Wedded bliss

Having cleared some of his worries, Dustin opted next to focus on pampering his two pregnant lovers - starting with his first love and wife. Getting an opportunity to free both himself and Meli from the bridge though required him to wait for a couple of days; the rigors of their journey being what they were. During that time, Dustin busied himself with the job of captaining - meeting with junior officers, checking in on the health and wellbeing of the fighter pilots, that sort of thing. They were still a long way out from Earth, and he wanted to ensure that his crew were ready for anything whenever they dropped out of the weave.

Eventually, however, another long weave-jump beckoned. With Sammie flying again, Dustin rather firmly stated that he was handing over control of the bridge to Yril’k, earning him a raised eyebrow from his wife as her ears flickered into amused surprise. “Husband… you wish for my company?” She asked, rising from her seat to link arms with him before they turned to leave the command deck.

Nodding, Dustin led her away from their usual haunts and down towards the ship’s nursery. He’d popped in to check on it the previous day at Rye’s insistence, and this seemed as good a time as any to show their lover’s handiwork off to his wife. The door slid open easily at his touch on the control panel, and the pair walked in to a soft wonderland.

Rye had gone all-out on making the nursery as perfect as it could possibly be. In doing so, she’d delved heavily into the childrearing files in Sola’s databanks, building a room that could cater to almost any kind of offspring Dustin could possibly have. The room was roughly divided into two - one half being for the very young, with soft baskets, cots and cribs alongside spaces left for beds to be brought in from medbay for new mothers. That half of the room also contained a series of glass tanks that glowed gently in a range of colours - apparently intended for those species like the Queri that tended to prefer a semi-aquatic first few days outside the womb.

Each cot had been hand-painted, and Meli’s breath hitched when she saw the one right in the middle. Decorated with a pattern of entwining flowers from both Velca Prime and Earth, and with the wood itself stained in a sunburst pattern it was truly a thing of beauty. Their bunny girl had clearly spent more time on it than anything else in the room; the wood was carved rather than just smoothed, the fabric in the bed neatly hand-stitched rather than something from the automat, every inch a labour of love.

“Rye did this just for us, Husband.” Meli said softly at last, resting her hand on her abdomen as Dustin wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The pair stood contemplating the tiny bed and what it represented for one of those moments that felt like an eternity but was in reality only a few seconds, then turned to continue exploring the rest of the nursery.

While one half was for the very young, the other - blocked off from the first half by a sound-proof glass wall - was designed for those that were old enough to be a little more capable, but not yet old enough to be given freer access to the ship. So, here there were soft play areas, low desks with padded corners, and a series of blackboards and drawing spaces of every kind. Wall cabinets held, on inspection, a range of both toys and hobby equipment for just about anything anyone could want to explore with their offspring. Amongst other items they spotted soft footballs from Earth, magnifying equipment and slides from Velca Prime, plastic cogs and gears from Rabythion, and some form of chrysalis-like object that Meli and Dustin both agreed was probably Vex’ess in origin - although as to what it’s purpose could be neither of them had any clue.

“This is going to be perfect.” Dustin said eventually, wrapping both arms around Meli and resting his chin on her shoulder. “I can’t wait to meet… we still haven’t decided on a name for them yet, have we?”

Meli leaned back against him. “I think we agreed to wait until we knew what we were having, didn’t we husband? But yes… I can’t wait either.” Turning in his arms, she tilted her head up, ears flickering in the corners of Dustin’s vision as they kissed.

Dustin wasn’t done with Meli after their tour of the nursery. Once the pair had broken away from their kiss, he took her hand once more and lead her across the ship to the garden, detouring only briefly to the galley to pick up a few snacks from Naera’s team - the shortstack herself being busy in an appointment with Trea’k.

The flourishing flora in the garden were a testament to the hard work that Meli and the others had put in, and the pair walked quietly for a while before opting to settle on the grass beneath a small tree. Leaning his back against the trunk with his wife’s head in his lap, Dustin stroked her hair with one hand while he unpacked their picnic with the other.

“We’ve got savoury or sweet, love,” he said, putting the small boxes of cakes and a kind of quiche-like pie down before retrieving the container of juice and a small bowl of fruit they’d added on a whim. “Or fruit if you’d rather?” Meli gave a contented sigh before gesturing above her head vaguely in the direction of the pie. Taking that as his cue, Dustin proceeded to cut her a slice, before helping her to sit upright, her back against his chest as they contemplated the greenery all around them while they ate.

The flowers were starting to bloom in this part of the garden; between Rye’s engineering and Meli’s knowledge of botany they’d managed to set up somewhat functioning seasons, and so the air was rich with the scents of spring. “It doesn’t feel real, somehow” Dustin mused, pressing a kiss against Meli’s black hair before he continued “we’re on the run from a galaxy-wide coup, there are hostile aliens out to destroy life as we know it in a range of horrifying ways, and here we are sitting in a garden that feels like the last frosts of winter just left.”

Meli’s ears flickered for a moment before she nodded, her eyes drifting up to where the first buds were forming on the tree above them. “It doesn’t. But then, nothing really has since I met you, Husband. Do you remember when we first met? I was so excited to have been picked for a mission off-world, and by a human no less, that I could barely stand still. And then you were there - all mysterious and handsome and with ears that didn’t move.”

She let out a giggle, holding out a piece of cake for him to bite into before she continued “and now we’ve built a life together. And one far richer than I thought possible, with all the misfits and strays you’ve let me convince you into picking up along the way.” Feeling his breathing shift beneath her, she turned and kissed him before dropping back into his arms once more with a sigh. “Yes, I am aware you don’t see it that way, Husband. But I do. And then…” her hands drifted to her stomach “…you gave me something even more precious.”

Dustin moved his hands to cover hers and said the only thing that felt appropriate. “You’re the one giving me something precious, love. Or we’re giving it to each other. And if we have to, we’ll change the entire universe to make it a better place for them to grow up in.”

The pair settled back after that into a warm reverie, the soft sound of leaves moving in the artificial breeze that stirred the tree above them and the fresh smell of spring flowers filling their lungs. For a time, neither of them spoke, just enjoying being there in that place with each other. At last, Meli stretched and shifted forward, before rising carefully to her feet. “Thank you for this, Husband. We have both been working too hard of late, and it’s good to remember why we’re doing everything.”

Rising to stand beside his wife, Dustin pulled her in for one final kiss before they started packing up to leave the gardens. “I’m going to make it an official order that you and I try and do this more often.” He mused, scooping up their leftover plates. “I’d like more moments like this, a few more times at least before we know what we’re having.”

Meli nodded, ears flickering into amusement. When Dustin quirked an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. “What we’re having isn’t the question I’m worried about right now, Husband. Bleu tells me that despite the speed my pregnancy is processing much like a normal Velca child. Which is good - however unlike humans, Velca embryos don’t separate into multiple offspring until much later in the process. The question I would like answered is how many we’re having; Bleu tells me she should be able to tell by my next scan in a week, thankfully.” Her words took a moment for Dustin to process, his mouth dropping open before curling into a wide grin as he wrapped her in his arms once more.