"Moderately." Her fingers traced idle patterns across my markings, the touch sending pleasant warmth through my skin. "But it's good panic. Excited panic. The kind that comes from something wonderful instead of something terrible."
"Good."
"Vaxon?" Her voice went quieter, more vulnerable. "Do you really think about it? About us having children?"
"Every day."
She tilted her head to look at me, eyes wide. "Really?"
"Really." I cupped her face, thumb brushing across her cheekbone. "I think about tiny humans with your brilliance and my protective instincts. About teaching them to navigate both worlds. About watching you become a mother and knowing I get to be part of that." My voice dropped. "But only when you're ready. Only if you want it."
"I think I might want it." The admission came out barely above a whisper. "Eventually. Not now, but… someday. When I'm less terrified of everything."
"Take your time. We have time."
"Do we?" She gestured vaguely at the viewport showing infinite space beyond our quarters. "We're in a different galaxy. We're building lives on an alien rescue vessel. Time feels both infinite and impossibly short."
"Then we make the most of whatever time we have." I pulled her closer, feeling her heartbeat against my chest. "Building our future one day at a time."
She kissed me then, deep and sweet and full of promise. And when we eventually fell asleep tangled together, I dreamed of tiny humans with hazel eyes and electric-blue markings, chaos and control perfectly balanced.
The future felt terrifying and possible in equal measure.
Exactly right.
Chapter
Twelve
Elena
Three months later, I stood in preparation quarters wearing a bonding dress that Jalina had designed specifically for today, trying not to panic about the fact that I was getting married in approximately one hour.
Married. Bonded. Permanently attached to Vaxon in a ceremony that would make our relationship official in both human and Zandovian cultures.
My hands were shaking.
"Stop fidgeting," Dana said from her position on the couch. At five months pregnant, she'd claimed the most comfortable seating and refused to move. Her growing belly was visible now under the flowing dress Jalina had created for her role as my primary witness. "You're going to wrinkle the fabric."
"I'm allowed to fidget. I'm getting bonded in an hour."
"Fifty-three minutes," Bea corrected, checking the chronometer. "And you're not allowed to fidget becauseJalina spent forty hours on that dress and will be personally offended if you damage it."
"I'll be personally offended," Jalina confirmed from her position near the mirror, adjusting her own witness dress. "That fabric was specially ordered from three systems away. Do you know how hard it is to find material that works for both human and Zandovian aesthetic sensibilities?"
I looked at my reflection, barely recognizing the woman staring back. The dress was beautiful, Jalina had outdone herself. It incorporated human wedding traditions with Zandovian bonding ceremony elements, white fabric with electric-blue accents that matched Vaxon's markings, fitted through the bodice before flowing into a skirt that managed to be both elegant and practical.
Because Jalina knew I'd need to move, possibly run if I panicked, definitely not trip over excessive fabric if an emergency required my technical expertise mid-ceremony.
"You look beautiful," Dana said softly. "Vaxon's going to completely lose his composure when he sees you."
"Vaxon doesn't lose composure. He's annoyingly controlled about everything."
"He loses composure around you," Bea countered. "I've witnessed it in medical bay. Multiple times. The man turns into a disaster when you're injured or upset."
"That's different. That's protective instinct."
"That's love," Jalina said firmly. "And you're both idiots who took months to admit it, so now you get to stand in front of everyone and make it official."
