Captain Sisko had found his changeling in the guise of Gowron's advisor Martok. It had been a close thing, but no sooner was it done than they had another assignment to fulfill. He had taken the Defiant through the wormhole, where they had been lucky enough to capture a Jem'Hadar ship.

Unfortunately, things had not worked out entirely in their favor after that and he now had two seriously injured people in stasis awaiting medical treatment. As the Defiant approached DS9, he hailed the station's doctor, but received no reply.

Impatient he had the injured beamed down directly to the infirmary and himself to the promenade. He intended to make his way to the sickbay from there, but was stopped by the unexpected sighting of doctor Bashir. The doctor had his back to him as he perused a Bolian fried dough shop. Worried for his people and in no mood to suffer another's dereliction of duties he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him around to glare into his eyes.

"What are you playing at, doctor? I have injured crew awaiting your attention and you're out here buying junk food!"

"I'm sorry, sir, I'll get right on it," Julian said guiltily, trying to pull away from the tight grip on his arm.

"I think you better had." The furious station's captain pushed him roughly in the direction of the infirmary.

Something had been tickling at the back of Sisko's mind, something important. It wasn't until the doctor stumbled from his push and the oddly rounded expanse of his normally trim waist came into view, that he remembered.

But before he could move to catch Bashir and break his fall a half dozen Bajoran women materialized around them. Julian was carefully caught and helped upright by the Bajoran Kuriosity Shoppe keeper, Jander Lin, while Benjamin Sisko, station's captain and Emissary, suddenly found himself with one hell of a fight on his hands.

"I am so sorry," Doctor Bashir repeated, as he ran the osteogenic stimulator over the captain's left arm.

"You have no reason to be," Sisko replied, watching the doctor fuss around him. "I'm the one who assaulted you."

Julian gave a snort of derision, then blushed at the captain's inquiring look.

"Everyone's been assaulting me lately," the doctor explained in a low mutter, then looked his captain in the eye. "Sir, you were tired and worried about injured crew members. I appeared to have ignored your comm summons. Who wouldn't have been cranky with me?" Bashir gave a forgiving smile. "Nobody will blame you."

"About that - why aren't you wearing a comm badge?" Sisko indicated the bare patch on Julian's uniform.

"Because he kept answering it," came the voice of an annoyed female doctor. Doctor Morou stalked in and plucked the stimulator from a guilty-looking Bashir's fingers. Her face softened and she said more gently, "Why don't you go and finish up those hemoglobin counts for the Risa people? I'll look after the captain now."

Julian nodded meekly and headed out the door, wiping furtively at a tear that escaped down his cheek. Damn the hormones, anyway, he thought.

Morou set the osteogenic stimulator to work once more on Benjamin's arm.

"Was that entirely necessary?" the captain felt obliged to object on his CMO's behalf. "Julian is capable of...."

"Captain Sisko - it is Captain Sisko, I am correct?" He nodded once and she continued, "I am doctor Idean Morou, Julian's stand-in, and I believe I am the one with the medical authority in this room. Unless you want my advice on how to run this station, I would keep your medical opinions to yourself. Doctor Bashir has just been in the middle of what was, from what I hear, a free for all. He needs to sit down and relax. Nothing relaxes the mind like counting hemoglobin, believe me."

The captain blinked at her a minute, then gave a brief nod. He followed her movements with the bone setting tool, then finally had to ask, "Can you tell me how my people are doing from the Defiant?"

"They're fine. Dr. Girani is finishing up with the last one now."

She reached over and tilted the black man's face more towards the light. The pattern of swelling bruises became more apparent in the bright exposure. "I see you met Julian's honor guard. Does this hurt?" She pressed firmly on a nasty-looking purple lump. Benjamin grunted with pain and the doctor nodded thoughtfully. "Wait here, I'll get the proper equipment."

Morou went to the cupboard and picked up the regenerator she needed, but paused when she glimpsed doctor Bashir carefully sliding open a draw and grope about in its interior in the other room. What could he be looking for in that furtive manner? Ah.

"I moved it," she said, watching with satisfaction as the younger man jumped in surprise. "I like to have things arranged slightly differently than you do, doctor. This is what you were looking for, I take it?"

