Amanda held her son for the first time in her arms, and cried from relief. They swept away the damp stains left by the hours of agony and sweat. If she had the least inclination, she might have begun the meditation breaths that would let her regain control on her emotions. Amanda could care less what the two other women attending her thought. She held her son.

When her husband's proximity became close enough for their link to let tangible thoughts cross, she let the world in as well. Yet despite her exhaustion, Amanda instinctively wanted to hide him away from Sarek. Something in the way that her husband looked down on his son with sincere concern made Amanda cold inside.

They had told her that he was healthy, why was Sarek worried? It was the way Sarek said the name "Spock" that Amanda knew. It echoed across their bond, strong enough for even her to notice. She tried not to let the shock bleed into her surface thoughts.

Her baby boy, her precious miracle, was an omega.

But he looked so much like her and Sarek. How could this have happened? Amanda frowned in silence, and her husband took note of her sudden distress, no matter how well she hid it. Still, she tried to put on a brave face and said the name out loud.

"Spock," she said. "Spock."

He was so beautiful, Amanda thought, of course he was an omega. What that implied scared her. She hadn't the first idea on how to handle male omega. They were extremely rare, and before the reform on Earth, Amanda and many others had not been aware of their existence. Those not hidden and protected by their families usually were treated worse than female omegas.

Amanda did understand how to treat a female omega though. She understood the basics of their biology and roles in society. Her sister had been an omega after all. Surely with Sarek's logic and experience with the reform on Vulcan—which predated Earth's—they would manage.

Perhaps Spock could remake what it meant to be a male omega. He was already changing the world by being born as the first Vulcan-Human hybrid. She stroked Spock's ears again, the corner of her eyes wet again. Oh yes, the Vulcan part of him would be evident to all.

Sarek sensed the change in her mood through their link and brushed the hair from her forehead in a very Human gesture. Amanda let the worry slip away for a while as she held Spock and scented her child for the first time. It was strong enough for her to recognize without deep breaths, but would soon fade. The omega scent was distinguishable from her own beta pheromones.

He was warm and sweet.

"Hello, Spock."

Sarek watched Amanda hold Spock's hand as they walked to the doctor's office. He stood precisely two paces behind them. If they were to implement a change of opinion on the role of an alpha to match law, Sarek's example would expedite the matter amongst his peers. Even though the gesture would seem small, Sarek knew that others would note the nontraditional distance behind his beta wife and consider their own actions.

He would do everything in his power to change things before Spock was of age.

Today was Spock's annual checkup. Sarek did not expect anything of importance to happen since his son was only four years old, but it would set Amanda's mind at ease for him to attend, so he did. Sarek approached the desk as his wife and son sat down and began to play with a PADD.

"Sarek," the assistant acknowledged his approach.

"Appointment for S'chn T'gai Spock," he stated. "I have an update on his condition to submit, as requested." Sarek handed the data chip to the assistant, who took it and entered a confirmation.

The assistant reviewed the information but made no comment. "You will be summoned in exactly 13 minutes."

Without further comment, Sarek sat down next to Spock with uncertainty. The assistant had not made any assurances that the data showed no change, as he had the last three times. Sarek looked at Amanda, who was showing Spock how to input a code sequence.

"It is like a different language," Spock perceived.

Amanda smiled, her face lighting up with pleasure. "Very good observation, computers run on their own language, and just like different species, they can have different languages and dialects as well."

Sarek chose to watch Amanda interact with Spock rather than returning his attention to a delayed transmission he had received. Her manner made Sarek recall when they first met, and her profession as a teacher. He considered her lovelier as time went on, but knew that to be sentiment.

"I'm going to teach you this way of programming first so you have a good foundation," she continued to explain. "Do you know why?"

Spock's eyes should not have expressed the frustration he felt towards Amanda, and it unsettled Sarek that it was easily read. The boy was emotionally unschooled compared to his peers, and he was at the developmental stage where their opinions would begin to affect Spock.

"Yes, mother. I will be able to branch out to other programming languages if I learn the most efficient and basic of their forms," Spock said.

Amanda smiled, though Sarek could tell that she had noted his frustration and was perplexed at its source. Instead of praising Spock's deduction as she had before, Amanda tapped in a sequence into the PADD and waited. Spock took the PADD in both hands, face tense with concentration as his eyes scanned the screen.

After a moment, Amanda gave him a hint by typing in another code and watched as his face relaxed into comprehension. He responded by moving a strand of numbers to another order. Amanda looked delighted at his response. Sarek felt pride along their link before it slipped away.

Spock worked on it for another minute until the screen flashed bright in his accomplishment. He handed it to his mother in expectation. Amanda took it and cleared the program so that she could input a new source. They continued to play like that until the assistant summoned them.

When Spock tried to rush ahead despite his short strides, Amanda frowned and said his name. Disproval evident in her tone and the way she pointed to her side. Their son drooped as he returned, and was a step behind Amanda as they entered the office.

Sarek paused as he took note of this. Was Amanda expecting their son to behave as an omega would, or was she teaching him the forms of polite behavior observed by Humans? It was difficult to distinguish, because she had not done anything as drastic as tell him that omegas never led the way, but Sarek was overly sensitive to anything that might be seen as omega discrimination.

He would have to talk with her about the matter in addition to the new issue that the doctor would inform them of today. Sarek knew there had been a change in the trend of data that they had faithfully collected on Spock as requested. He had suspected once he had made an uneducated analysis of the information, and the assistant's response had all but proved it.

Sarek thought back to the contentment he felt in watching Amanda teach Spock the beginnings of programming, and he tucked it away for later.