Lily grew to be a beautiful little girl. She gained weight rapidly on Amanda's breast milk, her arms and legs filling out nicely and becoming plump. Her skin became smoother, wispy sandy-brown hair grew on top of her head, and her eyes became the same shade of dark brown that Wesley's and Amanda's were.
One day when Lily was six months old, Wesley arrived home looking very serious.
"Did something happen?" asked Amanda, cradling Lily in her arms. Lily cooed and waved her arms when she saw her father.
"I have to go back now, Amanda," Wesley said solemnly.
"What are you talking about? Back where?" Amanda was confused.
"Back home, to my mother and shipmates," Wesley explained. "I want very much for you and Lily to come with me, but I won't force you to. Please understand that I have to go back, Amanda. I have no choice. When I told my mother that I wanted to visit the United States of the nineteenth century, I had no idea what would come of it. Originally, I intended to visit for a brief period of time and then return to my own time period. I had no idea that I would find a family, make friends, fall in love, and get married. But that's what happened, and now I must go back." Wesley looked profoundly troubled.
"Please say you'll come with me, Amanda. You and Lily are my life. To lose you would be to lose a part of myself, the most important part."
"Of course we'll come with you, Wesley, but I'm scared. I know that life in your time is very different from life here. I'll be totally lost."
"You're right, Amanda. It is very different. But I'll be with you, and I'll help you all I can. You'll get used to it. It took me a long time to get used to life here too, but I eventually did."
"I'm going to miss Almonzo and Laura, and the Ingalls, and the rest of our family and friends."
"I'll miss them too, Amanda. But you'll make new friends. I can't wait for you to meet my mother. I know she's going to love you."
"I hope she will. I've never met a lady who's a doctor before."
Wesley grinned. "That's something about my time period that's really neat. There are some many more jobs that women can do there."
Wesley and Amanda visited the Ingalls and said their good-byes.
"You've been like a son to me," Pa told Wesley, with tears in his eyes. "It seems like just yesterday that I met you, and now you're as much a part of the family as the others are. I'm really going to miss you."
Ma gave Wesley a big hug and kissed his cheek. "Good-bye, dear. I'll never forget how you saved our Mary's life and sight." She kissed Lily's cheek as Amanda held her. "Good-bye to you too, my little angel. You're going to be a beautiful girl some day." She hugged and kissed Amanda and said good-bye to her too.
Next Wesley and Amanda went to say their good-byes to Almonzo, Laura, and baby Rose, and then to Adam, Mary, and little Charlie.
At last they were ready to leave and were beamed aboard the Enterprise.
"Wesley!" Dr. Beverly Crusher rushed to her son's side and embraced him. "It's so good to see you again!"
"Mom, this is my wife Amanda, and this is your grandaughter Lily," Wesley said proudly.
"Hello, dear." Beverly hugged and kissed Amanda and then turned her attention to Lily. "Oh, Wesley, she's beautiful!"
Beverly took Lily into her arms and spoke tenderly to her. Lily gazed up at her grandmother with rapt attention, and rewarded Beverly's playful antics with smiles and gurgles. After a few moments, she became fussy and wanted her mother again.
"You have a beautiful family, Wesley. I'm so proud of you," Beverly told her son.
"Thanks, Mom."
"With a wife and daughter, you'll need larger quarters, of course," Beverly said. "Why don't you come with me to meet Captain Picard, and then you can show Amanda around the Enterprise while I talk to him and see what we can work out."
Amanda met and shook hands with Captain Picard and Commander Riker, and then Wesley took her to engineering and introduced her to Geordi and Data. "Data's the android I told you about," he said.
"What's that thing you're wearing?" Amanda asked Geordi.
"It's called a Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement, VISOR for short," Geordi explained. "I was born blind, and my VISOR enables me to see in a way similar, but not identical, to the way normal human eyes see."
"Remarkable," Amanda commented.
"And you are an artificial life form?" she asked Data incredulously.
"That is correct," he replied. "My physical strength and intelligence are both far superior to those of an average human, although I lack the ability to feel emotion."
