"Room service!" Alex whispered to Maria. Which it was, sort of. It was not like a tray of food magically appeared out of the wall like you sometimes see on sci-fi shows, but you could place an order and then go eat it in the dining room a few minutes later. This caused a tussle between Alex, Maria and Michael. Alex and Maria were starving and wanted to eat immediately, while Michael pointed out that he had basically forced their hosts to show them the workings of the ship and they should at least finish the tour first.

"Space boy!" Maria began threateningly until she saw that the four Dendarians that have been showing them around were watching her with expressions varying between alarm, shock and amusement. Damn, they could understand what she was saying! She had forgotten that. "Ah… sorry," she finally managed with an apologetic smile while ignoring Michael’s glare. "Please, let’s continue." Where was Liz when she needed her? Surely Liz would never cause such a scene in front of their hosts. On the other hand, Liz was now a Queen and no one would dare say anything if she DID create a scene. Liz just had it all...

Alex asked endless questions of their tour guides. He was fascinated by the technology on the ship. How they communicated (mostly telepathically), how they navigated (they had trained "navigators" doing the steering, not computers or machines). It seemed that the Dendar nation depended a lot more on people than on technology, something that interested Alex to no end. They were shown how to operate all the gadgets in their rooms, from the showers (yes, they do have water on Dendar), to the Dendarian version of a toilet, to their food orders and how the chute type thing in the bathroom worked that cleaned clothes.

They were also shown how to expand a bed until it fit their bodies, making Alex exclaim, "nifty" with a sly look at Isabel who had to try and hide her smile.

Then finally, they could eat. They asked their hosts to order them something, since they had no clue what Dendarian food was like. And all went for a shower before what would essentially be brunch for them.

They sat around the table and stared at the strange stuff on their plates. Alex was hungry enough to try everything, so he relayed his findings about each new dish to his companions with relish. "This tastes like broccoli." "A little bit like chicken." "Oooh, bread!" After a while, all his comments got to the rest of them and they all started eating. Overall the stuff wasn’t bad!

"Oh!" Alex cried out suddenly, turning red and grabbing his chest.

"What?!" Isabel sounded frantic.

"Can’t breathe… Food may be poisoned… Help," he ended pathetically, making gasping sounds and clutching at Isabel. All his antics brought a small group of Dendarians over.

"Quit it, Alex!" Maria said matter-of-factly, whacking him behind the head. He sat up straight immediately and looked fine.

"I can’t believe you did that!" Isabel hissed at him.

Michael just burst out laughing. "Good one, Whitman!"

When Maria and Isabel joined in the laughter a few moments later, Alex knew he had accomplished what he wanted to, to lighten the tense and uncertain mood that had been part of the group ever since they got on this ship.

And their Dendarian audience just stared at each other in wonder about this wacky group of people.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Surely she was made for this. For having Max’s hands on her body, his thoughts in her mind and his baby in her womb. His fingers lingered possessively on her sweet curves and Liz trembled with pleasure beneath his touch. She arched her back sensuously against the pressure of his hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Liz . . ." Max’s grip tightened, and he pulled her closer. She sank into his kiss, exited by the urgency of his touch that matched her own need. Locked in his arms, her breasts pressed against the strength of his chest and her body ignited by the sensation of skin against skin.

Their kisses became deeper and more demanding and, still kissing almost frantically, they fumbled with desperation to rid Max of the last of his clothes.

Liz’s senses were spinning with exhilaration and the pent-up desires of the last week-and-a-half. At last she could touch him and feel him again, at last his mouth was on hers and his hands were sure against her skin, at last his need was as great as her own.

Max lifted her onto the bed and followed her down. "Do you know what it’s been like, not being able to really be with you these last few days?" It was a moot question, she knew exactly how he felt. He was kissing her eyes and her ears and her throat and then her mouth again.

"I’m sorry," she reiterated, running her hands greedily over his body. "It was hell for me too."

He rolled her beneath him and took her face in his hands, smoothing back her tousled hair. He looked into her eyes and there was such warmth, love and desire in his expression that Liz felt herself dissolve with happiness.

"Tell me if something hurts you…" he asked tenderly.

He was still worried about her pregnant status. Pulling his head down to hers, she breathed, "Yes," against his lips and invited more deep sweet kisses.

