Over the next several months, Sophia’s belly began to grow. To alleviate the boredom and monotony aboard the ship, she spent most of her time near the cockpit, trying to convince the pilot to let her fly. Every time she asked, he laughed at her and told her he’d lose his job.

Even though the pilot wouldn’t let her fly, he did let her hang around. She managed to learn everything she could about how to fly the vessel.

“I’m going to fly this ship someday,” she told him. “You’ll see.”

“I know, Sophia,” he said, humoring her. “You’ve told me a thousand times.”

Medic Hanno came up through the hallway and met her in the open door to the cockpit where she was standing behind the pilot.

“You should not be in here,” he said.

“She’s fine,” the pilot said.

“It isn’t safe to stand in the doorway. Think of the child,” he said, pulling her away from the cockpit.

Sophia frowned, letting herself be walked down the hall. They took a turn around the corner and ended up at the door to her bedroom.

“I’m fine,” she said as her door swished open.

She wished that Hanno would leave her alone.

“I need to scan the fetus’s vitals.”

“You do that five times a day, aren’t you a little overzealous?”

Sophia could tell something was going on. Hanno was more overprotective than usual lately. And the pilot had started to seem nervous.

“You are our priority,” he said, “and this is the only thing I can do for you.”

“Okay. Just doing your job. I get it…”

She squinted at him, feeling like there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“What’s going on?”

He sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but there has been talk of Mulgor in the sector we must pass through to get to Galaton.”

“Then you have to let me learn to pilot the ship. We have to be prepared!” she said, rubbing her rounding tummy.

“There’s no point in you getting worked up about it. There are still many months of travel ahead of us before we get to that sector.”

“Does Elait know this?”

“The princes know. The fire dragon’s bride already arrived, but the other brides weren’t found until later so are taking longer.”

“Can’t we go around?”

“We can’t go around and we can’t stop. The only way is forward.”

“Sounds like a good reason to let me learn to pilot the bride ship. You never know when it could come in handy.”

“Please stop asking to pilot the ship, Sophia. I cannot allow you to do that, for numerous reasons we’ve discussed already.”

She grunted angrily and turned on her heel. Hanno really needed to take the stick out of his butt. She stood near the window and looked at the dwarf star passing outside in the milky distance. She’d had so many miraculous experiences over the last few months. Not the least of which was her quickening child.

She loved the feel of its little butterfly wings fluttering inside her belly. It always reminded her that a piece of Elait was near her all the time. She still hadn’t been able to talk to him, but her heart yearned for him nonetheless.

The medic reminded her, every time she asked, that Elait needed to stay away from her, lest his mating impulse consumed his body and mind. The dragon within him would go mad and he would eventually self-destruct with need. The growing child in her womb was the bond that allowed him to survive as long as he already had without her.

If he were to talk to her, he might lose what little control he had over his dragon. She knew the consequences of speaking with her mate, but she couldn’t help needing him; wanting him. She dreamed about his face at night and spent countless hours watching his images float across the holographic screens in her rooms. She loved him with all her heart, and she’d never even spoken to him.

That was part of the reason she was still so determined to pilot the ship. She needed something to look forward to, something to keep her mind off her constant yearning for her prince.

If the pilot just let her fly the ship, she would have something to focus on. The baby wouldn't be here for another six months. As much as she enjoyed experiencing her body changing, it wasn't enough to distract her from the relentless, monotonous boredom of traveling a year through space.

The medic had not given her any indication of when she might actually be able to speak with her mate. He just kept telling her to be patient. Sophia was tired of being patient. She felt like it was all she’d done her entire life. Patience still wasn't a skill that she was very adept at. Sophia was much better at charging forward and not thinking about the consequences. Now, she had all the time in the world to think, and it was starting to get to her.

The days and months continued to move past, each running into the next. Sophia began to wonder sometimes if she had made a mistake leaving Earth in the first place. But every time that thought entered her mind, the image of her prince’s face flashed over it.

She could never regret coming out to meet him or carrying his child. He was sending her intermittent messages over the long months, telling her how proud he was that she was his mate. She lived for those messages. Every time a new one arrived, she felt a little bit closer to him.

One day, near the end of her pregnancy, she found herself sitting in the copilot seat inside the cockpit, finally. The pilot needed to go to his chambers for a moment, and asked Sophia if she would take over while he went.

Her eyes widened and she smiled as she took over control. When he left her alone her heart filled with glee. She happily took the wheel of the Breaking Dawn and sat at the helm as it silently floated through space. It was the most exhilarating feeling she had ever experienced, and it lasted approximately five minutes.

