AN: This is just a little Odo and Lwaxana one shot.

It ties in with the rest of the little universe that I've created, so it will be enhanced by reading that, but it's not entirely necessary to have read the other pieces.

I own nothing from Star Trek. This is just for entertainment.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do consider letting me know!

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Odo Troi—once…well, it wasn't important what he'd once been called—was the beloved husband of Lwaxana Troi. He was her imzadi—her Beloved, and her soulmate. He was the adopted papa of the half-Tavnian son, Veta, that had been born to her as a result of a marriage that, arguably, she'd only really ended up in because Odo had broken her heart…twice…but that wasn't important, and Lwaxana tried not to bring it up too much, even though it did seem to come up every now and again when she was feeling especially emotional or fragile.

These days, she felt like she was feeling emotional and fragile a bit more than was even usual for her—and emotions were very common for Betazoid females. Being emotional, really, was practically a hallmark of Lwaxana's species.

These days, though, Lwaxana had an excess of hormones, mostly owing to the fact that she was carrying two very perfect little Betazoid-Changelings—the first of their kind.

The little ones were Odo's first biological children. They were the first children whose lives he'd been a part of since creation. And, even though he never drew unnecessary attention to the fact that Veta was not his biological offspring, Lwaxana knew that he was feeling an absolute sea of emotions over the existence of the little ones.

After all, their birth would mean, in addition to all the obvious things that a birth meant for any family, that Odo was no longer the only known Changeling. Granted, the twins were only half-Changelings, but they were Changelings nonetheless. This fact, of course, fascinated Federation scientists and government officials alike. Lwaxana, who was Ambassador to her home planet of Betazed, was also an undercover operative for the Federation. Odo, now, served as Chief of Security aboard the Station Deep Space Nine, but he also served as an undercover security officer and security consult for the Federation—perhaps owing a touch to his marriage to Lwaxana and her importance to the Federation.

Now, both of them were of even greater interest to the Federation, since they had agreed for Lwaxana and the twins to be studied to further the scientific knowledge of the Federation. In exchange, all Lwaxana had really asked for was the best medical treatment she could possibly have—including her choice of care providers practically on-call. The Federation hadn't hesitated even a moment to agree to the terms, and Doctor Beverly Crusher attended to any concern, no matter how minor, that Lwaxana or Odo had about the pregnancy or their offspring.

Lwaxana and Odo had only recently returned from the Enterprise where Crusher had closely monitored their little ones to learn about their behavior in the womb and to make sure that they looked healthy.

During that trip, Odo had brought it up to Lwaxana that, since she was beginning to show—or, at the very least, was beginning to look pregnant and not just like she'd been gaining some weight—maybe it was time to have a party or two where they could formally announce that she was expecting their twins. Lwaxana usually loved parties, but Odo didn't, so it was odd for him to suggest such a thing. Still, Lwaxana thought that, perhaps, his interest might lie in sharing something that was so monumentally important and exciting to him.

For that reason, Lwaxana wanted him to have the best party that he possibly could.

The so-called celebration aboard the Enterprise hadn't been very exciting—nobody there really knew Odo well, and most people didn't really like Lwaxana—but Lwaxana believed that Odo's friends on Deep Space Nine would shower him in the positive attention that he so clearly wanted and deserved, no matter how they may actually feel about Lwaxana.

Lwaxana had arranged the party without telling anyone what it was about, and she practically begged everyone to come and, if they could think of anyone, to bring someone else, for Odo's sake. By the time it was time for the gathering, Quark's was nearly overflowing. The little Ferengi was thrilled, and Lwaxana could barely breathe for the swelling feeling of happiness in her chest that came from her own happiness and, especially, from that of Odo.

Lwaxana had stood with Odo at the front of the bar when he'd made the announcement. He'd held Veta on one hip, and he'd kept his arm looped through Lwaxana's. She'd tapped a glass with a spoon, drawing everyone's attention, but that had really been the extent of her contribution for the evening.

Odo had proudly told them all that his family was officially growing by two. He had clarified, in case anyone wasn't capable of understanding what he'd meant, that Lwaxana was expecting twins, and, then, he'd clearly relished the cheers, clapping, and congratulations that followed.

Lwaxana felt no disappointment over how his friends had reacted. Whether or not they personally adored children, and regardless of how they might actually feel about Lwaxana, they were all happy for Odo—he had a family, and he adored his family.

And Odo's family adored him.

