Veronica fell in love with space when she was only a child. She adored the cosmos and the stars that and the stars that twinkled in them. In her teen years, she cherished rocket ships and their elaborate builds. And in her early twenties, she fawned over the empty and darker places, the blackholes with their mysterious allure. Entering her late twenties she feel in love with outer space's inhabitants. Each unique type of alien and all of their charms and cultural quirks.

In her late twenties, she fell in love with a very particular alien with her soft smiles and quiet demeanor. With her kind eyes and gentle face. More so she fell in love with the woman's intelligence and loyalty. With her unexpectedly strong moral code and bravery.

Veronica loved everything about space and what it had to offer. She was thrilled to know that Acxa was one such thing. In current, the Galra was asleep. Curled up with her legs drawn to her chest and her head burrowed deeply into one of Veronica's pillows. A nest of blankets surrounded and covered her. She looked wholly cozy. Veronica was almost certain that the woman had acquired herself so many pillows and blankets because she had spent so many nights without even a mattress to sleep on.

Veronica rubbed Acxa's back and waited for the woman to awaken.

Veronica watched her fiance shift positions and open her eyes. They closed once more. The Galra blinked a few times before finally managing to keep her eyes open. She settled them on Veronica and sat herself up. Her hair was bedraggled and her eyes still looked so sleepy. Her movements were slow as she stretched her arms and yawned. Veronica brushed her fingers over her tangled hair. "Good afternoon, Acxa."

"Afternoon?" Acxa murmured, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Yes, afternoon. You've been sleeping all day."

It was a habit Acxa had picked up in recent months. She climbed out of bed and retrieved herself a glass of water. Veronica came to stand behind her, wrapping her arms around her middle and nuzzling her cheek between the Galra's shoulder blades.

Space had a great many surprises for Veronica.

She hadn't expected to meet a man like Coran who was so whimsical, yet so highly clever at the same time. Even less had she expected to pick up on some of his lingo and use it regularly. Shouting, "oh quiznak!" at the dinner table would always earn her a sharp glare from Acxa.

It also came as a shock to Veronica when she ended up at a Clear Day festival watching James and Kinkade fight over a stuffed animal. She'd never imagined that she'd attend a celebration in outer space, she hardly got invited to things on earth.

Falling in love with Acxa was another unexpected happening. It really shouldn't have been; Veronica had figured that she'd find a love in space rather than on Earth. But Acxa in particular was a surprise. The Acxa had been so cold and distant at first. So stand-offish that it had put Veronica off. It had taken her a bit too long to realize that the Galra was simply unexpectedly shy. Veronica was certain that getting close with her was the biggest shock that the galaxy could offer.

But space wasn't done with her. It had one more surprise left for her…

One more surprise that Acxahad reveled with a blush creeping over her cheeks.

Acxa put the cup aside and rested her hand a top Veronica's. Veronica didn't know how long she stood there running her hand over the swell of the woman's belly. It had to have been a while though because the Galra finally asked if they could sit down again. Veronica released her hold and let Acxa lead her back to her fort of pillows and blankets.

That was probably the longest Acxa had ever let her hold her like that. Veronica dared to hope that she was getting more comfortable.

Like most things, the Galra was pretty awkward about this too. Not that Veronica herself wouldn't be. Under normal circumstances, Acxa was weird about being touched-much less by strangers. So Veronica wasn't surprised to see Acxa get flustered when Pidge's mother asked if she could feel her baby bump. These days, it happened rather regularly, especially by Garrison members who had children of their own back on Earth. It was mostly the humans; Veronica was getting the sense that the desire to feel the baby kick was a human thing.

Veronica knew very well that Acxa didn't like to be at the center of attention. She had a good feeling that, that was why the Galra spent so much time tucked into her little pillow nest. The more her belly swelled, the more reclusive the woman became. Her fort kept her away from curious eyes and touches.

It was a source of comfort and protection.

She was just one stuffed animal away from total safety; perhaps one of these days, Veronica could get James to hand over the plush toy he'd won. Acxa had secretly had her eye on it since that Clear Day.

"What do you want to name it?" Veronica asks, she wanted to reach out and place her hand over their baby, but she is almost certain that Acxa had already reached her limit on touches for the day. "Do you want it to have a human name or a Galra one."

"I want it to have a human name." She decided. This was one of the few things that didn't surprise her. Acxa seemed to be putting a large effort to assimilate as much as possible. On most days it seemed like she was trying to break away from her heritage entirely. Something that put a pang in Veronica's heart.

"I think that a Galra name would be really nice though." Veroinca dared protest. "It could be just one more small step to help bridge Earth and space society."

Acxa thought about it for a moment, absently rubbing circles over the bump. "I'll think about it. Galra names aren't exactly pretty."

Veronica's heart ached again. Every time the woman made a slanted remark about her own culture Veronica felt bad. "Your name is pretty. Ezor and Zethrid are nice names too." She had to get the woman to regard her heritage more positively.

"Thank you." Acxa replied.

"Do you want to stop by the cafeteria and get something to eat?" She also had to get the woman out of her room again.

"People stare at me." Acxa mumbled. "They stared before…"

"They don't mean anything by it, they're just curious." Veroica reassured her. "Trust me, they'd be fawning over your belly if you were a human too. That's kind of just a thing on Earth."

"It's…" she searched for the human term, "dumb. And an invasion of personal space."

Veronica laughed out loud. "We humans tend to not know much about personal space."

