Little Secrets

She could feel his eyes on her, watching her every move. Slowly she sat forward, drawing her blue medical coat closer, shrouding herself against his piercing gaze.

Beside her, Data was still droning on about something. She'd lost the thread of his report as soon as it had become clear that there was nothing of medical concern. Warp engine modifications were never her field of interest - even when she wasn't so very distracted.

The eyes were still watching her and she shifted uneasily in her seat. This earned her a curious gaze from Data, but it didn't slow his narrative. She felt like screaming, *Shut up!*

Now there were two pairs of eyes watching her. *Oh good one Bev, now you've got ole "I sense something" Troi staring too.* She felt the heat of embarrassment slowly burning patches of red on her face. Having an empath for a friend had it's drawbacks.

Trying hard to calm herself before anyone else noticed her discomfort, Beverly started visualizing the choreography for her new play. At long last, Data finished his monologue and Captain Picard dismissed them. Before anyone could intercept her, Beverly hurried from the room and into the nearest turbolift.

Jean-Luc Picard paced the length of his cabin and pondered. He had had a mystery on his hands - a real one, and he hadn't needed Dixon Hill to solve it. After all, solving this mystery was easy. It was what had he had to do now that was hard.

He surveyed the table again. It was perfect down to the embroidered napkins and the tiny silver fruit cups. Candles illuminated the crystal stemware and threw starlight patterns on the china. An extravagant spray of flowers on the sideboard scented the air.

He'd been planning this night for a several weeks now, ever since he'd convinced himself that his suspicions were correct. Beverly had been avoiding him lately and it was time for her to admit the truth.

The door chime interrupted his pacing, and Jean-Luc ran a hand over his face before instructing his guest to enter.

Beverly stood in the doorway, back lighted for a moment by the bright lights in the hall. Then the door slid closed and the candlelight softened her beautiful features.

She was wearing her uniform and lab coat - as he knew she would be. She gladly returned his kiss, but slipped away before he could embrace her.

"Jean-Luc, this is lovely. What's the occasion?"

He moved behind her, sliding his arms around her shoulders and gently pulling her back against his chest. She instantly caught his arms and held them, preventing his from touching her below the shoulders. This was the only way she'd allowed him to hold her for the last three weeks. He looked down and frowned. Her lab coat was bigger.

He murmured in her ear. "I think we have something to celebrate."

She looked back over her shoulder at him. "Really? What?"

He gently turned her around to face him. "I thought you'd like to tell me."

She averted her eyes, refusing to meet his gaze. "I don't know what you mean."

"Then perhaps we're just celebrating being together. Come, let's eat before it gets cold."

He held her chair for her as she sat, then proceeded to serve her. Beverly ate heartily, enjoying the food and the company. Jean-Luc deliberately kept the conversation light, building up his courage for the confrontation to come.

At last they were finished with their meal. Jean-Luc insisted on cleaning up the dishes by himself, and sent Beverly towards the couch to rest and relax. Five minutes later he had finished clearing away the meal. Carefully he carried a tray with a teapot and cups to the living area and placed it on the table.

Beverly accepted the cup he offered her and shifted her legs to give him more room on the sofa. They sipped the steaming tea in silence for several minutes. Finally, Jean-Luc couldn't take it any more.

"Beverly, I have to ask you something." He cleared his throat. Suddenly it was very tight. "But first, is there something you need to tell me? Something I should know. That I need to know?"

Beverly's throat went dry. She'd known that he suspected - and how could he not. All those mornings she'd missed their breakfast together, her refusing to sleep with him since that one wild, passionate, reckless night. True, it was too frenzied to be what either of them had envisioned as their first night together as lovers, but neither one had been disappointed. And, of course, there was that damned lab coat. She'd even had to replicate the next larger size to try and hide her surprise. It had all made sense at the time, seemed so perfect. But now...

She shifted suddenly and was caught in the seductive trap of his gaze. Before she could stop herself she was saying, "It's all your fault."

She didn't expect his quiet, contrite, "I know."

And then, to her utter amazement, and slight embarrassment, he was on his knees before her, taking her hands into his.

"Will you marry me?"

"What?"

He looked into her eyes and said it again, slowly. "Beverly Crusher, will you marry me?"

To his total surprise, she laughed. And she kept laughing. His expression ran the gamut from surprised to confused to annoyed and finally settled on miffed, which only made her laugh even harder. He stood up, and nearly walked away when she caught his hand.

"Don't be mad, Jean-Luc. I'm sorry." She wiped away a mirthful tear and tried not to smile. "You caught me by surprise." She patted the sofa cushion beside her. "Please sit."

He sat, but perched on the edge as if ready to flee. "I don't understand what you find so funny about this?"

"Nothing, really. It's just that it took us so long to make the leap and finally sleep together that I didn't expect you to want to rush into a marriage."

"I hadn't planned on it either." He gestured vaguely in the direction of her midsection. "But it seems that nature had other plans."

Beverly, following his gesture, looked down at herself, then up at him. She was really confused. "Jean-Luc, what are you talking about?"

"When we... were together that night. We didn't... that is..I didn't....Beverly, we didn't take any precautions." The expression on his face was one of pure anguish.

The light bulb finally went on in Beverly's head and she was struck speechless. After sputtering a few times, she managed to say, "Jean-Luc, you mean... you

thought... " She took a deep breath and blurted out, "You think I'm pregnant?"

Now Jean-Luc was confused. "Well aren't you?"

"No." She shook her head, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You did. You kept missing our breakfasts. You're always wearing that coat And it's bigger. You haven't let me touch you in weeks." He looked at her reproachfully, "You've been avoiding me." Then another thought struck him. "What do you mean this is my fault?"

Beverly caressed Jean-Luc's face, letting her fingers trace the line of his jaw, then trail down to his neck and chest. "Jean-Luc, do you remember when we were discussing our fantasies of the perfect romantic interlude? When I told you I wanted to be with a handsome man who would literally carry me off to the bedroom and make passionate love to me?"

"Yes."

"And do you remember what you said?"

"Beverly, I was half asleep."

"I know, but you said that you wanted a beautiful woman to do the same to you."

Picard was lost. "What does this have to do with you being pregnant?"

"Nothing, my dear Captain, because I'm not pregnant." She smiled, then stood and slipped off her coat. Even through the fabric of her uniform, Picard could tell something was different.

"This is my little secret Jean-Luc."

And with no warning, she gathered Jean-Luc Picard into her arms and lifted him up.

"Beverly, what are you doing?"

"Sweeping you off your feet my dear. Just like I've been training to do. I've been working out in the gym for weeks to be able to do this. Now stop struggling and enjoy it."

"And that's why you've been wearing that coat all the time, and avoiding me?"

"Mmmhhmmmm. So you wouldn't notice how much stronger I am. I didn't want to spoil the surprise."

He relaxed into her arms. "I could get to like this."

She kissed him, then started walking towards the bedroom. "If you like this part, you'll love the rest."

He returned her kiss. "I know I will." He managed a mock frown as she dropped him unceremoniously on the bed. He watched her slip out of her uniform. She was definitely bigger on top, and her arms were nicely toned. "Are you sure you're not pregnant?"

She threw a sock at him, then climbed onto the bed completely naked, and started removing his clothes. Her smile was positively wicked as she breathed in his ear. "I'm sure. But we could do something to change that."

And they spent the rest of the night working hard to accomplish their new goal.

:::end:::

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