Twenty-Four: Changes

Due to the incident with Daniella and Anton, Data made the decision to leave the Enterprise. I was shocked since I knew how much he loved being a Starfleet Officer. He said the decision was simple for him to make since he valued the safety of his family above everything else. It was ironic in a way. I had spent two years at the academy and was about to become a full-time mother instead of working in the field. A position came up at Cambridge University. The opening was for a professor in the Astronomy division. Data accepted and agreed to begin after he finished out the month's notice he gave the captain. The news was bittersweet for me. I was leaving yet another place I grew to call my home.

Before long, the big day came and I was terrified. Data was on his way back from an away mission when I went into labor. I wish I could say it was quick and virtually painless, but that would be a lie. The pain was so bad I had flashbacks of my torture on the Romulan ship. I prayed that Data would show up soon. I didn't think I could make it without him by my side. That prayer was answered about two hours later when he was beamed directly to sickbay. He rushed to my side and kissed my forehead. Beverly gave me another round of medicine to ease the pain. It was an immense relief, but I still experienced intense, uncomfortable pressure. Data assisted the doctor, at times almost doing her job completely, and did an outstanding job of keeping me calm and focused. I'll spare you the colorful details about the birth itself, but let's just say I have a newfound respect for my mother. When all was said and done, I gave birth to our child; a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He had russet-brown hair, eyes as blue as the Caribbean Sea and was every bit as handsome as his father — he even had Data's prominent nose. However, he had my golden-olive skin tone — of course; we wouldn't notice this until later since he was still pale. Beverly placed my newborn son in my arms and I cried the happiest tears of my life, as did Data.

"Kadalynn, you were remarkable." Data commented.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Data. None of this would have been possible without you." I wept, "My gosh, Data! He looks just like you!" I whispered as my newborn son fell asleep in my arms, "Would you like to hold him? Would you like to hold our son?"

"Yes. I would like that very much." He answered as he gently scooped our son from my arms.

It was such an amazing moment, seeing the love of my life holding our son.

"My son!" Data whispered proudly before correcting himself, "Our son! Lysander Soong. I will do my best to be a good father to you and a good husband to your mother." He said to Lysander.

We decided on the name Lysander early on in the pregnancy. We also selected an alternate name in case our child turned out to be a girl.

"Well, I'll say you've already got the second part down." I said to Data, who turned to me.

"Kadalynn, this is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me! Thank you!" he replied with a tearful smile before he kissed me passionately.

"Hey, enough of that. That's why Kadalynn ended up here in the first place!" Beverly joked, but Data ignored her.

Luckily, my parents were able to visit the Enterprise and welcome their grandchild. They were ecstatic about the next step Data and I were taking in our marriage. Of course, my parents had a plethora of advice to offer.

My emotions ran rampant during post-partum. The fact that Data and I were moving with our new baby didn't help matters. At the going away party, I cried buckets of tears. I calmly excused myself before running back to our quarters and sobbing hysterically. It wasn't just out of sadness, but out of fear of what the future held for me and my new family. I should've known that Data would follow me. He entered the room just seconds after I started my crying fit and sat beside me on the sofa.

"Kadalynn, are you alright?" He asked.

"No, Data, I'm not. Every time I get used to something, it gets taken away or lost. I can't keep going through this." I sobbed as he held me close.

I knew Data wouldn't offer me the option of us remaining on the Enterprise. We discussed the topic many times and it was clear that he already had his mind made up. I really didn't have too much of a choice. I can't say that I blame him; he was hell-bent on protecting his family and keeping us from harm.

"I know you will miss our friends, as will I, but they will not be lost. We will still be able to contact them and visit them when possible. Kadalynn, I understand you do not like changes, but changes can be good. Lysander is a perfect example of that." Data explained tenderly.

At that moment, I realized that he was right… yet again! Before returning to the farewell gathering, we went to see our son — who was being cared for at the nursery during the party. I recall Dr. Crusher poking fun at me for checking on Lysander every half hour. She said it defeated the purpose of me bringing him to the nursery to begin with.

After the move, I got settled even quicker than I thought. The campus at Cambridge was exquisite and Data and I were set up in very impressive quarters. Data made our living space resemble the setting from one of his Sherlock Holmes holodeck programs. I didn't mind since I liked the style as well. We even adopted another cat. At first I was nervous about the new cat getting along with Spot. As it turned out, they got along very well. Spot ended up giving birth to a litter of kittens. They were so cute; I couldn't bear to give them away, so needless to say, we had our hands full. The captain would visit whenever possible and would always bring Shinzon along. It was so hard for me to believe that Shinzon was already five years old. He was growing very nicely and was speaking very well. It was scary how closely he resembled Capt. Picard. Our other friends would visit occasionally as well.

