Cora watched the Earth drift away outside her window, growing smaller and smaller as the Morning Glory drifted through space. The knowledge that she would never see her home world again gripped her heart and twisted inside her gut.

She’d made the choice to go to her dragon prince to be his bride. Soon his seed would be planted inside her womb, giving her a chance to be a mother and a wife.

Cora stood from the bed and turned to a door off to the side of the bedroom. She strode over to the closet to look inside. She decided there’d never been a better time to try on clothes than right now.

First she tried a bright pink and yellow trendy outfit that she knew was from the latest line of winter fashions on Earth.

The last couple of years had seen a new trend in very bright colors, which she liked. It reminded her of flowers.

She’d inspected herself in the mirror, wearing a yellow miniskirt and pink tube top. Maybe it was a little bit too young for her, she thought. But it was pretty sexy. She wondered if her prince would like it.

Next, she tried on one of the Draconian gowns. The ladies on Draconia liked their dresses flowing and silky with printed designs. She tried one on and liked the way the deep purple hue looked against her skin.

It was more stately and classic than the trendy neon pink and yellow outfit she tried on before, and she preferred the way that she looked in it.

After pulling out of that gown she climbed into a pair of fuzzy flannel PJs and went back to the living room where she curled up in front of the bank of windows with a cup of hot chocolate from the replicator.

She turned the window into a holo-screen and uploaded her favorite movie from her wrist holocom. She spent the rest of the evening watching a romantic comedy and drinking hot cocoa. It wasn't a bad way to pass the time.

After she was done with her movie, she decided to unpack her bag. Cora had brought almost a pound of seeds and more of cuttings with her from Earth that she intended to use to start her own Earth garden when she arrived on Galaton.

The thought of spending an entire year on board a spaceship felt not only daunting but also a little bit lonely.

She wasn't sure how long she could go without sprouting seeds and watching them grow. Cora considered for a moment and went to the kitchen replicator. She asked the machine to replicate her some growing substrate and pots.

The replicator was not just for food. It could reproduce almost any simple item she needed. It took longer to process than usual, but the result was good and she was happy with what popped out of the counter.

She took the substrates and pots and put them together on a ledge in front of the windows that looked out on space.

All she needed now was some extra lighting to grow her little seeds. She looked all around her apartment and found some powerful florescent lights in her bedroom. She unhooked them and set them over the pots. Finally, she watered the substrate.

Once that was done, she planted a few seeds and sat back on the couch, feeling satisfied. That's when medic Yuma came through the door and informed her that it was time to get ready to go through the wormhole.

He went to the back wall of her living room and slid his finger over the holocom control panel, bringing a safety chair out from the wall, which she approached.

"Do I have to sit in there while we go through the wormhole?" she asked.

"Yes, your safety is our highest priority," medic Yuma said.

She sat, and medic Yuma helped her strap into the seat. He had another chair pop out from the wall, and he sat in it beside her.

"I'm going to ride through the wormhole with you just to make sure that everything is in order on the other side," he said.

Cora could see Pluto growing smaller as the Morning Glory drifted through space. She gripped the straps on her chair as they approach the wormhole. The entire ship began to shake violently as they started to enter.

Cora felt as if her entire reality was flipped upside down. The gravity in the ship continued working as normal, but her body felt as if it were being ripped apart. She let out a scream, but it didn't seem to register in her ears. Out her window she saw flashes of light and darkness strobing past at incredible speeds. Her mind felt as if it might crack in two from the weight and the pressure of going through the wormhole.

It stopped almost as quickly as it began. The strobing light stopped and the Morning Glory came out of the wormhole on the other side. The space around them was calm and quiet. She could see the distant stars and the edge of the planet Draconia.

"Very good," said medic Yuma. "Now it is time for you to be inseminated. Inside the bathroom, you will find further instructions. The ship’s AI system will tell you what to do. If you have any additional questions or need any assistance you can call me on your wrist holocom," medic Yuma said.

"I have to do it myself?" she asked.

"We find that the brides prefer to do the insemination without the interference of a medic. It allows for a greater bond to be created between the bride and her mate," medic Yuma told her.

He stood from his chair and exited her chamber, leaving her alone. Now there was no turning back. She was going to be implanted with her mate’s seed, becoming pregnant for the first time in her life.

She could barely contain her excitement. At thirty-seven years old, Cora had truly believed that the time for a child and a husband might have passed her by. But now she was getting a second chance at the life she had always secretly wanted.

She walked into the bathroom and found the normal human appliances, as well as a huge Draconian bathtub in the center of the room. It was seven feet tall and made out of stacked stone, and she knew they had become very popular on Earth in the last thirty years. She walked in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection. Standing in front of the mirror awakened the AI, and it greeted her.