Lwaxana had been somewhat mingling, but she'd mostly been sitting to the side and watching Odo enjoy his attention. He was the center of attention for something he wanted—something that made him happy—and it was doing wonders for a Changeling who had once been the center of attention only as a novelty.

Lwaxana knew, of course, that her husband was something of an anomaly, and that he fascinated a great number of people. She knew, too, that her children would be the same. She was no stranger to that. As one of the most powerful telepaths in the Federation—a fact that she kept pretty well under lock and proverbial key to help her keep her undercover position effective—Lwaxana knew what it was to be a bit outside the norm. Her son, Veta, was the only Tavnian-Betazoid hybrid known to the Federation, as well. Still, Lwaxana though that normal was boring, and there was nothing boring about her delightful little family.

She was aware, sometimes, though of just how much others saw members of her family as "other." After all, it was easy for people to forget that Lwaxana was a telepath.

"Papa—I think you're needed," Lwaxana said, approaching Odo with their fussing son on her hip.

Odo looked at her over his shoulder like he was surprised to see her there. He'd been so absorbed in what he was doing—showing off recordings of their little ones, in the womb, that Crusher had compiled for them from what she'd gathered while monitoring the twins—that he'd almost forgotten that anyone was there who wasn't gathered around just to see their little ones change from their Betazoid form to their Changeling form and back again.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Odo," Lwaxana said. Veta struggled to reach his father, making Lwaxana hold a little more tightly to the boy to keep him from falling as he leaned dramatically forward. "It's just—he's been fed, and nursed, and changed…and Mr. Homn offered to take him to play with the butterflies in the holosuite program. But all he wants is…"

"Papa!" Veta interrupted, crying out for Odo. "Papa!" He added, the second one coming out sounding downright gurgly from his tears.

It took nothing else to convince Odo. He was so entirely smitten with Veta that the boy could have anything he wanted from Odo. When all he wanted was affection, though, and when he was so openly clear that he loved his papa most desperately, he could really have what he wanted.

Odo passed the PADD with the recordings on it to Bashir, and he took Veta.

"Excuse me a moment," he said. He walked off toward the holosuites. Lwaxana already knew that he wasn't going to take part in a program. He would arrange himself so that he could create a carrier for Veta—something resembling the one she used when she needed her hands free, but she needed to hold her son at the same time—but he didn't like to change his form much without privacy.

Lwaxana turned at the pressure of Bashir's hand on her shoulder. He smiled at her, and she reached within herself to pull out the warmest diplomatic smile that she had.

Lwaxana did not dislike Julian Bashir at all. He was a perfectly pleasant individual and, as far as Lwaxana could tell, he was a perfectly capable physician.

She simply didn't really want him to be her physician and, like every other doctor in the quadrant right now, he wanted to be her physician a great deal. Bashir, of course, had known about the twins before this evening. He shared information with Crusher, since he was often closest in physical proximity to Lwaxana, in case he was needed to handle an emergency until Crusher could arrive on the station.

Lwaxana could read his mind easily, though, and she knew that he secretly hoped that Lwaxana's delivery of the twins would be just such an emergency. He hoped to be the one to deliver the little ones, mostly because he hoped to be able to write the reports of the experience for the Federation scientists that would be anxious to have them. Bashir wanted to be the one to deliver the first Changeling babies whose birth had ever been recorded in any way.

Lwaxana didn't doubt his abilities, and she didn't mind him as a person, but she preferred Crusher's bedside manner. Crusher had been involved in combining Lwaxana and Odo's DNA to help create their twins. She had implanted the embryos. She had been there when Lwaxana had learned that the embryos had attached, and she was pregnant. As a result, when Lwaxana looked into Crusehr's mind, she found that Crusher felt a certain affection for the babies—and for Lwaxana and Odo, by extension—that Bashir simply didn't feel. Bashir wished to deliver the babies solely for the experience and the report. Crusher wished for the experience, of course, but she was also excited to welcome the little ones into the world.

"Ambassador Troi…" Bashir said, verbally drawing Lwaxana's attention, unaware that he'd already had her attention as she'd been reading his thoughts.

"Please, Dear…Lwaxana."

"Lwaxana," he said with a smile, as though she hadn't told him a dozen times, to call her that, "I'd like to offer a formal congratulations now that the existence of your twins is public knowledge."

