Chapter 12
TWELVE
THERON
“You're pregnant.”
That was more me speaking on my dragon’s behalf because he was so excited, he’d forced me to put my thoughts into speech. I couldn’t take them back, though if I’d had more time to think, I might have made the announcement differently.
Ledger’s scent was still distinct, but it was intertwined with mine and a separate one that was our baby’s.
My head was filled with questions about Ledger who didn’t know he was my mate, and would he want to be?
He’d be carrying a dragon, so how would he react to having a baby shifter in his belly?
And then there were my three older children.
Oh, gods, I was now a father to four. How would they react to a new sibling and to Ledger, who they adored, being the father?
There’s no more space in your head for any more thoughts, my dragon protested at the buzzing inside me.
Ledger wasn’t looking at me, and I was grateful because while I was prepared for confusion, I wasn’t ready for horror, sadness, or panic. He yanked his shorts over his hips and had both hands on his bare belly.
“I’m what?”
“We had sex.”
“I understand biology, Theron.” His high-pitched voice suggested he might be about to panic. “But how do you know? Unless you’ve been testing my pee or rushing it off to a local laboratory, how can you be certain?”
“Me and my dragon can scent it. The kids picked up on the difference, but they don’t know why it’s changed.”
He put both hands over his face and sat so still I had to listen for his heartbeat. The kids' voices drifted down from the playroom. I doubted they were getting much homework done, but Ledger was my priority right now.
“Ledger.”
“I’m still here, in the same place I was where the whole family gave me the sniff test.” He waved at me. “Give me a minute or a lifetime.”
I sat cross-legged on the floor and waited.
“I’m not hot,” he said eventually, and he grabbed the throw from the sofa. “Why is that?” He tossed the throw over himself and pulled it under his chin.
What I wanted to tell him was how hot and sexy he was 100% of the time. First thing in the morning, waking up in my bed, making the kids breakfast, and covered in dirt after helping the kids in the garden. But I was pretty sure he was talking temperature hot.
“It’s the baby. Our little one is adjusting your inner temperature.”
“Great, now I can save on shower gel and shampoo, and my clothes won’t be subjected to as much wear and tear.”
I offered to get him some tea, and he nodded. Grateful for something that would keep my hands busy, I chose peppermint to soothe his tummy. He wrapped both hands around the large mug, saying the heat was nice.
“Would you like me to take the kids out so you can have the house to yourself?”
“No!”
I was taken aback by his sharp response.
“No. If there’s something they need to know, I want them to hear it from you and me.” He placed one hand on his belly. “This is an us decision.”
The word “if” had me a little concerned, but any interjection on my part wasn’t needed. Ledger had to work through this, but I was by his side.
“Sit.” That was a command, and I lifted his feet and put them on my lap. “I’ll have to delay my dissertation.”
My dragon was squeeing, and I was too but I kept it internal. A delay because he was having a baby was reasonable, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and start putting up “We’re having a baby” banners around the house.
“Not because I can’t finish it in time, but having to wrap my mind around a new world and my existence in it, plus having a dragon’s baby in me, is huge, and I don’t want to produce crappy work just to get it done.”
I nodded, still not wanting to speak in case I disrupted Ledger’s train of thought.
“Theron, we’ve never had the talk. You know the one about our future? Am I going to be a single parent and you’ll see the baby every second weekend?”
My dragon couldn’t help himself, and he snorted. A thin wisp of smoke spiraled from my nostrils as he protested. I followed, seconds later with words, “No. I love you, Ledger, and I should have told you sooner.”
He related the conversation with his friend Jess. “He said I should talk to you, and I kinda gathered he was referring to more than just a ‘shifters exist’ conversation.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yeah, that!”
I picked up one of his feet and massaged it, but he raised a brow and gave me a look that said, “You’re trying to distract me.”
“Ummm, well, some shifters fall in love and they mate, which involves marking one another as a sign of their commitment.”
“Okay, but I’m not a shifter.”
I explained that didn’t figure into the equation. “Love is love. The shifter would still mark his mate.”
“So you fell for me over time?”
This was where it got tricky. To human ears, fated mating might sound like I didn’t have a choice. The human could always choose not to be with the shifter, as could I, but that pull, the connection between us, would ensure I’d carry the pain until my last breath.
“Noooo.”
You can’t hide this from him.