The pilot came back and took control of the ship again, making her promise never to tell the medic it had happened.

“I don't see what the big deal is,” she said. “You know I'm a good pilot.”

“You are a good pilot,” he admitted. “But my mission here is to protect you, not to teach you how to fly the ship.”

“Can't it be both?”

“You're eight months pregnant, he said. “Don't you ever get tired of bugging me about this?”

“Not really,” she said, giggling. “It's not like I have anything else to do with my time.”

“You're doing the most important job that anyone can do. You're carrying the next generation of Draconians.”

“I know and it gives me a lot of satisfaction to do it. But I'll tell you a little secret: I don't actually have to think very hard to carry this baby,” she said in a whisper.

He laughed. “Point taken, Sophia. But I still can't openly allow you to pilot the ship.”

“Then it could just be our little secret,” she pressed.

“Maybe after the baby is born.”

“I'll take what I can get,” she said with a sigh.

She'd been traveling on the bride ship Breaking Dawn for the last eight months with only Medic Hanno and the pilot to talk to. She was starting to get pretty bored. In fact, she had been bored for far too long.

But now that the baby was almost ready to be delivered, she knew that the boredom would not last. Soon she would have a tiny reminder of everything that Elait was to her. She would have his son to love and cherish. When she arrived on Galaton, she would bring the heir to the throne with her. That was a huge accomplishment, and she knew she should be proud of herself for it. Elait would certainly be proud of her when she arrived with his son.

When the day for her delivery finally arrived, Hanno brought her to the medical bay and prepared her for a cesarean. She had been rubbing the synthetic genetic material from Elait on her body to mimic the mating process, but it was not enough to allow her body to naturally deliver a Draconian child.

The only safe way to deliver such a large baby was through medical intervention. She lay on the bed and watched Hanno as he prepared for the surgery.

She was numbed from the waist down and he used his medical wand to slice into her lower abdomen, quickly pulling the baby out from inside her. The whole thing was done in a matter of seconds. She was healed up with the wand while she cradled her little baby in her arms.

She looked down at her son, who cried vigorously to announce his entrance into the world. She had never felt more proud in her entire life. He was huge for a human infant, but still looked as helpless and tiny as any newborn she'd ever seen. She rocked him in her arms, willing all of the love in her heart that she felt for her baby and his father to flow through her and into her child. It was the happiest day of her life, and a moment she would never forget.

“Prince Elait would like to speak with you,” Hanno said.

“Now?” she said, feeling ridiculous.

She hadn't expected for her prince to want to speak with her the day of the birth. She found herself feeling embarrassed about the way she looked.

“This isn't really the best time for me,” she croaked. “I look kind of crappy right now,”

“I am sure he will not object to the way you look,” Medic Hanno assured her.

He flicked his hand across a holographic screen and the image of Elait filled the empty space. Sophia gasped, cradling her baby. Elait was even more handsome when he was looking right at her.

“My bride,” he said, finally speaking.

“My prince,” Sophia whispered.

The baby stirred in her arms and Medic Hanno took him from her to allow Sophia to focus on her mate.

“I am contacting you under great risk to myself. But I wanted to speak with you on this day of our child’s birth.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” she blurted out.

“My own mating impulse has been torturous, but I have prevailed. Today I want to discuss the name we will give our son.”

“I’ve always liked the name Hector,” she said meekly. Elait probably had some special Galatonian name planned already.

“We have a similar name in Draconian. It is Hectosh. How does the name Hectosh Purr sound to you, my beloved?”

Hearing him call her beloved sent a thrill through her that rose goosebumps on her arms and made her body awaken with desire, even in her post-operative state.

“It sounds beautiful. My love,” she said, knowing full well that she was speaking to a man she’d never met and had never even spoken to before. But he was her true love. Her fated mate. He was everything. It didn’t matter that they’d never met before.

“Then it is settled. I must go. You have done well, my mate. I await your arrival.”

“Wait!” she yelled, her chest tightening.

But it was too late, the screen had already gone dark.

She shuddered with a stifled sob and buried her face in her hands. The rational part of her, the part that never would have signed up for this thing if she hadn’t been three sheets to the wind, rolled her eyes inside her head. The part of her that had taken a chance, given birth to an absolute angel, and fallen in love with a prince, only soothed her with understanding.

Being without her mate was hard. It was not a punishment she would wish on anyone. There were three more months aboard this ship waiting for her before she would be united with her mate. Then all would finally be right in the world. But she didn’t know if she could last that long.