Midnight Feeding
by Astra <astraplain@yahoo.com 

He woke suddenly, at the end of a dream, and lay 
unmoving for several seconds trying to orient 
himself.  It wasn't "morning", he could tell that 
without even looking at the chronometer.  It wasn't a 
problem with the ship.  He could feel the subtle hum 
of the engines .  That left only one thing.  Feeding 
time.

He glanced over at Beverly's side of the bed, smiling 
at the straightened covers.  She always smoothed them 
down so he wouldn't get cold.

Sliding into his favorite slippers and robe he padded 
out to the living area, pausing just a moment to 
enjoy the sight of her, tousled from sleep and 
absolutely gorgeous.

"Eating again?"

She looked up and smiled.  "Whose fault is that?" she 
countered.  Making love to Jean-Luc always left her 
ravenous.

"Guilty as charged."  he answered, leaning down to 
give her a kiss.  "So what's on the menu tonight?"

"The usual, fruit for me and milk for the little 
one."  Jean-Luc knelt beside her and kissed the tiny 
head nestled in the crook of Beverly's arm.

"Leave any energy in the replicator for me or do I 
have to divert power from main engineering to get a 
cup of tea?"

"There might be enough for a small cup, but why take 
a chance?  By all means roust Geordi and the rest of 
the senior staff.  Why should they be sleeping while 
their captain goes without?"

"Earl Grey, hot." he commanded the replicator, then 
carried his beverage to the table where he sat beside 
her, watching as she nursed their baby.
"You're in a fine mood tonight.  Is this little one 
disobeying orders again?"  "Yes.  She's as 
incorrigable as her CO."  At that moment Jacqui made 
loud greedy snuffling noises, making both her parents 
laugh.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have read her Alice in 
Wonderland?" Jean-Luc offered.  "At least not the 
part about the pig."

Beverly lifted Jacqui away from her breast, shifting 
her to one shoulder and rubbing her back.  The 
infant's head bobbed as she rooted, looking for more 
food, then finally lowered to lean heavily on 
Beverly's shoulder. "Little piggy."  Beverly laughed 
when Jacqui finally rewarded her with an enormous 
burp.
 
"More like big piggy."  Jean-Luc muttered, still 
somewhat apalled by the noises and other things this 
tiny creature produced.

"Uh-oh Jacqui, your father needs the cute treatment."  
She cuddled the little girl for a moment, then handed 
her to Jean-Luc who took her gladly. She gave him a 
little baby smile and burped again.

"That," he informed his daughter solemnly, "Was not 
cute."  After a moment he relented, "But you are.  
Almost as adorable as your mother." Beverly made a 
face around the spoonful of fruit she was eating.  
"Now I believe we were in the middle of a story when 
you fell asleep earlier.  Shall we continue?"  Jacqui 
waved a hand at him and he took that for a yes.
 
Beside him, Beverly settled back in her chair with a 
contented sigh.  She loved story time as much as 
Jacqui.  Sometime later Jean-Luc gently shook her 
awake.

"Come to bed sleepy."

"Jacqui." she asked bleerily.

"Is in bed.  Come on." he helped her up, pulling her 
against his body, delighting in her softness and 
warmth.  She woke up fast, putting her arms around 
him and pressing her lips to his.  Breaking apart at 
last she let him lead her to the bedroom.

Off came robes and slippers and pajamas until there 
was nothing between them but inches.  As they sank to 
the bed together, even that vanished and they merged 
into one.  They made love slowly, lingering over 
caresses and kisses until the final urgency claimed 
them.  Afterwards, panting and breathless they lay 
tangled together in sweat dampened sheets.

Curled against him, Beverly drifted off to sleep 
almost immediately.  Jean-Luc lay there watching her, 
running his fingers lightly up and down her silky 
back. At long last he lay back with a sigh and tried 
to go to sleep only to realize one more way the women 
in his life were influencing him.

He was hungry.

:::end:::