In Earth Orbit

Meli paced up and down in front of the observation deck windows, waiting for the weave-jump to conclude and the massive shutters to open. That is to say, she wanted to be pacing up and down; with the twins it was more of a gentle meander, with occasional pauses to rest her back against one of the uprights that normally framed the view out into space.

Bleu’s latest scans had indicated that she could give birth any time between one and three weeks, and to be frank, she was hoping for the former. Things had rapidly sped up for her since leaving the Tho’unn world, as if the twins were racing to arrive before she got to Sol’s light purely to irritate their father.

Thinking of Dustin, she frowned to herself. He’d seemed… not distant, certainly, but lost in himself of late. He was still every bit the attentive partner, worrying about the slightest thing and showering her and the others with affection, not to mention other things. Her mind drifted over the previous night where Aricia, Bleu and Naera had taken it upon themselves to “help” Dustin decorate Sammie and Defia, his release standing in stark contrast to the two women’s dark skin…

Shaking her head slightly to clear those thoughts before they added to her current difficulties walking, Meli returned to her concerns about her husband. She’d asked Trea’k about it - but the ship’s counsellor had no ideas. Apparently, their love hadn’t spoken with the Vex’ess woman about whatever was troubling him either, which could mean that it was minor - or that it was massive and he was trying to carry it all alone like the lovable idiot he could sometimes be.

Humans, Meli reflected, were a complex group of sapients. Things that impacted them were handled far more irrationally than any other species - you just never knew if they were going to act as you might expect or suddenly decide to design a machine that’d use the gravitational riptides of a binary star system to do the laundry. That last point might have been hyperbole, but not by much she mused as Sola announced their return to realspace and the shutters beside her began to slowly open.

The first light of Sol hitting her face made the Velca smile. She’d made it - no matter what happened now, Dustin’s wish to have his firstborn come into the world in the light of his home star had been fulfilled. It was a relief - but also anticlimactic. She rather felt that she’d have liked the shutter opening to trigger something to hurry up and get the weight she was carrying out of her - but alas, all it did was gently warm her skin. With a sigh, she turned towards the lifts; if she wasn’t going to just go into labor immediately, then she and Trea’k should at least talk with Bleu to ensure they were in the best possible medical facility. There had to be some perks to being the ambassador’s wife, after all.

Trea’k adjusted the line on the technical drawing slightly and sent the completed file to Rye. Converting one of the storage areas into a suitable nest for her other young was important; while any offspring she had with Dustin would naturally grow up alongside their brothers and sisters from both her and the other ladies, she was also an envoy. That meant she had a lot of the parts that made up a Vex’ess queen - and that in turn meant she could birth pure Vex’ess offspring on her own, without her mate’s input.

The plans were simple enough - she didn’t intend to overwhelm the ship with her kind - but she was determined that her daughter with Dustin would have at least a few suitable Vex’ess to support her. A warrior or two to guard her, and perhaps a pair of handmaidens would do it? The golden-haired engineer had promised that she could get a suitable nest built while Trea’k handled the tricky business of live-birth as opposed to the far easier egg-laying.

Thoughts of Rye drew her attention to the intricate cross-stitch now hanging above her desk. The delicate layers of thread showed a patience that was rather impressive, while the design had clearly been based on one of Aricia’s photos. She remembered the day the butterfly woman had taken it - they’d been chatting in the garden, she’d been relaxed and talking with Naera when Dustin had settled in front of her, his head resting on her breasts while one hand reached up to trace her cheek. Now, that image - of him tracing her face while she wrapped her arms around him - was immortalized in fine thread and craftsmanship.

Apparently, Jaisyl had felt she had something to apologise for and had asked Rye for suggestions on what to cross-stitch. The bunny girl had then directed her to Aricia for suitable source material, and between the three of them they’d chosen that image. Trea’k sighed. The Tho’unn really didn’t have anything to worry about - as far as she was concerned, they were on reasonable terms. She had accepted the gift however - it was both thoughtful and pretty, and reminded her of that happy moment with Dustin every time she looked at it.

Of course, at the moment, that also reminded her that Dustin was clearly not in a great head-space. She’d noticed before Meli had asked her about it - his pheromones were off, hitting notes of stress and worry every time she spent time with him. Any attempts she’d made to figure out subtly what was worrying him had failed however, and he had yet to come to her in her official capacity to talk about it.

Sighing, she rose from her cocoon of silk and moved in the direction of the door. Whatever the situation with Dustin was, unlike Meli she was of the opinion that giving him time to decide to come forward was better than worrying about it. With that in mind and the business of her nest sorted, she could now go and see if Bleu was free - she did want to talk to the doctor about where she would be giving birth after all, even if she had far more control over the timing of it than their Velcan love.

Bleu frowned at the two women sitting in her medbay a short time later. “I’ve reviewed most of the facilities, and to be honest any of them would be equally good. My credentials and Dustin’s rank mean it’d be a rather trivial matter to ensure I’m the one present to provide your medical care since you both asked for me to do so - but that does mean you both need to agree on a site. I can’t be in two places at once, and I don’t want to run the risk of one of you deciding to pop while I’m in transit between hospitals.”

Meli and Trea’k exchanged a glance, before the Velca woman nodded. “That makes sense. But, asides from the trip we took to meet Dustin’s friends, we don’t really know Earth all that well at all - do you think Dustin, or maybe Sammie would have some useful input?”

The Queri snorted. “Sammie spent most of her life on a starship, and Dusty’s… ugh, you’ve both noticed he’s stuck in his own head lately, right?”

All three women exchanged glances and sighed at that comment. “You’re right, and I don’t know why. He won’t talk to any of us about it, and he’s hiding the fact that something’s bothering him really well,” Meli said, sipping some of the water the medic had set out for them. “I doubt the newest ladies have even noticed, but it’s pretty obvious to Trea’k and I. And you too, presumably. I wonder if Rye and Emely know anything?”

Bleu shook her head. “I asked Emmz about it last night, given her hyper-fixation on our love, but she’s as in the dark as the rest of us. And Rye’s got her own problems she’s wrestling with mentally.” The Queri leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Either way, I don’t think Dustin will be much help in picking out a spot for you two to give birth. The way I see it, you’ve four real choices.”

Trea’k leaned forward at that remark. “Only four? The list you initially sent us had thirty or forty possible hospitals on it, and you just said that any of them would be equally good. How do you narrow it down to four?”

The medic shrugged. “Removing the ones you or Dusty would be less keen on. So, first of all we have the medbay here - the reasons for that are, I hope, obvious. It’s as state-of-the-art as it gets, I know the equipment, and Sola is the closest we all have to a home at this point. The cons are that your children would then be spaceborn, and I don’t know how Humans treat spaceborn young - you’d need to talk to Sammie about that.”

Ticking the options off on her fingers, Bleu continued “secondly, there’s the counsel orbital. The medbay there has a similar list of cons, but as far as the pros are concerned, your children would be the first born there. That’s about it as far as the station goes; it’s not an amazing choice either way, kind of the most neutral option.”

Seeing the look on their faces, the medic shrugged. “I think we can cross that one off the list then. Alright, option three - the medical facilities at EarthGov headquarters. Big, central, a lot of pomp and circumstance, but the artificial island it’s built on is really beautiful to look at if you are interested in such things. It’d also make EarthGov really happy if you care about that. Or…” she paused, then shrugged and added “there’s the forth option. Contact City; the hospital where Dustin was born. It’s pretty small but…” the medic trailed off as both women nodded firmly. It looked like a decision had been made.