Sawyer Sparks

Sawyer Sparks is the 19th child in the Sparks family. He became deaf due to a virus when he was three months old. He was raised by his sister Iris to learn sign language and received a cochlear implant when he was 18. Sawyer took an interest early in art as a form of expression since he was raised unable to hear.
==Background Information==
When Sawyer was born to Jean and Raymond Sparks in 2384, there were 11 children in the household who were still minors, including five children under the age of 5. With so many young children to oversee, his mother 'assigned' Sawyer to his 11 year old sister, Iris, when he was two months old. Not long after, Sawyer became ill. Iris turned to her mother for help, but was instructed that it was her duty to care for her baby brother. She did the best she could, but without proper medical care, Sawyer became very ill. When he eventually recovered, he suffered permanent hearing loss. 
Fearful that child protective services would intervene, Jean hid the fact that Sawyer had been ill. For a full two years, she stopped having more children to not draw further attention to herself. She instructed Iris to teach Sawyer sign language and did not take him to a hearing specialist, certain that the doctor would blame her for his hearing loss. Instead Jean passed off his deafness as a genetic condition that he was born with. Only Iris knew that it was due to his illness - a guilt she carried with her for years.
Sawyer was closest to Iris and Theresa, who was also taught sign language with him so that he could have someone to play with. Still, Sawyer kept mostly to himself, finding it difficult to express himself to his brothers and sisters. He often drew and later painted to express his feelings. 
When he was 18, he went to an ear doctor on his own and was fitted with a cochlear implant. Shortly after he took speech lessons for several years to learn how to properly speak. During that time he went to art school and later received a masters in Artistic Expressions. 
In early 2409, his mother convinced many of his brothers and sisters - including Iris and her family - to join the Fold. Though Sawyer did not have an interest in joining, he did so to watch out for Iris. Sawyer became a teacher in the community. He was concerned for Iris because her husband quickly rose up the ranks and became one of Ian's most trusted men. 
Under enormous pressure from his mother, the community, and later Iris, he married a woman from the Fold in 2410. Despite years of trying, he never was able to conceive a child with his wife. Sawyer followed the Fold off Earth to their new settlement outside of Federation space. He was unhappy in his relationship and with the Fold, but he cared for his students and cared even more for Iris. Sawyer noticed how her husband, Jonathan, had changed over the years and privately vowed to himself to protect her. After Ian was arrested in 2415, Jonathan took leadership of the Fold. Like Ian, Jonathan was unfaithful to his wife. When Sawyer confronted him, Jonathan slept with his wife and she became pregnant with his child.
Upon learning that her husband would be having a child with her sister-in-law, Iris finally agreed to leave the Fold with her three youngest children and Sawyer in late 2415. With Theresa's help, he was able to quickly find an art school that would accept him for a doctorate program starting in January, 2416. He completed the program two years later. In 2418, Theresa was able to have him appointed as the Presidential Residence Art Curator after the previous curator retired due to health ailments. 
==Personal Life==
Ann Miller (2410-2415): Sawyer met Ann when he lived in the Fold. After Ian matched them, his mother and the community put pressure on him to marry her. Sawyer eventually courted Ann after Iris, who was under pressure herself to pressure him, asked him to give Ann a chance. After a brief courtship, they were married. Ann was often frustrated with him and berated him since he was unable to conceive a child with her. He left her in 2415 after Ann became pregnant with Jonathan's child.
==Current Spouse(s)==
===Nerys Dorr===
when she moved into the President's Residence in 2420. Sawyer was the residence curator for President Sorna and she kept him on for the position. Getting closer during the scandal of her husband's election, the tension broke before they started an affair. Nerys finally divorced her husband after Marcus was arrested. Later, she accidentally got pregnant and she married Sawyer on Bringold. 
==Children==
Sawyer has one child with Nerys Dorr named Everly Sparks.
Sawyer has two step-children from Nerys named Zavala Liu and Thomas Wolfe.
==Education and Career==
Sawyer graduated highschool in 2402 and went into an Art Therapy program from 2402 to 2406. He later attended the 
Massachusetts College of Art and obtained a Masters in Artistic Expressions (2406-2408). He worked as the Presidential Residence curator under the Sorna Administration and briefly under the Wolfe Administration.
2 Sawyer Sparks
Category:United Federation of Planets
Category:Terran
Category:Civilian
Category:Future Plots
Category:Beyond ST Deep Space 9
Category:2384
Category:All Characters
Category:July