Max smoothed his hands over her slenderness, still amazed that she was so small and yet pregnant. His gaze lingered possessively on the soft curves of breast and hip, on the smooth, slender line of her thigh and the silken warmth of her skin. Liz tried to reach for him to pull him back to her mouth, but he only smiled and continued his devastating assault on her senses by kissing her all over, slow, tantalizing kisses that burned over her skin and left her shaking with desire. He spent a few extra moments with his lips pressed to her stomach and whispered, "I’m borrowing mommy for a while" into her bellybutton before moving lower.

Hearing her little moans was music to his starved ears. It felt like ages since he had heard them last. They spurred him into increasing the intimacy of his touches and he kept that up until Liz was quivering against him and begging him for release. But still he took his time, his mouth retracing its path back up over her belly, teasing her taut breasts and drifting lovingly up the pure line of her throat to recapture her lips.

Liz’s fingers dug into his back. She felt on fire and she urged him closer, demanding to be fulfilled until finally she could feel him enter her flooding warmth. They both groaned with a mixture of relief and pleasure while Liz wrapped herself around him and gave herself up to the glorious rhythm of their bodies moving together.

Max kissed her every time their movements allowed it. He literally worshipped her with each stroke of his body and his tongue, wanting to give her back some of what she had given him: herself and their baby. That’s why he didn’t rush this, how ever much his body demanded him to. This moment was incredibly special to him. He basked in the intensity of their connection, his mind ablaze with images of him and Liz together from that day they had conceived their baby. It stopped his breath.

Swept along by and irresistible force that grew ever stronger, faster and more urgent, they clung to each other with hot mouths and hungry hands.

Max buried his face in her hair and murmured her name in that sexy husky tone of voice he always had when they were making love. He would say her name with a little hitch that always increased her desire, because it was a tone he used uniquely for her. She arched her head back, beyond speaking, beyond thinking, beyond anything but feeling. He filled her, and it was as if every nerve down to the tips of her fingers thrilled with awareness of his hard, strong body that was taking her to the limits of sensation. She could feel his hands, insistent against her breasts, could taste his mouth and smell his hair and touch the sleekness of his skin, but as the rhythm grew even those senses dissolved beneath their shared excitement.

"Thank you," they both whispered at the same time and their gazes locked as finally the explosion of release washed over them. It was said for so many things, for saving each other’s lives, for loving one another, for making sacrifices, for always being there, for making dreams come true. And most importantly, for completing each other. They lay staring at each other afterwards, eternally grateful that they could share this again.

Carefully rolling them over so Liz was lying on top of him, Max made sure he stayed inside her for a while longer. He had missed this so much, he had to make up for lost time. He stroked Liz’s hair and asked: "How did you know you were pregnant? You said you knew last night?"

Liz wriggled around until she could lay with her arms folded on Max’s chest, resting her chin on her hands.

"Lord, Liz!" Max gasped, stilling the movement of her hips. "I think I’ve done an admirable job of not mauling you in your delicate condition until now, don’t make it impossible for me to continue."

Just smiling at him serenely, Liz knew she was going to get this nonsense out of his head soon. "I suspected when you put your hand on my belly one night and it started glowing, and I was sure when my stomach glowed when I touched it last night. And when I got nauseous this morning…" She trailed off, kicking herself for reminding Max of her morning sickness when she saw him pale.

He felt completely overwhelmed by everything this pregnancy entailed. He had no problem with going off into the wide expanses of space to stop an interplanetary war, but coping with Liz being sick, worrying about the safety of her and their baby, and trying to do things right for them was threatening to drown him.

"Max?" Liz’s soft voice called him back from his dark thoughts. "We have each other. Everything will be fine."

Slowly trailing his forefinger from her forehead, down the slope of her nose, over her lips to her chin, he marveled again at how trusting Liz still was about the world. After all that has happened to her since got involved with him, she still believed that as long as they were together they would be able to face anything. And maybe she was right.

He moved her onto her back again and scooted down so he could lay his head on her belly. He felt Liz thread her fingers through his hair as he concentrated on the faint link he had with his baby through Liz. The link did not yield anything concrete yet, just a faint hum of life that hovered at the periphery of their connection. His baby was alive and safe and growing. And he would always be able to check on it himself. He smiled against Liz’s skin, kissing her stomach softly. It was starting to feel a little more real to him. "Daddy loves you, baby." He kissed her again and looked up to meet Liz’s gaze. "And daddy loves mommy even more for giving you to me. And I promise to look after both of you."

Liz drew him back to her and they kissed. A long, slow, deep kiss that spoke of love and commitment and promises for the future.

A kiss that was rudely interrupted by a commotion outside their door.

"No, you can’t go in!" That sounded like one of his men.