Chapter Seventeen
Craig
Dragon eggs usually came in pairs or triads—once in a while, in fours. But one? One was unusual.
Even I had originally been one of two eggs—only one wasn’t viable. I didn’t lose a sibling, not really. There never was another dragon. But my parents still mourned the loss because, to them, they were having a second baby—up until the point that they weren’t.
So when my mate laid only one egg, I started to worry. And I kept that worry to myself, letting it fester.
It would’ve been the perfect time to call my mom, my dad, or my grams and gramps. But they were all gone, and we’d never been part of a flight in my lifetime. So, instead, I ducked out early in the morning and went to the B&B to talk to their resident dragon and see if maybe he could give me some insight.
We’d become friends ever since the overbooking issue. It amused me that he found his mate in a very similar way—some stupid app glitch. Or maybe a money grab. I wasn’t sure which.
But, in both of our cases, it didn’t matter. Because we found what our beasts had been longing for all these years. What we’d been needing. What fate had gifted us.
“I noticed you’re here before your mates would normally be up,” Cyrus said by way of greeting.
It was a fair guess, considering the sun was barely coming up.
“Something like that.” I followed him into the kitchen, where he was about to get a meal ready for his guests. By the look of the lot, quite a few of them, too. “Cyrus, you have a human, right?”
I didn’t know why I was asking. I knew Boen nearly as well as I knew Cyrus.
“I do.” He stopped moving. “Just ask what you need. Your dragon is flipping out.”
Which meant he was much closer to the surface than I’d realized.
“When he laid eggs, there were…eggs, right?”
“Yeah, that’s generally how it works. Why? Is your mate carrying in the human way?”
“No, no, I’m saying this so wrong.” And the more I spoke, the worse it got.
“Deep breath, my friend. Deep breath in…and out. In…and out.”
I followed his instructions, grateful for his guidance.
“Now, what is this all about?”
“He only laid one egg,” I blurted out and waited for the look of horror to cross his face, but none did. Only confusion.
“I see. And how is the egg?”
“It’s beautiful. It’s a blue color that matches my mother’s eyes, and it’s sparkly and large. I don’t know, it’s just…perfect.”
“Then you don’t need to worry.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Everything is as it should be.”
“But dragons come in twos or threes or sometimes fours—”
“And sometimes they come in ones.”
That was exactly what I needed to hear. Why hadn’t I come to him sooner?
“Thanks. I needed someone to talk me off the ledge.”
“You know, that’s why we have mates.”
Normally, I’d have agreed with him, but this was different.
“Would you say anything remotely scary to your mate about their pregnancy or young before the baby was born?”
“Yeah, no. That would be bad.” Understanding crossed his face.
“Exactly. Now, tell me what I can do to help. I’m here. I gotta pay you for your information.” And I liked helping out around here. It was nice to have a dragon friend, and this place always seemed to have someone interesting staying here.
“You don’t have to pay me for anything.” He was wrong there. He’d helped me out more than once at the house when a DIY repair had gone wrong. I owed him for a lot and helping with breakfast wasn’t going to hit the tip of the iceberg.
“Well, how about this? I want to help—as a sign of gratitude.”
“Well, if that’s the case…maybe you can go polish that silverware over there with one of the linens next to it.” He pointed to the far counter.
“That, I can do.”
I worked on getting the silverware ready, then filled water pitchers, carried trays of Danish pastries and muffins, anything and everything he needed. It was their so-called slow season, but they were busy. Dragon’s Landing B&B had earned quite a nice reputation in the short time they’d been around, and I was happy for them.
But as breakfast wound down, I headed back to see my mates.
The baby was coming soon, and all three of us were at home although Trace and I both working still remotely.
When I walked in the house, I came bearing gifts—a basket of muffins from Cyrus and Boen.‘
“These are for me.” Ralph came over and snatched one from the basket. “Cyrus made these, didn’t he?” He took a bite. “Nope. These are Boen’s. Even better.”
I didn’t know how he could tell the difference between the two, but he’d had his share of the yummy goods over the past few months. They’d taken to offering their muffins to-go, and we’d been buying them pretty consistently the entire last half of our mate’s pregnancy. They were delicious.
“Did you want a muffin?” I called to Craig.
I’d bring them in there for him, but I wanted to give him a heads-up that I was home.
Ever since he laid the egg, he’d been nervous, nervous, nervous.
“I could protect our baby when they were inside me, but this…so many things can happen.” He’d said that multiple times. And every time, I wanted to be able to say, No, you’re wrong. It’s just as protected now . But that would be a lie.
It wasn’t.
Yes, it was strong—stronger than an ostrich egg. And it had somebody watching it around the clock. Usually Craig. But, after a lot of convincing, he’d take a shower and let the two of us watch over it instead.
This was pretty typical for this part of the pregnancy. Although, technically, my mate was no longer pregnant, he’d laid his egg. But it was an extended part of pregnancy, and my family, at least, referred to it as being included.
I walked in with the basket, and my mate was asleep. No wonder he hadn’t answered me.
He was wrapped around the egg, quietly snoring.
I snatched the blanket off the bed and covered him, kissed his forehead, and sat on the other side of the nest, watching him sleep and whispering a story to our baby—about a prince and a dragon, where the dragon saved the day.
Two hours later, my mate groggily opened his eyes, not fully awake.“How long has he been here?”
“For a while.”
His eyes zeroed in on the basket ,and I picked it up. “I have muffins.”
A flicker of movement caught the corner of my eye, but when I turned, there was nothing. The muffins were all but forgotten. “Did you see that?”
Craig sat up fully. “I guess…maybe it was nothing.”
“Stay right here. I’m going to get our wolf.” I ran to the office where Ralph was working and yanked him out.“We gotta go. I think it’s time.”
And that began the three-hour stretch of what we would later affectionately refer to as Hatch Watch.
It was a really bad name.
First, there were a few movements. Then rocking. And then, if we listened carefully enough—the echoing sound of tiny claws scratching at the inside of the egg.
And then finally—finally—a crack.
Then two.
And then the shell fell away.
Our beautiful dragon, was here.
We didn’t pick her up right away. When we did, she would shift for the first time—and we wouldn’t see her dragon again until our daughter hit puberty.
“Are you ready?” Ralph whispered.
We both nodded and Craig reached down and picked up our daughter, who shifted into our baby girl for the first time.
“She’s beautiful,” Ralph breathed.
Craig brought her to his chest, and she began to suckle. “What should we name her?”
We’d been talking about names nonstop, but none of them seemed to fit. But now that she was here and we could see her, it was time to decide
“Willow,” Ralph offered.
“I like it.” Craig smiled.
Willow . We have a daughter. And her name is Willow. And she was already better than all of us.
“How did we get to be her dads?” Tears streamed down Craig’s face.
“I-I don’t know,” I murmured.
Ralph kissed the side of Craig’s head, and I did the same.
I knew one thing—I was going to treasure every second I had with her, just like my parents and grams did with me.