Chapter 1

The girl leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath and willing her body to relax. It worked for a moment, but then the intense cramping feeling began again. This time, the contraction was so severe that she found herself sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. For the next sixty seconds, all she could do was ride the wave of pain, waiting for its inevitable subsiding.

"You're doing just fine." her mother encouraged her. You've made it a long time without any medication. Just let me know if you want anything."

"I want Bryn!" the girl muttered through her teeth, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. He should be the one here with her now, holding her hand during the more intense contractions and helping her remember her breathing techniques.

But Bryn was dead. He had never even known that he was going to be a father. His parents had discovered that she was involved with him, and had immediately taken him away from Earth. No mere human would ever be good enough for their Bryn, who was a descendant of alien nobility. Not only that, they had arranged a bride for him 'back home', and had been horrified to discover that their son's interests lay elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Bryn and his parents had been killed when their interplanetary transport had been destroyed by a Spectran warship. The act of aggression had been a surprise, and had been followed by similar attacks on neighboring planetary systems. In the months that had followed, a number of planets had joined together to form a loose federation. Already there was a military force being discussed, in order to defend themselves against the increasingly aggressive Spectran Empire. Within a couple of years, the Red Rangers were expected to have conquered the Spectrans.

But none of this mattered to the girl. She had been left alone, unmarried and pregnant, a laughingstock among her friends. Fortunately, she had had the support of her family during her entire pregnancy.

Thank goodness for that. She didn't know what she would have done without her mother there to help her. Her father had been concerned, and kind, as well. Her brother William had saved her sanity more often than she liked to think.

It had been a difficult pregnancy. Despite Earth's increasingly frequent interaction with other planets, mixed species pregnancies were still a rarity, and the girl had had to go to Center City, seeking out the few specialists in alien obstetrics who were located on Earth.

Complications had arisen, and the girl had been placed on bedrest at the beginning of her second trimester, as too much movement could cause the onset of early labor. Not only that, but the drug regimen was incredible. Apparently there was some risk that her body would reject the baby, because of its alien makeup, which necessitated the preventative medication. She would have gone out of her mind with boredom if it hadn't been for William. He was older than she, and had just begun a job at Galaxy Security, working for this new Federation. He was researching some kind of new transforming fabric… the girl had never figured out what it was supposed to transform into, though. Apparently that was top secret. But every night, when he got home, William would spend all of his free time with his sister, telling her about what was going on in the rest of the world, while she was stuck in a small room, day after day.

But now, that was coming to an end. She was forty-four weeks along (the specialists had told her that this was still slightly premature, given the baby's alien DNA) and labor had finally begun. Despite the pain, the girl was relieved to be allowed to walk again, even if only to assist the contractions, and soon she would hold her baby in her arms.

Their baby was her last link to Bryn… she would be a good mother, and tell her baby about him, explaining why he wasn't there as the child grew.

Another contraction tore through her body, and she began to wonder if she should have accepted the medication she had been offered. It wasn't as if she had had a drug-free pregnancy, after all. So why had natural childbirth been so important to her?

This time, the pain did not recede, but instead carried her along, into the center of its whirling maelstrom, until she cried out, and everything went black.

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The Doctor walked down the hallway. This was the most difficult part of his job, and it was something he particularly dreaded. But as the most senior member of the medical staff, this duty clearly fell to him. Still, there was some good news. He just hoped that he could convince them of that.

As he approached he saw the girl's family. An older woman was sitting on one of the hard, plastic waiting room chairs, wiping at red-rimmed eyes with nervous hands. Her husband was in the chair next to her, a protective arm around the woman's shoulders. A younger man with glasses stood next to the couple, looking as worried as the other two put together.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson?" the Doctor asked politely. "I am Dr. Coventry. I was in charge of the medical team that assisted with your daughter's delivery."

"How is she?" asked the older woman anxiously. "How is my Emily?"

This was it. No matter how many times the Doctor had had to deliver this kind of news, and fortunately it hadn't been that many times, it never came easily to him. He decided to just get it over with as quickly as possible.

"I'm afraid that Emily suffered from a placental abruption, along with varied other complications." Coventry sighed. "There was just too much bleeding, among other things." The Doctor took a deep breath before continuing.

"Emily did not survive the delivery."

The family had obviously been expecting such a possibility, but they were still devastated to hear the words coming from the Doctor's mouth.

"My Emily…" cried the older woman, sobbing on her husband's shoulder, even as he looked up in bewilderment at Coventry.

"What do we do, now?" he asked plaintively.

The young man turned to the Doctor, his expression grave.

"What about the baby?" he asked. "Did my sister's baby survive?"

"Yes." Coventry nodded, relieved to be past the worst of the discussion. "We were able to save the baby, although it was touch and go there for awhile."

"That's what we'll do then, Dad." the man said to his father. "We will take care of Emily's child… your grandchild."

"My grandchild…" the woman appeared hopeful. "Is the baby a boy, or a girl, Doctor?"

"A girl." Dr. Coventry replied. "You have a beautiful baby granddaughter."