She held up the regenerator and watched as his face flushed a bright red. "Up on the bio bed, please. Now."

Sisko came to the doorway as Morou was helping Julian onto the diagnostic bed. She regarded the readouts with a frown and shook her head.

"Julian, Julian, Julian," she sighed in exasperation. "You told Nurse Bandee you were merely bumped. Shirt off, please." And she reached for the fastenings to his tunic. Sisko came closer, cradling his still aching left arm.

"You want to know why I took his comm badge away?" asked Morou, untucking the unhappy doctor's undershirt. "It's because every time we had a medical alert, he would show up. Despite my directions to only concern himself with routine work."

"I am still CMO of this station, you know," Julian complained, as the undershirt was pulled over his head. Sisko inhaled sharply, Morou tisked and Julian looked accusingly at the deep bruises on his arm.

"Oh, drat," Julian muttered. Betrayed by his own body again. No wonder his arm hurt so much.

"Captain Sisko, I am formally putting you on charges for assault of a Starfleet officer." Odo's harsh voice sounded from the doorway. Back in the station five minutes, and already the changeling was in command of security.

"Odo, don't," Julian pleaded, one hand curling protectively over his stomach. Odo noticed the move, and Morou's sudden hard-eyed stare. Chastised, he nodded his head. "As you will, doctor," he murmured gruffly. Nevertheless, he motioned for Sisko to follow him outside. "Captain, I'd like to discuss the disturbance on my promenade now, if you please. I believe doctor Bashir needs some privacy."

"Of course." Sisko moved to follow, then turned and laid a hand on the young physician's knee. "I truly am sorry about all this, doctor. Please, if you need anything, let me know."

Julian gave him a nod and said thank you. The captain left and Julian braced himself for the wrath of Morou. She merely occupied herself with the regenerator's readings, however. After a while, the waiting got to him.

"Aren't you going to tell me off?" he finally asked, as Morou put down the regenerator and checked the biogenetic readings again.

"This wasn't your fault," she said, preparing a hypo. At his disbelieving look, she reached to fondly smooth his disheveled hair. It was meant as reassurance, but the move caused several dark, coppery-colored strands to drift free. The body had many ways of showing when it was stressed, one of them was to shed its hair. As Julian's was doing now.

Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Morou tried to reassure her vulnerable young patient. "It wasn't entirely Sisko's fault, either. I'll tell Odo that; it should keep him off the captain's back. Look at this." She turned the monitor so that he could see.

"Good grief!"

"Indeed. So, this was a lucky event after all. We might not have picked it up, otherwise."

"If I had fallen...."

"Serious injury might have resulted, yes. Now that we know what's happening I should be able to correct things with this." She administered the hypo spray to his arm. "Now rest. We caught everything in time, no real harm has been done."

He nodded and a few more strands of hair fell free. Idean tried not to let the worry show on her face.

Captain Sisko was not brought up on charges, he did however receive a reprimand and a black spot was placed on his service record. Manhandling crewmembers, under any circumstances, was not appreciated by Starfleet.

Sisko had also decided not to press assault charges against the Bajoran woman who had broken his arm. Pak Dorran had always seemed like a rather brutish person, but her dedication to guarding Bashir could not be faulted. So he waved the charges this time.

However it took a while before the women on the promenade forgave him. Emissary or no, he still could not purchase a jumja stick that hadn't accidentally been dropped on the ground, or a sweet biscuit that wasn't stale from one of their stalls for quite some time. As Benjamin had learned only too well, Bajorans knew how to hold a grudge.

On a happier note, Odo was reunited with Kira the tribble and found time for a talk with the doctor that set at least some of the younger man's guilt at ease. And Julian truly appreciated it. The way he was feeling lately, every little bit helped.

The doctor had been looking forward to seeing Worf again. Klingons viewed pregnancy as a challenge - not an illness - and honored their mates accordingly. He felt like he could do with a bit of honoring right now.

He had been talking with Jadzia in Quark's when he met up with the Klingon again. The lieutenant came in to meet the Trill for a workout, but upon seeing Bashir had practically run from the room!