"Thank you," Lwaxana said. "As you already know, Odo and I are most excited. Aren't we?" She asked, addressing her final question to Odo as he returned with Veta happily hugged against him in the carrier that, to anyone who didn't know him well, appeared to be something he was wearing and not, as it was in reality, something of an actual appendage that Odo had shaped for himself. Lwaxana reached a hand out to affectionately brush Odo's arm. She mentally raised her shields, blocking Odo telepathically.

"Aren't we what, Beloved?" Odo asked. He would only be slightly alarmed that he couldn't read her. In spaces that were crowded, as Quark's was at the moment, Lwaxana often closed off her mind so that she wasn't constantly bombarded with others' thoughts and feelings.

"Excited about the little ones," Lwaxana said, smiling at him. The smile that came naturally when she looked at Odo was one that she felt throughout her body. She hugged his arm and he leaned to kiss her cheek, not shy about his affection, even in public.

"Excited hardly seems the word for it," Odo said. "It doesn't do the feeling justice."

"I do hate to run," Lwaxana said, "but—I need to visit the little girl's room. It's part of the whole experience, I suppose. I'll leave you two to chat. Odo—be sure to show him the darling little images of the babies playing together."

"Are you sure you're OK, Wife?" Odo asked.

She winked at him and renewed her smile to soothe him. She leaned and kissed his cheek before she released his arm.

"Perfect. Really, Odo. Have fun…I'll be around. Just—call if you need me."

Lwaxana happily escaped. She did go to relieve herself—she hadn't lied about the almost incessant need to do so with two little Changelings feeling as though they were playing some sort of extreme sport with her bladder—but when she returned to the room, she found herself a quiet table at which to sit, and she sank into the chair and, really, into her own sort of obscurity.

"The lady of honor isn't mingling?"

Lwaxana jumped, putting her hand on her chest. She sighed when she realized it was Quark.

"Oh—dear—you scared me, Quark," she said.

"Up to no good?" He teased.

"Lost in thought," Lwaxana said, relaxing. "Just—looking at how happy Odo is."

"Is Odo the only one who's happy?" Quark asked.

"Oh—no—not at all," Lwaxana said. Usually, she felt annoyed by Quark's presence. For the moment, though, he didn't seem to be the same annoying little troll that he often was. "I'm very happy. Even more so that Odo is getting the attention he so deserves."

Quark laughed.

"Don't you deserve a little, yourself? If I'm not mistaken, you're a part of the whole blessed event, aren't you?"

"Oh—but it doesn't matter as much to me," Lwaxana said. "Odo's never had anything like this. I want him to have all of it. All he can handle—and then some. He deserves a wonderful night."

"What about you?"

Lwaxana shrugged her shoulders.

"Odo's so happy that…I'll have all the happiness and attention I want when we leave here," Lwaxana said. "I always do. Odo never fails to spoil me."

"You really do love him, don't you?" Quark asked.

Lwaxana couldn't help but laugh at the way he said it.

"Of course," she said. "I may love Odo more than he loves me, if we're being honest."

"You don't really think that, do you?" Quark asked.

"Oh—well—I mean it's possible," Lwaxana said. "I did somewhat pursue him, you know. And—he wasn't in love with me. He wasn't interested in me at all, really. He was in love with…well…it doesn't matter, now does it? He was really quite put out—exasperated, even, with me. Maybe worse. And the whole decision to marry me? I freely admit, I may have forced his hand a little."

Quark held his hand up.

"Just a moment," he said.

Lwaxana nodded her head. Quark disappeared and came back a moment later with a tray. He sat it down in front of Lwaxana, and he took the seat next to her.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Delovian crème fudge cake," Quark said. "I know you enjoy it. And—champagne. Non-alcoholic. For the two of us to enjoy."

Lwaxana laughed in surprised delight.

"Quark—but…why?"

Quark tasted the champagne. He smiled at Lwaxana.

"Because Moogies are very important," Quark said. "Everyone knows that. And because—what can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic."

Lwaxana picked up the fork and cut a bite of the small cake.

"Well—what can I say, then? Thank you, Quark. This means a lot." She tasted the cake and rolled her eyes, making a bigger deal over the taste—which she quite enjoyed, honestly—than was really necessary. Quark beamed, and she felt his happiness over the fact that he could bring her some kind of happiness, even with her shields raised so that she couldn't actually experience his feelings empathically. Lwaxana felt her chest ache a little, and she softened a touch more toward the Ferengi than she even had before.

"I've known Odo for as long as I've been here," Quark said. "You're not wrong about the fact that—that he was in love with Major Kira."

