Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Ronan
Opal and Ruby.
I was having twin girls, and I already knew their names.
That last part was a little trippy, I had to admit, but so far that lined up with just about everything else to do with my new life, dragons being at the top of the freak me the fuck out list. Not having to get ready for work was going to take some getting used to.
I might look like a glamour doll, but I’d paid for every stitch of clothing, makeup palette, and pair of shoes in my closet because it felt good to spoil myself.
Now I was going to have two adorable ladybugs to spoil, and I knew nothing about baby clothes or what they’d need when they hatched. Shit. I didn’t even know how big they would be.
Okay, sizes I could figure out later. First I needed to put together a list of the kinds of outfits they’d need and do a bit of research on just how many wardrobe changes were common in a day.
Fortunately, I was an expert in the art of google-fu, having used it for more makeup tutorials and styling tips than I could count, so I quickly got to work gathering information, my list growing with every website I browsed.
Quit trying to cram yourself into those tight ass pants, Ronan.
Now that comment hadn’t been necessary, even if he did have a point. I liked my tight ass pants and they’d better fucking fit again after I popped the eggs out or my dragon mate was going to have a few things to answer for!
My ass did not look good in loose fitting jeans, or any outfits that left me looking like a shapeless lump, so I’d need to find maternity clothes that would still let me feel like myself.
Oh, wait…joggers.
Soft, colorful, and roomie, now those I could do.
I put a dozen pairs in my cart, and fuzzy socks to roam around the house in, since I wouldn’t be getting use out of my shoe collection for a while.
I was halfway through reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting and there had already been several mentions of weight and balance shifting the further into a pregnancy you got.
Since the dreaded High Priestess claimed that I had, at most, seven more weeks of this pregnancy to go, I was going to assume egg growth would happen fast, which meant my heels would have to wait until the eggs were out.
And just where would I be going afterward to wear them?
I did not need the grumpy voice in the back of my head to remind me that everything in my life had shifted, and that designer shoes, and being seen out with them on a Saturday night, were going to be a thing of the past.
Damnit, I hadn’t even danced in all of them yet.
While I knew I wasn’t going to miss club culture, I was going to miss dressing up and hitting the dance floor.
Music had a way of making everything better, even if everything else in the day had been a royal shitshow.
Running into Odem at one of the clubs in Dragon City had always resulted in a sweaty night, both on the floor and off.
There was no denying that he had moves and when we moved together it was so fluid that I’d started looking for him the moment I stepped through the door.
And always been just a little disappointed on the nights when I hadn’t spotted him in the crowd.
In the weeks before I’d hunted him down for knocking me up, I’d started to see less and less of him, which in hindsight, had added to how pissed off I’d felt when I’d learned I was pregnant.
I’d assumed he’d grown bored and moved on to someone else.
Now, with the whole mate thing, and his claim that there would never be anyone else for him, I didn’t know what to think.
All I knew was that I’d started to miss him and that wasn’t something I’d ever felt about anyone else before.
Except my brother.
Tears welled up and made my eyes prickle and itch, the first spilling over before I could stop it, the second I’d barely wiped away before Odem burst into the room, looking around like he was ready to go to battle with someone.
“What upset you?” he demanded, shocking me with how growly his voice was as flames danced in his eyes.
“No one, it was just a memory,” I declared, nose wrinkling as I held back a sniffle.
These hormones were seriously going to start pissing me off.
I hated crying. The way it felt, how red it left my eyes and the way it made my mascara and eyeliner run.
Waterproof my ass. Thinking about how much money I’d spent on cosmetics that weren’t supposed to wipe off, were supposedly smudge proof, or claimed not run when they got wet was enough to push the old memories away.
They got harder to chase away when I dwelled on them, so I was better off not to poke at those old feelings and have them spoil the rest of my night.
“It made you sad,” he declared.
Huffing, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. “Haven’t I repeatedly told you to stay out of my head?”
“I wasn’t in your head,” he shot back. “Or I’d know what you were thinking about. It was your emotions I picked up on. Hate to break it to you but that isn’t something that can be blocked out. It’s just the way it is between mates.”
