17. Epilogue

Two Earth Months Later

Our ship coasted through the outer atmosphere of Lordek's home planet. I sat on his lap, my favorite place to be, as we drew closer to the shimmering gold and purple surface.

"It's so pretty," I said.

"Clear skies, lush soil, and pristine oceans and lakes." Pride shone in his voice. "Ages ago, Sathoria was failing. We put plans in place to bring it back to life. Now we protect it."

"I love that." He'd spoken so much about his home world. He had the equivalent of an apartment in the city, but he owned land in the country and we'd talked about building a house there. Raising our young there.

Raising Katie's kittens there if we didn't give them all away.

Katie lay in her open crate, purring as she licked her babies. No wonder her belly had been so distended. Three weeks after we left Earth, she started pacing around, meowing plaintively. Eventually, she climbed into her crate and gave birth to six kittens. Lordek assured me they'd be well received on Sathoria, that many would beg to adopt one. If not, we'd keep them all.

Lordek stroked my belly. "Still feeling good?"

"So far. Don't rock the boat," I teased.

"Boat. Ha."

I'd had some morning sickness but it had finally passed.

"There's nothing worse than throwing up inside a tiny bathroom on an equally small ship," I said.

"It's good that we enjoy being together."

The longer we flew through space, the closer we grew. Our love had developed fast, before we'd had the chance to get to know each other during two months of travel. We'd talked about everything, though we surprised the other each day by bringing up a new topic. It was a big leap to leave everything I'd known to travel to a strange new world with a guy I'd only met days before, but our time together had only strengthened our bond.

"I can't imagine being anywhere but here with you, mate," I said softly.

We kissed, and frankly, I was tempted to drag him down the rung ladder to the lower level. A bedroom and a bathroom took up most of that floor, with an engine room filling the back.

But if we went downstairs, we might not emerge for a while, and I wanted to take in everything about my new home as we flew closer.

The ship leveled and flew parallel to the planet. As we passed over one continent and then another, I could make out gold and blue sections Lordek told me were land and vegetation. The seas gleamed light purple.

"Excited?" Leaning around me, he tapped a few markers on the drive screen. He'd impressed me right from the start with his ingenuity. He could not only repair a spaceship, he could fly it through tight areas, evidenced by the debris fields we'd traversed to reach this galaxy. We'd had some hair-raising moments, but we'd made it through them relatively unscathed.

And now we'd reached our final destination, our home.

"Very excited," I said. "I can't wait to meet your family and friends."

"I haven't seen them for a long time. I kept in touch, but messages take light years to travel from the planet to my ship and back."

He had two brothers, parents, and lots of friends he'd grown up with who were eagerly awaiting his return. They lived in the same area where he owned his big piece of land.

I couldn't wait to start building our farmhouse and planting crops. I'd never grown much outside of house plants, but I could easily imagine myself growing vegetables, harvesting them, and serving them for dinner on our table.

We'd also talked about ways I could bring physical books to this world, though it might be tricky. Translator implants allowed the people living on Sathoria to read and understand any language—the device could learn—but they'd long since stopped reading books made of paper.

Some people on Earth preferred to hold a book in their hands. Maybe the Sathorians would feel the same. Lordek said there might be a way to get some delivered to our planet. How it might come about was a surprise, he'd said, and I'd wait for him to spring it.

"Hungry?" he asked. "This is your last time to make ice cream before we land."

It wouldn't take long to reach his apartment, but it had sat empty for years and would probably need a thorough cleaning. We'd have to purchase food, something I looked forward to. What would it be like to go shopping on an alien planet? I could only imagine what sort of items would be for sale.

I slid off his lap. "Ice cream, it is. Chocolate for me. How about you?"

Rising, he followed me to the galley kitchen behind the bridge where we synthesized our and Katie's meals from a liquid the ship created from molecules in the space around us.

I didn't understand the mechanics of how it worked, but it hadn't taken me long to figure out how to create something similar to ice cream and brownies—the treat I'd craved since I discovered I was pregnant.

When I scurried around packing, I'd forgotten to grab my packet of pills. I'd only had one month's supply, however, so I would've quickly run out. We'd talked about that soon after leaving Earth and decided to let the fates decide. We would be happy with or without children.

"I want strawberry," he said.

Inside the tiny space, we programmed the device. His fingers teased across my lower back while we waited, sparking heat inside me.

"How much time do we have before we land?" I tugged him close.

He lifted me up onto the counter and parted my thighs. "Twenty Earth minutes or so."

"Plenty of time."

He lowered his head, whispering. "How many orgasms do you wish for, my stardust?"

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "How many are you offering?"

His fingertips slid beneath my dress. "A million at least."

"It's going to take you a while to give me that many."

His low laugh rang out. "Then I'd better get started."