Later Miles had explained about Molly's birth. Delivering the human's baby had left its mark on the hulking warrior. Apparently the huge Klingon had been avoiding Keiko, too, pre-accident. He wasn't taking any chances of a repeat performance. Bashir couldn't really blame him.

Lance Morou had become a counselor for pregnant men after his own experience of bearing a child. At the time, he had found a great need to talk with someone who had gone through these changes as well. There had not been anyone at that time, so later he had vowed to try and assist others in the same situation. His ability to council young Bashir was the only reason Idean had brought her husbands into this near war zone.

At first Lance and Julian had simply discussed the obvious questions: would his feet stop itching, was there a way to stop the vertigo attacks? The doctor himself knew the answer to most of these, but as he said, there were text book cases, and then there was the real thing. He had gained a lot of reassurance from their talks.

Their sessions together soon grew more intimate, as they shared experiences few others could relate to. Finally, Julian felt confident enough to cover more personal areas.

"My nipples have been tingling for days," he confided, rubbing absently at one with the back of his hand.

"I remember that," reminisced Morou's younger husband. "They'll change color and size on you soon, too. It felt so odd. Keep an eye out for chafing; I used to have to moisturize them and my feet every morning."

"Did you have to wear a bra? I know I recommend my female patients wear one during pregnancy, even if they are quite small...."

"You shouldn't need to. We males generally won't grow full mammary tissue; we just utilize the small amount already there. There may be milk flow, but Idean will be able to block that. My sister breastfed Lance Junior, much to my relief. I don't think I would have enjoyed it, my nipples were too sore."

"Ah," Julian said, feeling relieved. He squirmed about in his chair and bit at one well-manicured finger nail.

Here it comes, thought Lance.

"About, well...um, I was wondering... I've been feeling sort of... But nothing..." A familiar warm heat began to spread across his face and down his collar.

"Sex," said Lance, the realization that this confident young man might have a problem talking about such things finally occurring to him. He bit back a chuckle. Sex was in no way a laughing matter, not during pregnancy. He and other pregnant males he knew had discussed the drawbacks of it at length. It could become something of an obsession with some of them. Sex was not a taboo subject on Lance's home world - however, from Julian's glow of embarrassment, he'd say it was on his.

"You're horny," he stated as matter-of-factly as possible. "But you can't get it up."

"Um, yes. The blasted thing has all but disappeared." Bashir was now an almost painful shade of red. He had wanted to ask Morou about this many times, but had always chickened out. "I knew the hormones would effect my, um, erectile tissues, but I didn't expect to keep feeling so…so..."

"Frisky?" Lance filled in, straight-faced.

"Yes." Julian smiled in relief.

"It's quite common, actually. Strange feeling, but common. Damn increase of hormones." Lance tried to curb himself to the doctor's level of modesty. It might help put the poor boy at ease, Julian looked ready to bolt out the door.

He must have something heavy on his mind, heavier than the sudden, er, 'let down' of his penis. He would be surprised if Julian hadn't already been expecting that and was simply mentioning it now as a lead up to something more. Well, he'd wait and see what it was. "I found simply kissing and fondling were just as useful for curing the feelings as anything else."

"Really? But I suppose you had your wife and husband to do that for you." Julian tried to keep the hint of envy out of his voice, but failed. Lance looked at him sadly.

"Isn't there anyone you could turn to?" He had had a large extended family, his husband and wife, parents, his sister's husband, friends, work colleagues and the workers at the center set up for such births on his home world. He couldn't imagine doing it alone, especially under these circumstances.

"I, um, I have a friend," Julian said softly. "We've known each other for years. But just recently...well, he told me he loves me."

Lance Morou steepled his fingers and fought to keep the sudden smile off his face. So, Conner was right. "Do you love him back?"

"I'm not sure." Julian fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. "It could be just hormones, but I think I do. Um, love him, that is. I was awfully fond of him before the pregnancy. The thing is, I, ah, well... I want... That is...." Julian paused, not sure if he really could discuss this with a near stranger. On the other hand, it might make things a little easier. Lance had no pre-conceived notions of his and Garak's relationship. "He's taken such a long time to get to this stage, and I want to do something to make sure he stays around. Until after the birth, that is. So I can decide properly if, you know, I love him or not. But, well...I haven't... I don't know what's...."

