Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
“ I think I need a third opinion,” Poe told Jules.
“Hmm?” Puck looked up from where he was gluing macaroni to a piece of paper. They had decided to host a craft day for all the children from the upper clutch and all of their school friends. At Poe’s house.
And he was exhausted.
He sat, his tea gone cold, which was kind of eurgh. Puck had taken over the craft he was working on from Andy’s oldest, who was asleep on top of Raffi as they spoke.
“I want a third opinion. Abe and the midwife think I might be having twins, and they think I’m on the Lunastra baby schedule, but I feel gigantic. And sore. And ugh.”
“Well… Is there another midwife?”
“Not that I would go to. I mean, I have the eldest elder as my baby doctor. I can’t insult her.”
“Oh.” Puck chewed his lower lip, poking at a piece of pasta. “Okay. Maybe you should go to the grove where Cade found Penny and ask that elder.”
He tilted his head. “That’s not a half-bad idea.”
Puck snorted. “That means it’s not half good either.”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Make Cade take you. He seems to know the way.”
“Yeah.” He had a feeling Cade would tell him he was being silly. No one seemed to understand that he was feeling like gravity was going to make the ground open up and then suck him right through. And of course, the hole would be smaller than his belly. “Puck?”
“Hmm?”
“Who do you think came up with macaroni art?”
“Some sadist who hated kids and parents both.”
“I think you’re right. Here.” He leaned over to lob glue at the paper, then sprinkle it with noodles. “Call it a cloud.”
Puck pondered the art . “Not bad, my friend.”
“What can I say? I’m a genius. Now. Come on. Let’s go find our mates.”
“Sounds more fun than this. Raffi, watch Ophelia.”
The big cat yawned, then wrapped his tail around the little girl.
So sweet.
They headed out from the sun porch, the covering formed by intertwined tree branches, and wandered among the children and adults, who were pounding and sawing, weaving, spinning, and more.
Tyr was teaching older children how to separate honey from comb. There were children stomping spring and early-summer berries to make a kind of wine.
It all made him smile.
“Mate. There you are.” Cade came to him immediately, sliding an arm around him. “Are you all right?”
“I am. I’ve been sitting for a while now. I needed to move my feet. They’re swollen.”
Cade frowned down at his feet. “I am sorry, love. There’s that tea?—”
“I’ve had three cups today,” he said, laughing. “No more.”
“Very well. What would you like then?”
“Walk with me?” He needed to go along the stream, to have a little quiet. He loved all the kids, but?—
But he needed to breathe.
“Of course.”
“I’ll be back in a few, Puck.”
“Sure.” Puck waved him off with a sweet smile, and he let Cade guide him out of their clearing and into the cool shade of the trees, the creek running along nicely.
He breathed deep, smelling that evergreen tang, as well as the newish leaves on the hardwoods.
“I don’t feel good, Cade. I feel so…heavy.”
“Do I need to call the healers?” Cade’s concern was immediate.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so?” He just wished he knew what was going on. Everyone said this was weird, how big he was, how swollen.
“So what do you want? I will provide it.”
Such a good guy.
“I want to go see your grandmother.”
Cade blinked. “My wyrmnain? Why?”
“Because I’m the size of the house. Because I want to. Because I said so.” Hopefully that was clear enough. He could probably be clearer if he had to. He was pretty good at that.
“Of course. She’d be happy to meet you. It’s a bit of a walk. I think I should get a cart so I can carry you. Does that work?”
He had to smile. “Yes. Yes, I suppose it does. Should we call her and let her know we’re coming?” Poe wasn’t exactly sure how to refer to the daearffn that were scattered about the village. There was even one in the house—this dark blue crystal. It just sort of sat there on the counter. Dragon telephones.
“I’ll let her know that we’re on our way, but let’s be honest. She probably already knows.”
“Okay. Fine.” He stretched, putting his hand on his back. “Should we bring her a present? We could bring her macaroni art? Maybe some honey?” What did seer grandmothers like?
“Oh, she would welcome the honey. You are gift enough. She is excited to be able to meet you and Tanya both.”
Poe nodded. “And I just have this urge to meet her. It has to mean something, right?”
Cade nodded to him. “Of course it does. She’s family. She’s amazing. You’re going to love her. She already loves you.”
“I’m sure I will.” He just wanted to know he was all right. He wanted somebody to tell him everything was going to be all right.
Before he knew it, he was sitting in a dyncell, one of the baskets that the dragons used to transport things. They’d tucked him with heavy woven blankets, and he was carrying a cake from Puck, a clay handprint from Penny, and some honey.
He was lucky he fit into the dyncell. Soon he was going to have to start wearing a tent if he got any bigger. He’d get a striped one, and he’d look like a giant circus.
