AN: This is a little oneshot/episode for Lwaxana and Odo. I'm just enjoying playing with these two characters, really. As usual, this can be read as part of the other little stories that I've written, or it can be read alone as a simple little "episode" with these two characters.
I own nothing from Star Trek.
I hope you enjoy! If you do enjoy, please do let me know! I love sharing with you!
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Odo stood by the biobed where Lwaxana Troi was seated, and paid attention to the doctor speaking. He would have been tense if Lwaxana were unwell, but this was mostly a discussion, despite the fact that Lwaxana had offered over a few samples of various bodily fluids upon their arrival.
"My greatest concern, of course, is Lwaxana's health and safety," Odo offered.
Until about eight months ago, Odo never could have imagined himself saying those words. Lwaxana Troi had been of very little importance to him over the years, even though he'd at least known of her existence—everyone in the Federation knew of Lwaxana Troi's existence, after all. Now, of course, Odo knew much more about Lwaxana—far more than most people—and he understood better why it was that the whole of the Federation knew the woman and, even if they didn't exactly respect her, found themselves somewhat ordered to accommodate her.
Odo's initial accommodation of Lwaxana had been owing to her role as Ambassador of Betazed, and her unknown-to-most role as a high-ranking intelligence operative for the Federation—a role he didn't know about until much, much later. His later accommodation of Lwaxana had come from a deep appreciation of who she was and for her kindness. Now, everything he did was because he loved her beyond measure and reason.
Odo had married Lwaxana to save her from a marriage that would have cost her the right to raise her son—Veta—who was now Odo's son in every sense of the word, biology be damned. The half-Betazoid and half-Tavnian infant was one of the greatest things in Odo's life, surpassed only, perhaps, by the love of Odo's life: Lwaxana Troi.
When Odo expressed his concern, Lwaxana patted his hand and Odo squeezed her arm.
Doctor Beverly Crusher was addressing them, but this was no medical emergency. It had been planned for a little while. They were, currently, aboard the Enterprise. The visit to the ship was a personal one, though the Federation had some interest in the exchange and, therefore had had a certain hand in making sure that everyone's paths lined up to make it possible.
Crusher smiled at Odo warmly. The conversation they were having was serious, but it was a medical conversation of a happy nature, so there was no need for her to be too grave.
"I've reviewed all the information provided to me by the Betazoid scientists. The Betazoid species is actually quite fascinating. I had no idea…"
"No doctor outside of Betazed truly would, my dear," Lwaxana offered with a laugh. "It's really never been necessary to share all the little details."
"Until now," Odo offered.
Crusher nodded her head.
"Until now," she echoed. "I assure you that I'll keep all medical information about the both of you confidential. I've been in contact with several people at Federation Headquarters and, though I'm unaware of all the details, I do know that you both have a maximum security placed on your files and information."
"Surely it isn't as serious as all that," Lwaxana said with a click of her tongue. "The condition of my uterus is hardly galactic news."
"It may very well be soon," Crusher said with a laugh. "This is—unprecedented on many levels, Mrs. Troi."
"Beverly, dear—Lwaxana, please."
"I'm sorry…Lwaxana," Crusher corrected.
"Are you saying that—Lwaxana is well enough to continue?" Odo asked.
Crusher laughed.
"Lwaxana's health is truly remarkable," Crusher assured him. "As I was saying—I've reviewed all of the information. Given the long lifespan of Betazoids and their species' natural inclination toward reproduction, Lwaxana is actually considered to be in her reproductive prime. These are actually her most fertile years, and the somewhat recent birth of Veta means that her body is in a state of what the scientists call active fertility."
"Meaning that I am very likely to conceive when the means for doing so is present," Lwaxana filled in.
"Exactly," Crusher said, possibly not remembering or realizing that Lwaxana was perfectly capable of extracting every thought directly from her head and sharing it with Odo. Lwaxana wouldn't do that, of course, because it would make Crusher uncomfortable—and Lwaxana practically considered it an occupation to make people feel as comfortable as she could, unless, of course, she wanted to engage in a touch of harmless teasing as a way of holding a mirror up to them and showing them that they took themselves far too seriously.
"So—what does that mean, exactly?" Odo asked.
"It means that we have to decide if you want to proceed or not," Crusher said, matter-of-factly. "Lwaxana's health is good. I don't foresee any problems there. The entire procedure is, of course, experimental, but we're starting with the best conditions possible."
Lwaxana looked at Odo. He could read the question on her features. He squeezed her shoulder and looked at the doctor.
