for things that happen naturally.”
“We have a lot to learn.”
“Yes, you do, Garth, but you’re lucky, you have us females from Earth to teach you all we know. After all, if you are going to have daughters, then you need to know how to look after them, and how to not smother them. You need strong independent women, to match the strong independent men.”
“We will have good teachers,” he agreed.
“Right, and the first thing this teacher wants to teach you is that just because I am pregnant does not mean I don’t want your big Karalian hands on my body and your big Karalian… well, you get the meaning. Once we land, I want us to take a break from all this for an hour or two and get back to how we were before. Let’s forget about the mission and my morning sickness, and enjoy each other.
He looked across at her and a feeling, as if his chest was swelling up, hit him. What was this? And then he knew: he loved her. Loved her voice, loved the thoughts that came tumbling out of her mouth, so wise, and understanding, and yet she was strong.
“Our daughters will be a force to be reckoned with,” he said.
“You better believe it.” She settled back down into her seat. “I can’t wait to put my feet on hard ground, and feel the wind in my face.”
“Soon.” He tapped the computer screen, and checked the readings again. “Half an hour and we will be there. You can man the deck while I go and make myself some tole. I want to be alert, for when we enter the wormhole. Unless you want to make it.”
She wrinkled her nose, still unable to stand the thought of the red liquid. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
“Then watch the screen. If anything appears, shout.” He left her looking at the screen, and then out into space, he knew she liked trying to spot the beacons that floated around the entrances of the wormholes.
“Take your time. You might need the energy from your tole for when we land,” she teased.
“I don’t need tole, I have great stamina.” He kissed the top of her head, and then bent to whisper in her ear. “I am already thinking about what I am going to do to you once we reach the planet.”
She tilted her head back and looked at him. “I’ll hold you to that, alien.”
He left the command deck, laughing as he went. Once in the kitchen, he prepared his tole, and also poured out some fruit juice for Tamzin. He had enjoyed looking after her this last week, enjoyed making sure she was OK, and tried to make sure her morning sickness wasn’t too bad.
But she was right, it wasn’t an illness, and now, with their destination in sight, it was time he forgot about the child she was carrying, even if only momentarily, and concentrated on the two of them and their relationship.
In short, he planned to make love to her under new stars, on a new planet, as long as it was habitable.
Chapter Nineteen – Tamzin
He sat back down, giving her some fruit juice and crushed ice to sip on. “Thank you.” It was just what she needed. The sickness had now passed, but she didn’t feel like food.
Garth sipped his tole while checking the coordinates one more time. She slipped her hand over his thigh and squeezed it, making him look across to her and smile, and the colours swam across his face. She had struck gold getting matched with him from the lottery. It could all have turned out so different, and she placed her hand on her stomach, as if she could sense the small life there that made their little family complete.
“Oh, there it is,” she said suddenly, a triangle of beacons catching her attention from the corner of her eye.
These beacons, and the wormholes they opened, absolutely fascinated her. That they could travel from one part of the universe to another in a matter of minutes was incredible, and she still couldn’t get her head around it, despite having now travelled down five of them already.
“Yes, once on the other side it is a short journey to the planet K23RT.”
“That’s
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