Would you stop it? Cade took off, and Poe barely even felt a bump as they left the earth.
What? It’s true.
You’re perfect.
Perfectly round. Perfectly gigantic. Perfectly ready to pop.
Perfectly grumpy. Cade offered, and he growled softly.
Be good. I’m uncomfortable and nervous.
Yes, mate. Cade dutifully left him to his thoughts, but he could feel his mate monitoring him. And he had to admit, the flight up the mountain was lovely. Not the same as where the clutch lived. This terrain was less forgiving. Rockier.
Was that a word?
Cade did no acrobatics with him in the basket. He just kept it steady, moving up and up.
Then they seemed to… The air changed. A grove of spiny conifer trees rose up sharply, and Poe caught his breath, trying not to duck as Cade swooped down to squeeze in between them.
The basket never even rocked, but he could hear Cade—Well, it sounded like he was just brushing against the trees, but how was that possible? Cade was a huge dragon, and there was no room for him here.
But they let down on a warm still spot. Which was weird, as it was snowing everywhere else, but here, it was as if it were summertime. There was a wall of willow trees in front of them, and he could see, if he turned his head, the snow falling on the ground not five feet away from them. “This is where your grandmother lives?”
This is the Alleri, her home. She’s always lived here.
“So do we knock?”
That would be awkward. Cade shifted to human, pulling on clothes before helping him out. “Let me see if she’s home. Old witch of the Forest, evil beast that bites the head off of children?—”
“Oh, do shut up, Cadeyrn.” A lovely older woman with bright pink and blue flowers braided in her silvery hair came walking out wearing a long, loose gown that seemed to change color as she moved. She was barefoot and smiling, arms held out to him. “You brought me your mate. I’m so glad. Can you introduce us?”
“Wyrmnain, this is my mate, Poe of the Rocky Mountain clan. Poe, this is my grandmother, Grania”
Poe found himself close to tears, and he walked right up to Cade’s grandmother.
She held her hands out to him, and when their fingers touched, he relaxed, a huge weight seeming to lift off of him and allowing him to breathe. “Why did you wait so long to bring him to me, Cadeyrn? He needs succor.”
“We’ve been busy, Wyrmnain. The house, Tanya starting school, work.”
Poe had to smile because the excuses were the same no matter what, weren’t they? No matter where he was, the answers to those questions were always the same. We were busy, we were working, we were raising children. We couldn’t do this thing.
“Well. I think this time we waited too long. Both of you come in.”
Cade’s eyebrow arched up. “Really?”
“What?”
“Well, you haven’t asked me to come in since I was a young man.”
“And you haven’t come to ask, either?” she shot back.
“Now I have seen you many times. I come to see you often.”
“Not often enough.” She winked at Poe, silver eyes dancing. “Know that you both are always welcome here. Come in.”
She led them into the trees, and standing there was this cottage—like a genuine fairy-tale cottage. It wasn’t gingerbread, or at least it didn’t seem to be gingerbread, but it was that same idea. There was this thatch-roofed, brightly colored, beautiful little cottage with a kaleidoscope of flowers growing all around it. On the far side grew a happy little garden, and he could hear a burbling brook. It was as if it had been torn out of a book.
Maybe whoever wrote the book had been here once, or had dreamed of here once and had seen this place.
“Come in and sit. We’ll have a drink and a bite. I see that you brought honey. Thank you very much. Tell Tyr, if you would, that I appreciate it.”
Cade looked utterly gobsmacked. “It hasn’t changed a bit.”
“Why would it? It hasn’t changed in a millennium or more.” She winked at Poe. “One day, Penny will take my place here.”
“Penny? Little Penny is a—” Poe was shocked as hell. Seth’s Penny was just a baby.
“She’s a soul singer—an anaicanil. One day, she will take up my mantle.” Grania winked over. “Many years from now, of course.”
“Of course.” Poe grinned.
“She has much to learn if she is to take your place,” Cade said, sounding a little…upset.
“There is a rhythm to all things, Cadeyrn,” she murmured. “Now, tell me about this homestead of yours.”
Poe warmed right to that subject. “It’s wonderful! It’s as if the trees came together and made our house. Even the basement seems to be like…petrified wood.”
“How lovely!” She clapped her hands. “And it’s big enough.”
Cade scoffed. “We have room for a dozen children, Wyrmnain.”
“Well, you shall need it.”
“Will we?” Poe asked. “The midwife says twins.”
“Honestly, would twins be enough to bring you a cat like Raffi?”
Cade exchanged a glance with him. “So there will be…more?”
“Three, I think.”
“Good goddess,” Poe said. “I’m having a litter.”
