Dr Naskia Freeman sat on the desk in her office staring at a blackboard covered with equations and diagrams for her research into data transmission modulation. She really wasn’t getting anywhere, she was too busy day dreaming. Dr Selil had called her earlier and asked her to come over to the lab later in the day; she had some big news for her.

She was day dreaming about important events in her life over the past few years, most notably her marriage to Niall nine months earlier. Pryvani had pulled some strings on his behalf and had managed to get him official permission to marry Naskia from a Judicial Arbiter. Niall and Pryvani had kept it secret from her and she only found out when Niall proposed to her in the holosuite restaurant where they had gone on their “first date”. Naskia was beginning to like Niall’s happy surprises.

They had a small ceremony at their home in Tannhauser presided over by the Arbiter. Pryvani, Loona, Nonah, his assistant Kymie and his now good friend Dhanyle acting as his best man sat on Niall’s side. Naskia’s family sat on her side and Kiri also found her way on to the guest list. Niall got on reasonably well with the Bass family. He got on very well with Naskia’s father and also the middle Bass son, Aertimus. As an Imperial Fleet Officer who had worked his way up the ranks to Captain he had a great respect for those who fought hard to get what they wanted in life and he held Niall in high regard. A feeling Niall reciprocated.

Naskia smiled to herself as she remembered bits and pieces from the day. Niall sounding nervous for the first time in his life as he stumbled through his vows, their bungled attempt at a first dance, Nonah getting slightly tipsy and throwing herself at her long-time admirer Dhanyle and her father’s speech which she swore had caused a tear to drip to Niall’s cheek. He denied this of course.

Naskia tapped her pad and put on some music, Pearl Jam’s Wishlist. It was the song they had used for their attempt at a dance. It was more Naskia holding Niall to her chest as she spun around in their back garden. Naskia loved the song, she thought it summed up their hopes and dreams together perfectly. She particularly enjoyed the line “I wish I was an alien, at home behind the sun.” She doubted she would feel particularly at home lurking behind a star. She scrolled through pictures of the day smiling, she laughed at a surprise picture someone had taken of Nonah and Dhanyle’s first kiss.

It hadn’t all been plain sailing in the last two years. Standard couple things like arguments which under normal circumstances would just fizzle out naturally were a lot harder. Naskia had to keep control of her natural urges to enforce her position through her size and always tried to keep her voice’s volume down so not scare Niall when she got annoyed. No matter how mad she got at him she wouldn’t let him go hungry or neglect him. It was one of her rules.

Despite representations from both Pryvani and the Titan Institute of Physics, The Empire still hadn’t recognised Niall as a full citizen. It had been hoped that when he had married Naskia that it would be the last push that was needed but that wasn’t the case. He was trapped in legal limbo, somewhere between being considered property of his wife and a full Imperial citizen. Naskia could tell it bothered him despite Niall’s attempts to hide it. Most people couldn’t see past the stern, arrogant front he put up but she could see when something got to him and this really got to him.

Pryvani had gone as far as offering to relocate both her and Niall to her moon with well-paid positions for them both. She kept talking about a “grand project” she was working on and it would be of great benefit to Humans. She said that both of them could have key roles in the project and that their efforts would go down in history but she was unwilling to go into any more detail. Given Pryvani’s secrecy and the vast distance between Avalon and Archavia, both Niall and Naskia had turned her down despite repeated attempts to win them over.

Naskia got up as she noticed the time on her pad. She gathered her things and felt butterflies in her tummy as she left her office and headed towards the biology lab as her mind raced through different possibilities of what the big news could be. She was half hoping to walk into the lab and see Niall towering over her but she doubted that was going to happen.

Naskia walked down the corridor as she approached the lab. The watchful gaze of Pryvani’s security chief standing outside the door told her that it must be important if Pryvani had made the trip all the way from Avalon. She still hated being watched by the tall woman as she walked down the corridor, it made her feel like a child rather than a respected scientist.

“Dr Freeman…” The guard said opening the door.

Naskia nodded at the tall woman and walked inside.

“Hi…” she said walking inside and sitting on a stool at a workbench where Niall was standing. Naskia still couldn’t get over how young he looked. He was now nearly seven years old which in Human terms put him about forty but he still looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties.

“Hey Petal…” Niall said pacing back and forth on the table. He looked very nervous about what Dr Selil had to say.

“Hey Nas…how’s it goin?” Loona said looking up from her pad briefly. Naskia sent her a nervous smile.

Naskia set her hand down behind Niall and slowly moved it forwards to cup Niall. She scooped him in to her hand and lifted him up to her face. “Hey…hey…it’s ok…what’s going on?” Naskia said stroking his back.

