Chapter Twenty-Four
Nelum
It felt selfish to delay our trip to Earthside because of my pregnancy but I needed time to process. I cringed every time I thought about it over the next few days and prayed that none of Freddie’s kids put anything big together that had to be shuffled around at the last minute. The last thing I wanted to do was cause them more problems. I shouldn’t have worried so much. It couldn’t be good for my egg, but it was what it was.
“Are you okay?” Fred asked one morning when I walked into the kitchen.
Minter was already awake and chewing on tiny pieces of sausage. Stuff pig skin as they called it over here.
“I am. I haven’t had any symptoms even and I haven’t changed my mind about having a baby either, if that’s what you’re worried about, Freddie,” I said, sitting down on his leg and resting my head in the crook of his neck on the side of my claiming bite.
“We don’t have to go to Earthside at all if you don’t feel up to it.”
“But I do. At least, I will. I still want to do all that. We even planned for things to go down like this.”
“I know but plans can be changed. Your feeling safe is the important thing. If that means staying here or going to your parents’ farm or whatever. If that’s what needs to happen, we’ll make it happen, mate.”
“I want to go to Earthside. I want to pull whatever loose strings I need to before our baby hatches. Then I want to come home and raise our kids and live my life as me. I’m lucky when you think about it. Most people don’t get to leave messages for their next reincarnation. I did. It’d be ungrateful of me not to go check them out and see what’s up with it all.”
I moved to straddle his legs and wrap my arms around his neck. He held onto me for a long moment. Gods, I loved this dragon. I loved my life here with him and Elio.
“Sad?” Minter asked.
“Tired,” I said.
“No sleep like Teddy,” Minter said, and I pushed myself upright.
“I’m not going to sleep like that, baby,” I said, rounding the kitchen to the coffee pot and ruffling Minter’s hair on the way. “And Teddy will wake up when he feels better.”
“You mummy not mummy.”
“Something like that,” I chuckled.
“DAD!?” Someone bellowed and for a second, I thought Teddy had woken up. Only the voice was higher-pitched, and I imagined the owner to have more flair than Teddy ever dreamt of.
“SHHH! SLEEPING PEOPLE IN HERE!” Minter yelled and Freddie barely hid his laugh because if the first shout didn’t wake Elio and the baby up, Minter’s sure did.
“Sequin?!” Freddie stood up and sprinted toward the back door.
“WHERE ARE YOU?! CLARENCE SAID IT WOULD BE EASIER TO FIND YOUR HOUSE!” Sequin called out again as Freddie opened the back door.
A second later, a dragon with a silver star on his chest damn near tackled Freddie with a hug. Freddie laughed and hugged him back as Minter tried to get the tray off his highchair.
“Hold on, buddy,” I said, sprinting back over to him.
“Now! Please!” he whined.
“I’m trying. It’s tricky,” I said and did my best not to curse under my breath as I wiggled it around until the damn thing finally came loose from the chair. It was supposed to be hatchling proof, but it felt very ‘me-proof’ at that moment.
Minter toddled across the kitchen nearly tripping over his own feet only to skid to a stop and stare up at the older brother he never met. Sequin bent down and scooped him up. Minter hugged his neck and went straight into babbling about what was going on with Teddy and how Teddy said he was sad too and please don’t go to sleep like Teddy did. My heart broke for all of them. Grief isn’t something separate from ourselves. It’s what love evolves into when it has nowhere left to go.
“I’m not here to nap, little man. I’m here to see what’s going on. You all were supposed to be there yesterday and our sister is driving me crazy.”
“Dal-Dal cray cray,” he nodded as if he knew all about it.
Both Sequin and Freddie laughed. Poor Daliah. I’m sure she wasn’t crazy, but it couldn’t be easy being the only woman around in a family of men now that her mum was gone.
“Except we’re back,” my dragon whispered into my thoughts so that he wasn’t overheard by the others. “And her mate is a woman too.”
“Come meet Sequin, Nelum,” Fred said, holding his hand out to me.
Sequin stared at me as if I were a ghost. He paled a little and for a second, I thought he might fall right over and go to sleep as his brother had. Then he swallowed hard and shook my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Something about raising wooly pigs and nearly getting eaten by a big boar.”
“F PIG!” Minter shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
“Buddy, what do you think that means?”
“Type of pig. Mean pig! Scary pig. Pig is F pig. Breathe fire and jump around. Have to lock out! GRRRR F PIG!”
Sequin laughed again and smoothed down his baby brother’s hair.
“It’s my fault we’re all running late, I’m afraid,” I admitted. “Just found out---” I stopped. Was it my place to tell him? Would it be better coming from Fred?
“Are you alright?” Sequin looked between me and his sire.
“He’s with egg,” Freddie said quickly before Sequin could jump to any other conclusion.
“Oh, good. Because one day it was the healers were here and then it was you were running late and…” Sequin let his words trail off.
“Nothing bad,” Freddie grinned.
