"Wouldn't miss it."
"Good." She stood on her toes to kiss me, quick and fierce and full of the complicated emotions she was still learning to express. "I love you. Even when I'm panicking about things that haven't happened yet."
"I love you too. Especially when you're panicking about things that haven't happened yet." I watched her dash toward the door, then pause. "Elena?"
"Yeah?"
"We're going to be amazing godparents. Chaotic and overprotective and probably terrible at following Dana's parenting rules, but amazing."
Her smile was blinding. "Damn right we are."
That evening,Mothership's common dining area felt more like home than any place I'd lived in years. Dana and Er'dox had claimed the large central table, with Jalina and Zor'go already seated, Bea and Zorn arriving moments behind Elena and me.
The four couples, human women from Liberty's wreckage, Zandovian men from Mothership's command, had become something like family over the past year. Built connections that went beyond professional respect or shared trauma into genuine affection.
Found family in the truest sense.
Dana stood as we settled, Er'dox beside her with his hand resting protectively on her lower back. Her green eyes were bright with excitement and barely contained emotion.
"Thank you all for coming," she said. "We have news."
"You're pregnant," Elena blurted, then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry. You told me this morning and I'm terrible at pretending I don't know things."
Dana laughed. "Yes, I'm pregnant. Eight weeks along. Bea's been monitoring everything and so far all the markers look good for a healthy hybrid pregnancy."
The table erupted in congratulations. Jalina was out of her seat immediately, pulling Dana into a fierce hug. Bea's professional composure cracked into genuine delight. Even Zor'go showed emotion, his markings brightening with pleasure.
I glanced at Elena, saw her fighting tears as she watched her friends celebrate. Happy tears this time. The kind that came from witnessing something good instead of processing loss.
"This is incredible," Jalina said, finally releasing Dana. "When are you due?"
"Seven months. Hybrid pregnancies are slightly shorter than full human term." Dana's hand moved to her still-flat stomach. "Bea says everything's progressing normally, but we'll know more as we go. This is unprecedented territory."
"You'll be fine," Bea said with the confidence of someone who'd successfully performed surgery under impossible conditions. "I've been studying every recorded case of human-Zandovian reproduction. Your biology is compatible. The fetus is developing exactly as expected. Zorn and I will monitor everything."
Er'dox's massive frame seemed to vibrate with barely contained emotion. "We wanted you to know first. Before making shipwide announcements. You're family. The closest thing either of us has to…" He trailed off, searching for words.
"Home," Dana finished softly. "You're home. All of you."
The word settled over the table like a benediction. Home. Not Earth with its familiar gravity and human-only population. Not even Mothership with its metal corridors and aliencrew. But these people who'd found each other across impossible odds and chosen to build something together.
"I want all of you involved," Dana continued. "Jalina, I need you to design a nursery that doesn't look like a military vessel's storage closet. Bea, I need you to stop me from medically obsessing over every symptom. Elena—" She looked at my chaotic engineer with such warmth it made my markings brighten. "I need you to remind me that being imperfect is okay. That this baby doesn't need everything to be controlled and planned."
Elena's voice came out thick with emotion. "I can do that."
"And you," Dana turned to me, expression shifting to something between fondness and threat. "I need you to make sure Elena doesn't work herself to exhaustion trying to childproof every electrical system on Mothership."
"Already planning to," I confirmed.
"Good." Dana's smile was fierce and bright. "Because this baby is going to have the most aggressively protective extended family in three galaxies."
We celebrated into the late hours. Shared stories and plans and dreams about a future that felt increasingly possible. Dana talked about teaching her child to navigate both human and Zandovian cultures. Er'dox discussed modified sleeping arrangements and safety protocols with the thoroughness he brought to engineering problems. Jalina was already sketching nursery designs on a datapad.
And Elena, my brilliant, chaotic Elena, sat beside me radiating joy and terror in equal measure, her hand clasped tightly in mine like an anchor.
Later, after we'd returned to our quarters and the lights had dimmed to night mode, Elena curled against my chest with her head tucked under my chin.
"Are you still panicking?" I asked.