Niall relaxed into his wife’s touch. He was exceptionally tense while he waited for Dr Selil’s announcement. “I just hate the waiting…”

Dr Selil was currently scanning Nonah with some sort of specialised medical device, Dhanyle watched on intently. He wanted to make sure his girlfriend was ok. Kharee had insisted on waiting until all her tests were complete and everyone had arrived before making her announcement. Even Pryvani was subdued. She was focused on her pad and ignoring the rest of the room.

Kharee walked over and Niall and Naskia looked up expectantly. She deposited Nonah and Dhanyle on the table and walked over to her wall screen and started scrolling through data on the screen and tapping on her pad. She was either oblivious to the tense atmosphere in the room or she was ignoring it.

“Ohhh I need to sit down…” Nonah muttered cutting the tension and bringing the focus to her. “My back and my feet are aching!”

Naskia smiled at her as Dhanyle held her hand and her elbow as she lowered herself to the work bench’s surface. Nonah crossed her legs Indian-style and placed her hands on top of her large, round tummy. Naskia couldn’t help but find the heavily pregnant Human even cuter than normal. Nonah too looked like she had hardly aged at all since she had started receiving treatments from Dr Selil.

“How long left?” Naskia asked as Nonah breathed a sigh of relief.

“Too long!” Nonah shot back. “No one told me that living longer would mean being pregnant a lot longer. Humans are usually only pregnant for about two and a bit months, it’s been five! My back can’t take much more of this.”

“I know it’s sore hon but it’ll all be worth it.” Dhanyle said trying to sooth his grumpy girlfriend.

Naskia and Loona jointly winced as Nonah’s face turned sour. A patronising statement was the last thing any man should attempt with a pregnant woman.

“Oh yeah?! In that case you won’t mind if I cripple you, cuz it really would be worth it!” Nonah snapped. She sent him a death stare that made him back off a few paces.

Naskia giggled at the table top drama. It was a nice distraction from the nervous waiting that was making her feel slightly queasy.

“It doesn’t matter how smart you are or what species you’re from. Men are always idiots when it comes to women…” Naskia smiled and nudged Dhanyle gently with her knuckle causing him to stumble slightly.

Naskia looked up noticing Dr Selil had moved across to Pryvani and both ladies were now approaching the work bench. Niall, Nonah and Dhanyle quickly noticed their approach and turned to face Dr Selil. Loona turned off the pad and looked up intently.

“My study appears to have reached its conclusion and I have my final results ready to be published.” She announced tapping on her pad.

“The effect of DNA sequencing has had some dramatic effects on your Human physiology. The most successful effect has been on life expectancy. The Titan DNA has altered your metabolic rates slowing aging considerably. It looks like you all now have a life expectancy of 50-60 years or 300 to 380 Earth years. I’m very pleased with that result.” Kharee said pausing for a second.

Naskia knew Niall had gotten younger looking over the last two years but to hear that he would be with her for a lot longer filled her with happiness. They could possibly now have a full life together. What concerned her was Niall didn’t look any happier.

“The main problem we’ve encountered is with the growth aspect of the re-sequencing. Tests on tissue samples and on computer models have shown that any attempt at introducing Titan DNA relating to size has shown that growth will occur. However our analysis has shown that multiple, exceptionally aggressive cancers quickly develop and spread. Normally they are easily cured but the growth rate quickly counteracts all treatments. It would seem that any attempt to grow you to Titan size would end in death in under a month at less than knee height.” Kharee explained. Her tone lacked in any kind of emotion and empathy and was very matter of fact.

Niall’s heart sank. Emotions ran through him like a torrent so quickly he couldn’t deal with them. Naskia cupped her hand round him and stroked him but it wasn’t helping. Suddenly 300 years with Naskia had become 300 years of being miniscule in a massive world. Rage, terror, hopelessness all filled him. He tried to get up and pace but Naskia kept her hand cupped and her finger at his back. He knew she was just trying to help but all it was doing was reminding him of how pathetic he was in comparison to a petite young woman.

“You ok sweetie?” Naskia asked.

Niall looked up into her eyes, his own filled with tears. He couldn’t reply, he just slumped into her palm and buried his face in his arms. He felt Naskia stroke his back in an attempt to console him. It felt nice but he was too dejected to enjoy it. The light level over him dropped but he didn’t look up. He could feel all eyes on him, Naskia, Nonah, Loona, Dhanyle and Pryvani. None of them knew what it was like, to be normal one day and tiny the next. They may be disappointed but he was devastated.

