The Begotten

Odo buys an infant changeling from Quark and, still trapped in solid form himself, sees a chance to give it a better start in life than he had. Then Dr Mora Pol, the Bajoran scientist who studied Odo after he was found, arrives to help, and old tensions resurface. Odo wants to nurture the infant with patience and encouragement, but Starfleet is pressing for results, and he reluctantly adopts some of Mora's harsher methods, including electrical stimulation. When the changeling forms a copy of Odo's face, the two men find a new understanding. Then the infant starts to fail. As it dies, it merges with Odo, and he discovers that he can change shape again. Meanwhile Kira gives birth to the O'Briens' son, Kirayoshi, with plenty of people crowded around her, and afterwards finds it painfully hard to hand the baby over.