"What…exactly…will it all entail?" Odo asked.
They had discussed this, of course, but they had only discussed it hypothetically. A part of both of them, really, had been reserving their excitement that it could even be a possibility. It was something to talk about. It was something to dream about. It wasn't anything, though, that would really happen.
Crusher didn't seem at all alarmed by Odo's question, though, and she didn't question him on why he wanted a careful explanation of the process.
"Lwaxana has expressed that she would prefer me to handle the majority of the procedure and her care," Crusher said. "For the times when the Enterprise may be inaccessible, I'll be sharing information with Doctor Bashir on Deep Space Nine. He'll be able to handle Lwaxana's care in my absence, and he can take care of anything that might arise on the station and require immediate care."
"Is that OK with you, Lwaxana?" Odo asked.
"That's fine," Lwaxana said. "However, whenever possible, I simply feel that I would prefer…"
"It's OK," Crusher said, interrupting. "You don't have to explain yourself, and nobody is offended. You're allowed to choose your primary medical care provider without having to offer any sort of explanation. As you requested, I've been studying the procedures that are available to assist in your very unique situation. I've selected what I think will be the best option."
"Which is?" Odo pressed. Crusher smiled and nodded at him. It was meant to offer him comfort. He could sense that. He also felt the comfort, and realized that he was tense. "I'm sorry…"
"Don't be," Crusher said. "I would explain the whole thing to you, at any rate. It's best if you're fully aware of the procedure so that you can make a decision that you're happy with, and so that you're comfortable with everything you'll both undergo. For the procedure, I will extract some of Lwaxana's eggs. I will also take a small sample from you, Odo, from which I'll be able to isolate your DNA. I'll be able to fuse your DNA in synthetic casings that will act as a sperm cells, and I will introduce them into the eggs to begin the process of fertilization."
"It sounds really quite simple," Lwaxana said.
"It's much simpler than it would have been even fifty years ago," Crusher said. "We've made huge advances in the field of fertility for various species. They're able to successfully aid in inter-species mating that would have never resulted in viable offspring before. It's not uncommon, these days, to easily create biological offspring from parents of the same sex, even. What we learn here will even help to advance things further for future couples hoping to conceive."
"So—this won't be a challenge?" Odo asked.
"The greatest challenge that we foresee, really, is simply understanding the nature of your species, Odo," Crusher said. "We have no insight into reproduction for your species. We don't know what to expect. There's no documentation of past experiences, so everything in this pregnancy will be, essentially, brand new and somewhat experimental."
"An adventure," Lwaxana said, smiling. She took Odo's hand in hers, sandwiching one of his hands tightly between both of her own. "Oh—Odo—it will all be so exciting…"
"That's a wonderful perspective to have," Crusher said. "It may be necessary to keep that in mind as we're navigating everything."
"Oh—I trust you, Beverly, dear," Lwaxana said. "You'll handle all the technical medical mumbo jumbo, and you'll leave the rest of it to Odo and myself. I've had some experience bringing babies into the world, and Odo is a wonderful father, provider, and caretaker. I'll never want for anything."
Odo felt warm and a little odd—as though he were so happy that he might actually go entirely past happy to an entirely inexplicable sense of sadness.
"If you will inform us of what needs to be done," Odo offered, "we'll see that it's done to any specifications provided to us."
"Right now, all that we need to do is finalize everything," Crusher said.
"And the child will be biologically our child?" Odo asked. "It will be—a piece of Lwaxana and a piece of me?"
Crusher nodded.
"The child will be the biological offspring of the two of you," Beverly said.
"And the…synthetic cell," Odo said, "how will it affect the biology of the child?"
"Not at all," Crusher said. "The synthetic casings have been used in a number of fertilization techniques where a sperm cell wasn't present or wasn't strong enough to achieve fertilization. They dissolve entirely, and they leave no traceable effect on the child."
Odo considered things.
"The child—it will be—like me?" He asked. Crusher looked at him. "Nothing has ever been like me before."
"Odo, it will be wonderful," Lwaxana assured him. "Absolutely wonderful!"
Crusher's pleasant expression didn't fade. She didn't seem shocked or horrified by some realization that the baby would be like Odo. She didn't seem horrified, really, by Odo at all.
"The child will be half-Betazoid and half…"
"Changeling," Odo offered.
"The child will be half-Betazoid and half-Changeling," Crusher said. "This child will be your biological offspring in every way possible. The procedure will simply be a way to make that possible, since it hasn't proven to be possible to this point."
