Two months later.

“That was our last jump,” Dragon announced, unbuckling from the captain’s chair they took turns using. “We’ll soon see Lupine on our screens.” When Jade didn’t comment on the news, he twisted on his seat to look at her.

Sitting on the chair behind him, Jade stared at him in silence. Her face was pale, and her hands tightly gripped the armrests, her knuckles white.

“Jade?” He immediately reached for her. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering him, her eyes cut down.

“What is it?” He followed her gaze and saw the pool of water at the base of her chair. “Is that—?”

“My water broke,” she finally said, standing up.

Taken aback, Dragon did the only thing he could think of. He took Jade in his arms and cradled her. Her big belly bumped against him. “Do you want to go to the bed?” he asked, trying to remember what little he knew about birthing.

His knowledge on the topic wasn’t vast to begin with, considered that a small army of medici and ancillae would have supervised his brides’ labors. Right now, panic was taking root at an alarming speed, erasing his memories and making him feel like a blithering idiot.

“It might be better if I walk,” Jade answered after a long silence. “I’ve felt some contractions and I think that walking is good for me.” She didn’t sound sure, but Dragon knew better than to question her reasoning.

They strolled across the length of the command room, then moved toward the hallway and continued to their small quarters. In their bedroom, Jade refused the bed again and paced.

“Come here,” Dragon said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her closer. He turned her so that her back was against his chest. Rocking her slowly, he murmured sweet nothings.

Jade’s body had just relaxed when a scream left her mouth. She doubled over in pain, leaving Dragon’s embrace. Her contraction lasted long, or it seemed long to him because he couldn’t do anything to help besides talking and caressing her.

By the time the tenth contraction had torn Jade apart, Dragon thought he would go crazy if she didn’t give birth soon. Past the twentieth or so, he was sure neither of them would survive this birthing and cursed himself for putting her in danger.

“I wish I could take your place,” he said, fear straining his voice as he wiped a strand of hair from her cheek.

“You and I both,” Jade hissed under her breath. “Believe me—” A contraction shook her slender frame, renewing Dragon’s panic.

He didn’t know if what his soulmate was going through was normal or not, and couldn’t bear the idea that something could happen to her because of his ignorance. As an assassin, Jade wasn’t supposed to become pregnant or know anything about giving birth. But he had known all his life that his brides would bear him children. He should have at least asked what the whole process entailed.

Time passed slowly aboard the ship as the amber night light illumination supplanted the bright white of the artificial daylight. The distant shape of Lupine appeared on the right sector of the external screen Dragon checked from time to time. So close to civilization, yet so far away.

Jade finally decided to rest on the bed, and Dragon sat behind her, surrounding her body with his and hugging her softly. She was covered in sweat and could barely cry. Her contractions had become stronger and more frequent, to the point that when one ended, the next was already starting, until there was no respite from her agony.

Only the fear that if he fainted Jade would be left alone gave Dragon the strength to remain conscious throughout her ordeal.

“I feel a tremendous pressure,” Jade said in a choked whisper. “I need to push—” She moved in his arms, hoisting her trembling body on her haunches as she squatted between Dragon’s legs. “Hold me,” she grunted.

Raising on his knees, he hurried to obey her order, passing his arms under her shoulders to support her. She weighed next to nothing, and he inwardly cursed himself once again for his part in her present condition. Enhanced physiology or not, Jade hadn’t been modified to carry his progeny. The terrifying notion that he might lose her had been circling his thoughts since she announced her water had broken, but now it looked like a realistic possibility. Like a malicious illness, the idea took form and spread until he could think of nothing else. Tears welled in his eyes, but he was able to repress his sobs lest Jade hear him.

Several minutes later, her anguished scream brought Dragon back. Her bent knees buckled, and he held her up, resting the backs of her legs on his thighs. He kissed her temple and caressed her arms.

“Ahhh!” Jade shouted, her body hunching. She took a hard breath before screaming louder and longer.

Dragon breathed with her and felt his world shattering with each of her pained cries.

Jade let out one final yell and abruptly slumped against Dragon’s chest.

Except for their breathing, the room was eerily quiet.

A soft cry broke the silence. Jade reached between her legs, and when she straightened, a small baby lay in her arms. She tipped her chin up, leaning her head against Dragon’s shoulder. “Look what we did,” she said, her voice broken. “It’s a baby girl.”

Speechless, Dragon stared at the minuscule form. Covered in blood and squirming, their child was crying at the top of her lungs. He reached around Jade, but when he saw that his hand was as big as the baby, he immediately dropped it, worried he would harm her.

“Isn’t she the most beautiful baby in the whole universe?” Jade said as their daughter’s small head moved against her mother’s breast.

“She’s perfection,” Dragon finally said, watching mesmerized as their baby girl latched to her mother’s nipple and greedily fed. “You are perfection.” He gently moved Jade in his arms until he could brush her lips with his. “I love you.”

He still felt like fainting but couldn’t desert his soulmate and their child and resolved to be strong for them. He could always have a meltdown when Jade finally rested.

“I want to name her Estrella,” Jade said after a while. “Like my mother.”

“I can’t think of a more beautiful name for our little star.” He hugged her and rocked her softly until mother and daughter fell asleep, and he realized that his meltdown would have to wait after all.