“I’m so sorry Niall…” Pryvani said. She genuinely was sorry and disappointed and it came across in her voice.

Niall looked up at her and sniffled. “No…thank you for everything you’ve done. I know you didn’t have to.”

“At least you get thirty more years with me sweetie…” Naskia said trying to comfort him.

“Yes but I also get thirty more years of being tiny in a giant world, being totally reliant on you for virtually everything. I don’t want that Nas…” Niall sighed burying his face in his arms again.

“There is another option…” Pryvani had asked Niall and Naskia this many times but they had always refused. Perhaps if Niall knew the truth he would be more inclined to join her. “…Avalon.”

Niall looked up from his hiding hole in Naskia’s palm. “I don’t see how another Titan world will make a blind bit of difference.”

Pryvani smirked a little, confusing Niall and Naskia. “That’s not actually the case…”

“What do you mean?” Naskia asked curiously.

“Generations ago my ancestors rescued a doomed city on Earth. The city, its inhabitants and a collection of native plants and animals, were transported to Avalon where the descendants have lived under my family’s protection ever since. It was meant to be a backup for Humanity. If Earth was ever destroyed or Humans ever wiped themselves out, then Avalon was supposed to be where

some remnant of human culture could continue and thrive. Of course, being arrogant Titans, we couldn’t resist interfering even then.” Pryvani explained.

Naskia felt a bit queasy. She could see the look on Niall’s face. He was interested. She knew he loved her and she loved him but he just seemed to be broken. She hadn’t seen him like this since after the Kiri incident years ago.

“We really need you Niall. And not just you Niall but you too Naskia, all of you. Atlantis was kept in technological stasis and generations of Humans lived off the land. But that all changed three years ago. Everything we Titans have done, interfering with Humans, abducting you and taking Atlantis was all wrong. We have the best of intentions but we only tend to make a mess. I liberated Atlantis and a small group of us have been attempting to develop Atlantis, to quickly get them to the level of Earth Humans.” Pryvani continued.

“What?!” Niall yelled his eyes wide. He didn’t know if he was angry with her for having an entire city full of people under her thumb or if he was excited at the prospect of being able to live with Humans again.

“Please Niall, come to Avalon. A man of your abilities, your drive and your knowledge could do great, great things there. You could help to improve the lives of thousands of people. I have a compound on the moon. Naskia could live there so you would not have to be apart. Please promise me you’ll think about it.” Pryvani said sounding a lot more humble than she usually did.

“Ok…ok…I’ll think about. Can we just go home Nas?” Niall asked forlornly.

“Sure sweetie…” Naskia pulled him into her chest in preparation for the journey home. She wanted to hold him, she didn’t want him sitting alone in her pocket. She mouthed goodbye to the group and turned and walked towards the door.

“Oh Dr Freeman!” Dr Selil called out rushing towards Naskia who was standing in the doorway. “One last thing…if you are planning on engaging in activities of a sexual nature can I suggest you now take precautions?”

“Precautions?” Naskia raised an eyebrow.

“It appears that one side effect of the treatment has been to make your husband’s DNA compatible with yours. I understand that he is a lot smaller than you and so the chances of anything like that happening are negligible but I would be remiss in my duty of care if I did not advise you of the risks.” Kharee explained before casually walking back into her lab.

Niall had bolted up in Naskia’s palm and was staring at the underside of her face. He felt the hand slowly rise as he was lifted to Naskia’s face. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were glowing brightly with a mixture of shock and happiness. Niall instantly felt better. This changed everything. He may not get to be normal but at least there could be some normality in his life.

“What do you think?” Niall asked his wife.

“Ehhh….yeah. Why not?” Naskia glowed.

Niall paced on the surface of the table in the waiting room. He wasn’t paying attention to the people or conversations around him. He just paced back and forth. He’d waited two full Earth years for this day. It’d had been a hell of a ride for them both. Normally a pregnant Titan woman finds herself with more energy and drive to prepare herself and her home for the new arrival, a sort of nesting instinct. Naskia, however, spent much of her early pregnancy hugging the toilet, retching and vomiting. This happened at least three times a day for almost an hour at a time in sync with Earth days. She was exhausted and worn out for the first four months of the pregnancy. By the end of it she was nearly ready to kill Niall for doing this to her.

Niall wanted to be in there with her, to hold her hand and be there when his child was brought into the universe but they’d decided it would be best if he stayed in the waiting room and Naskia’s mother went in with her. Hussel had explained how during Naskia’s birth, her mother had squeezed his hand so tight he needed some minor medical treatment. Niall would very quickly end up as nothing but bloody goo in her grip if he attempted to comfort her.