"You want to know about sex."

"Yes." Julian's answer was so soft Lance could barely hear it.

"I see. You've ruled out anal intercourse, naturally."

"Oh, yes," Julian agreed firmly. The very idea of having something up there made him wince. He had more than enough pressure being placed on his back passage already, thank you, without doing that to it.

"I take it you can't, you know...at all?" Lance made the universal gesture.

"No, Mr. Happy hasn't spoken to me since this whole thing began. Rather disconcerting, actually. I, er, generally have to field messages from below all the time."

"Hmm." Oh, to be young again, thought Lance, tapping a long finger against his lips. "So you and this friend, how far have you gone?"

"Um, he said he loves me. And if you knew him, you'd know that that meant a lot." Julian's sincere face almost broke the older man's control. Lance hid the incipient grin only by pressing his hand firmly to his mouth as if thinking.

That damn tailor hadn't even kissed the boy yet! No wonder Bashir wanted to do something to make sure he kept the Cardassian's interest. Not that Lance thought it necessary. He probably couldn't displace this Garak person with a crow bar now. But young love had its insecurities, how well he remembered them!

"So, have you considered fellatio?"

Lance ran to get the choking doctor a glass of water, which the younger man accepted gratefully. It helped him recover quickly.

"You've never done that?" Lance asked, curious.

"Well, no. Not as such." The young doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I've thought about it. But, well, for now, I...I was thinking more along the lines of a, um, helping hand, so to speak." He was incapable of getting any redder now, he was sure. "How did you and your partners cope?"

"Conner is my husband and friend, but we're not, strictly speaking, lovers. Luckily, he was able to cope with Idean on his own during the pregnancy, it normally takes us both. But Idean being Idean, she was quite worried about me, which put her off her game a little. To be truthful, at our age, our relationship is based more on friendship now, anyway. Perhaps this is a golden opportunity for you and...your friend to see how you feel for each other, without sex being in the equation."

"Trust me, we've had years of experience with that. We've gone through some fairly horrible times together already and he stood by me. But will he wait? He says he loves me, but will it last once he sees me swell up like a bladder fish in a couple of weeks' time?"

"I'm sure he will." Lance racked his brain, but could think of no other suggestions to make. He'd never been called on to offer male/male sex advice before. Most of the men he saw were already in stable relationships before pregnancy began! "My advice is, get him to hold you. A man gets amazingly attached to someone in as vulnerable a state as you're in now. A hug will make him feel protective and you'll get a huge kick out of it as well."

"I suppose." Julian frowned and bit his lip, considering. Then all thoughts of Garak and any attempts at a love life flew out his mind. He sat strait up in his chair, eyes going wide, mouth dropped in surprise.

"Oh, oh, my," he said. "How peculiar."

"What is it?" Lance's hand hovered over his communicator. "Should I call my wife?"

"No - no. Feel." He took the other man's hand and placed it on his stomach. There was a faint shifting feeling and a huge smile broke out over doctor Bashir's face.

"He's moving," he said, awe and pride evident in his voice. "He's actually moving."

Miles knelt by a wall panel that had multi-colored wire spilling out of it like confetti. But the chief engineer's mind was not on the job in front of him, fixing the upper promenade's turbo lift control panel. It was on Julian. His Bajoran minders had to leave the station for an assignment they had previously agreed to and due to the latest encouraging round of talks on Bajor, Kira seemed fine with it. But Miles was worried.

The Dominion had been sniffing around again, and they had Gul Dukat's enigmatic warning. If only he knew someone he could trust, a civilian that could help implement the plan he was cooking up should an actual invasion take place.

The sound of familiar laughter interrupted his thoughts and he looked down over the promenade's railing. It didn't take long to spot Julian. The doctor was walking along with that damn Cardassian and O'Brien felt his hackles rise. But then he stopped himself, and considered for a moment.

