Houston, Texas, in the Clarke Home, Friday, December 20th, 2030, at 5:30 pm

Rachel

I finish touching up my makeup and hair as I check myself out in the mirror on the wall next to our dresser. Lucas had a garment bag waiting for me on the bed when we came home. I'm not sure why he's spoiling me so much. Perhaps it's because he's excited about our pregnancy. Whatever the reason is, I am thoroughly enjoying the princess treatment.

The dress he chose for me is a navy blue cocktail dress with an asymmetrical neckline and long sleeves. I have my shoulder exposed while my left is covered, and the skirt of the dress stops mid thigh. It flairs out subtly past my hips, allowing me to twirl it around. The fabric is textured with a rippling pattern throughout. I pinned my hair back into a low flowering bun with several curls pulled out so they fall down the side of my neck. My bangs are loosely curled away from my face and fall just below my ears.

"Wow," Lucas whispers as he leans against the frame to the bedroom door. "You look incredible, Rachel." He gazes at me adoringly as he soaks in my appearance, his smile growing more and more devilish. "We don't have to go, we can just stay here," he says seductively as he places his hands on my hips and pulls me against him.

"As much as I would love for you to take this dress back off of me," I say in a breathy tone. "I am far too excited to go out with you tonight."

Lucas swallows and his gaze intensifies. He looks delicious in his suit. His lips curve into a sweet smile before he gives me a firm kiss.

"Me too, we should get going." He tugs on my hand and practically drags me downstairs. I giggle at his eagerness, feeling like we're in high school again. Lucas told me that he made reservations for dinner, but that's all he gave me no matter how much I tickled him. He has much more will power than I do.

#

I admire the Christms lights as we drive through the city. We don't usually get snow in December here, it was nothing like being in New York. Lucas and I used to walk around the city together when he would visit me over break, spending as much time out of our houses as possible. The lights of the city begin to disappear as we travel out of town.

"Wait, where are we going?" I turn to Lucas and see that he has a wide grin on his face.

"We are going to dinner." Lucas shrugs nonchalantly but doesn't make eye contact with me.

I can feel the anticipation building in my gut as we get farther away from the city lights. A beautiful observatory comes into view as we drive down a thin dirt road lined with tall grass. It's jutting out in the middle of the field like a bright white light, while the sky remains black with wisps of deep blue and violet behind the twinkling stars. I stay silent as Lucas parks the truck in a small clearing beside the building.

He hops out without saying anything and runs over to open my door. I grin at his chivalry as I take his hand and step down from the truck.

"What on Earth are we doing out here?" I exclaim as a cold breeze blows through the field. I snuggle into Lucas to keep warm, and he responds quickly by wrapping his arms around my back. My body is encompassed by warmth and security as he walks me up to the observatory.

"We are having dinner," he whispers into my ear, opening the doors. The room becomes engrossed in darkness as Lucas lets the door close behind us. I can't see a thing, but I can still feel Lucas' arm around my waist.

I hear a clicking noise behind me as some lights along the floor illuminate a walkway covered in pink rose petals. I follow them as they continue across the room, stopping at a small rounded table with a long white tablecloth. There's a small picnic set up atop the table with yummy snacks and a bottle of what looks like sparkling cider.

"Hungry?" he says casually as he blushes.

I am so stunned by how beautiful the area looks, that I can't get any words out. I just leave my mouth open and keep looking back at the table.

"I will take that as a yes." Lucas kisses me on the cheek and gently guides me down the walkway. "One more thing, I almost forgot," he says quickly as he pulls a small, white remote out of his pocket. He aims it into the darkness behind me, and the ceiling begins to pull apart above us. The swirling pallet of space encompasses us as the entire roof to the observatory is spread apart.

"Oh my god." My words are barely audible as I try to take in the piece of art I'm staring at right now. Lucas is beaming at me as he glances between my face and the sky.

"It's not as breathtaking as you are," he croons.

My heart flutters and my knees feel like they're going to collapse under the weight of his sweet words. Lucas pulls out my chair for me and gestures for me to sit down. I smile at him adoringly and follow his instructions.

I would do whatever he told me to do right now.

There's a fiery sensation in my abdomen as I watch him sit down across from me. The lights on the floor are bright enough so we can see each other and our food, but it's as if there are tiny candles lit everywhere, creating a honey glow on Lucas' face. His hair falls over his forehead slightly as he leans forward to look at me.

"You look irresistible," I say in a sultry tone as I reach across the table to hold his hands.

His grin spreads across his face until I can see his perfect teeth. I want to jump across the table and kiss him, but I decide to let the tension build as much as possible and start eyeballing the food on the table. Lucas chuckles and pours us each a glass of cider.

"I know you can't have wine now, so I grabbed this," he says.

I bring the glass of golden liquid up to my nose and smell it. There are hints of apple and something tart. I take a sip and realize the flavor I was missing is cranberry.

It tastes just like Christmas.

I open my eyes and see Lucas downing his glass. I giggle at him and pick up a toothpick from the little cup on the table. There's cubes of meat and cheese, diced fruit, tiny sandwiches, tiny cakes and brownies, multiple cups of sauces and dips.