Lwaxana had never explicitly told Crusher that she and Odo didn't actually engage in sexual intercourse. She never explicitly told her they had, either. She'd simply said that they wanted to have a child together, but that hadn't been possible. Crusher had assumed that, perhaps due to something about his species, Odo's genetic material didn't work quite the same way as that of other species and, therefore, it wasn't quite joining up with Lwaxana's genetic material in the necessary manner for the two of them to conceive a child. Of course, Crusher wasn't wrong. Their genetic material wasn't joining together, at all, in the manner necessary for them to conceive a child.
"When do we get started?" Lwaxana asked.
Crusher looked a little surprised, but she hid it well and quickly.
"Are you sure you don't want to discuss it with each other?" Crusher asked.
"What is there to discuss, Beverly dear? Odo and I came to you because we wanted to have a child. You're telling us that we can do just that—when do we start?"
Crusher looked at Odo, and he nodded. A part of him might stall a bit longer and continue the conversation with Lwaxana, but he already knew how the conversation would end. It would end the same way it had the last however many times they'd discussed it—they loved each other, they loved Veta, and they wanted to have a child of their own to grow their family more, if such a thing were possible.
It was possible, and they were embracing it.
"We can start right away," Crusher said. "I'll need to gather a few things, but…I can perform the egg extraction and gather the samples today. Then, it'll take approximately two weeks before the eggs are fertilized and stable enough for transplantation into your uterus."
Lwaxana smiled at Odo. He thought he saw a hint of nervousness in her eyes, but she hid it well.
"Should we wait here, or would you like us to come back for everything?" He asked, taking over for Lwaxana.
"You can absolutely wait here. I'll be right back," Crusher said after a second. "Lwaxana—I'll have Nurse Ogawa bring you a gown…if you'll just get changed, we can get started. You don't need to worry. The extraction procedure is simple and most patients say they feel nothing at all."
"There are very few times in life when that's something you want to hear, now isn't it?" Lwaxana said, laughing at her own teasing. Before Crusher had been gone for more than a moment, the nurse brought the gown and closed the curtain around the biobed to give Lwaxana and Odo what little bit of privacy sickbay had to offer.
Lwaxana went about changing into the gown, and Odo helped her with the fastenings of her own dress and then those of the gown.
"Are you certain that you want to do this, Beloved?" Odo asked, when they were alone.
"Every bit as certain as I was the last six times you asked me, Odo," Lwaxana said. "Are you certain that you want to do this?"
"I am still amazed at the thought that they will take some piece of me, and some piece of you, and together we will create a new life."
"That's how these things usually work, Odo," Lwaxana said. "The steps are a bit different here, perhaps, but we've never really done things normally…you and me. Our child will be a little piece of me, and a little piece of you, and it'll be wonderful."
"Until I knew you," Odo said, "I could never say that it was wonderful to be a Changeling."
"You are wonderful to me, Husband," Lwaxana assured him. "And we'll raise our child to know just how wonderful they are, too."
"You're sure you want your child to be a Changeling, Lwaxana?" Odo asked. "You could conceive a child another way, and I would love it…just as I do Veta."
"Odo—the piece of our child that comes from you will be my favorite piece," Lwaxana assured him. "Unless, of course, it's you who doesn't want to have a child that's a little piece of me, too."
Odo knew she was teasing. Still, he appreciated it.
"I would want a dozen children that were just like you," Odo said.
Lwaxana laughed and got comfortable on the bed. Odo rearranged her sickbay gown, though Lwaxana had never shown much modesty worth mentioning and he didn't imagine that she would start today.
"If we're having a half a dozen," Lwaxana offered, "then you better start talking to Beverly about how you can carry the others."
"You know what I mean," Odo said.
"I do," Lwaxana said. "Now—stop talking, Odo. Come here and hold my hand."
"Doctor Crusher said the procedure wouldn't be painful," Odo said. "I don't think you have any need to be worried."
"I'm not worried," Lwaxana said. "I simply…enjoy holding onto some piece of you."
Odo felt the warmth that he often did in her presence. He felt the happy vibration that was beyond his control, really, when she was near him and he felt so absolutely beside himself at how much he loved her and everything she'd brought to his life.
He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead before the doctor could return and he would feel the need to be at least a touch more reserved with his affections.
"You will always hold a piece of me, Beloved," Odo assured her. "I hope that I, too, will always hold a piece of you…"
"You'll always hold my heart, Odo," Lwaxana assured him. "The rest is yours as you want it. It always will be."