It was important for me to have a family with both human and android elements incorporated into it. Data was a bit apprehensive about attempting to create another child from his positronic brain and I felt terrible. I felt I had reopened the painful wound of the loss of his daughter Lal. He reassured me that my intentions were noble, but said he would have to give it much thought before coming to a decision. In the meantime, we thoroughly enjoyed raising our son, Lysander. He was a joy, but often became jealous whenever Shinzon would visit and would use that time as an opportunity to scream at the top of his lungs. Hey, they don't call it the 'terrible twos' for nothing. Shinzon was equally jealous, but neither child compared to Spot and her rapidly growing kittens, who meowed relentlessly when they didn't get the attention they wanted. It took me a while to figure out how to juggle being a wife and a mother, but I managed as best I could. Data and I would occasionally clash over differences of opinion of how to go about certain things. A few times I feared our marriage would end in divorce — something Data didn't believe in. As I recall, he said: "Divorce is contrary to the vows we took on the day we married. It is not an option." Thankfully, we got past that difficult time and moved forward as a team.

Our second child came as a bit of a surprise to both of us. We were overjoyed he arrived. This time around, I had hoped for a girl, but was content with having a healthy baby regardless of gender. Data wanted to name him Geordan, which of course was inspired by Geordi — who was honored to not only be the Godfather to our children, but to have one named after him. Everyone seemed to agree that Geordan resembled me a bit more than he did Data. Although he was just a toddler himself, Lysander enjoyed helping out when it came to his younger brother. As time went on, Data excelled at his career as a professor. He enjoyed his work very much. He and I spoke of the possibility of me getting back into the workforce once Geordan became old enough.

One day, we were invited to the Enterprise for a joyous occasion. The wedding of Capt. Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher. Apparently, the two of them raising Shinzon had brought them together on many levels. The wedding was beautiful. Data and I recalled our wedding day and couldn't believe we were approaching our seven year anniversary! When we returned home, Data hit me with an unexpected request.

"I would like for us to have another child." He stated.

"Data. I thought we agreed that once Geordan was old enough to attend pre-school I would get a job."

"I am aware of that. Kadalynn, do you not wish to expand our family?"

"I do, but I just need a little time. My body isn't exactly as young as it used to be." I chuckled.

"Your body will not be required for this addition. Kadalynn, I wish for us to create an android child." He explained.

I knew I was in for a world of work, but I was certainly not going to deny him the right to create an android child. Especially after all he'd already done for me.

After several weeks of feverish work, the android was complete, but with a neutral gender. Data and I agreed that our android child would choose its own gender. I was excited and looked forward to receiving what would possibly be my first female child. Alas, the android chose a male gender. Therefore, we named him Vencel. He had the appearance of a man in his early twenties. His eyes and hair were nearly black and his skin was the color of peaches and cream. Data remarked that aside from eye-color, Vencel closely resembled a very young Dr. Soong. Vencel was created without emotions. Data decided that we wouldn't create and install an emotion chip until we were absolutely certain about the stability of Vencel's positronic brain. There was an unnerving time where he had trouble controlling his strength and motor functions. This resulted in damaged furniture and me suffering a few minor bruises. As a precaution, we kept him away from the other children until his condition improved. After an awkward period of acclimating Vencel to certain routines he learned and adapted very well. He, Lysander and Geordan got along wonderfully.

It was an absolute challenge to juggle our three children while Data worked at the university. For awhile, our romantic life had come to a complete standstill. I've heard this often happens as a marriage progresses and children enter the picture. Data would often try to initiate intimacy, but all I wanted to do in bed was sleep! I was completely exhausted. Things were just so hectic and intense I didn't have the energy for much else. As time went on, things got slightly easier and we slowly began to rekindle our romance. Data eventually had to increase the soundproofing of our bedroom to surpass Vencel's super-hearing after a rather embarrassing incident. Hearing my muffled cries of passion one night, Vencel thought I was in distress. He pried open the heavy sealed door, walked in on me and Data and asked why he was attacking me. Data felt it was time for Vencel to access the next level of his sexuality program. Needing no further explanation from us, he apologized for interrupting before leaving the room. If only it were that easy for human children! I thought.