Chapter 18 #2
Aleric brought back a cloth and cover, placed them on the bed, then gently took Reinhold from me.
He placed our son at the foot of the bed, then reached for me.
Once I was settled and sitting up, he went back to our son and brought him closer.
I pulled one leg up, tucking it under the other to give him room.
“I will put it on if you are willing to show me? I have not the experience you have. I have never been around a baby.”
I smiled at my mate. He was more than ready to help with the baby or any other thing around here. Da and Ferdinand had raised him right. Just because I was the one carrying and birthing our children, that did not make me less than in my mate’s eyes.
“Father will be upset he missed the birth.”
“Is that why he’s not here?”
Aleric nodded. “He and Wilhelm shifted and went flying. We discovered a den down the mountain. There is a pack as well. Both are small and seem to stay in their own areas down by the lake that I will show you once you can shift again.”
Aleric unwrapped our son, then reached for the cloth and looked at me expectantly. I smiled at my clueless alpha.
“You pick up his feet, lifting him a bit so you can get the cloth under him.”
“That will not hurt him?”
“No, Aleric. They are much stronger than one would think. Just be careful, and don’t squeeze him too tightly.”
Aleric froze, looking over at me with wide eyes.
“When you grip him. Don’t squeeze too hard. That is all I meant.”
“Oh.” Aleric gently lifted our son, placed the cloth under him, then laid him back down. When he looked to me for further instruction, I chuckled, then reached for my stomach as it hurt a bit.
“Pull the half of the cloth that isn’t under him through his legs. Then tie them on the sides.”
Aleric did as instructed, then put the wool cover on. When he looked to me for help with the blanket, I reached for the baby.
“Put the blanket in front of me, please?”
Aleric did as asked, and I put our son in the middle of it. I wrapped the blanket around him, stopping at each step to look up at my alpha. He nodded every time. When I was finished, I picked Reinhold up and cuddled him to my chest.
“Would you like to get dressed? Or maybe clean up?” Aleric asked.
“I wouldn’t mind cleaning up before I get dressed.”
Aleric disappeared and came back moments later with a pitcher and a small cloth we used to wash.
“I heated it for you.”
“Thank you. You are so very thoughtful.”
Aleric placed both on a chair, and then after I placed our son on the bed beside me, Aleric helped me up. I tried to look at my omega line but still could not see it. Aleric led me over to the chair and knelt down.
“It is almost completely closed already. I will be very gentle when I wash you.”
“I can do it,” I told him.
“Please allow me?” Aleric asked, looking up at me.
I nodded, and my mate carefully washed, then dried me.
He helped me to dress, then swooped me up into his arms and placed me on the other side of the bed.
After he had the blankets that were below me folded and stored with the pitcher, he removed his boots and climbed into the bed with me.
“He is so very tiny.”
I laughed again.
“Only compared to you. You and Ferdinand are giants.” Even my own alpha father wasn’t quite as large as my mate or his father.
Aleric shrugged. “Are you ready for visitors?”
Was I? Probably. Would I be thankful when they left and we got time alone with our new son? Absolutely.
I heard a familiar call, grinning at Ferdinand’s arrival. “Your other grandfather is here, Reinhold. Are you ready to meet the other alpha?” I kissed our son’s forehead, then leaned against my alpha and sighed. I was so very tired.
“A nap sounds nice.”
“Then nap, my mate. The others can wait.”
I wondered if it were truly that easy. I closed my eyes, Reinhold in my arms and Aleric’s wrapped around me. They reopened moments later when the bedroom door was flung open, and Ferdinand stood there in nothing but his trousers.
“Ferdinand, I warned you to leave them be. They are bonding with their son.”
I passed Reinhold to Aleric, then patted my mate’s leg.
“Take him to the alpha, Aleric. I need a rest.” I sighed, slid down the bed more, then rolled over and let sleep claim me.
It had been many days since I was able to get comfortable.
Now that I no longer had our son in my stomach, I felt lighter, and my dragon and I both sighed as we got the rest we needed.
“Careful now. The melting snow is a bit slippery,” Aleric told me as he tightened his hold around my waist.
I was beginning to rethink my request to leave the cottage. But Reinhold was two weeks old now, and I had not set foot outside our cottage even once. My dragon and I were more than ready to get some fresh air for a change.
Because we had not been back to the waterfall since we left, I had asked Aleric if we could take a walk over to see it. My mate was wonderful, and after a bit of reassurance that our son would be okay and I was perfectly capable of making the walk, he agreed.
I heard the waterfall before we could see it. When we made it to the trees that surrounded the edge of the gorge, Aleric held on to my hand tighter. The snow here had drifted, making it thigh-high in places.
“Are you still okay to go on? Should I carry you?”
“I will never say no to that, but I am fine. This is not that bad.”
We walked for a few more minutes, me staying behind Aleric and following the trail he was making in the snow.
We finally made it to the edge, and I sighed.
There it was. It was amazing to think that there was a little hiding spot behind the waterfall.
You could not see it unless you were flying in front of it, and I was still amazed that Aleric had found it at all.
I would love to come here when the snow melted and have a picnic with my mate.
We could enjoy a meal and remember the time we’d spent inside that hidden cave.
I glanced down at the covered head of our sleeping son.
He had been conceived in that cave. I’d been claimed by the alpha standing beside me there.
It would always be a treasured place for me.
It was peaceful here, if not a bit lonely. “Do you think we will know what our purpose here is during our lifetime?” I asked suddenly.
Aleric nodded slowly. “I hope so. I believe that whatever is going to transpire is bigger than both of us. It will be important to those that come after us.” Aleric looked down at the bundle in my arms. “To our son. If we should have more, our sons. I believe they will be part of whatever it is that is going to transpire.”
“I don’t pretend to know what is going on, but I am ready to do what I can to help.”
Aleric wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side.
“Me either. I often wonder if I had stayed in Germany, would I have found you sooner? Would things be different? Father is the one who had the dream to come here. He’d been guided here, and Da came with.
I had nothing left for me in Germany, so I followed.
But what if I’d stayed? Could I have saved you all? Your village?”
I laid my head against my mate. “It does not matter, nor does it do any good to think about what could have happened. I am here with you. Fate saw to that. It will always be painful to think about those that were killed. It wasn’t right.
They did not deserve such a fate, but there is nothing we can do that will bring them back.
Please don’t be hard on yourself about it. ”
I stared at the waterfall, wondering if we would ever have a chance to visit our cave again.
It would not be needed as an escape any longer as Claude had finished our cottage for us the evening he and the others had arrived.
Our family went from four to eight in only a matter of months.
It would be growing by another in another month when Elias had their firstborn.
We were all in agreement: he was having a little dragon, and Claude had confirmed it with his magic.
Just as he’d said he knew I was only having one, despite the large size of my stomach.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now we continue to build a life. We know and experience love. We make sure we have a full and rewarding life while we wait to find out why we are here. Someday, it will all be clear. I fully believe that,” Aleric said.
I saw a shimmer in the air between us and the setting sun, but it was gone when I blinked and tried to focus on it. I figured it was simply a reflection of the light.
We looked out over the gorge at the setting sun. Reinhold started to fuss, and when I moved his blanket away from his face, he quieted. Yes, this was all new, and so much was still uncertain, but I had my mate, a strong, healthy son, and a new family. I could not ask for more.