Elina

Today is a big day. Today we will arrive at earth's moon. I feel agitated and nervous and for once I am glad that Lazarus is at the bridge. He has been fussing over me for the past three days. I know he is worried about my reaction to returning so close to earth and he wants to make sure I know all the pros of staying at the Vorian with him. As if I could ever leave him now that I am his mate.

Lazarus has explained to me about all the safety precautions they are taking. Like disrupting all equipment that transmission out and in from the earth's atmosphere. Making sure that any populated spacecraft is on the other side of earth as we arrive and all that. And then we will be hiding in the shadow of one of the craters on the moon's surface.

When we are at the moon a few other Galdrian males are to search for a mate. Hopefully they will find some so I don't have to be the only human here.

Right now I'm sitting in our room, on the floor next to one of our windows. I stare out, almost unblinking, to make sure I do not miss the vision of earth. I'm so lost that when my com beeps with incoming transmission I scream right out.

"Yes?" I ask as I connect to the call from Lazarus.

"Are you alright?" He asks and I roll my eyes, even if I know he can't see me.

"Yes I am. As I have assured you the last fifteen times you have asked me." I say through gritted teeth.

"You sound irritated. Do you want me to come home?" His voice is full of worry and concern and I sigh. I'm not angry with him, but at the same time I am. It is his fault I had to leave earth but it is also him that has given my life so much meaning I never thought I would have.

"No. Really. I am okay. I'm just nervous about seeing earth." My voice cracks at the end and I feel a tear fall down my cheek. I angrily swipe it away.

"I'm coming home. Pallas' team is soon to be here anyways." He breaks the transmission and I feel my tears overflowing.

It takes five minutes, tops, for Lazarus to arrive home. He directly comes to me and envelopes me in a tight hug. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and cry. He sits patiently and waits until I am ready to speak.

"I just miss my home. Everything that was familiar and ordinary. The heat of the sun in the summer, the chill of the wind in the fall and the cold of the snow in the winter. Everything that I have ever known. And I will never see again." He holds me tight in his arms, not saying anything. "My friends that I will never see again. My family's graves that no one will care for. All will be forgotten. I will be forgotten."

"I can't say that I am sorry for bringing you here, that would be a lie. But I am sorry for taking everything from you. I am sorry that you will not see your friends again. But I hope that your life here brings you new friends and that you are happy." He kisses the top of my head. "I am tremendously happy that you are here with me."

"I am happy to. I love you. I love Kurn and Makkan and everyone. But they can't replace what I have lost."

For a long time we sit silently, looking out into space. I don't want Lazarus to think that I hold a grudge against him for what he has done. Sure it is his fault I was taken from my life and put into this, but it is thanks to him that I have had one of the most amazing experiences in human history. I sigh and snuggle closer in his embrace.

"Is there any chance for me to speak to Amanda? Or perhaps send her a message?"

"I can see what we can do. But I can't promise you anything." Silence falls over us once again. These are moments that I love, moments that I never had with my asshole ex-fiance. To sit in each other's embrace and just be. "There are discussions at The Intergalactic Committee." I hum in acknowledgment. "They are thinking of exposing us to the human race. To invite the humans into the committee."

I sit up and look at Lazarus with wide eyes. "Really?"

He smiles at me. "Yes really. It would make it easier for Galdrian males to find suitable mates if we could actually meet the humans."

I frown. "Humans are pretty racist. They might just try to start a war or something."

"That's why it has to happen slowly. We can't introduce ourselves and then just say 'And hey! We want to mate some of your females!'" He chuckles at his own joke and I smile at him. "It is still a few years left until the decision and all planning will be ready, but if we were to be exposed you could talk to your friend."

"Hmm. that would be ni... Oooh! There it is. Look, there is earth!" I jump off his lap and press my face and hands to the window. Far away I can see the large globe of blue, white and green. It is beautiful. Even more so than any picture I have ever seen of earth. This is the first time I have been this close to home in almost five months. No. Not home. My home now is where Lazarus is. I turn my head in his direction. He's not looking at earth, but at me. I reach my arms around his middle and he drapes his arms around me. Like this we stand, watching earth as we slowly make our way to the moon.

***

A lot has happened since I came here to the Vorian. We are still hiding in a crater on earth's moon and have been for the past four months. The Intergalactic Committee has still not reached a conclusion whether we should or shouldn't expose our existence.

There have been several excursions to earth's surface to collect females. Now there are a total of fifteen human women here on the ship and all of them are successfully mated with someone in the crew. All the disappearance of females from around earth has become big news on earth. Especially since the last excursion when seven females were collected at once. I believe that it should be wise of The Intergalactic Committee to come forth and welcome humans into space. I'm pretty sure that the humans would accept.