"I suppose everyone knows it," Lwaxana said.

"They do," Quark said, nodding his head.

"And they know how hard he tried to get rid of me," Lwaxana said with a laugh. "And—how hard I pursued him. Backing him into a proverbial corner with Veta and that whole affair with Jeyal."

"I don't know about all that," Quark said. "But what I do know is that everyone knows how much Odo loves you. How happy he's been since he married you—and that includes even those who weren't present to hear his most impressive wedding vows."

Lwaxana smiled at the memory of the wedding—one of the happiest days of her life, in hindsight, though she'd genuinely thought that Odo had only done it to help save Veta for her, and not really because he loved her. She'd still been happy, just to imagine for a moment, that he'd meant what he'd said. Now, of course, it seemed that he had meant it.

"Besides that," Quark added, draining off his glass, "you're the one that's the Moogie to his children—Changelings and all. That's a pretty important job, and he doesn't seem to regret it in the least. You might keep that in mind."

Lwaxana reached and patted Quark's hand.

"Thank you, Quark," she said.

"Any time," Quark said. "Feel a little more cheerful?"

"I feel much better, thank you," Lwaxana said. "I hadn't even realized I needed cheering up until…until you did. Now—tell me why you're being so nice to me."

Quark laughed.

"Can't I be kind without an ulterior motive?"

"You could," Lwaxana said, "except you're a Ferengi, and I've come to know you pretty well, especially since moving to the station."

"Guilty as charged," Quark said. "Look around. This party has had my place packed since you got here. And—babies make people happy, even if they have nothing to do with them. Happy people spend latinum, and lots of it."

Lwaxana was almost happy to hear it. She was certainly amused.

"I knew there was a reason," she said, "that involved profit."

Quark nodded.

"That and—you looked a little sad, really," Quark said.

"Which is bad for business?" Lwaxana asked with a smirk. She tasted the non-alcoholic champagne. It wasn't the worst thing she'd ever drank, but she'd rather have tea. Still, she wasn't going to criticize Quark's choices made out of kindness.

Quark hummed and nodded.

"And it's bad for Moogies," Quark said. "What can I say? Even I have a soft spot…or two."

"You may have more than that," Lwaxana challenged affectionately.

"Can you trust a Betazoid to keep a secret?"

"It's one of our specialties," Lwaxana offered with a smile and a wink. Quark stood up, and Lwaxana called him back before he could get step away from her table. He turned back to her. "Quark—you made my night special. And your Moogie would be proud of you for that."

Quark smiled at her. He took her hand, and she let him hold it.

"I always make my Moogie proud," he offered. "But—I thank you, Lwaxana, for the compliment." He quirked his head to the side. "If you don't mind my saying—I think that I hear Veta looking for his Moogie."

Lwaxana laughed and pushed herself up from her seat.

"I'm on it," she said. Just as she stood, she heard Odo calling her over the din of the party-goers. She smiled and walked toward him. He reached her, Veta in his arms, changing his shape to rid himself of the carrier as soon as he felt that she blocked him enough to cover the quick change from the eyes of others. Lwaxana took the baby boy. As soon as she kissed his forehead, he leaned into her and stopped crying, almost immediately soothed.

"Where did you go, Beloved?" Odo asked. She could see his concern, even on his approximated features.

"Oh—I had a little snack," she said. "Something to drink." She smiled at him and saw some of his concern dissolving. He supported her frequent eating and drinking for the good of their growing babies—babies who used a great deal of her energy and required a large number of calories just to cover their daily activities in the womb. Lwaxana lowered the mental shields she'd raised to close herself off and projected her own feeling of peace, thanks to Quark's little chat, and she felt when Odo relaxed. "Are you having fun, Imzadi?"

"I'm having a wonderful time, Beloved," Odo said sincerely. "Come—I wanted to find you even before Veta started fussing. I'd love for the others to feel the twins changing. Do you think they're up to it?"

Lwaxana smiled and looped her arm through his, the other supporting their son.

"I think we can probably convince them to show off just a bit for their papa," Lwaxana assured him, following him toward where he'd gathered the small group of his friends to whom he had obviously promised something of a performance. Lwaxana smiled, greeting them all cheerfully, sure that their little ones wouldn't let Papa down—and thrilled that Odo was having what she felt sure was one of the greatest nights of his life as the center of attention for what he clearly thought was the best reason possible—their little family was growing.