Chapter 27
ADRIAN
"Bed rest is so fucking boring," I told Luca over the phone a few weeks later. As much as I'd promised Tyrel to be good, I was tempted every day to leave the hospital and go for a stroll.
"Poor baby," Luca teased me. "It's not long until your due date though, is it?"
"No, eleven days until they're getting them. I can't wait."
"They're getting them?"
"C-section. I'm told it's safer, and Tyrel loooves safe right now. Seriously, he's getting worse every day. I'm not sure anymore whether I'm dating a dragon or a nervous squirrel."
"Men, I mean not the child-bearing ones, get like that around birth. It's kind of fun to watch them fret, though, isn't it? I've trained mine to give me foot rubs on demand now."
"That sounds like an idea…"
"Have you settled on names yet? I can't believe you still don't know what you're having. Mara is super excited to be getting a little sister."
I smiled into the phone. "So jealous of your two girls. I want one."
"I hope you have one in there. With your rich boyfriend, you can get all the pretty little dresses!"
I laughed, because I'd had that thought, too. "There's some cute outfits for little boys as well."
"Oh, totally."
I looked toward the door. Tyrel was coming. I could sense him down the corridor. Something that came with the fate bond, a sort of hyper awareness of when the other was close. I'd never be able to sneak up on him now. "My rich boyfriend is at the door. I'll call you back later."
"Alright. Talk to you later."
I ended the call, put the phone aside, and sure enough, a minute later, Tyrel came in the door. It was the visitor by his side that I hadn't expected. After all, I hadn't seen the lady since she'd ambushed me on the street that day after I'd visited my brother.
I raised an eye brow at Tyrel.
"You brought your mother?" I asked him in my mind, because that was another thing that worked now.
He gave me a subtle nod and a not so subtle shrug, but since he didn't seem concerned, I figured that his mother posed no danger to me or my children now.
"Pleasure to see you, Adrian," she said, approaching the bed while her son stayed close behind her. "You're looking good."
Was I really? Well, at least I wasn't looking as sick anymore as I used to. Still, having a dragon's help or no, carrying twins was no walk in the park. But I wasn't going to turn down a compliment. "Thank you."
I noticed that she was holding a bright bag, and she fished something out of it now. A gift box, tied with a neat little bow. It was so like her. She held it out to me.
"I want to apologize for treating you the way I have and hope that we can have a fresh start."
Something about the way she glanced to Tyrel as she said this let me wonder if he'd instructed her to say this.
But wherever this apology was coming from, I'd take it.
I wanted my family to be an actual family, and I'd help make it so any way I could.
To start us of, I took the box and unwrapped it carefully.
Inside were four cute little jumpers. Two in pink and two in blue.
"For the babies," she said. "Since you don't know what you're having."
I smiled at her. "They're perfect. Thank you.
" And I would totally use all of these no matter what genders the babies were.
If I had a son, I was pretty sure his penis wasn't going to fall off because I put him in a pink jumper, but I wasn't going to say that out loud, not while I was trying to make peace with this lady. Maybe later.
"Have you picked names?"
Why was everyone asking that today?
I looked at Tyrel, then back at her. "Well, if we're having boys, one of them is going to be named Taryn." That was about as far as we'd come.
"After my father? I see. It's a good name." This time, the smile she gave me was genuine.
"We don't have a second name yet. Or any girl names."
"We'll think of something," Tyrel spoke up. "We still have a few days."
His mother nodded. "Well, I don't want to disturb you two any longer. I'll visit again when the babies are born." She chuckled, looking at her son. "If they're anything like you, they will keep you up for a long time."
Tyrel grimaced. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Nothing we can't handle," I corrected. We were in this together, and I liked it that way.
She laughed louder. "Stay optimistic for as long as you can."
I raised both eyebrows at Tyrel once she was gone. "She seems to really look forward to hearing about our sleepless nights when the babies are here."
"I'm sure she does." Tyrel sat on my bed. "But you don't have to fear her anymore. She realizes what's done is done." He eyed my neck as he said that and I knew he was looking at the runes on my skin that would never fade away. "We've made up."
"I'm glad you have," I said, and I meant it.