My new best friends are Sally, a British woman in her early thirties, and Naomi, a twenty seven year old, dark skinned woman from South Africa. Sally is the mate of Kurn and Naomi is Reli's mate so we naturally hang together. Naiomi has also gotten pregnant and is in her second month now. Sally and Kurn on the other hand have had more complications since she fell ill shortly after arriving. But I am sure that they'll have their own baby soon.

But today is a big day in the history books. It's the birth of the first ever human/galdrian hybrid and the next successor to the throne of Galdrion.

I was not expecting until next week so the day started out like any other day. Lazarus was off today so we were going to the game room to play with Makkan, Kurn and Sally. Naomi is having the worst pregnancy sickness and has been forced to stay in bed for the past two week. Me and Sally usually spend our time in her cabin when Reli is at the bridge or need some time off.

We were playing a racing game and it was my turn to play, so I stood up to take the controller from Makkan, who lost against Kurn. "You are wet, Elina." Lazarus exclaims as I rise from the couch. "The couch as well. Why are you wet?" I can hear the worry in his voice. The last couple of days he's been extra attentive to me making sure that I eat enough and rest. If he is off from the bridge he never leaves me alone and when he works he checks in every ten minutes.

I reach behind me and feel that my whole backside is drenched. "The water!" Sally excitedly exclaims as she jumps up from her seat.

"What water?" Kurn asks.

"Her water must have broken!" She looks towards Lazarus who now holds my upper arm in a steel grip as if I would disappear from him. "We have to go to the medical wing. Elina is about to give birth." Sally is practically jumping with excitement.

"Wait a minute! I thought that it was only in movies that the water broke suddenly. Shouldn't the labor have started? I don't feel anyth- Aaawo!" I moan and bend over as much as my huge tummy will allow. It suddenly feels like someone has kicked me straight in the stomach. Lazarus reached around me to support my weight. Sally just gives me a wicked smile, as she likes to phrase herself.

"There you have those." She winks. "Don't worry. There is plenty of time before the new prince or princess arrives but we should go right now anyways." Lazarus lifts me up in his arms and, as fast as he can go without actually running, heads to the medical wing. I am thankful for not having to walk on my own. The pain doesn't return until forty minutes later but the fear of what is about to happen has my legs turn to jello.

As we arrive at the medical wing Skillys and Nim are in ecstasy. The one thing that they have worked so hard for is finally about to happen. Everything's happening so fast that I can hardly keep up. A room is prepared for me, Lazarus and Sally, who has been so kind to offer her support during the birth. And I will be forever grateful for her support. She has worked as a nurse on maternity ward so she is used to these situations.

When everything is ready we hit an anticlimax. I lay in bed with laborers coming every five minutes. They are painful but bearable. "Is this normal?" Lazarus asks Sally.

"Yes. It can take several hours until it is time. But seeing how fast her labors are coming already and the fact that she already is six cm open it should be time soon." She smiles at me but I only grimace back at her. "Don't worry Ellie! We will take good care of you." I moan in pain as another labor hits me.

It takes about half an hour before it is time. By then I feel ready to throw Lazarus out of the room. He asks if it is time after every labor. But finally Nim says it's time.

"With the next labor me want thee to push as hard as thee can." Her squeaky voice says camly. When the labor hits I do exactly as she said. I am thankful for the pain relievers that I have for even with them it hurts like hell. But the labor is not that long and before I know it I am reaching the final pushes.

"Push!" Sally says as she squeezes my hand. Lazarus is on my other side holding my hand and stroking my hair.

"Aaah." I scream as the pain intensifies and push as hard as I can. The sweat is pouring down my brow and Lazarus picks up a towel to wipe it off.

"Thee is doing a wonderful job." Nim's voice is calm and steady as she speaks from between my legs. "Just one more and thee is done. Wait for the next labor." I take a few deep breaths to collect more strength to do another round of pushes. "Now! Push!" Screaming I pushed one last time.

Nim gently lifts up the light blue baby. Sally is quick to assist her since the baby looks to be half her size. They suck out fluids from the nose and mouth and soon the room is filled with the cries of a newborn baby. "Congratulations! The next prince is born." Nim says as she hands over the baby to Sally who gently places him on my bare chest.

I sob as I look down on this new little person, this future hope for the Galdrian people. Looking at Lazarus I see him frozen in awe of this life that he and I have created. He turns his eyes to mine and I see tears of joy filling his. He leans in and gives me a kiss and he lets go of my hand to touch his son for the first time. "He is beautiful." I nod even though I know he's not looking at me. I stroke the white, soft hair on top of my baby's head.

"Welcome to the universe, Liam." I say softly.

The End