promisesk1

“But you died,” Deanna said.

“Imzadi, look at me. I’m here, I’m fine,” he reassured the trembling counselor.

Deanna just shook her head, tears falling from her onyx eyes. Will put his arms around her and drew her into a comforting embrace. She held onto him tightly as if he would vanish from her, and she spoke with utter terror in her voice,

“No. . . no you were dead and I couldn’t feel and I couldn’t think. . .and the baby was crying. . .”

As if on cue, the baby in the adjoining room let out a shrilled shriek, proclaiming her displeasure at awakening to the darkness surrounding her. Riker smiled slightly releasing his wife , and kissing her lightly on the forehead, “I’ll get her,” he said sliding off the bed and heading toward the open doors that led to the nursery. Deanna nodded, her eyes still holding the anxiety that the nightmare had brought with it. A few moments later Commader William T. Riker emerged from the room with their 3 week old daughter held securely in his arms. Destiny Alexa Riker was born prematurely, and the delivery had been tough for Deanna but now mother and daughter were doing fine. The picture of the tiny infant in her father’s arms was one of comfort and brought peace to Deanna’s weary mind.

“There’s a warm bottle in the replicating unit,” she told Will as he handed the baby to her. The counselor watched as he walked into the main room of their quarters on the Enterprise, and then she held the baby up to her shoulder, kissing her soft head, and gently rocking her.

“Destiny look what Daddy’s -” Will began, walking into his and Deanna’s bedroom, bottle and babycloth in hand, to find Destiny Alexa fast asleep. “I guess all she needed was her mommy,” he said in a whisper, planting a small kiss on his daughter’s cheek. Deanna smiled slightly, but the images in the dream were so real that she just couldn’t shake them. Will saw the fear that still remained and pulled her to him, bringing her head to his shoulder, “I’m fine, Imzadi. I promise you I’m not going anywhere.”

The next morning, Will Riker sat of the edge of the bed watching his wife sleep. She was beautiful and he sat quietly, hesitant to wake her. Deanna had finally found peace last night and had drifted off to sleep in his arms. The nightmare had worried the commander slightly, more because of the anxiety it had brought the counselor than the actual events that had taken place in the dream. Beverly had put Deanna on strict orders of relaxation because of the problems that had occurred with little Destiny’s birth, and the commander had become considerably more protective of her. Deanna smiled as her dark eyes met those of her husbands, waking to find him watching over her. “Did you sleep well?” Will asked his wife. She nodded as he leaned over to kiss her.

“I just couldn’t shake the feelings in that dream.” She told him, shivering at the remembrance of what had happened.

“I understand,” he told her,” I’ve had a few of those myself.” Deanna smiled at the attempt to comfort her.

“Where’s the baby?” She asked, already stepping out of bed.

“I just gave her a bath and laid her down for a nap,” he said as he watched the counselor walk over to the bassinet that had been set up near their bed.

“Hi, sweetheart,” she whispered, as the small infant instinctively wrapped her tiny hand around her mother’s finger. “How’s my Little Angel this morning?” Will met Deanna’s eyes as she smiled over at him. She was positively glowing. The counselor leaned down kissing the tiny hand she was holding and then disappeared behind the doors of the bathroom.

“Deanna, I have to leave now,” Will called as he heard her emerging from the shower, “Don’t forget about your appointment with Beverly today.”

“I won’t, Imzadi,” she said stepping through the doors as they slid open in front of her, “I also have to go by my office and talk to Dr. Arledge about a few of my patients.”

He nodded, kissing her good-bye, heading to the end of the bed and kneeling down beside the bassinet where their daughter lie sleeping.

“Bye, bye precious,” he whispered to the infant, “Daddy loves you very much. I’ll be back real soon.” The commander bent down giving Destiny a kiss on her delicate little cheek, and turned to blow one to his beloved wife before walking through the doors. Deanna kissed her own hand returning the gesture and watched him out of sight. “Good-bye, Imzadi,” she thought to him and then the counselor focused her mind on the day ahead and turned to finish getting ready.