“Cadeyrn is a strong alpha, and you are a healthy omega.” Grania winked at him.
“That’s a good many children at once,” Cade said, appearing a little panicky about the eyes.
“Yes.” Grania waved a hand, her rings flashing. “Good thing you have a whole community above and below to help. And there is always the idea of taking on a dragon from the village as a nanny as extra help.”
Poe blinked. “You do that here?”
“Yes. You two do not have all the brothers or sisters in one place like so many dragon families. So it cannot hurt to take on another dragon who is more alone in the world than not.”
“I like that idea,” Poe murmured. Especially if the omega was… Well, maybe a female. He chuckled at himself. He had no reason to be jealous, and he knew it. Cade had never looked at another dragon, and he’d had a lot of time to sow any wild oats before they’d mated.
Just as Poe had.
“You will find your way. Your clearing is plenty large enough. Who knows? You may end up with a few friends making their way to you.” She beamed. “Now. Cake?”
“I would love to share cake with you.” Poe looked at Cade expectantly.
Cade laughed. “I suppose I’ll serve.”
“Very nice, grandson. Such fine manners you have for your mate, if no one else.”
Cade rolled his eyes. “Bah. I have always had exceptional manners when I needed them.”
Cade wandered off to get cake inside the little thatched house, and he sat with Grania in one of the wooden chairs that were surprisingly comfortable.
Poe sighed as the weight pulling on his bones eased.
“They’re heavy, aren’t they?”
Poe nodded enthusiastically. That was the understatement of the year. “Yes, ma’am. I can’t believe there’s three. But it explains why they’re so big, and I can’t hear them. Everyone else says they could hear their babies talking, they knew their names, they knew everything, and I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything .”
He caught her silver eyes, and suddenly all of his worries just poured out. “What if I’m not doing this right? Everyone else said that they could hear the baby’s laughing. They could. They knew if it was if they were boys or girls or…everything. Gareth knew he was having twins, and he didn’t even know he was a dragon.”
“Oh, sweet child.” She chuckled, took his hand, and squeezed. “You are the first dragon from the other world to have babies here in so long. Most everyone else that had come over was old, sick, left families behind. And they were few and far between. The last large influx of dragons from that land was a millennium ago.” She winked at him. “I know this because my parents came from your world.”
“They did?”
She nodded her head. “But child, don’t worry. Or try not to worry. There’s just a lot of baby in there for you to listen to one voice. Yes, you have three babies in there, but they are quiet and at peace in their warm and happy growing space. They have each other. No, you don’t have to worry, child. My great grandchildren will be amazing.”
“Do you think that I’ll learn their names? Do you think they’ll let me know if they’re boys or girls or both?” He desperately wanted to be normal in some way.
“I have no doubt there will not be both girls and boys this time, but you will have an amazing home with wondrous children to fill it. You were alone for a long time, Poe. So was my grandson. Neither of you have to be alone again.”
Poe took a deep breath. Goddess help him, the relief was crushing. He leaned back into the chair and let it support his bones.
Cade came running, hands filled with plates of cake. “My mate, are you well?”
He offered a smile. “I am. I was just talking with your grandmother. I feel marvelous.”
“Good, excellent, marvelous is good.” Cade offered his grandmother a curious smile, but she gave him a nod. The love between these two dragons was clear as the ringing of a bell, Por thought.
“It is good. I wonder if one of the paths that is leading underneath the house…could it be leading here so that the babies could come and visit? Is that a thing?”
“Oh.” Cade shook his head. “That’s a long way…”
“Penny got here, and she’s barely mobile. How long could it take? I mean, it’s magical, isn’t it? I’m not saying it is, I’m just saying wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all visit each other in the snow?”
Cade gave him an indulgent grin.
“I don’t know. I suppose that’s silly. There’s no reason to hide underground when we can just fly.” Poe shook his head. It was a silly idea, and there was no good reason to have underground tunnels and passages. There was still something in him that thought it wasn’t silly somehow, that there was something about it that was important.
Maybe he needed to put some pocket doors in their house, invent some secret passages or something.
Maybe he just needed cake.
“If it seems important to you, the land will listen,” Grania said. “And sometimes flying is dangerous or cold or what have you.” She reached over to pat his hand. “Listen to your instincts, my dear.”
Cade’s clear blue gaze sharpened, a silvery edge coming into his eyes. “Then we will ask the land for what we need.”
His mate loved him so well. He never pooh-poohed Poe. Not ever.
Even when Cade probably thought he was nuts.
They dug into the cake, Grania exclaiming over it, and he just sat, relaxing for the first time in what seemed like weeks.
He could stay here forever.
Or at least as long as he was pregnant.