Chapter Fifteen
Cyrus
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked when I saw how much money my mate had made on his dragon books. It made sense—they were wonderful and one of the best-selling series of all time for that demographic. But it was a lot. At first, I didn’t like the idea of him spending it on a home for us, but he was right. It would be better for us to be there, close by, but not quite in the same building as my job.
In the end, we were able to get everything without even touching one of his savings accounts, which had me feeling a lot better. I didn’t love that he hadn’t listened to his financial advisor about investments and had just been holding onto money, but then again, I was the one who blew everything I had on nothing but a house in need of repairs and a dream. So I shouldn’t be one to talk.
“They said we can move in as early as tomorrow,” I said as I took my mate’s hand and dragged him out from behind the desk.
“Can we go look now?”
I’d been trying to keep him from visiting the construction site too much, not wanting anything there to interfere with his pregnancy. He was already showing, and my aunt’s prediction was probably right. His belly was round, and his walk had a little waddle. It was sexy as hell.
“Yes, we can go look.”
We weren’t allowed to move in until the final inspection, which was going to be in a couple of hours, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t walk around and see what it was like now that the paint had dried and the air had ventilated enough to clear the fumes. Same with the floors. Building homes was smelly business.
The designer did a great job with the exterior. It looked like it had been here forever, even though it was barely finished. As we walked in through the front door—which was actually in the back by design—it already felt like home.
We’d picked the colors, flooring, layout, and even the small kitchen to fit our needs. Once everything was settled in with our furniture, we’d work on the studio for Boen in our old place. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be working much for the next little bit, but, if he wanted to, he could set up a table here while we worked on getting the other space ready. Until now, he’d been mostly working on a small café table, so anything was a step up.
“The furniture is coming in the morning,” I told him, revealing the surprise I’d been keeping close in case the place wasn’t finished. Aside from one final round of inspections that had already cleared, but still needed the final walk-through, the place was done. Unless something wild happened, tomorrow we’d begin our move from the main house.
The only furniture we didn’t have coming was for the nursery. My mate was confident there was a single baby, but his belly was shouting closer to three or four. Because I was a dragon, he didn’t want to go to a regular doctor, so all we had to go on was a midwife who didn’t have an ultrasound machine. She, too, thought there were multiples, but Boen, being stubborn, insisted it was only one.
I knew he was going to be happy regardless of how many we had, but until we had a definitive number, cribs were going to remain unpurchased. There was plenty of time. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had known on some level that he was carrying an entire flight based on the nursery—it was the size of the main bedroom.
“It looks great. But even with the furniture, we’re gonna need some more things,” he said.
“All right. Tell me what, and I’ll go get it.”
“No. Take me to town. I need to go.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
There was no arguing with a pregnant omega. I didn’t even try.
Once we were in town, our first stop was a local arts-and-crafts co-op. Almost everything in it was dragon-oriented, and, at first, I was confused about why he might need anything there. But he took me straight into the back where the quilts were and picked out not one, not two, not three, but every single one consigned there.
Again, I didn’t argue. He was a pregnant omega. We could afford it, and, if his nesting required all those blankets, we were getting them. Not that I was confident he knew what was happening. He’d figure it out soon enough. Let him have his momentum.
“Did you want those wrapped as gifts?” the cashier asked.
Boen shot me a look as if asking for help.
“No, they’re for the B the inspectors were here.
“I got it. You stay in bed, sweetie.” I kissed his cheek.
He shook his head. “No. I need to go. I need to go with you. What if something’s wrong?”
There wasn’t going to be, but if he wanted to be bored instead of taking a nap, that was fine with me. We met the inspector, and, just as I expected, everything went swimmingly.
As soon as the door closed behind the inspector, Boen sighed. “I thought this was a dream. What was I thinking? Why do I have all of this?”
“Because you’re nesting.”
“I thought nesting meant you cleaned. That’s what it says on the fathers-to-be sites.”
“Well, maybe for humans, it’s cleaning.” Not sure how that gets people ready for baby, but if that’s their thing, that’s their thing.
He pointed to himself. “Human here. I should be cleaning, not buying out all the quilts in the country.”
It wasn’t exactly that many, but there were plenty.
“I know, but you’re carrying dragons, which means you need to build a nest. Gertrude said she went over all this with you.” She promised me she had, saying it would be less embarrassing coming from her. It should’ve been a hint that she hadn’t when he didn’t babble on about it.
“Wait, that was serious? I’m going to, like, be a chicken for a day?”
“No, you’re going to be a dragon for a day… I mean, you’re going to lay dragon eggs.” I was going to give Gertrude what for.
“You’re saying I’m going to lay eggs?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.” His voice quivered.
I cupped his cheek. “First of all, my love, you can do absolutely anything you put your mind to. And, second, you don’t really have a choice. They have to come out.”
“You did this to me. You put them in there.”
“I did. And, as I recall, you liked it.”
He glared at me. It probably hadn’t been my best response.
“Fine. Where are those cupcakes I bought? I need to travel to the land of denial while I eat all the frosting and then I’m going to need all the facts and not from Gertrude. I can never tell if she’s kidding or not.”
“I promise you, I will only deliver facts.”
“And sugar.”
“Absolutely…and sugar.”