“Always?” I asked.
“It will only grow stronger the longer we’re together,” he said.
“So, you really wouldn’t be able to just up and leave?” I blurted.
“It would kill me to do so,” he explained. “Mates are not meant to be apart. When you were in town at the diner, I felt the ache of your absence and wanted you back here with me, and when I was tracking you, I grew more ecstatic the closer I was to having you back in my arms.”
Puffing up I stared him dead in the eyes. “Then why were you avoiding me?”
“Avoiding, Ronan, I have never….”
“Before I tracked you down about the eggs, I hadn’t seen you in days. You went from tormenting me with that damned smirk of yours every time I turned around, to a vapor trail I only saw once or twice a week.”
And there was the smirk.
He caught the pillow I chucked at him and flipped it in the air while I glared, because damnit all, I was trying to have a serious conversation and here he was going all melt my panties sexy with the cocky looks he was shooting me.
“Eeep!” I jerked back and nearly overturned the chair when the pillow turned into a flaming lava rock.
“Oh shit!”
He took off with it while I sat there stunned, mouth opening and closing because…
Because….
I did that!
Holy fuckin’ shit I did that!
O!
M!
G!
He came back without a mark on him, while I hadn’t moved from where I was huddled against the back of the seat.
“Dragon,” he said, pointing at me, still smirking like I hadn’t just melted a fucking pillow out of existence.
At least we’d never lack for barbecue briquettes.
Giggles spilled over and I slapped my hands over my mouth to hold them in, afraid that if I started laughing I wouldn’t be able to stop.
“That was an accident.”
“Good to know,” he replied. “I liked that pillow.”
“This is not funny!” I grumbled.
I’d have stomped my foot if it was closer to the ground.
“It is a little funny.”
“In what way?”
“Just that I have plenty of practice dealing with errant fireballs so lava bombs should be no problem,” he replied, chuckling.
This man. I pressed my hand to my face because how, how was I supposed to talk to him when all I wanted to do was laugh?
“You being kidnapped wasn’t the first time one of our enemies has gone after a mate,” he said, all the laughter having bled from his tone.
“The new library became necessary after the archive building was heavily damaged when they tried to get into it thinking Emerson still lived there. After that Ionus ordered an increase in our patrols and sent out hunting parties to try to ferret them out and deal with them. Because I wasn’t mated, I was sent out with them.
That’s the only reason you saw less of me.
I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you as my mate sooner.
It’s honestly embarrassing to admit. Ionus knew right away when it came to Alex. ”
“What about Caro and Emerson?” I asked, hating the thought of being the only one whose mate had needed months to figure it out.
“No, it took them longer than it took me,” Odem said, but gave no further details.
I supposed that was fair, since it wasn’t his story to tell.
“I-I guess that’s fair that you were distracted when your family was being threatened,” I said.
“There were the dragonets too,” he said. “I love being their favorite uncle and spending time playing with them each day. It doesn’t just strengthen my bonds with them, but with the twins, I’ve been able to help them better control their fire, since it’s my element too.”
“Fire?”
He flushed and rubbed the back of his neck, squirming instead of smirking now.
“Odem?” I hissed. “You had better explain what you meant about the twins and fire, because I am not prepared for babies that can torch the curtains. Wait, they make fireproof curtains, right?”
I snatched up my phone without waiting for the answer, immediately tapping away on the screen to see if I could find any to add to my cart.
Oh phew, they existed.
Click, click, click, we’d just get a few for the living room and my bedroom, and…
“They don’t go up as fast, but dragon fire burns hotter than regular flames,” he said. “So eventually, they burn just like the rest.”
“Joy.” I clicked back through and ordered double.
“All dragons breathe fire,” he explained. “But not all of them do so as uncontrollably and in such unpredictable amounts as Alex and Ionus’ twins, Hunter and Kane. There’s no reason to think that our twins will run around singeing tutus.”
“Singeing…”
“It’s okay, I swear, our babies are also immune to fire, so there is no risk of them being harmed if one of them accidentally burps a fireball at the other.”