"Do you mean you never feel happy, sad, angry, excited, or worried?"
"That is correct. Neither am I able to feel genuine love toward another individual."
"That is just so sad," Amanda said. "I can't even begin to imagine what an empty life that would be."
"There is no need to pity me, Amanda," Data said gently. "As I have always been the way I am now, I feel no sense of loss. I do not consider my life to be empty at all. I do, however, possess an insatiable curiosity about concepts such as humor, although I am incapable of experiencing them directly."
"Well, I would love to help you in any way I can," Amanda offered.
"That is very kind of you," Data told her.
Next Wesley took Amanda to security and introduced her to Tasha Yar and Worf.
"What's that on your forehead?" Amanda asked Worf.
"I am a Klingon, from the planet of the same name," Worf replied. "All Klingons have foreheads just like mine."
"Can I touch you?"
Worf nodded.
Amanda ran her hand over the bony protuberances on Worf's forehead, feeling the leathery texture of his skin covering them.
"Thank you. That's very interesting."
Worf smiled.
Wesley took Deanna to meet Counselor Deanna Troi next.
"Are you also from Earth?" Amanda asked her, noticing that Deanna looked completely human.
"No, I'm from a planet called Betazed. My father was human, however." Deanna smiled warmly. "Your daughter is so beautiful. May I hold her?"
Lily went to Deanna even more easily than she had gone to her grandmother Beverly.
Amanda smiled. "Do you have children yourself?"
"No, not yet. I hope to someday."
Beverly arrived to show Wesley and Amanda to their new quarters. Amanda was absolutely amazed. "A machine that washes dishes! One that washes clothing! Another one that dries clothing!"
Wesley laughed. "Actually, those have all been around since the twentieth century. Transporters, phasers, tricorders, food replicators, PADDs - those are all more recent."
Wesley picked up the remote control and turned on the TV.
"Why are those people so tiny? And how did they get inside that box?"
"What you're watching is actually a recording of those people that was made earlier. The recording is played in a particular place and transported through wires into many different individual televisions."
Amanda stared at the screen, fascinated.
"It can be very addictive as well." Wesley turned off the TV. "Come with me." Amanda obediently followed him into the bedroom, where he showed her the alarm clock and the radio.
"There are so many different things to keep one occupied. How does one possibly find the time to do them all?" Amanda asked.
"One advantage of modern-day technology is that it provides more leisure time to pursue pleasurable activities," Wesley told her. "But what you've seen so far is nothing. Wait until you see the holodeck."
"Holodeck?"
"You're in for a real treat," Wesley promised her. They left Lily for Beverly to babysit, and Wesley took Amanda's hand and led her to the holodeck.
"This is one of my favorites," he told her. The computer simulation he chose was that of a late twentieth century Italian restaurant on the west coast of the United States.
He and Amanda were escorted to their tables and given menus to look at. Violin music played as Amanda slowly took in her surroundings. Wesley watched her with tender amusement.
As Amanda had never tasted Italian food, Wesley ordered a mildly seasoned dish that he thought she might enjoy for her. While waiting for their meals to arrive, they rose to dance. Amanda looked totally lost.
"It's easy," Wesley whispered to her. "Just follow my lead." He held her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Soon they were moving just as the several other couples on the dance floor were.
Their food arrived steaming hot. Wesley watched as Amanda tasted hers.
"How do you like it?" he asked.
"It's...like nothing I ever tasted before, but nice." Amanda wasn't quite able to finish hers, so they asked for a carry-out box.
"Thank you for a lovely dinner," Amanda said as they headed back to their quarters.
"It was my pleasure," Wesley told her.
"How was Lily?" Amanda asked Beverly as soon as they were inside.
"Just fine. She's been asleep for about thirty minutes," Beverly replied, preparing to return to her own quarters.
"Thank you so much for watching her for us, Mom," Wesley said.
"No problem at all. She's a beautiful baby," Beverly said.
After glancing briefly at their daughter sound asleep in her new crib, Wesley and Amanda silently prepared for their first night together on the Enterprise.
