Chapter 3 #2
Mercury shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I’m used to sitting, watching time pass.”
“It won’t be long before Kami comes. He knows you’re here. He’s just waiting for the time to be late enough so that he can bring the baby over.”
“There’s a baby?” Mercury’s eyes lit up.
He nodded happily. “Miranda. She’s not a baby-baby anymore, she’s walking.
Sort of. She’s amazing, she’s my goddaughter, and I adore her.
” He pointed over to where a toy box sat in the corner of his great room along with the wee bed for when his little one came over to nap or visit or when Kami was going to lose his mind, and he needed to give his best friend some baby-free time.
“It is a very important job being ki’soff. ”
And he took it very seriously.
“It is.” Mercury’s expression went wistful. “I don’t think my babies would have had one, if I had been so lucky. No one liked me.”
“Why? I like you.” How could someone not like this amazing dragon?
“I like you too.” Mercury’s words warmed him right up. “I’ve been told I’m not obedient and not very friendly, and I’ve been alone a lot. Lots of people scare me, and I’m different. I’m little, like little as a dragon. People tend not to love that about me.”
Talon actually smiled. “My brother lives here with his mates, and his omega mate, Elowyn? He’s like you.”
“Really?”
Talon nodded, “He’s little, but very, very fierce. He has three baby girls, and the rumor is he’s going to have a fourth one. They’re waiting to see. He loves babies.”
Personally, Talon thought that the three babies Triton and Cerran and Elowyn had were a handful, and maybe they should hold off. Focus on getting those special little ones organized.
“Does he? I do too. I always wanted to have babies. I always imagined I’d have children.
It’s probably silly because I’ve known for a long time that I wasn’t going get to but, you know.
” Mercury shrugged, and his pretty eyes filled with tears.
“And I’m sorry to be a watering pot, but now I’m a little sad.
Do you think I could meet your best friend’s baby?
I promise not to hurt her. I just want to meet a little one. ”
“Of course you can. Let me just…” Talon called to Kami in his head. Hey, hon, do you think you could come over and bring Miranda? I think it would really cheer this little guy up. Mercury, I mean. He’s pretty sad.
It didn’t take Kami any time to answer. Sure, honey. You know how I feel about long-lost omegas. You’re really into him, huh?
He’s my hailee. I knew that from the second I saw him. No question, no hesitation. Mercury belonged with him.
Well, I have to meet him now to make sure he’s good enough.
He’s very shy, Talon warned. He’s been pretty ill-used.
I’ll be kind. You know I will.
I know, but he’s convinced that he’s going to just lay down and die. We need to be super careful about talking about getting him a new heartstone. That seems to wig him out.
He could hear Kami’s soft chuff of mental laughter. Okay, I’ll be good. I promise. I’ll be there soon.
“He’s on his way.” He smiled at Mercury, holding out his arms, and he wasn’t sure what would happen, but he was grateful when Mercury just walked right into them.
Someone craved contact, and Talon was more than willing to give it to him, holding on until a soft knock came to the door.
“Talon, it’s me.” Then Kami opened the door and waltzed in. “Hi. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”
Mercury shook his head, staying right where he was. “I was getting a hug. He’s not yours right? He’s not your alpha?”
“No, no, my alpha’s name is Reno. You’ll probably meet him in a day or two. He’s grumpy, just a little bit.”
Mercury chuckled softly, but his eyes were on Miranda. “Just a little bit. That’s pretty good, right, to just be a tiny amount?”
“It’s wonderful to be a little bit ragey; that means you’ll stand up for yourself.” Kami winked broadly, then gave Mercury a hug, tugging him right out of Talon’s arms. “And I’ve decided that we’re going to stand up for you, and get you settled in here and make you a home.”
Mercury glanced at him, eyes shadowing with worry. “Does that mean I have to leave Talon’s house?”
“You never have to do anything you don’t want to, hailee.” Talon gave his mate a gentle smile. “I’ll be right here for you, and you can stay with me.”
“Oh good. I want to stay with you. I don’t want to have to go away.” Mercury looked a little panicked and squeezed his hand. Then his eyes caught hold of Miranda. “She’s beautiful.”
“She is.” Kami blinked at him. “Would you like to hold her? She’s sound asleep. She’s just gone down for her nap. She was up early this morning. She was a little grumpy.”
“I don’t want to hurt her.”
“How? You’re just holding her. It’s not like we’re leaving you here with her. She’ll be right here. You can’t hurt her. And if you do, I’ll take your head off.”
“Kami!” That didn’t help.
Okay, but I just want to make myself clear.