“How can you stand there and calmly talk about our babies’ burping fireballs at one another?
” I yelped, voice raising at least two octaves just thinking about it.
“What happens if something else catches fire? Am I just supposed to keep a fire extinguisher handy and hope I don’t have to use it, like at the diner anytime Patrica manned the grill? ”
He was hesitant to answer. In fact, he was squirming again and looked rather sheepish, which told me all I needed to know about those fire extinguishers.
“So, are you going to install one in each room or will we be keeping them in a supply cabinet?” I asked.
“I will get them installed,” he said.
“Anything else you think I should know?” I asked.
“There are baby carriers we can strap to our chests to carry our eggs around with us,” he said.
“And at night, we’ll curl up with them in the nest until they hatch.
They need to be close to us at all times.
If there is any room in the house that you enjoy spending time in we can put a bassinet in there, so you have a place to tuck them.
For Emerson, Caro put one in the office he created for him, as well as the library, because those are Emerson’s favorite places.
I know he carved out a stone bassinet in his horde too. Cade still spends time napping in it.”
“Back to hordes again,” I said. “See, that should be proof right there that I’m not a dragon. I don’t have a horde.”
“Three hundred pairs of shoes would be considered a horde,” he pointed out, smirking again. “Add in your makeup collection….”
“I do not have that much.”
“There are more nail polish bottles on the dresser in the spare room than in the makeup aisle at the drugstore.”
“How would you know?”
“I was just in there the other day getting one of those Warmies sloths for Cade. Lavender sooths him.”
“What, exactly, is a Warmies sloth?”
“A stuffed animal that gives off the aroma of lavender when you heat it,” he explained.
“Emerson doesn’t even have to pop it into the microwave, he just raises his body temperature enough to heat it, then gives it to Cade to cuddle.
Luna had a pink kitten. I look forward to picking the perfect ones for our girls. ”
“Only if we do it together,” I said. “I know you’ve got all the baby experience, but these are my first eggs.”
“Our first eggs,” he corrected.
“Fine, but at least you’ve been around eggs before,” I reminded him as a thought popped into my head. “Do they make egg sweaters? Well, I guess they wouldn’t require sweaters, since the eggs won’t have arms. Egg socks, maybe? Or warm, furry pillowcases we can slide them in.”
“Why would we want to do that?”
“So, they’ll stay warm when we’re not holding them.”
“I’ve only ever seen Alex and Emerson tuck blankets around them,” he muttered, giving me the strangest look.
“What? Is it really that hard to picture? If they don’t exist then I’ll just make them. I’ll need to order yarn, and chunky knitting needles,” I muttered as I started tapping away on my phone again.
It had been years since I’d knitted anything, but I was sure my fingers would remember how.
I’d knitted a lot before all my pretty yarns had been taken away from me.
The feel of soft wool between my fingers always had a soothing effect.
Being able to curl up in my favorite recliner with my knitting needles would help me fill the time when I would have been at the diner.
“You knit?” he said, eying me skeptically.
“Yes and if you have an issue with it, you can keep it to yourself,” I snapped. “It’s something I enjoy, and I will be making egg warmers and blankets too. Not everything has to be store bought.”
“Of course not,” he replied. “I’m just having a hard time picturing you sitting still long enough to knit a postage stamp.”
“You’d be shocked at how still I can sit when I’m properly motivated,” I grumbled.
And that smirk was back.
“I can be a good motivator.”
“I’ll just bet you can,” I said, waving a finger at him. “Just keep your motivator in your pants until I’ve finished with this order and had a snack. They we’ll see if you’re as good as you claim you are. But I pick the movie.”
“M-movie?” he sputtered, looking completely baffled now.
“If we’re going to play how long can I warm your cock until you lose your shit and pin me to the bed, then I get to choose what we watch while I’m perched there. And no cheating, either.”
“How could I possibly cheat at that?”
“I’m carrying your eggs and we both know how I got this way,” I reminded him. “You’ll think of something.”