“This can’t be right.” I sat up in bed and nudged Togtulir. “Togtulir, wake up. Something is wrong.” Togtulir groaned and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“I think I’m having contractions. I’ve been counting them for the past hour and they are only five minutes apart now. Ouch!” I tried to breathe through the intensity, but the pain was becoming all consuming.

Togtulir put his hands on my round belly. “Do you think you could be in labor? You’re not due for another three months.”

“I know, but remember what the doctor said? He said that I may not be able to carry to term because the baby is half Cardalphian and will grow quickly. Being half a species could complicate things. Remember? Obviously, he was right.” I snapped at Togtulir and instantly regretted it, but I was in so much discomfort right now.

Togtulir had a look of horror mixed with fright on his face. Before either of us could make a plan of action, my water broke all over the bed, soaking it and me in an uncomfortable wetness.

“Oh no!” My stomach dropped and my heart sank because even if this baby was larger than a human baby, he or she was still three months premature and still half a human. I wailed and Togtulir told me to try to remain calm.

“Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart,” He rubbed my sweaty forehead. The pain and cramps were becoming searing, unbearable. I could hardly breathe through them now. I tried to stand up but was unable to even go as far as lifting my legs out of the bed.

“Togtulir! I can’t even get up.” You are going to have to call for an ambulance. His face drained of color, so much so, that his skin almost turned to human pigment. “Please! Run and hurry!” I shouted at him, urging him back to reality.

The ambulance got to the palace in six minutes. They loaded me onto a stretcher and allowed Togtulir to ride with me, but he wasn’t able to touch me or hold my hand. The paramedics hooked me up to IVs and checked my vitals. “The baby is in distress!” One of them exclaimed.

I was helpless to do anything but hope the baby would survive this birth. Then it dawned on me that I might not survive this birth. I was panicking inside but was unable to do anything but try to keep myself calm through the contractions that were causing me to double over in pain.

Once we arrived at the hospital, my vision clouded over and I began to drift in and out of consciousness. “Stay with us, Cindy,” I heard an unfamiliar voice cry out.

“Where’s my husband?” I tried to murmur, but I was unsure of whether any sound was coming from my lips. Then, there was darkness.

* * *

I woke up and I had no idea where I was. My eyes landed on Togtulir, who was standing above me. Dr. Chirolar was looking at a computer monitor next to a bag of IV fluid. I traced the IV line back to my own hand. “My baby! Where is my baby?”

Togtulir and Dr. Chirolar both looked at each other and then down at me. Togtulir leaned over to give me a kiss. There were tears in his eyes. “We had a boy, darling. A baby boy.”

“A boy? Can I hold him?” I looked from him to the doctor.

“He’s in an incubator right now, Cindy. We had to perform an emergency caesarean section to get him out. He’s only four pounds right now, and he still has a lot of growing to do as far as his lungs, brain and nervous system goes.” The doctor leaned in to check my blood pressure.

“Can I see him? Is he going to live?” I was in hysterics. I wanted to see my baby and neither man in front of me was being very forthcoming with that information.

“Yes, you can see him, Cindy. You just need to recover enough to come off your sedatives before we can wheel you into the NICU where the baby currently is on a ventilator.”

The doctor was trying to be supportive, but I noticed an edge of firmness in his tone. He had to speak the truth to his patients, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear right now. What I wanted was to be able to hold my baby.

After thirty minutes or so, I was healthy enough to go see the baby. I had a son, I couldn’t believe it. I was so curious to what he looked like. I had been bombarding Togtulir with questions about him, but he knew not much more than I did. The doctors and nurses had whisked the baby away as soon as they cut him from my womb. He needed precise and urgent medical care to stay alive.

They took me by wheelchair to the area where the premature infants were. When we walked into the room, it was dark, lit only by small lamps on tables around the room. There were several rocking chairs next to little incubators. There was only one baby in a little plastic see-through box though, and it was my baby.

My eyes filled with tears as I looked at him, hooked up to machines that helped him breathe. His eyes were closed. “Can I touch him?” I looked up at the nurse and she told me I could actually pick him up, as long as we didn’t disconnect all the wires connected to him. I nodded my agreement as Togtulir stood over my shoulder.

The nurse handed me our little baby and Togtulir and I both wept silently, tears rolled down our cheeks in unison. His skin was wrinkled and felt like paper. I was almost afraid I’d break him if I made any jerky movements. He had an oxygen hose through his tiny little nostrils and a light machine hooked up to his foot in order to help prevent jaundice.

