No longer constricted by the pregnancy, Julian Bashir was free to travel. His doctors immediately arranged transport by the spaceship The Grecion to a highly advanced medical facility on Crodus Eight. There the remainder of the surgical procedures to return his body to normal took place. Garak went with him and they were both able to express their gratitude to Doctor Morou when she checked in on them on her return journey home. She was glad to see them both and find out that everything was going well, but she didn't stay long. Morou was anxious to be reunited with her husbands.

The Crodus medical facility finally allowed that Doctor Bashir was fully recovered, just after the incident were he helped re-organize their filing system. Deep Space Nine was glad to welcome him home.

"Daddy, Daddy!" Molly O'Brien ran into the apartment, searching for her father.

"Molly, what is it?" Miles O'Brien knelt to calm his daughter, looking to Keiko as she entered from the baby's room to see if she had any idea what had upset the child. Keiko shook her head, coming closer to help comfort her.

"I hate Garak!" Molly cried, her little face screwing up in determination. "I don't want him near Elvis; he hurt Uncle Julian!"

"He what? Molly, what happened. Just take a breath and tell us what you saw."

"I went to return Jesse Peterson's spin ball, like Mommy said I could, and walked past the dress shop and I saw Garak biting Uncle Julian on the neck! He had him up against a wall and Uncle Julian had to hit him before he would stop!" Molly was indignant. "I came right here to tell you, just like you said to do if I ever saw something that wasn't right. Will they lock Garak up for a long time, Daddy?" 

"Miles?" Keiko wondered what was going on. She couldn't believe Garak had hurt Julian, but that's what it sounded like. Her husband gave her a puzzled look. He didn't understand it, either.

"Just a minute, sweetie," Miles said to Molly and frowned. Suddenly a look of understanding lit his face. "Molly, where did Uncle Julian hit Garak?"

"He hit him right between the legs with his knee!" Molly obviously approved of this maneuver. Her father winced.

"I see. Well, Molly, you know that Cardassians aren't built like us, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"What you saw was an old Cardassian custom, normally done only between very, very close friends. 'S like a secret handshake, almost. You have to hit the exact right spot, and then it doesn't hurt them at all. Not like with us humans. Yer can't hit us in that area without causing a lot of pain. It's because we're built differently. Do you understand?"

"Um. Y-es. So are Garak and Uncle Julian very good friends now?"

"The best." Miles smiled, patting his daughter on the head. "Garak was probably only whispering secrets into Uncle Julian's ear, not biting him. Now run along and get ready for supper. And be nice to our guests tonight, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy." Molly headed for her room.

"Secret hand shake?" asked Keiko, raising one eyebrow. Miles put his arms around her and smiled lovingly into her eyes.

"Actually, it's called the Cardassian grope and you have to be very careful when you're doing it. You can cause quite a lot of damage. It takes practice to find just the right spot. I'd say Julian's been doing lots of practicing, lately."

"Miles!" Keiko lightly thumped his arm, grinning widely as she did it. The door chime sounded, and she detangled herself from her husband to go let their visitors in. Julian had brought flowers, Garak had brought a bottle of wine and a grin that wouldn't quit.

"We know what they've been up to!" Miles singsong whispered to his wife, as she passed him on her way to find a vase. She giggled. Both their visitors looked rather pleased with themselves, actually. They must have practiced indeed!

After the meal Garak was pulled away to look at Molly's latest art work, while Miles lured Julian into the baby's room. Julian immediately picked up the little boy and held him in the air.

"My, you are a charmer. Look at that grin! And I'd swear he's put on more weight, too."

"He has. So have you, yer look better for it." Miles regarded his friend with serious eyes for a moment. Julian looked fit enough and his hair had grown out, helped along by a follicle stimulator, no doubt. He couldn't help worrying if there were any scaring on the inside, though. "Do you regret it?" he asked softly, knowing Julian would know what he meant.

Julian brought the baby down and cradled him to his chest. He traced the curve of one perfect little eyebrow, and smiled.

"Not one minute of it, Chief. Look at the end result, he's perfect. And I helped make it all happen. It's one of the most important things I've ever done." He kissed the tiny furrowed brow, and let the baby grasp on to one of his fingers. "No, Chief, I don't regret it at all."

Miles felt a weight lift from him, and had to clear his throat twice before he could speak again.

"We've put something together for you, Keiko and I. It's a keepsake, so you can remember the pregnancy and all." He brought out a large, silk-bound paper book, its pages fat with items that had been pasted into it.

