Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter 7

"What did the captain say?" Riker asked Data as the android began to plot a course. Data glanced back at the first officer, his face blank.

"His exact words were: 'For now, Let's find the nearest outpost. I think some of the crew could use a break.' to which I responded with -"

"We all heard how you responded," Riker interrupted, waving off the rest of Data's explanation. From his station, Data opened his mouth as if to call him out, but thought better of it. Humans were quite strange beings, and when you pointed out they were being rude or interrupting them they flipped it around. Humans were quite confusing indeed…

But none more so than Tasha Yar. Taking a moment to let his eyes flicker to her, Data wondered why things were so tense between them. He was an android and he could "feel" the tension, so to speak, between them.

"Mr Data." Riker's voice said harshly, making Data turn around. The commander was giving him a dirty look. "Would you mind keeping your eyes on your station?"

"Certainly, sir." Data said, turning back around and looking at his console. Little did Commander Riker know that Data had still been monitoring his station - even though his eyes were averted. He could talk with the onboard computer, and by keeping in contact with it would have been alerted to any change in course. But this would be hard to explain to any human - and it would be harder still to convince them that not looking at something didn't mean he wasn't paying attention.

Like now, he was listening for Tasha's voice. He knew it was considered rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations but...what he'd heard Tasha and Worf talking about had bothered him. Had he done something wrong when he and Tasha had slept together? If he'd done anything wrong with Tasha he wanted to know about it. Because, despite being an android, he felt an attachment to Tasha. He wasn't sure what it was but...he didn't want to lose that attachment over a mistake he'd made.

"Beta shift has ended," The robotic voice of the computer said, bringing Data out of his reverie. He glanced down at his station, and saw that it was indeed time for a shift change. With practiced ease, he got out of his seat, and then turned to see who would be replacing him. To his surprise, it was a young ensign.

"Good evening," The ensign said, and Data nodded to him. From what he knew of the crew of the Enterprise, this young man had never steered a Starship before. A sudden thought occurred to him - he could take this chance to give the ensign one of those "good luck" speeches he'd read humans were fond of.

"I wish you luck, ensign," Data said, giving him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Do not crash the ship into a nebula."

"Uh...okay," The ensign said, a strange expression going over his face. Data nodded and started for the turbolift. As he went up the steps to the lift - he noticed that Tasha, Worf, and he had all just missed the last lift. It was full at maximum capacity and the three of them had to wait for the next one.

"You were a bit harsh on the new ensign," Worf remarked, low enough that only him, Tasha, and Data could hear. Data glanced over at the Klingon, and cocked his head to the side.

"I was?"

"Little bit," Tasha agreed, trying not to act too weird. I mean - Data was her crush - and they'd slept together and….well lets just say that things felt a little weird between them. Things had gone way too fast between them. Tasha didn't even know if Data liked her...or if androids could even 'like' someone.

"That was not my intention," Data said, blinking. "I was merely trying to emulate the way humans say good luck to one another. Such as when one actor says to the other 'break a leg'."

"Maybe next time, just stick with 'good luck'." Tasha said, with a little more sarcasm than she'd intended. Data raised an eyebrow, and was about to ask if she was being sarcastic when the turbo lift opened. "Oh look - the next turbo lift!"

"Indeed," Data said, glancing over at the now open doors, and then back at Tasha. Was it just her, or did she see a flicker of something in his eyes? "I believe the human saying is: ladies first."

"Oh. Yes. Thank you," Tasha said, hurriedly walking into the lift. She chose the farthest spot from the entrance, and hoped that Data would not stand right next to her. She needed to sort out her feelings and talk to someone about what had happened between them before she talked with him again...

Meanwhile, on deck 12, Wesley Crusher was returning home from one of his school lectures. But his thoughts were not on his school work today. Nor would they be for a long, long time to come.

Because, very soon, his mom wouldn't be Beverly Crusher - but Beverly Picard, or maybe Crusher-Picard. Wes wondered if that meant he was getting a name change too, or if he'd keep the last name Crusher.

Wesley's mind was still on name changes when he approached the door to room 1629, that is until he heard the Captain's voice coming from it.

"When do you want to tell Wesley?" Picard asked, and Wesley's interest was immediately piqued.

"Not now…" Beverly replied, sounding almost sad. "I don't want to make things...weird or anything. Besides, we're not even married."

"That's true," Picard replied. Wesley bit his lip and glanced around. There was no one else here but him...no to tell his mom and future step-dad that he was eavesdropping on them. "But we should tell him eventually, Beverly. He has a right to know."

"Yes, yes," Beverly replied, rather sharply. "But now's not the best time. I mean, it's not like we need to prepare for a change this big, yet. We have a few months."

"A few months to prepare for what?" Wesley asked himself out loud. Then, realizing his mistake he quickly backed away from the door. If he could hear them talking out here - then they could probably hear him talking out here. Putting on a face of someone who didn't' just hear something suspicious - Wesley started walking down in the direction opposite his mom's room. Then, when he heard the door swish open, he turned around and put on a fake smile.

"Wesley?" Beverly said, poking her head out of the doorway. Wes gave his mom a wave and jogged towards her.

"Hi mom," He said, like he hadn't just been listening in a secret conversation. "I was just on my way back from a Physics lecture."

"Oh," Beverly said, glancing around the corridor. She didn't see anyone else...but she could have sworn she'd heard someone say something outside the door… "Wes, did you happen to see anyone come by?"

"No," Wesley said, hoping he played a convincing innocent bystander. "Why?"

"Oh - no reason," Beverly said, nervously running a hand through her hair. "So, how was your class?"

"It was fine," Wesley said, walking into the room. He pretended to be surprised to see the Captain standing in his living room. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Wesley," Picard said, giving the young man a nod. Picard exchanged a look with Beverly, and that made Wes all the more upset. What was it they were hiding from him? "I, um, I think I'd best be going."

"But you just got here," Wesley protested, "This is about the time mom and I have lunch. Did you want to join us?"

"Uh…" Picard glanced at Beverly. The doctor gave a little shrug, unsure of what else to do. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, no, it's no trouble," Beverly said, finally getting her mouth to work. Suddenly she gave Wesley a hug before she pushed him towards his room. "Why don't you go put your stuff away and then help set the table?"

"Sure, mom," Wesley said, wondering if he could get them to slip up during dinner. Shaking his head, he decided he needed to do some more research before he tried that. He wanted to be sure there was something going on before he tried to get them to talk.

Sorry it took so long to update! I've been pretty busy this week, but I'm trying to work on writing at least once a week on my fanfics. Also - thank you to all who reviewed this story! I'm so glad so many people like it! I was doing some looking for a fanfic way back in 2019 for a romance about Beverly and Jean-Luc and I only found a few shorts ones so I had this idea to make one where they had a little girl...and vwalla - it's a hit! You have no idea how great it feels not to be the only one who wanted Jean-Luc and Beverly to get together - and to have a little girl together. Till next time!