“Congratulations,” he said and hugged Freddie again. “Daliah’s going to be over the moon. She loves kids. She’s going to have more than anyone who ever lived apparently. Not that she said that outright but I’m bad with kids. Don’t have the patience.”
I shot him a puzzled look because he’d scooped Minter right up as if he were around kids every day. If Minter understood what his brother said enough to take offense, he didn’t show it. Instead he poked and rubbed on his brother’s shiny silver scale as we all made our way to the table again. He pulled Minter’s plate in front of them and Minter returned his attention to his breakfast.
“Are you and Dal fighting?”
“Not so much fighting. There’s only so much mate and baby talk I can handle. So, I’ve been on vacation. Met a lot of really cool people. Had a friend stay the night at my vacation rental and he met his true-mate because he was the owner of the place. Then I had another friend stay over and he responded to the pizza guy. It’s been wild really. Like I’m some good luck charm or something. Then this thing came up when I stepped through the doorway. I stopped and talked to Selt for a minute to check on Teddy. He didn’t tell us he was planning to nap, and I thought it might be because of him but you know,” Sequin sighed.
“Okay. Give it to us. What do you think is wrong with Rosemary? What did she do to you?” Freddie asked his son.
“She’s like a giant pink doll,” Sequin sighed. “She literally makes my eyes bleed!”
“She can wear what she wants, kiddo,” Freddie laughed. “You don’t have to like it but she gets to do it.”
“Yeah and she keeps trying to boss me around. Daliah doesn’t even get to boss me around. It’s our house. Daliah is the one who changed shit. She should have to move out, not me.”
“Oye,” I said under my breath and excused myself before they really got into it. Territory disputes between draconic siblings were never fun.
“You don’t have to go,” Freddie said.
“Yeah, I do. It’s not my place to say anything and I don’t know anyone enough to have an opinion about things,” I shook my head.
“We’re not going to yell,” Sequin said as if he read my mind. “I left, didn’t I? I just don’t see why I’m the one who had to. If Rosemary wants things her way, she can get her own house. She can get her own things and use her own things and quit eyeing things that Mama gave people because it’s not hers.”
Freddie let out a long deep breath. For a second, I thought he’d say that something cliché like Lotus wouldn’t want them to fight over stuff like that but Freddie only shook his head.
“I’ll talk to Daliah. It’s not what you want to hear but meeting your true-mate changes how you see things. She sees Rosemary as family and she is.”
“Yeah, but she’s new family. Daliah and me go way back,” Sequin shook his head.
“If you two argue about stuff and can’t work it out I’ll literally sort out every belonging in that house that was your mother’s by her will,” Freddie said. “That’s all I can really do.”
“And I still have to move.”
“Technically, no,” Freddie shook his head, and I paused in the doorway. “She and Rosemary have to move twenty-five feet away into the empty house that is Daliah’s. That house is yours by the way the deeds were set up. You’re right about that much. Back when you two decided to live together, it didn’t matter as much, but your mother handled that paperwork and that one is yours. You could be nice and trade her but it’s yours.”
“Why is it on me to be the nice one, though?” Sequin asked. “Because I’m the single one? Because I’m a guy? Because what?”
“It’s not on you. I just said it was an option.”
Sequin rolled his eyes and sighed.
“I know it’s none of my business,” Elio yawned, walking into the kitchen, carrying Baby Amaranth against his chest. “But I agree with the egg brat, Fred. He was there first. It was his home for a long time. Anyone coming in can’t just take over. Some siblings can live together forever but others can’t. Marsin and I live separately because I wouldn’t let you take over the house that’s always been his home. In an ideal world we’d all get along but that’s not how it works.”
Elio circled around the table and kissed Sequin on the cheek as if he knew him all his life.
“Hey, papa,” Sequin said.
“They’ve met over a lot of video calls,” Fred told me, reaching his hand out to me again.
I came back into the kitchen properly. I never really made it out in the first place. While I had no wisdom to add to Sequin’s problem, I was invested in ensuring both him and Dally were happy. Dally? Huh! Where’d that come from?
“We’ll get it worked out while I’m there. If it comes down to it, we’ll help her get her stuff moved. But who knows? Maybe you’ll find your mate while you’re here.”
“Huff!” Sequin laughed, saying the actual word aloud. “I’m just the good luck charm for everyone around me to find their mate.”
“That’s good. We’ll charge people in London points to rub your belly for good luck,” Elio teased him.
“Money. Not points,” Fred pointed out.
“No. I’m going to charge them points. Award points on their cards or plane miles or whatever they call them. Teddy told me all about that stuff,” Elio laughed. “They’ll all be mine. Muahaha.”
“You’re not getting a credit card,” Freddie furrowed his brow.
“I’ll get all the credit cards and be a binger.”
“Blinger? I think is the outdated word you’re looking for,” Sequin laughed.
“No. I’ll get so many they’ll have to invent a new word for me. Binger.”
And just like that, the thought of going to Earthside to lay my egg wasn’t as scary.