Mated in the Stars (Starscale Mates #6)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Fred

Two weeks was all it took to prepare for a trip to Earthside. Clarence sent over a midwife to vaccinate both of the kids and both of my mates. Vaccinations had saved countless lives on Earthside, and I wasn’t risking some long-ago virus stealing half my family from me because they weren’t protected. While the Earthside healer was there, Izora swung by to show off his new pocket-sized sonic. The new healer was so young that I didn’t recognize her. Izora hadn’t worked with her either, but he was just as excited to show off the gadget as if he knew the other healer his whole life.

After all the medical stuff was done and I distracted Minter from headbutting Izora in ‘revenge’ for ‘stabbing’ him. We sat down for a good cup of tea straight from London. I was never a big tea drinker back in the day. I still preferred coffee, but that tea tasted like home.

Minter tottered off, bored of adult conversations while Elio held Baby Amaranth to his chest. Izora had been invited back by quite a few medical school professors to speak with their students, but he passed on every invitation. He wasn’t about to leave his mate, Nycto, behind.

“And I’m not taking him over there either,” Izora shook his head when the subject came up. “I don’t want my kids to see some of what happens over there. I don’t want Nycto to read a newspaper from over there. I’ve found living with most of my neighbors and all of my in-laws being wild non-shifting dragons to be a much more civilized experience than living surrounded by the remains of the human laws and other shifters. This is home now. Besides, we’re already talking about our next egg.”

“I check you!” Minter tottered back in with Izora’s tiny sonic in hand pointed it at Elio. It buzzed and the light on top turned red. “You!” he pointed it at Nelum and clicked the trigger again. It lit up green with a chime.

“Huh?” Nelum looked down at his stomach, setting aside his tea.

“Can I see that, buddy?” Izora asked him.

“You stab!” Minter said and tottered away to hand it to me. “He mean!”

“Oh, baby,” I said, setting the sonic aside and scooping up my toddler. “He’s not mean. He gave you medicine.”

“Meanie weenie! F pig!” Minter shook his head.

“He’s not a pig,” I whispered. “He’s a doctor.”

“F pig. Mean like the F pig.”

“Awww, baby,” I hugged him again. “I’m sorry the medicine made an owie.”

“Mean F pig. Gonna tell Teddy.”

I let out a long, slow breath. What Minter didn’t know yet was that his brother was still asleep. His passing out when the situation was beyond his ability to repair or process proved more than ever that he was my egg brat. He was still out cold at Sunny and Laken’s house. I offered to bring him here, but Sunny wouldn’t hear of it. I planned to check one more time to see if he’d wake up before we headed to Earthside. His siblings wouldn’t be thrilled with him but everyone dealt with grief in their own way.

While I soothed my baby, Izora gave Nelum a sonic. It lit up again. My heart skipped a beat. This was a good thing. A perfect thing, in fact. Nelum’s energy turned anxious, and Elio passed Baby Amaranth off to me too. I held both my kids and Minter kissed his baby brother’s forehead so gently.

Nelum rambled off pregnancy questions at Izora and the other doctor whose name I couldn’t remember. I could’ve answered all those questions myself but hearing the answers from the healers made him relax. I mentally ticked off my kids. Duke, Teddy, Daliah, Sequin, Minter, Amaranth, and now our newest egg. Even if the egg was technically Elio and Nelum’s, which it had a good chance of being, that hatchling was still as much mine as theirs.

That afternoon while my mates and Baby Amaranth took a nap, Minter and I went to check on Teddy one more time. He was stretched flat on his stomach with his arms tucked up under his head. I rubbed circles on his back like I did when I tried to wake him up when he was a kid. He didn’t even stir. Minter frowned and looked up at me with big eyes.

“Sad sleep,” he said.

“Sad sleep,” I nodded. “He’s probably going to stay here while we visit away, buddy.”

“Me sorry,” he frowned deeper.

“He’ll be okay and he’s not sad because of you.”

“Mummy’s gone,” Minter nodded.

“That she is,” I said and kissed his cheek.

“We bring back presents,” he grinned.

“We most definitely will bring him back a present, kiddo.”