Garak certainly would be free in an emergency situation, he was a civilian, after all. And while his verbal attack upon his return to the station had had a near tragic consequence, there was no doubt he had done it for fear of Julian being in over his head. Garak cared, Garak was a civilian, Garak could keep a secret. Yes, it might work.

The look on Commander Worf's face was priceless. Bashir had him trapped in the infirmary, under treatment for various bumps, bruises and bites, the makings of which Julian was quite sure he didn't want to know about. The mating habits of Klingons were legendary, not to mention scary! Jadzia, Quark and a handsome Klingon woman named Grilka (apparently Quark's ex-wife) were also in for treatment.

Smirking Julian ran the dermal regenerator over a particularly nasty bite mark. With devilish inspiration, he suddenly paused, put one hand to the side of his tummy bulge, and frowned.

Post coital or not, Worf reacted to this with gratifying speed, straitening up on the bio bed and looking completely horrified.

"Doctor, you're not...you're...no...this can't be happening!" the big Klingon gasped, looking like every prune juice he had ever had was coming back on him.

"Doctor?" Nurse Bandee materialized at his shoulder, a question on her face.

"Just a little gas," he replied happily. Worf collapsed back on the bio bed. Across from them, Jadzia smirked knowingly.

Well, well, well. Jadzia and Worf, who'd have ever thought it. Bashir was glad for his friends, if a little envious, too. He'd loved the Trill for a long time, but valued the friendship they had developed over the years more. And now he would get to use all those Klingon sex jokes Felix had sent him. Life was too good, sometimes.

Why did he let Kira talk him into these things? Liaison officer or not, this had to be her ditziest idea yet. She must have really been worried about the recent sway in opinion of the Bajoran council. He concentrated back on the monitor, where the announcer was standing before the O'Briens' quarters, 'building the excitement.'

As the reporter signaled his arrival and was greeted and taken inside by Miles, Sisko turned to regard his Bajoran liaison officer.

"Was that man a car salesman before he got this job?" he demanded.

"He sold transport technology, yes." Kira looked uncomfortable. Rojer's manner had rubbed her the wrong way a little at first, too. But he had gotten on well with Julian and he had a large following on Bajor. This interview was important; it could be the turning point of the debate. She had even persuaded Keiko to come up for it, although the woman had been hesitant to do so.

"Hughh!" The sound of Julian throwing up had become commonplace around the station and was recognized by everyone in the room. On the screen, though, Rojer looked quite concerned.

"Oh, aye, he will be." A close-up of the seedy-looking Miles did nothing to pretty up the engineer's features. To help the folks watching down on Bajor, a neat caption appeared beneath: Miles O'Brien, father of the baby. "He does this several times a day."

"And this is normal in a human pregnancy?" Rojer looked daunted by the thought.

"Not this late in the pregnancy. A woman will normally have stopped by the second trimester." Miles reeled off the technical terms like a pro. "The nausea is often caused by the hormonal fluctuations, and as Julian's are being induced artificially, and his body keeps trying to compensate, well... Let's just say things haven't been easy for him."

Keiko's voice could be heard in the back ground, encouraging the doctor to breathe, let it pass, drink some water. Suddenly, the tone of her voice changed, and she called for her husband.

"Please excuse me." Miles disappeared into the bedroom, where they could just make out a conversation. 'Miles, I think he needs more saline.' 'Julian? Look at this reading. Should we give you more saline?' <rustle, slam of draw> 'Okay, here it is. Keiko, you want to go talk to the folks out there, tell 'em we won't be long?' 'Okay.'

Keiko appeared, walking backwards out of the bedroom. She looked a little scared, and a little lost. Miles had learned how to handle Julian's changing needs, but they still terrified her.

"Ah, Mrs. O'Brien." Rojer swooped down upon the disorientated woman, latching onto one of her arms. The caption, Keiko O'Brien, mother of the baby, appeared.

"Was that necessary, do you think?" Odo looked faintly disgusted. This peering into another person's private life as if they were criminals, it made him uncomfortable.

"Hard to watch as it is, I think a scene like this will help people feel a rapport with Julian and the O'Briens," said Dax. Her worry was with Keiko's reaction, handing Julian over to her husband like that. Keiko generally coped better with such minor crises. Was the human woman beginning to feel alienated from the pregnancy, being so far away? She would try to have a talk with her as soon as she could to find out.

