“Let’s go find Dorian and get you off your feet.”
“God, yes. I haven’t seen them in two weeks and I’m starving.”
I heard her discontent but didn’t feel it through the collars. She was just as excited about this baby as we were.
I headed in the direction of the main cafeteria, knowing Dorian would be there this time of day for an early meal. When we entered, we saw him easily enough. It was hard to miss the big Prillon warrior sitting beside a high chair and a one-year old little girl smacking a small spoon against her tray.
Warriors all around smiled and were happier having her about. She wasn’t the only infant on the ship, but she was the only one who had two captains and a commander as parents.
Dorian stood, came over to Chloe and kissed her as I took his spot beside Dara. She was the light of all our lives and the moment she was born, Dorian and I were completely and utterly destroyed.
Having a female mate was one thing, but a baby? We were doomed. Obsessive? In love? Definitely. But if we thought we were possessive and protective of her mother, we were wrong. We took Dara’s safety and happiness to an extreme that had all warriors laughing at us.
As if I gave a shit.
Nothing in my life had gone according to plan, and I’d never been so grateful. I had absolutely every fucking thing I ever wanted and pushed away. And soon, very soon, we’d have another baby. Dorian was probably right. The little acrobat in her belly was probably another girl and we were going to be in even more trouble. Our girls owned us, and we didn’t want it any other way.
It was becoming harder and harder to leave our girls for missions. Dorian and I had talked about it. Retiring. Giving up Coalition life for a peaceful existence on Prillon Prime. A battleship wasn’t the place to raise a family.
Chloe was happy in her job, but she’d been the one to ignore the doctor’s recommendation for birth control for a few months before having a second child. No, she’d gotten pregnant almost right away after her recovery. Sure, we were virile mates and we’d certainly filled up that perfect pussy with enough cum to make a dozen babies, but only one mattered. And it was in her now, just a few more days until it was going to make its presence very known.
Dorian helped Chloe settle into a chair and Dara clapped and blew air kisses at her mother.
“Good day?” Dorian asked. He’d retired the week after Dara was born. He’d walked into his supervisor’s office and turned in his papers. He was the stay-at-home dad. The big Prillon, the fierce pilot and warrior who stood almost eight-feet tall, was the primary caregiver of a newborn baby. Once she’d stopped nursing, he took her everywhere with him. I’d returned to ReCon 3 and Chloe had gone back to work for the commander after her leave. Listening to the Hive. Helping Battlegroup Karter take back three planets in this sector, a level of advancement and victory that hadn’t been seen in this sector in decades.
It had gone well, our arrangement, but now I felt what Dorian had. I wanted to be there for this baby. I didn’t need to fight anymore. It was time for younger, wilder fighters to take over.
“We wanted to ask you something, mate,” Dorian said, waving for someone to bring a plate of the evening’s meal to Chloe.
“Oh?” she asked, playing peek-a-boo with Dara.
“How would you feel about spending some time on Prillon Prime?”
“It would be nice for Dara and the acrobat to meet her grandparents.”
Dorian’s family lived there and had met Dara once, but only for a few days. My family, the only family I had left, was my sister, Sarah, and she lived on Atlan with her huge brute of a mate, a beast named Nyko. My brothers were dead, killed by the Hive. My parents? Long gone. This family, my family, was the only thing left in the universe I cared about.
I glanced at Dorian, then Chloe. “We were thinking, if you agreed, we’d move there.”
An ensign brought a plate of pot roast and mashed potatoes for me and Chloe. An Earth specialty that everyone seemed to love.
“To Prillon Prime?” she asked, picking up her fork.
“Yes.” Dorian’s voice was even, but I sensed his hesitation. We didn’t need to make Chloe upset at this late stage of her pregnancy.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Dorian and I stared at her as if she’d grown a second head instead of a baby in her belly. Dara clapped her hands with glee, for what, I had no idea. That was the joy of being one. And perfect, just like her mother with her dark hair and green eyes.
“You mean, you’ve wanted to move?”
“A battleship is no place to raise kids.”
I glanced at Dorian and he shrugged.
“That’s what we thought, but we weren’t sure if you—”
“What? Wanted to retire?”