Be nice.
I am nice. Kami walked over and plopped the baby in Mercury’s arms. “Excellent. Can I have a cup of coffee?”
“You can. You know where it is. Come on, hailee, let me help you sit down.”
Mercury’s thoughts were just a buzz of nervous words; at least that was what it felt like.
It’s fine. Honestly, you’re not going to harm anybody. She’s just fine with you.
I don’t know, I’m not sure if I feel just fine.
“You are. Serious. I’m not worried.” He beamed. “I like the way you look with a baby in your arms.”
As Talon knew they would, those words made Mercury blush and duck his head, pleasure filling his thoughts instead of worry. “Thank you. She’s so tiny and sweet.”
“She’s probably not as young as you think she is.
Like I said, she’s moving around pretty good these days on her own steam, but she is delicate, like Kami, and not like Reno at all.
” He stared at the baby, her little cheeks flushed a rosy color, her lips pursed as she slept.
She was adorable, and she looked like one of those children from American human cartoons—all innocence until she opened her eyes and mouth, and then fire came out and thunder happened and the world shook.
He chuckled because he adored her, but she was not however—what was the word?—easy.
“Are you maligning my girl?” Kami walked back in with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, grinning at Mercury. “See? You did just great with her. She hasn’t even woken up.”
“I’m trying to be very careful.”
Kami waved a hand. “Dude, she’s not that fragile. Just don’t drop her.”
Mercury’s mouth dropped open, and Talon fought not to roll his eyes. Kami was so not helping.
Kami plopped down on the couch, making sure not to spill his coffee. “Tell me about this keep you come from, Mercury. Talon says they suck.”
“Oh, I am sure they are not any worse than any other dragon keep, although it is very isolated up north. They’re very, what is the word I’m looking for?”
“Hidebound? Old-fashioned? Asshole-ish enough to lock somebody in a tower?” Kami raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms after he set his coffee down.
Mercury chewed his lip, and the baby let out a little bit of a squawk, so obviously he’d tightened his grip without thinking about it. “They said I deserved it—to be in the tower, I mean. That I had earned it by not being able to follow the rules.”
“Seriously?” Kami snorted hard. “Nobody deserves to be locked in a tower for doing something that comes naturally to them. What do you call it?”
“Sliding. They say it’s very dangerous, but I never felt like it was.”
“Dangerous for who?” Kami just kept poking at it like a sore tooth.
“Dangerous for them if people found out, maybe because then you would be seriously in demand. It’s not embarrassing so much as it is something they didn’t want anybody else to know about.
Because then you, as an omega, would have some sort of inherent value.
” He leaned forward, holding Mercury’s gaze. “Spoiler, we have inherent value.”
“I think so too. They need us. Alphas can’t make babies by themselves.” Mercury actually looked surprised at himself.
“Right on! Even if you don’t have babies, you still have worth. You have ideas, you have talents, you have skills. Even if you never have a baby, you have worth—just because you’re you.”
Mercury looked down at little Miranda and up at Kami. “But I do want babies. Very much.”
Kami nodded, bared his teeth. “Again, totally valid. No one’s going to have any beef with that. The point is you do what you do, boo. You do what you want. You do what you feel like you need. And fuck the ones who don’t like it.”
Mercury blinked at him, eyes wide and shocked, and Talon chuckled softly. “Kami’s not particularly delicate,” he said. “Not like you are. He can burp his ABCs.”
Mercury blinked again and then started giggling. “No wonder I like you,” he said.
“Oh, very nice.” Kami nodded in approval. “That’s what we need—a little wicked. Otherwise, they’re just gonna eat you alive.”
Mercury’s eyes went wide, and Talon shook his head. “Not literally.”
“Goddess, no. Where the hell did you come from? That literally eating you alive was a thing to do.” Kami’s eyes were big as saucers.
Mercury’s cheeks went a bright pink. “I’m sure they were just stories, things you tell children. You probably think I’m silly.”
“No, I think you were abused.” Kami frowned deeply. “And also, it’s really cool, by the way, that you can just slide—isn’t it what you called it?”
Mercury nodded, gently rocking Melinda side to side.
“So how does it work?”
Mercury shrugged, lips twisting. “I have to have someone else. I can’t do it by myself.
I need to have someone who shows me where we’re going.
That’s one of the reasons that it was so nice with Talon—he just knew where to go, so when I said ‘home’, he had an idea of where that was here, and so we came together. I was touching him…”
Talon nodded and petted his hailee’s spine, trying to relax the tense muscles. Kami needed to ease up.