“Whoa!” Loona shouted diving off her chair towards the table. She placed her hand at the edge as Niall stepped off the table in his daze. “Careful! If you keep acting like this you’ll not live to see your child born.”

Niall stopped in his tracks feeling the hard table was now the soft surface of Loona’s palm. He looked up taking in her pale face. She looked like she’d had her wits scared out of her.

“Sorry Loona…I’ll be more careful.” Niall breathed out deeply realising just how close he’d came to getting badly injured. He stepped off her palm and back on to the table allowing Loona to return to her seat.

“Can I get you anything?” Loona asked.

Niall thought for a second. “A bottle of whiskey would be nice…”

Loona’s eyes grew wide and she felt slightly sick just at the mention of whiskey. She’d been talked into drinking it a few times with Niall and each time it had ended messily and with a terrible hangover the next day. “No…no whiskey. I don’t understand how Humans have even made it into space drinking that stuff. It’s rocket fuel in itself!”

“When I get back to the Gefjon I’ll swing by Earth and pick you up some shall I?” Aeritmus joked.

“Oh that’d be great if you could…”

“Yeah sure, the local Navarchos will have no problem with me doing a drinks run for you at all!” Aertimus chuckled.

The conversation was interrupted by a beep from Niall’s pad on the desk. He walked over to it and tapped the screen bringing up a typed message from Pryvani Tarsuss.

“Congratulations to you and your wife Niall. I am so happy for you both and I’m also so happy that I could help in some small part to bring this child into the Universe. I am honoured that you would want me to be one of your child’s guardians and I gladly accept. I only wish I could be there in person to greet them but there is so much work to be done here on Avalon. Please know if there is anything you ever need you only have to ask and it will be done. And always know that there is a home here on Avalon for you and your family if you ever change your mind.

My love as always,

Pryvani”

Nialled smiled warmly. He felt bad refusing Pryvani’s requests to help with Avalon but his main concern was for his family. He wanted his child to have as normal a life as possible given the circumstances. He didn’t know what difficulties he or she would face growing up or how Titan society would react but he knew that a moon on the edge of Titan space was not going to be the ideal place to raise a child.

His childhood had been anything but normal. No father, an impoverished mother, a civil war and then his own quirks isolated him further from the people around him. He was determined that his child would have the most normal, peaceful and happy childhood he could give them.

“Awww, that’s so nice.” Nonah said reading over Niall’s shoulder.

“It is…without her there would be no baby so we really do owe her a lot.” Niall sighed.

A shiver went up Niall’s spine and everyone turned to look at the waiting room doors as a scream of pain emerged from the delivery room.

“Won’t be long now…” Hussel said looking up. Niall was envious of him. He looked cool as a cucumber. Niall was pretty sure Hussel had been dozing quietly until the scream emerged from the delivery room.

Niall started to pace nervously again. “Ohhhh this was a bad idea…why did I do this?! I don’t know anything about being a parent! I’m an only child and I always sat by myself. I’ll be an awful father. I am so screwed!”

“Hey! I’ll have none of that now.” Nonah shot up quick as a flash and marched over to him. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his terrified face. “Don’t you dare say that! I was practically a child when we met! You were kind and patient. You protected me like I was your own. You taught me to read and write and opened my eyes to so much of life. You’re like a big brother to me. You’ve been so good with our little one too, I know you’ll be a great father.”

Nonah threw her arms around him and pulled herself in tight placing her head in his shoulder. “If I ever hear you talking like this again I’ll be forced to slap it out of you, ok?”

Niall held her tightly feeling slightly better and smiled down at her as he released her. “Thanks sis…” he said meekly deciding to return her compliment with a simple word.

Niall jumped back from her as the door swung open and he locked his eyes. A Titan midwife clad in scrubs came out to the centre of the room and walked over to the table.

“Congratulations. You have a healthy baby girl.”

The midwife smiled at the Human she’d regarded as quite stoic over the last few months as his face finally cracked and he just stood there completely aghast. She turned and walked back through the double doors.

“A daughter…” Niall stammered. “I have a daughter…”

The group smiled and Hussel stretched out his finger to shake Niall’s hand. Nonah jumped on to Niall the second he was free, hugging him tightly. “Do you think my son and your daughter will get married one day?”

Niall didn’t answer. He was in a daze. He extended his hand to return the shake that Aertimus had offered him. Loona scooped him up and hugged him to her cheek.

“Do you have a name picked out yet?” Loona asked.

Loona’s question prompted Niall out of his daze. They’d agreed beforehand if it was a girl then Niall could name her.

“Yeah…Sorcha…for my mother.” He replied his voice on the edge of breaking.