A few weeks ago, I had thought up a name for a girl and a boy. “Can we call him Amir?” I looked up at Togtulir through blurry tears.

“Amir?” Togtulir asked but his voice sounded as if he liked the sound of that name on his tongue.

“Yes. It means little Prince.” I whispered, nearly choking up again as I stroked my baby boy’s tiny hand as gently and carefully as I could. He was a perfect blend of human and Cardalphian, with a skin tone that made me think of a soft sky blue, but with more subtleties.

“Amir. I like it. Our tiny little prince.” Togtulir leaned over to rest his arms on my shoulders as he gazed affectionately at our little boy.

* * *

Two months later, Amir was healthy enough to come off the ventilator and breathe on his own. The number of tubes still hooked up to him had significantly dropped over the course of the past weeks. Dr. Chirolar had been a miracle worker, and we owed him our son's life. Literally. All the nurses who stayed by his side in his little plastic box night after night were angels walking the planet, and I made sure I told them that any chance I got.

I was rocking Amir, who was in a little green jumper that Aunt Rosgular had brought by. Amir had grown substantially over the past two months, more so than a human baby would have. But, he was still smaller than a full-blooded Cardalphian baby. I was feeding him a bottle and he was looking up at me with his perfect newborn eyes. He had a tuft of fuzzy hair on top of his head that I enjoyed caressing because it was so soft.

My favorite nurse, Marinar walked into the room carrying a set of baby blankets that had been perfectly folded. She gave me a warm smile when she entered the room.

“Today is a very special day, Mrs. Cindy,” she approached me and watched me feed little Amir.

“Every day is special when you’re with this cute little guy,” I smiled down at my baby and he grasped my thumb with his whole hand.

“Well, it’s even more special because you get to take him home with you today.”

“What? Are you serious? Dr. Chirolar hadn’t mentioned it! He said it was going to be at least another week.”

“He gave me the orders just now. Congratulations to all of you.” She patted my shoulder and I was overcome with emotional joy.

“Togtulir, get down here quick,” I called and told him into the phone speaker.

“What’s wrong, baby? Is something the matter with Amir?” His voice was laced with concern, so I decided to dial down the suspense and just tell him.

“We get to take Amir home today!” I exclaimed happily into the receiver.

For a moment Togtulir was quiet, then I heard him holler animatedly on the other side of the phone. He had been back at the palace going through the new agenda for the year with his police force.

“I’ll be right there, baby! I’m bringing my baby home today!” Then the phone clicked off. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him jumping around his board room in the palace, high-fiving his employees.

That was just the type of man that Togtulir was. It didn’t matter that we had come from different backgrounds, different worlds, in fact. Fate brought us together and we created a wonderful new living being out of love. Against all odds, our baby boy was given the top medical care in all of Cardalph, and now through a wonderful miracle, we got to take him home.

Later that afternoon we dressed Amir in a beautiful white newborn suit and wrapped him in a soft blue blanket, hand knitted by Aunt Rosgular. It smelled like a new baby and felt as soft as a cloud to the touch.

We got in the car and drove home, our little family of three. Once we got home we were on our own without the aid of nurses to help us through the night when Amir cried. We were new parents trying to learn the ropes, and all the tricks new parents needed for newborn care.

After a night of minimal sleep, I decided to wrap Amir up and take him outside to listen to the morning birds chirping in the sky. The water in the pool lapped at the edges and I closed my eyes as I gave my baby a bottle. The sucking sound he made as he drank his milk made me feel calm and peaceful. My heart was exploding with love for someone I had only just met.

“Hey, Mama,” Togtulir walked outside holding a cup of my favorite blend of coconut flavored coffee.

“Hey, you.” I took the cup gratefully and took a refreshing sip. He sat in the patio chair beside me and stroked Amir’s head. We both smiled at each other enjoying the serene landscape.

“I could stay out here forever,” I admitted, looking out to the trees out in the distance.

“Thank you.” Togtulir looked at me with tears in his eyes.

“What’s wrong baby?” I took his big strong hand in mine, not used to seeing my handsome and rugged husband letting down his exterior walls.

“Thank you for being you, for being my wife, for giving me a beautiful son. I have searched far and wide across the galaxy. I never thought I’d find a soulmate but then I found you. I don’t know what I would do without you, Cindy.”

I squeezed his hand. Happiness and love lived in places I could never have imagined.