Acxa folded her arms over her chest, lower lips sticking out in a full-on pout. "Well you better learn or I won't be able to leave my room."

With an eye roll, Veronica tugs Acxa to her feet. "Come on. Believe it or not, they are trying to be nice. The touches are affectionate."

Acxa cocked her head, "affectionate?"

"Yeah." Veronica replied. "Think of it like your fight or flight response. Human mom's like to touch your belly because they have a maternal instinct. Don't the Galra have something like that?"

Acxa seemed to hold her baby bump more tightly. "We protect our young." She paused. "But we usually don't start kissing our young until after they are born."

Veronica's cheeks flushed, she knew that Acxa was referring to the one instance where Veronica had done just that. Her baby bump had just formed and Veronica had given it a soft kiss. One that left her fiance confused and flustered.

"We have some cultural differences." Veronica pointed out the obvious. "Please come with me. I don't want you to get lonely up here. Keith misses seeing you." She squeezed the Galra's hand. "If you won't do it for me, do it for Keith."

Acxa groaned at the mention of Keith. "Fine."

Veronica knew that, that would work. Despite their past failed romantic relationship, the pair were still very close. She stuck close to Veronica, following behind. She was fairly sure that Acxa was making some sort of small attempt to hide her baby belly. The Galra was a real trip. Veronica led her over to Keith and noted that she would go fetch their food as the pair caught up. Reluctantly, Acxa let her go. She felt comfortable leaving Acxa with Keith, the man was very good about respecting the Galra's personal bubble and helping her get others to do the same.

With that in mind, she supposed that it wouldn't hurt to pester James over the plush toy. She figured that a few correctly placed, 'please, for the baby's' would earn her the toy. She stood in the food line, letting her thoughts run a little free.

She still couldn't believe that the baby was hers. That Galra women could get other Galra women pregnant. At first she had been furious with Acxa for not telling her that, if she would have known, she would have taken some precautionary measures and insisted that Acxa did too. She had fumed over it for about a week or so, until she found the Galra huddled in her nest, crying to herself.

Her anger had begun to subside. And melted away completely when Acxa mumbled that she didn't realize it was possible for a human woman to get a Galra woman pregnant. That she had read in human biology books that same gender humans couldn't procreate, so she had assumed that it would be the same between she and Veronica.

Just like that, Veronica had felt guilty for making Acxa feel like she'd be dealing with this alone.

It was the type of surprise only space could offer. But she had grown to be happy for it. She hadn't put much thought into children, but the idea of having a family with Acxa, it was soothing.

Veronica had a feeling that the woman was going to make a good mother. Having been abandoned by her own parents, Acxa mentioned once or twice, in passing, that she fretted over the kind of mother she would be. An awkward mother, maybe. The kind that would show up to school events and embarrass her kid with awful space jokes, probably. But she couldn't see Acxa letting her child go unloved the way she had.

She peered at the Galra from across the lunchroom. She was smiling, laughing. She looked comfortable, albiet a little out of place, but at ease no less. Veronica just hoped that she'd stay that way.

.oOo.

Lunch hadn't been as dreadful as she imagined. Near the end of her meal, she was gaining more unwanted attention. People and alien alike were starting to notice that she was back. She tried to ignore the stares. She came to conclude that she hadn't done herself any favors in hiding away for so long.

Her sudden reappearance, alone, was bound to draw looks. That didn't even factor in that her baby bump had grown some as well. With her baby bump, her hair had grown, sweeping down to just below her shoulders. Her horns and grown out as well, longer and with more branches. She didn't know which aspect had drawn more intrigued looks.

It made her feel almost dizzy to have so much spotlight on her. She truly hoped that they wouldn't start asking to feel the baby kick. She just wanted to finish her lunch in peace. She supposed that it had been worth it to talk to Keith again. He offered so much support. And Allura had volunteered to watch the baby if she and Veronica ever needed some alone time in the future.

She was back in the comfort of her room, deciding ultimately and to herself, that it had probably been a good thing to try to become social again. Still she was relieved to be wrapped up in a cocoon of the fuzziest blankets. They smelled like she and Veronica, that alone soothed her.

In a few months she would nuzzle her child in a blanket cocoon. With any luck, the baby would enjoy the sheets as much as she.

Acxa laid back, looking at the ceiling. She was still quite tired, a dull ache pulsed in her back. She was certainly feeling the burden of her pregnancy and it wasn't over quite yet.

"Hey, I have something for you!" Veronica exclaimed.

Acxa turned her head, her eyes lighting up when Veronica placed the plush in her hands. She hugged it to her chest. "Did he cry when you conquered him and stole it?"

Veronica laughed, rather loudly at that. "I didn't conquer him. I asked him if you could have it and told him that it would make you really happy. I may or may not have slipped something in about making a pregnant woman cry."

Acxa rolled her eyes, what a sneaky human Veronica was.

No matter, she nuzzled her chin on the plush.

"Mind if I squeeze in there?"

Acxa fussed to unravel her tangle of blankets and let Veronica slip in next to her. She combed her finger's through locks of soft brown. Veronica's warm breath against her neck made her pillow fort that much more cozy. Veronica turned on some music, she noted that the style was called chillstep. Frankly Acxa was becoming confused by the amount of types of 'steps' and 'cores' music had. No less, chillstep was a serene type of electronic music and it usually helped lull her to sleep. Veronica closed the space between them and locked hands with her.

It occurred to her just how complete a sleeping baby would make that image. Acxa smiled to herself, she was finally going to have a family.

A real family.