Ames's nervousness had gone into overdrive after the near miss they had with the kidnapping. So much so, that Ktak became worried about him. He was not sleeping well, getting up to check the babies multiple times during rest period and hardly ever let anyone take them out of his sight. Ktak had to remind him that they were in the middle of cosmos and there was no way they could vanish on a tiny freighter. It did not help much. Ames was losing weight and becoming rude to people for no reason, including Ktak when she wanted him to leave the babies with a sitter.

She discussed the situation with Stella. Apparently, humans were prone to various illnesses of the mind and they also had a human doctor trained in exactly that kind of issues on board. It was a requirement, along with regular human doctor on boarding significant amount of human crew. When Ktak requested a meeting with Dr Raman he was quite surprised. Tamare hybrids were notoriously immune to the afflictions he treated, unlike more physical problems so he wondered what business could Ktak have with him. He however had considered reaching out to her as well regarding Ames. Various crewmembers had been noticing the change in Ames and turned to him.

It was a pleasant surprise the therefore when it turned out that Ames was the reason why Ktak has wished to see him. Unfortunately, there was very little he could do while Ames was refusing to accept that he had a problem. It was up to Ktak to convince him that he needed to get help. He would be able to take it from there.

Ktak tried for a few weeks to get Ames to understand that he was not well, but it was no use. It was the accident that finally snapped him out of the denial.

Ktak had been expecting Ames with the babies for a feeding, but he did not show up. She found him passed out on the floor of their compartment with babies crying in their cribs. He woke up when Ktak picked him up from the floor, but was clearly delirious with exhaustion. She then called up Stella, put a pair of bottles on the warmer and when she showed up took him to Dr Shawn. Not only had he been neglecting to eat and sleep, he had neglected to drink as well. The end result was a collapse. Dr Shawn put him on a drip and then called in Dr Raman. What was wrong with Ames was not in her domain of expertise beyond the liquid deprivation.

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Ktak had enough. She told Ames rather sharply, that he was not fit to care for the babies if he was not taking care of himself. Mortified Ames finally conceded that he had indeed a problem that was putting the babies at risk and agreed to stay in the hospital under the care of Dr Raman for a few weeks as doctor recommended. His attempt at resuming the worrying about who would care for the girls she resolutely shot down with assurances that she was more than capable of handling it in he most Commanderly tone.

When Dr Raman finally released him three weeks later with condition of weekly follow-up meetings that Ktak made sure he would attend he was clearly on the mend and gradually returned to his duties and to his old self. On Dr Raman's recommendation Ktak made sure Ames handed the babies over to someone, more often than not the volunteer was Sarah, for at least 3 hours per cycle to tinker with his crafting and still did his spacewalk duty. A date night per week was also scheduled.

This was enough to make rest of the journey to Earth blissfully boring. Babies, that were otherwise quite human looking and without obvious Tamare traits were growing and developing faster than expected. Ames suspected they would walk and even speak a few words by the time they reached Earth and at some point in the future would tower over him like their mother. This made him cherish how small they were now more. But to secure their safety and freedom in the future, they had much to do on Earth.