I know, I know. I was stalling, but Ledger deserved to know the truth. How he responded I couldn’t predict.
“You are my fated mate. The universe paired you with me, and the moment we met, you had my heart. You had all of me.”
Ledger fiddled with the throw. “Before I learned about dragons and shifters, I would have reacted badly to what you just said, thinking I had no choice or agency.” He took a breath.
I longed to leap in and tell him he was my world, but I stifled the words.
Ledger patted his chest. “But what I feel in here is real. I love you too.”
I pulled him up and sat him on my lap. “Some humans fall in love at first sight, and that’s how I see being fated to someone. There’s no one pulling the strings and matching us.”
He rested his head on me, and I held him tight, wanting to believe he was mine but fearful of having that love ripped away.
“When does the marking happen?”
“Whenever you want, but more importantly we need to tell the kids about the baby and—”
“My transition from manny to what stepdad?”
“I think that’s already been accomplished, but we need to make it official.”
He pushed up my shirt, revealing the mark Vince had given me. “This burn is from the kids’ papa.”
I rubbed my hand over the rough skin. “Yes. It will always be there because my being with Vince is part of me.”
He asked how he could burn me. I explained only shifters did the marking, and if he ever wanted to mark me, my dragon would figure out something. But when I marked him, my beast would be gentle. It’d be like running his finger through a match flame.
“Maybe we can come up with some way for me to mark you. But let’s tell the kids about the baby first.”
They tumbled down the stairs after we called them, and we all squished onto the couch.
“Ledger and I have some news.”
“We’re going out for ice cream.” That was Fraser’s suggestion.
“Ledger has a sore tummy,” Skye suggested.
Rory glanced at our clasped hands. “You and Ledger love each other.”
Ledger sent me a look as if to say, “That was easy.”
“How do you feel about that?” I asked, hardly daring to believe the kids didn’t have a problem with it.
“I love Ledger, and I love Daddy.” Skye gave us each a kiss.
Fraser scrambled onto my lap. “Me too.”
Rory grumbled about Fraser elbowing him, and Ledger pulled him close and planted a kiss on his head.
“Are you our dad now?” Rory asked.
“I can be whatever you want. Your dad or a good friend, and you can call me Ledger or something else.”
“Dad,” Rory suggested. “We have a daddy and a papa who isn’t here. You’re our dad.”
The other two agreed, and those words landed and wriggled into a place I’d kept under lock and key for years.
This was the moment where Ledger and I became co-parents, which sounded clinical and unemotional.
But it was huge. My children accepted him as their father, and that was never a guarantee.
My fated mate had given my children nothing but respect and love since he arrived, and they’re returned that ten-fold.
I had a mate I adored, and my children loved him too. And there was a baby on the way. Oh shoot, we hadn’t told the kids about the baby.
“And there’s something else. You’re going to have a new brother or sister.”
“I want a sister,” Skye yelled.
“No, a brother.” Fraser’s voice was louder.
“Sister!”
“Brother!”
“Guys, we’ll love the baby whether they’re a boy or a girl.” I patted Ledger’s tummy.
My mate gripped my arm. The happiness had vanished from his face and so had the color.
“Do dragons lay eggs? Have I got an egg inside me?”
The three kids were stunned into silence. “Daddy?” Fraser tugged at my shirt. “Is there an egg in Ledger?”
“No.” I was trying to reassure Ledger and my children.
“A dragon is a creature who has fire and creates fire. But just like humans, we have live babies.” I looked directly at Ledger.
“No matter what human myths say, we are not reptiles. Not that there’s anything wrong with reptiles.
I have some lovely snake friends.” I was rambling.
“Chickens lay eggs.” Fraser jumped off the couch and clucked. His siblings joined him, and they laughed as they pretended to be chickens.
“Good to know.” Ledger nuzzled me. “I was picturing me having to make a nest.”
“We can make one if you want, but the only eggs in this house are in the kitchen,” I teased as I covered up my alarm with a smile, though my heart was still racing. My poor Ledger thought he was going to lay an egg. I had so much to teach him about dragons.
Sitting with my mate while our children made silly noises and bopped about, it struck me that after Vince died, I was adrift, hanging on while I was the best father I could be.
But now with Ledger and a new baby, life had come full circle.
The gap where I hoped to be and where I was had closed, and I was happy.