily' is a code word her parents use. I liked it. Do you?"

"Well, yes – " Tom kissed her again, this time longer and more thoroughly. B'Elanna gave up trying to ask questions and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

Suddenly, though, something occurred to her. She pulled away slightly. "Um, Tom?"

"Hmmm?" he murmured, his hands lightly stroking her rounded belly.

"Where is Naomi?"

"Naomi?" He nuzzled her neck with his lips. "She's spending the night in the captain's quarters."

"Oh." He kissed her again, and her eyes widened. "Oh. I see."

Tom grinned mischievously. "I thought you might. Come on." He took her hand and led her towards the bedroom.

B'Elanna followed uncomplainingly. As she went through the doorway, she smiled. Shmily. She rather liked that word.

THE END

Author's note: The concept of shmily does not belong to me. I got the idea from a story in the book Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul.