Chapter Twelve
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PALMER DIDN’T GO FAR when Birch came into the bedroom, but he did step away from the nest to give the family some time.
The healer had reassured him that both Curran and the egg were perfectly okay and that he didn’t need to hover, but he was a bit anxious, and Curran and Marlin didn’t seem to have a problem with his prolonged presence there.
He leaned against the wall. God, he was exhausted, but at the same time, he’d never been so happy.
Everything had gone the way it was supposed to go.
It hadn’t been a walk in the park for Curran, but then, giving birth never was.
Curran and the egg were both healthy and safe, though, and that was all that mattered.
Palmer’s first experience with this had been wonderful, and he suspected that part of that was because he cared about Curran.
They’d become friends over the past few months, and Palmer was happy for his friend.
“Thank you,” Marlin said as he stepped closer to Palmer.
Palmer blinked at him. His eyes felt gritty, and he wondered if he could go back to bed for a few hours.
He didn’t think there were any patients in the infirmary who needed him, but he could be wrong, considering he’d heard a lot of noise earlier.
Someone might have gotten hurt, and if they had, he’d be needed.
No one had come to fetch him yet, though, so he hoped it wouldn’t be the case.
“You have nothing to thank me for,” he told Marlin.
“You kept both Curran and our egg safe.”
“I didn’t do anything. Curran did all the work on his own, and he would’ve been fine even without me here.”
“Would he? Because he specifically wanted you to be here. He trusts you.”
“I’m touched, but you saw what happened. I was only here to support him.”
“That’s what friends do.”
Palmer smiled. “I realize I was here more as a friend than anything, and that’s okay. There’s really nothing to thank me for, though.”
“I’m going to do it anyway,” Marlin said with a shrug. He turned toward the nest, where Birch was kneeling and gently stroking the egg. “Curran and I both want you to continue being involved.”
“I guess I have to start reading even more books about dragon pregnancies and their eggs.”
“Does that mean you’ll spend more time with Rune?”
Palmer narrowed his eyes. “Oh, so you came over to tease me.”
Marlin laughed. “Amongst other things. The two of you are cute together, though. I’m glad you found each other.”
“I’m glad we found each other, too.”
Palmer would’ve been happy even without Rune, surrounded by dragons and having the opportunity to study them and work with them, but Rune was the cherry on top of the pie.
He gave Palmer someone to come home to at night and to talk to in a way he couldn’t remember having.
He’d had relationships before, and he’d been close to those partners, but his life had been very different then.
He’d shared more of himself with Rune than he ever had with them.
He was more open here, surrounded by dragons, and he felt like he was home.
He hoped he was.
He eventually left, eager to get back into bed. He wasn’t surprised to find Rune waiting for him in Marlin and Curran’s living room, or that Rune immediately got to his feet when he heard him. He opened his arms, and Palmer stepped into them, allowing himself to relax and closing his eyes.
He felt Rune kiss the top of his head, and he sighed in pleasure.
Yes, he was home.
“Everything okay in there?” Rune asked.
“Yeah. Everything okay out here?”
Rune hesitated, so Palmer leaned back to look at him. There was a grimace on his boyfriend’s face, which didn’t bode well.
“I’m fine,” Rune quickly reassured Palmer. “Everyone is, except my brother. Alatar apparently tried to start a fire, but he was caught. There was proof found in his rooms that he’s linked to the poisonings, and he threw Pearl under the bus.”
Palmer blinked. That was a lot of information he hadn’t expected. “He involved Pearl?” he asked, because that was what intrigued him the most.
“He did. Of course, Killian will want to talk to him and get more information, but Alatar isn’t being shy about her involvement.”
Palmer was surprised, but also hopeful. He prayed that meant the mess Pearl was causing was over, but he couldn’t help but have his doubts.
Pearl wasn’t one to take any of that lying down.
If Alatar dragged her into this mess, she’d fight tooth and nail.
It really all depended on what Killian and his people found, but Pearl was smart.
Hopefully, she’s not smart enough to once again avoid a punishment for what she’d done.
“Why don’t I take you home?” Rune suggested. “You look like you could sleep for a week.”
Palmer snorted. “I was expecting compliments, but instead, I get told I look tired.”
“You do look tired, even though you’re beautiful like always. We had to get up early, didn’t we?”
“It could’ve been worse.”
“I’m sure it could have been. Do you have to go to work, or can you afford to take the morning off?”
“I’ll definitely take the morning off. There are plenty of healers in the infirmary if there’s an emergency, even if it’s one of our humans. I just need a few more hours of sleep.”
“Let’s go home, then.”
Palmer easily followed Rune down the hallway.
He wasn’t even surprised to realize that Rune was walking them back to his quarters.
Palmer had his own rooms, but he’d been spending a lot of time in Rune’s quarters, and he liked it.
They felt more like home than his did, probably because Rune had been living in them for so long.
Right now, though, Palmer didn’t care. He just wanted a soft place to lay his head and to sleep for that week Rune had mentioned.
* * * *
RUNE WAS EAGER TO GET Palmer back to his quarters before Palmer fell asleep while walking. He looked like he might, and the softness in his expression made Rune want to take care of him even more than he already did. If he could, he’d give this man the moon.
A nice, soft nest would have to be enough.
He ushered Palmer back into his quarters and straight to the nestroom.
Palmer was half-asleep by the time his head hit the nest, and he curled up with a happy sigh.
Rune climbed in with him, wrapping his body around Palmer’s.
He was tired, too, but not as much as Palmer.
They might have woken up at the same time, but Rune only had to sit on a couch and go to the dining hall to grab some food, unlike Palmer, who’d been highly stressed for the past few hours.
Rune felt Palmer’s body completely relax against him, and he mentally patted himself on the back for being a person with whom Palmer could do this with. Palmer felt safe with him.
“Have you ever thought about having kids?” Palmer said, surprising Rune. He’d thought his boyfriend would fall asleep almost instantly.
“I have,” Rune told him. “I was convinced that my father would eventually force me to have them.”
“Right. You would have had to obey if he had, but would you have wanted them?”
“I suppose it depends on who I’d be having them with.”
Palmer snorted. “Why do you think I’m asking?”
“Have you ever thought about having children?”
“I have. My life is very different from what I expected it to be like, even just a few years ago, but I do want children one day. I thought I’d have to adopt, and maybe I still will once I’m more settled, but knowing we could have children together is nice.
I would love to have a tiny baby dragon who looks just like you. ”
Rune was surprised that Palmer didn’t seem hesitant to admit that, but maybe he shouldn’t be. Palmer had followed Curran during his pregnancy, so he knew how it worked.
Was that something Rune wanted?
“I think I would love to have children with you eventually,” he said cautiously. “Not for a while, though.”
Palmer nodded. “I agree. We just started dating.”
“And I would love to see this thing with Pearl resolved before we think about it. I don’t want to bring children into a palace that would be dangerous for them.”
“You’re already such a good father,” Palmer mumbled.
It was obvious he was falling asleep, which made Rune smile. Why were they still talking?
He pressed a kiss against the back of Palmer’s neck. “We can talk about having children later. Go to sleep.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Rune closed his eyes. It might be too soon for them to think about children, but now that Palmer had mentioned it, he couldn’t help but imagine the sound of tiny wings moving through the air and the feeling of a small body curling into the nest with him and Palmer.
He fell asleep with a smile on his lips.