"Welcome to the Morning Glory, Cora Brighton, mate of Prince Magmus Murcul, Earth Prince of Galaton," the AI stated. "To begin the insemination process, you must first remove your clothing and apply the provided solution to your entire body."

A bottle of lotion ascended through a little hole in the surface of the counter. Cora took the bottle, feeling a bit like Alice in Wonderland as she examined it. She set it back on the counter and removed the flannel pajamas that she'd been wearing.

She stood naked in front of the mirror. In her reflection, she saw the muscles in her arms from years of working in the greenhouses, and the wisdom deep inside her green eyes. Her long reddish brown hair framed her broad shoulders and the expression on her face was one of both anticipation and fear.

She wanted to believe that everything would go exactly as she'd hoped, but there was also the possibility that it wouldn't go according to plan.

Maybe her mate would not be as good a man as the other Galatonian princes. Worse things had happened in the lives of women over the millennia.

Cora had to believe that she would be one of the lucky ones. She lifted the bottle and squirted the contents into her palm. It smelled faintly of flowers and musk. It was an altogether pleasant aroma. She began to rub the lotion onto her skin, feeling it tingle on her flesh. As she worked the lotion over her shoulders and crossed her breasts with her palm, the AI brought images of her prince up onto the screen.

"Now you must wash yourself," the AI said.

The screen was streaming picture after picture of Magmus. She let out a moan at the sight of him and turned to climb into the bathtub. She took the steps that circled around the tub and then lowered herself into the warm water. It felt heavenly against her skin, especially after applying the lotion.

"Now please, wash your body with the soap provided and gaze upon your prince," the AI said.

Cora lifted a bottle from the side of the tub and squirted the soap into her hand. She ran it through her hair until it was washed clean.

"Please apply the soap to all parts of the body, including the sex organs," the AI stated. "As you do, please observe Prince Magmus."

Cora squirted more lotion into her palm and swept it over the spot between her legs. A surge of excitement swept through her as the lotion contacted her most sensitive spot.

Images of Magmus filled the screen and seemed to fill her mind. There was a picture of his dragon, huge and green, his teeth sharp and shining in the sunlight of the Earth Lands.

There was a picture of Magmus holding a laser sword aloft, his fur-lined cloak fluttering around him. His brown eyes sparkled at her through the millions of miles between them. His smile lit a torch inside her soul. As she brushed the lotion over her sex, she felt herself climax with an almost involuntary rush of pleasure.

It gripped her whole core and radiated through the rest of her body. She gasped and then let out a long moan as the climax barreled through her and slowly dissipated.

The pictures of Magmus filled the screen and all she wanted was to reach out and touch him.

"Remove yourself from the bath and then dry your body," the AI stated.

Still a little confused, Cora climbed out of the bath and went to stand under the full body blow dryer to the side of the bathroom. The warm air blew over her skin and hair, drying her quickly. She walked back to the AI and prepared herself for the final instructions.

"Now you are ready for insemination."

A medical bed slid from the wall behind her and a robotic arm stretched out from the wall, holding a large syringe.

"You may inseminate yourself or allow the robotic arm to do it for you," the AI said.

"I think I'll do it myself," Cora breathed.

She walked over to the robotic arm and took the syringe that had Magmus’s seed inside it. Her heart slammed violently in her chest. She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm herself down.

This was the biggest moment of her life. She was about to become pregnant with her prince’s child, and she wasn't altogether sure how to feel about it.

On one hand, she desperately wanted a child and a family after having dedicated her life up until now to helping the Earth transition into its new phase of development.

At the same time, it was all such an unknown, she didn't quite know how to feel. With the syringe in hand, she lay down on the gurney and listened to the AI's instructions. Slowly, she spread her legs as images of Magmus were projected above her.

She felt almost as if he was there with her in the room, his brown eyes sparkling as he smiled above her. She slid the syringe inside her core and let out a deep breath. Magmus's image grew closer and closer, so close she felt she could touch him. She pushed the syringe stopper and squirted the seed deep inside herself.

As soon as she pulled the syringe from inside of her, her entire body jolted. Cora immediately passed out. When she woke up she found herself in her bed, staring up at medic Yuma.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It is the effect of the seed being implanted before the mating ritual can take place. We have mitigated this effect as much as possible, but this often happens with brides of Galaton."

He ran a medical scanner over her body and then checked the results.

"It looks as if the seed has taken. Congratulations. You are with child."

"You can tell already?" she asked.

"This procedure slightly changes the female humans’ physiology. The seed can take quickly, and we can have the results within minutes."

"Wow, a baby," she breathed.

Medic Yuma left her alone and she snuggled down into the bed, thinking of her child and the mate who waited for her. In that moment, Cora was sure that she had made the right decision.