"Lucas, this is so cute!" I say as I admire the adorable small foods.

"I thought it was appropriate because we are having a tiny human."

I dart my eyes up at him as I feel a lump forming in my throat.

"You know, you don't have to cut up my food really small, just theirs, right?"

Lucas lets out a loud laugh as he picks up a piece of cheese with his toothpick. We went to the doctor's together a few days after I told him that I was pregnant. They confirmed that we are having just one baby, but we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl yet. We agreed that we both can't wait, and want to know as soon as possible.

"I guess I'm overpreparing a little bit," he lets out a nervous sigh. "Rachel, there's something I'd like to talk to you about involving work." I stare at him for a moment, trying to ignore the ball of nausea forming in my abdomen. I actually hope that it's from anxiety and that I'm not about to throw up on our date.

"Our entire crew is receiving an award for our design of the space habitat," he states.

My eyes light up at Lucas' words as they push away my queasiness.

"Lucas! That's amazing!" I shout at him as I throw my hands out to my sides. He chuckles at my enthusiasm.

"It is, but that's not all," he sighs. "They want us all to go back up to the ISS in a few months to apply the design in space."

I can feel my entire face fall to the floor along with his words. His expression shifts as well, and he looks panicked for a moment.

"I only have to go up for a few weeks this time. Just to run some tests." He waves his hand around over the table, trying to reassure me.

"It's not about the time you have to be gone, Lucas," I say gently as I meet his eyes again. "It's about the danger you're in every time you go up and come back down." My eyes begin to water and I glance down at my lap to avoid his gaze.

"Oh, Rach," he says gently as he gets up from the table.

I can feel my heart racing as he kneels in front of me and rests his arms on my legs. We're practically the same height with how long Lucas' torso is.

"The thought of losing you in some horrible work related incident is my biggest fear."

Lucas' lip quivers as he listens to me, and I feel his hands slide around my back as he scoots closer to me on his knees. He moves my legs apart so that our faces are just inches away now.

"I know, it's mine too," he whispers as he reaches up and holds my face with his right hand. "That's why this is going to be my last mission for a while."

I lock eyes with him, trying to figure out what he means by that.

"I just signed off on a five year ground assignment so I can't get sent up," he explains.

I can hardly believe the words that are coming out of his mouth right now. He's looking at me so sweetly right now that it feels like my heart is about to jump out of my chest.

"Now that we have this baby we are going to have to take care of, I felt like it was a good time to take a break. This way, I can be home every night, with you-" I cut Lucas off as I press my lips firmly to his. I can feel him grinning against my mouth as I pull his shoulders towards me. I rest my forehead against his and shake my head.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I ask him. "I don't want you to resent us because you feel like you're forced to be home," Lucas starts shushing me gently as he kisses my cheeks.

"I am doing this because I want to, Rachel. I want to be there. For everything." His dark eyes are reflecting the stars from the sky above as he gazes at me with all of the affection in the world. He drops his right hand from my face and begins reaching into his jacket pocket.

"I never want you to feel alone or unwanted ever again," he whispers as his eyes become glossy. He pulls out a small, purple velvet box from the inside of his suit. My breath catches in my throat and everything around me starts to become blurry.

"Rachel Clarke, will you please continue to be my wife?" he asks as he opens up the ring box, revealing a stunning, pear shaped opal in the center of what look like branches with tiny diamonds scattered throughout as leaves. The metal of the band and the branches are a very pink rose gold.

"Lucas," I gasp, trying to hold back the waterfall of tears building up behind my eyes. I look up from the ring and into his eyes again. Lucas has never looked at me with so much devotion before, and it's making my heart want to burst. "Of course I will, I'm all yours. Forever."

Lucas laughs out of exhilaration as the tears pour from his eyes. He pulls the ring out of the box and slips it onto my left ring finger so it gently rests next to the titanium band he made me when we got married. I roll them back and forth together, in disbelief that I have on something so elegant. I glance back up at Lucas and smile at him lovingly.

He slides his hands around to my lower back and presses his lips to mine, immediately parting them with his tongue. It feels like there's an inferno in my gut as he sits on the floor next to the table and scoops me into his lap. I giggle as he lowers me down slowly so I am laying next to him. He props himself up on his left elbow and gently drapes his right hand over my belly.

"I am so in love with you," I whisper to him as I cup his handsome face in my hand.

He shakes his head at me and slowly moves his eyes away from mine, letting them travel down to admire my entire body. The sky above him and the way he's looking at me makes it feel like we aren't on Earth right now, but instead we are floating around the galaxy together, just Lucas and I, and our baby.

"I think I'm more in love with you." He doesn't let me defend myself before he places a rough kiss to my lips and pushes himself up so that he's on top of me. The floor is cold against my back, a welcoming contrast to the amount of heat I can from Lucas.

I watch the light from the stars being scattered by the atmosphere slowly fade away as Lucas and I lose ourselves in each other. His touch washes away every fear, every feeling of loneliness, and every inch of pain from the past year and replaces it with his unbreakable love and faithfulness to me.