The Accidental Dragon Baby (Babies For Broken Dads #1)

Epilogue

“Today is one-eye day,” Mary announced, brandishing a handful of pirate eye patches. “Everybody, collect yours!”

Her siblings raced over—ten-year-old Lucida and Alexander, seven-year-old Sandy and Ray, and five-year-old Ellen and Tim. They grabbed the eye patches and eagerly slid them onto their heads, helping each other so the patches hid one eye of their choosing.

Mary went around checking all of their eye patches, then she raised her wooden sword and led her siblings over to where Ivo and Ace sat in the living room.

“Arr!” she said.

Ivo laughed and waved his blunt hook. “Arr! What ye doin’, Mary?”

“We’re gonna find some treasure today!” Mary clambered onto Ace and lifted his pirate hat, stealing the treasure map from under there.

“I wanna, I wanna!” Her siblings clustered around, reaching for Ace’s pirate hat.

“Roar!” Ace said, sitting tall. “One at a time!”

Ivo watched as Ellen—their youngest—scrambled up Ace’s chest and grabbed his pirate hat. The hat had been spelled to release an object each time it was lifted.

Ellen squealed when she received a marble, scrambling down. Her twin, Tim, scaled their Papa and reached under his pirate hat to find a little toy drum.

One by one, the children clambered onto Ace, getting their own little treasures. Then Mary squinted at the map of their mansion, and led her siblings off on their hunt.

Ace grinned and snuggled back against Ivo. “What do you think?”

“I love them,” Ivo said, his chest warm. “Never thought I’d birth three sets of twins, but it’s been amazing.”

Mary had grown to resemble Ivo. Sandy and Ray took after him, too, while the rest of the dragonets looked like Ace. It was only difficult to tell them apart when they were newborn; when their personalities emerged, the twins were much more easily identified.

“Want more?” Ace waggled his eyebrows.

“Sure.” Ivo grinned.

Between all the children, he didn’t have time to get a job, but that was okay. He loved staying home to care for the dragonets, and to welcome Ace home from work every day. He and Ace had only grown closer over the years, folding each other into their lives.

“You know what? The treasure this time is a surprise for you,” Ace whispered.

Ivo’s eyebrows jumped. “Really?”

“Yeah. Just wait and see.”

They listened as the kids ran from one room to the next, seeking out clues for their treasure map. When they finally returned to the living room, Ellen was holding a small gold-streaked log above her head.

Ivo sucked in a slow breath.

Ace stood up and cleared his throat. “Well done, all of you! You have found the treasure.” Here, he took the log from Ellen. “Thank you, Ellen. Now, this is a very special Yule log because it’s one of the first things I gave your Daddy. This one is different from the rest, though. Want to watch it burn?”

“Yes!” all the children shouted.

They gathered in front of the fireplace, where Ace carefully set down the log and breathed a slow plume of orange flame on it.

The log ignited, spitting out a shower of golden sparks. The sparks gathered into a tiny fluttering dragon; when more sparks appeared, they formed a mink. More dragons and minks clambered out of the Yule log, except these were much smaller than the first two creatures.

There were seven of the smaller creatures, Ivo realized, and they followed the larger mink and dragon around.

“Is that us?” he breathed, his heart skipping.

“Yes.” Ace beamed, tangling their fingers together. “Do you like it?”

Ivo nodded wordlessly, his heart filled with joy. “That’s amazing. I wish my parents could’ve seen it. All of this.”

“I think they’re watching us from above,” Ace whispered, kissing him softly. “They’d be so happy that you’re happy.”

Ivo grinned. “I think so too. Thank you.”

“Thank you, sweetheart, for giving me this wonderful family. For giving me yourself.”

Ivo opened his mouth to answer.

“Ew! They’re sharing cooties,” Tim said.

Ivo laughed. “I don’t mind having your Papa’s cooties. I like his cooties.”

Ace snorted and kissed him full on the lips. “I’ll give you more cooties later,” Ace rumbled into his mouth. “Fill you up with them.”

Ivo choked on his laughter, smacking Ace in the chest. “Oh, gods.”

“You’ll be saying that later, too.”

“You’re so bad!”

“I am the best mate in the world,” Ace said proudly. “And the best dad too. According to all our little goblins.”

Some of the kids had run off, shifted into either dragons or minks, while the others were still clustered around the fireplace, watching the Yule log whistle with rapt attention. Ace and Ivo would track down the other kids later; they did a great job watching out for each other, too.

“We should make more soon,” Ace murmured.

“Later,” Ivo said. “When they’re asleep.”

Ace grinned and pressed him into the couch, kissing him deeply. Ivo curled his fingers into Ace’s shirt and pulled him closer.

“More,” Ivo whispered.

Ace laughed softly against his lips. “Of course, sweetheart.”