He pulled something out of his pocket. A piece of paper. He handed it to me with a wide grin on his face.
"What's that?"
"A contract. I bought the house."
I felt joy bubble up in me. "The small one?"
"Exactly that. I'm going to take you back there as soon as the babies are born."
I leaned forward to hug him so quickly I caught him by surprise and he almost fell over.
"Hey. Careful."
I kissed him on the cheek. "I love you."
He kissed me on the mouth. "I love you, too."
Sighing, I leaned into him. "Your mom's right, you know. Our kids really need names."
"You were the one who didn't want to know what we're having. Now we'll have to pick four names."
"Well, three. We already have one."
"True." He looked thoughtful. "That means we need names that go well with Taryn. I picked that one, so you pick the next. "
"I guess that's fair." I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling my babies move.
It wasn't like I didn't have a list of names that I liked, but those were names that I'd thought about while trying to conceive with Rory.
I wanted something new now that wouldn't remind me of the time with him.
A name fit for a dragon. I'd leafed through several of their baby name books while bound to this hospital bed, but it was difficult to settle.
"How do you feel about Alana for a girl? "
He patted my hair. "I think it's cute."
I got the feeling he would have said that no matter what I picked. "Well, we're set if we have a boy and a girl, then."
"So let's hope that's what we have." He kissed my forehead, and eyed my lips.
"Yeah, let's," I said, because I wasn't so interested in talking anymore either.
Ever since we'd bonded, every touch between us had become crazy intense.
I could see why the dragons had kept going through with this ritual for ages even when it wasn't hugely beneficial to them.
Sex with your magically declared soul mate was amazing.
There was no shame, no awkwardness, no worrying about how you could make things good for your partner.
Every emotion they felt, you felt, and every act of pleasure became twice as intense.
I'd only had him once since the bonding, but the experience had nearly shattered me in the best way possible.
"Do you think we have time?" I murmured, glancing at the door.
He took a quick look too. "Let me under the covers with you."
I lifted the covers. The bed wasn't super big, so he had to press up close to me for us both to fit, not that I minded.
To anyone coming in, we might have looked like we were cuddling, but he slid his hands underneath my gown from behind.
Then he tugged at my underwear. I helped him pull it down just far enough.
He put one hand on my belly, and when he wrapped the other one around my cock, we both sighed.
I pressed myself back against him as if I could possibly get any closer and he nuzzled my neck.
I couldn't wait for this whole pregnancy thing to be over so I could properly feel him inside me again, but for now, this was nice, too.
More than nice. When he started stroking, I felt myself fully harden in seconds, and lying this close together, I felt his reaction as well.
"Like that?" he whispered.
I squirmed. "You know I do."
"Indeed." He nipped at my ear just the way I liked it and picked up the pace of his strokes.
The shudder that went through me went through him as well.
I didn't have to tell him to go faster—or give him any instructions at all, really.
Not when we were this in sync. And so I simply screwed my eyes shut, gave control over to him, and let him drive me close to the brink of insanity, twisting his hand, sucking at a spot on my neck, losing speed and picking it back up again in a maddening rhythm that gave me everything I needed, yet never quite enough.
"Ty…" It was all I needed to say to receive mercy.
He gripped me a little harder, kissed skin and moved his hand in long firm strokes that finally pushed me over the edge.
And when I came, so did he. For a split second while my thoughts were swimming in bliss, I wondered if anything else was even possible anymore. I decided that research had to be done. Extensive research. For science. Then I fell asleep, an exhausted smile on my lips.
It would have been a lie to say I wasn't nervous the day of the C-section. I'd anticipated it for weeks and I was anxious to get these babies out of me so I could meet them properly, but the thought of being cut open? Yeah, kind of scary.
To his credit, Tyrel had stopped fretting and pretended not to be worried. I knew his calm facade was an act, but at least he tried. I don't know what I would have done if he'd added on to my fears.
I rubbed my belly, waiting for the nurse to come and get me ready. "In about an hour, you'll be a daddy," I told Tyrel, who was leaning against the window in my small hospital room. "Are you ready for that?"
He smiled softly. "Are you?"