Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
PAX
I stood at the kitchen window watching Dray chase two squealing children around the backyard. Our daughter Malinda had partially shifted, and she was using her tail to swat her brother Brenton who was trying to grab it.
“No scales before school,” I called out the window.
Other shifters, specifically mammals, didn't meet their beast until adolescence, but dragons were different. Of course they were, and I had three of them. And living in a small town, there were no shifter-specific preschools, so today they would be in class with humans.
Dray scooped up Malinda, and she giggled as her tail disappeared. “You heard Papa. There can be no dragons at school.”
Our youngest, Kaida, tugged on my pant leg. “Papa, I don't wanna go.”
I crouched down and kissed her on the nose. Like her sister, she had Dray's green eyes.
“It’s going to be fun, and you'll make new friends.”
“But what if I sneeze fire?” Her bottom lip trembled.
Gods, I hadn't thought about that. I glanced at Dray who was bringing the other two inside. He must have heard Kaida because he knelt beside her.
“Remember what Pops taught you? When you feel the tickle in your throat, breathe out slowly through your nose. Your dragon will understand you need to keep the fire inside.”
“But what if I forget?”
“You won’t.” He kissed her forehead. “And if you do, Papa or Pops or Grandpa or I will be there to help.”
Except we wouldn’t. One of us would be volunteering in the classroom every day but starting next week. The school thought we were just overly involved parents. What they didn’t know was that we’d be on fire safety duty.
Brenton zoomed past us heading for the stairs. “I’m gonna wear my dragon costume.”
"Not today,” I yelled after him.
Over the next twenty minutes, Malinda insisted on wearing the sparkly shoes that pinched her toes. Brenton couldn't find his backpack even though it was where we'd left it last night. And Kaida sat on the bottom step, refusing to put on her jacket.
“I’ll stay home with you, Papa. You don't like being alone.”
My heart did flip-flops. “I’ll be fine, sweetheart. And you'll be home before you know it.”
“Promise?”
“Pinky promise.” I hooked our crooked little fingers around the other’s.
Dray loaded the kids into the car while I stood on the porch, wishing I could wind back time. This was harder than laying eggs and waiting for them to hatch. They were going out into the world where I couldn't protect them.
My mate appeared at my side and took my hand. “They'll be okay.”
“What if someone's mean to them or they’re scared?”
“They'll learn they're strong enough to handle it.” He squeezed my fingers. “Just like you did when I showed you who I was.”
But I’d been an adult when I was confronted by a dragon.
The drive to the elementary school took five minutes. Other parents were dropping off their kids, and I watched them hug their children and send them off with smiles. How were they so calm and not sobbing?
We walked the triplets to their classroom that had a colorful alphabet on the wall and beanbags and cushions in the reading corner.
Mrs. Anthony had agreed to take all three together after we'd begged.
She greeted us at the door. She had twenty years of teaching experience, and Aunt Raine had assured us she was kind and patient and our kids would love her.
“Good morning! Are we excited for our first day?”
Malinda nodded. Brenton was already eyeing the blocks in the play area, while Kaida clutched my hand.
“Your dads have to go now.” Mrs. Anthony told my three. “But they’ll be back at pickup time.”
“I could stay.” I so wanted to. “Just today.”
Dray put a hand on my shoulder. “Babe, we talked about this.”
Right. This week the kids needed to do this on their own.
I knelt down and pulled all three into a hug and whispered, “Remember, no shifting and no fire.”
“We know, Papa.” Malinda kissed my cheek.
“And if you need me—”
“We'll tell Mrs. Anthony, and she'll call you,” Brenton finished. We'd gone over this a hundred times.
Kaida buried her face in the crook of my neck. “I love you, Papa.”
“Love you too, my darling.” I kissed the top of her head and stood up before I changed my mind about leaving them here.
Dray wrapped an arm around my waist and steered me toward the door. I looked back once, twice, three, four, no, make that five times until Dray turned me around.
“They're fine.”
Through the window I saw Malinda showing another girl her sparkly shoes. Brenton was already building something with blocks, and Kaida was sitting in the reading corner with a book.
“See? They’re doing okay by themselves.”
That was what I was afraid of.
We made it to the truck before I started crying. Dray held me while I sobbed onto his shirt.
“I'm being ridiculous.”
“You're not.” He rubbed my back. “You carried them and kept them safe, and now you have to trust the world won't hurt them.”
“What if something happens?”
“No what-ifs. They're strong and smart, and they have each other.”
We drove home because neither of us was going into the office today.
The house was too quiet. No one was demanding snacks or asking me to read the same book for the tenth time.
I wandered into Kaida’s room and picked up the stuffed dragon Stephen had given us before the eggs hatched.
It smelled like Kaida because she slept with it every night.
“I miss them.” I was sitting on the floor when Dray came in.
“It's been an hour.”
I laughed through my tears.
“You're a good dad.” He sat beside me and pulled me against his chest. “And in a few hours, we get to pick them up and hear about what they did today.”
The time crawled by. I tried to work on invoices but couldn't focus. Dray suggested we go to the café, but I didn't want to be far from the school. We ended up sitting on the porch doing nothing.
When it was finally time, we arrived at the school ten minutes early. Other parents gave us amused looks as if they understood how our morning had been.
The classroom door opened, and Malinda ran to us first.
“Papa! Daddy! I made a friend! Her name is Celia, and she has sparkly shoes too!”
Brenton was next. His words tumbled over one another, and I picked out “blocks” and “snack time.”
Kaida walked out last, holding Mrs. Anthony’s hand. Oh no. She'd had a terrible day, and I shouldn't have made her come here.
But she smiled. “I liked school, Papa.”
“I’m glad.”
“Mrs. Anthony read us three books, and I knew all the words in one of them because you read it to me too.”
I let out a breath that contained all my fears. “I’m so proud of you.”
Dray and I shared a glance, and he gave me a thumbs-up.
That night at dinner, the triplets talked over each other telling us about their day. They'd painted and played and sung along while the teacher played the piano. No one had shifted and nothing had been burned.
After we put them to bed, Dray and I collapsed on the couch.
“We survived day one,” he said.
“Only about four thousand or something more to go.”
I rested my head on his shoulder and put a hand over his heart. This was the heart that had waited eight years for me, even though he hadn’t yet felt the pull of our bond. And now he loved our children as much as he loved me.
I patted my tattoo. It didn’t get hot anymore, not since we’d mated, but it was a vivid reminder for how fate had guided me to the one person who was meant for me and to the place where I belonged.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “For giving me this life.”
Dray kissed the top of my head. “Thank you for saying yes to a dragon who couldn't stop spilling things on you.”
I laughed and tilted my face to kiss him properly. Upstairs I heard footsteps and a door opening.
“Papa?” Kaida called down. “I can't sleep.”
Dray sighed, but he was smiling. “I’ll go.”
“No, I've got it.” I got up and glanced over my shoulder. “I love you.”
“Love you too, babe.”
I climbed the stairs to comfort our daughter, thinking about that day when I’d come out of the grocery store and found Dray leaning on his truck. I whispered a thank-you to Aunt June, something I did constantly, because without her, I wouldn’t have this life.
THANK YOU FOR READING.