"Is everything all right in there? Will a doctor need to be called?" On screen, Rojer wore an appropriately concerned look.

"No, need for a doctor. My husband has it under control," Keiko said, her face smoothing into an inscrutable mask. "We have several bio readers in the apartment that are used to scan Julian day and night. If the readings go above a certain level, the infirmary is instantly notified. One of the household monitors just indicated Julian needed re-hydration. It will take some time. Would you care to take a seat? I can dial you up a beverage." She retrieved her arm from his grip and went to the replicator.

The reporter seated himself, while the holo vid operator swept the room, zooming in on the miniature trees that were Keiko's pride and the recent pictures done by Molly hanging on one wall.

Keiko served the drinks, then took a seat across from the reporter, much to the man's smoothly-covered annoyance. He'd wanted to have her sitting intimately by his side.

"Those few?" The room stilled, the holo imager focused on Keiko's pale face, the eyes glittering with the fire of a tigress. "Yes," she said firmly. "I will forgive. The day my daughter stops having nightmares about 'the bad Bajorans' coming to take her brother away. The day my husband stops looking at vedeks to see if they have a concealed weapon on them. On that day I will be forgiving. But not before. Please excuse me. I have breakfast to prepare." She got up, and the picture faded. Advertisements for Bajoran snack foods began to play.

"Wow," said Kira.

"I would not forgive them, either," Worf rumbled, folding his arms sternly.

Dax fell in love with the big lug all over again. She just adored Klingon resolution!

After a few more advertisements, the broadcast returned.

"Must they mention his full name every single time?" Kira groused. The others just shushed her.

"Doctor Bashir is being helped to meet the pregnancy challenge by his friends and, as you can see behind me, the parents of the child he is carrying." The holo vid focused on a nicely laid out table, with lots of tiny dishes, all designed to spark Julian's failing appetite. Miles and Keiko fussed about, bringing over new dishes, taking half-finished ones away.

"This is a tight-knit family group, one that any Bajoran would be happy to belong to." The holo imager panned along the food bowls, coming to rest on Julian, determinedly chewing his way through a cereal bar. "And how is breakfast today, doctor?" the reporter chirruped.

"It tastes like horse apples with garlic," Julian replied mournfully.

"And that is a local Earth delicacy?" Rojer hazarded.

Sisko and Dax laugh, while Odo and Worf looked mystified. Kira frowned.

"He means it tastes bad, Mr. Mire." On the monitor screen, Kira also appeared, frowning. The caption that soon floated over her head read, Major Kira Nerys, Bajoran Liaison officer to Deep Space Nine.

"Is it still necessary to guard the doctor?" Rojer lifted a surprised eyebrow.

"There are continuing worries, yes." Kira on the screen had a stony, professional look to her. Mire Rojer took the hint, security was not an issue she wished to discuss.

"I am saddened to hear of it," he intoned instead. "Is it actually safe for the doctor to be going to work at all? Shouldn't he be resting?"

"Superb idea, why don't you suggest it to him?" Kira snapped. The Kira watching blushed a little at how rude that sounded, but at the time she had meant every word. Her job would have been much easier if Bashir didn't insist on traipsing around the station all the time.

Keiko approached them and tugged at Kira's sleeve. "Nerys, can you help me? We're having trouble with this, it doesn't want to budge."

Kira followed her and when the holo imager caught up with them, it was to record the heroic efforts of three adults to close a bulging medicine cabinet.

The holo imager was next focused on Julian Bashir, who motioned it closer.

"This," he held up an oversized blue bowl with several jeweled buttons along one side, "this is the best invention since life pods. It's got its own containment field, so no odors escape, and uses a mini vacuum to desiccate every thing down to a few crumbles of matter in the bottom."

"What is it for?" Mire asked curiously, leaning in for a closer look.

Rojer quickly sat back, motioning that it was quite okay, he didn't need a demonstration, but Julian insisted. Much to the reporter's evident relief, the human took up the 'horse apple' cereal bar, gave the holo vid a conspiratorial wink, and dropped it into the bowl. He hit a button, there was a subdued hum and then he tilted the bowl to reveal a bean-sized pill, all that remained.