"A scrapbook!" Julian exclaimed, shifting Elvis so he could reach over and turn the pages. "My grandmother had one for her time in Starfleet Academy. You've got everything in here, this is marvelous. How did you do it all?"

"We had help." Keiko came in from where she had been watching from the doorway. "Different people took the photos, Jake collected stories, we all collected bits and pieces, like the game cards from Quark's."

"There's an official pic of Kai Winn taking that earring back. Holy Bajoran relic, my ass. I couldn't believe she tried to have you arrested for leaving with it. You were completely unconscious at the time." Miles shook his head in disbelief.

"What are the dead leaves for?" Julian asked, puzzling at the dried foliage. It wasn't Makara herbs, he'd seen those pasted into an earlier entry.

"They're from my dead bonsai tree." Keiko smiled. Julian laughed and handed Elvis over to his mother so he could have a better look at the book. Flicking to the front, he found a copy of his official report to Starfleet about the accident.

"Those were scary times then," Miles said. Julian agreed. He turned a few pages, stopping to reminisce about this, or laugh about that. "This book is amazing. Why didn't you tell me you were making it?"

Miles and Keiko looked at each other, and then the floor.

"Oh, I see." And the doctor did. The odds had really been against them getting through this with all parties alive. If Elvis had not made it, they hadn't wanted Julian having such a poignant reminder of what went wrong. "This is very sweet of you. I'd like to thank you both. I know, how about a trip to the circus with Molly? Garak hasn't been yet; I want to see his reaction to the Vomitron. He might import it home for the Obsidian Order to use!"

The O'Briens laughed, Keiko hugging her son fondly. Both she and Miles focused out into the other room to hear what Molly was up to and see if she was still awake enough to go on a trip to the holo suites later.

"Am I your friend, Garak?" she was asking.

"Why, yes, my dear. You are," Garak replied.

"Am I your very good friend?"

Puzzled, the Cardassian said yes again.

"No!" yelled Keiko and Miles, but it was too late.

Thump! they heard, and then there was a lot of intense quiet indeed.

Julian ducked out of the medical cubical and wandered over to where Chief O'Brien stood in the waiting room with a pained look on his usually jolly face.

"He'll be all right, as soon as the swelling goes down," Julian informed his friend cheerfully.

"Thank goodness for that." Miles let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He glanced at his still-smiling friend and frowned. "You're a heartless one, you are. Garak must be in agony in there and all you can do is grin about it."

"She didn't hit him that hard. And besides, I can work this to my advantage."

"What, you want to try some hands-on nursing?" Miles leered.

"Something like that, actually, yes. It's been a long time for him, almost five years...."

Miles gave him an incredulous look and boggled at the thought. "I'd imagine that sort of thing would be like riding a bicycle," he replied eventually. "Once ye've learnt, you never forget."

"Well, I'd like him to be a bit more confident when it, ah, come to it. You see, I've never ridden that particular bicycle." Julian blushed and looked down at the ground.

Miles opened his eyes wide in surprise. Why, even he'd slept with a guy before, surely the sexually adventuresome Bashir had, too. Hmm, apparently not.

"So, I need Garak to take the lead and he's been a little...how shall I put it, reluctant in the bed department. He's all hot and heavy in the petting arena, but no show on the actual sex. Maybe this will help give things a boost. With any luck, I can get his motor running under the guise of friendly medical attention." He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"What, you're going to volunteer to kiss it better?"

"Miles, shut up." The two friends grinned at each other. Telling each other to shut up had become almost a code between them. They chuckled a bit, then Miles sobered.

"Thank you, for my son," the chief said earnestly.

"You're welcome," replied Julian Bashir.

Miles reached over and gently stroked his fingers along the side of Julian's face. They said a million things to each other simply using their eyes, then in silent accord they turned and walked out and over towards Quark's Place. There they'd have a drink, and perhaps a dart game or two, while they waited for Keiko and Molly to finish up dinner and join them at the holo suites.

"Would Keiko give me a few tips about how to perform fellatio, do you think?" Julian asked.

"Julian! The things you say!..." Miles shot him a scandalized look, then smiled. "Can't see why not, actually. Don't be asking for no demonstrations, though. I haven't anywhere to hide the body, right now."

At the bar, Quark saw them coming and quickly pushed the PADD with the latest betting pool on it out of sight. He smiled benevolently at his new customers, wondering how close his own guess might be.

The End