Chapter Twenty
Brent
I all but kidnapped Bunny Foo-Foo. She became my only companion during the days when my mate worked, and I appreciated it so much. She’d go back to the tattoo parlor after the babies came. I’d already promised her that. She loved it there but agreed this was where she belonged.
It was wild that I could communicate with cats. Now that I understood my ability, I worked on strengthening it, and it had gotten so much better since I laid my clutch, thanks to my furry friend.
I was ready for Theo to be home full-time, but I understood all the reasons he needed to keep working.
The guys at the station were amazing, and they all agreed that they’d happily come in on their off-shift when the babies arrived.
Theo’s plan was to work as close to their birth as he could, so he could extend his leave a little longer once our triplets were here.
Goddess knew I was going to need the help.
Even with both of us there, we’d be outnumbered.
He was off today, and I all but pushed him out the door to do the grocery shopping.
I felt bad that he’d been picking up all the errands, but the idea of leaving the house or going any farther than the bathroom while the eggs were nestled here made me nauseous.
It was to the point I didn’t think I’d be able to make it if I tried.
Theo assured me that was normal. He explained that if we had been having kittens instead of dragons, they’d have been inside my warm belly for the entire time.
Just because they were dragons didn’t mean I wouldn’t feel the need to be with them until they came into this world.
That logic made sense and helped alleviate some of my guilt. Some, not all.
I tried to argue with him that if they were kittens, then I’d be doing the errands as well, but he was having none of that.
“What do you think, Bunny Foo-Foo? Is today the day?”
Based on when I had my clutch, they could’ve hatched as early as yesterday and as late as the day after tomorrow. They still hadn’t made any signs of attempting to get out of their hard temporary home, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t decide to show up today.
Bunny Foo-Foo wrapped herself around the teal egg, purring and not answering me at first. I asked again and saw an image of the three babies again. I was very interested to see if the babies she kept showing me actually looked like our little ones, but only time would tell.
My phone rang, and I expected it to be Theo asking what to get if the cake I wanted wasn’t there. I’d sent him for a very specific combination, thanks to my very particular craving. The odds were against me. But it was Altan.
“It’s me, checking to make sure you’re still alive.”
“Why call? You made me promise I’d come tell you if I died…in person, ages ago.”
“I forgot the haunting each other until both of our lives are over bestie clause?”
“Do you really sit around and think about that kind of thing?” He was my bestie, but sometimes he had me shaking my head.
“Sometimes. But mostly I’m just messing with you. I called to see if you wanted some company. There are two guys in the tattoo shop who are itching to see some eggs before they hatch.”
“Oh, so by ‘company,’ you mean everybody,” I said.
“Everybody,” he confirmed. “But say the word and I’ll tell them you’re puking or something.”
“To make them worry less?”
“No, to freak them out so they stay home. Keep up.” He lowered his voice. “I’ll do that. Or pretend I never called you.”
“No, I think I’d like to have them here.” Now that he mentioned it, I wanted them to be here already.
“What can we bring you?”
“Yourselves and… Tacos from that place around the corner from your house. The carnitas ones, not the beef ones.” They were delicious and would hit the spot.
“I got you.”
My mate was barely in the door when everyone pulled in. They must have been ready when Altan had called.
“The gang’s all here?” he asked, looking surprised.
“They want to see the eggs,” I said. “But they’re bringing tacos.”
“So, at least we’re getting an admission fee,” he teased and then rushed to put the groceries away, nearly done when they walked in.
“Taco time!” Greta came in, two huge bags in her hands.
We ate in the nursery. It was weird how leaving the eggs alone to go to the bathroom was rough, but I could leave them with Bunny Foo-Foo to go greet my mate in the kitchen and feel comfortable. Everybody needed a Bunny Foo-Foo.
Greta’s gaze kept going from egg to egg. “I’ve seen eggs, but they’re huge!”
“Well, they’re not chickens,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“But they’re, like, bigger than ostriches!” I was shocked by their size, too, but not to the extent she was.
“Got a spoiler for you, Greta. You’re not going to be an ostrich auntie, either.”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
“And before you tell me how ginormous they are again, think about how I felt pushing them out.”
She shivered. “I don’t even want to think about that.” Her mate wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
They’d decided early on that they wanted to be child-free and just be the cool aunt and uncle. That was before there were any nieces or nephews, and pretty soon, they were going to have four. Five, if Altan and Sothea had their way.
“Hey.” Altan pointed to the violet egg. “Are they supposed to do that?”
“Do what?” I walked around to the egg he was pointing to.
“Move,” he clarified.
“Yes.” But I wasn’t seeing any movement. “That’s the first indication they’ll be hatching soon.”
We all stood there staring at the egg, and almost immediately it moved again, and then again.
“I think it’s time,” I whispered, taking my mate’s hand.
“Should we, like, give you some space?” Greta asked.
“No, stay. Be here for the birth of your nieces and/or nephews.”
It would’ve been different having them here for the laying of my clutch, with my body exposed and all the unsavory things that came from my lips. But now? They were exactly where I wanted them to be.
Within a half hour, the eggs were all moving. Another thirty minutes, and there were cracks in each. An hour later, a chip fell out of the first one, then a chunk, then another chunk, and then the first talon appeared.
“That’s not a baby,” Greta said, her voice hushed.
“No.” Theo explained how they weren’t babies the way we thought of them yet. They would emerge as dragons, and, once we held them, they would shift to their human form for the first time and stay that way, most likely until puberty.
The first dragon came out of the violet egg.
It was gorgeous. We hadn’t decided if we would wait until they were all out before holding any of them, but once I saw him, there was no way I was letting him stay there alone.
I picked him up. Where the dragon once was, I now held our son.
We’d picked out three girl and three boy names and had put them in order of which we would use.
Harris was our first boy name, and it fit him.
My mate got a blanket and helped wrap him up. We’d get to diapers and clothes and cleaning him up after his siblings joined the world. Our second little dragon came out only a few minutes later. This one, Theo picked up first, our sweet baby girl, Hannah.
When the third one hatched, it fluttered over to the purring friend sitting on the edge of the dog bed and pressed its head to the cat.
“Looks like she’s the third one to hold a baby dragon.” Altan reached down and petted her. “You need to let the daddies have a turn now.”
Altan took Harris from me as he lay asleep in his mate’s arm, his sister next to him. I picked up our third child, Hayden.
“Look at you, picking furry favorites already,” I teased.
I looked around the room at the people who had become my family: my best friend, her mate and child, my mate, our three children, my brother-in-law and his mate, and Bunny Foo-Foo. No longer was I all alone in this world.
The amount of love I felt brought tears to my eyes.