"Extraordinary," smiled Rojer, somewhat fixedly.

Rojer's mouth opened for another question. He signaled the camera to move in closer, but just then Miles O'Brien arrived.

"Julian - tea." He held up a steaming cup.

"Just a minute, Miles. I'm exchanging vital medical input with this gentleman here." Bashir seemed unusually agitated, trying to turn further from the chief, as if avoiding something.

Miles sighed, captured one of his friend's hands and wrapped it around the cup handle. "Drink it, please. Just for me."

Unexpected tears shimmered in the doctor's eyes as he lifted the cup and drank it down. Miles took the cup back and moved out of shot.

"Our viewers have written in with questions and we were hoping you, doctor Bashir, would be so good as to answer a few of them." Mire Rojer seemed unaware of the undertones going on between the humans.

Clearing his throat, Julian nodded his head, turning all his attention back on the reporter.

"Good!" Rojer beamed, whipping out some notes. "A viewer writes in asking if you will have any input to your son's life after the birth?"

"Yes, of course." Rojer nodded understandingly. "Next question, and I think you're going to like it. Do you like Bajoran girls, and would you consider marrying one?"

"That one's easy, Irridian pudding. I first tried it in grade school where...ugh." The doctor winced, leaning forward in apparent pain. "Miles, that tea is working," he moaned.

The holo imager pulled back as the sturdy human moved to his friend's side. O'Brien got his friend up and moving towards the fresher. Bashir held his stomach and looked ill.

"Is doctor Bashir experiencing another round of pregnancy sickness?" Rojer inquired, moving after them. His way was suddenly blocked by Kira. Her steely glare said he was entering that room over her dead body. Well, somebody's dead body. He backed off just as a muffled sob came from behind the fresher door.

"What the devil was going on in there?" Benjamin asked, shooting his liaison a curious look.

"Pain and humiliation," she muttered, sliding down in her chair, one hand going to massage her temple.

Jadzia leaned forward, resting a soothing hand on the major's arm. "It happens to all species that bear live young, Benjamin. The baby presses down on the waste exit, leading to painful constipation. Julian is actually having an operation tomorrow that will help, but for now, he needs to take a laxative tea to get things moving. And when it does, it hurts. A lot."

"Oh. I see." Jennifer had had fierce hemorrhoids with Jake, he remembered, but somehow he had thought Bashir wouldn't suffer that kind of problem.

On screen, Rojer was talking once more with Keiko.

"Julian is a lot stronger than most people give him credit for. I admire him," Keiko admitted.

"A viewer asks, do you feel jealousy towards the doctor?" Rojer smiled at the foolish question, inviting Mrs. O'Brien to treat it lightly. To his surprise, she treated it honestly instead.

"Yes, I see." Rojer looked more like he didn't see and hurried on to the next question. "A viewer asks if the baby will have any of doctor Julian Bashir's physical characteristics?"

"No," a wry smile settled on Keiko's lips, "although we are hoping some of his easy going nature will rub off on him. The O'Briens tend to be a little stubborn at times."

The door to the fresher opened and Miles led a pale Julian out into the room. The doctor was leaning more fully on his friend and there were spots of high color over his cheek bones. There was a trade from Miles to Kira. Kira led Julian to the door, Keiko hopping up to plant an unexpected kiss on Julian's cheek. He brightened up at the gesture and they gathered some of the things that always accompanied him now, like the blue bowl and a whole plethora of hypo injectors.

"Are you sure he should be going to work?" Rojer asked Keiko. She looked up at him and shrugged.

"Julian needs to work," she said.

Everything was finally packed and ready and Kira and Julian walked slowly arm in arm out into the corridor. Julian was talking a mile a minute about a shipment of beets that Quark had assured him would be available at a reasonable rate for the Bajoran winter. The refugee camps could do with the high-energy food, if Kira could persuade the council to import the foreign vegetables.

From the home they had just left, Keiko's voice could be heard: "Miles? What have you been doing to my plants?"