38. Chapter 38
John walked down the path from his cabin. Sienna had come back to the house earlier to get cleaned up for dinner, and he promised to join them. But before that happened, they had something else they had been putting off, and it had his nerves jumping.
When he got closer to the house, he could see Sienna was outside with her brothers, Tessa, Megan, and the girls.
He headed straight to Sienna and wrapped his arms around her.
Megan’s eyes widened, Tessa smirked, and the girls giggled.
Then he turned to Eric and Adam, who looked at him for a moment before nodding.
“Oh boy. Some sort of man-code thing just happened, Sienna,” Tessa said.
Sienna chuckled. “Yep. Dinner should be ready soon.”
“I was thinking maybe we could try to turn into our dragons first?” They had talked about their dragons earlier today, and John had been surprised to hear that Sienna hadn’t turned into her full dragon yet.
She’d quickly informed him that him being unconscious didn’t inspire her to try.
Then she almost brought him to his knees when she said she didn’t want to try until he did. She would wait for when he was ready.
Her family gave them room, and John stood facing Sienna.
They looked into each other’s eyes, and he reached for the dragon that had been an integral part of him centuries ago.
A voice clear as day spoke in his head: About damn time.
John chuckled and felt his body start to change, warmth spreading through him as wings sprouted and his body grew, turning into the teal blue he remembered so well.
As happy as he was to have his dragon back, his heart beat double-time as he watched Sienna change before his eyes.
Her wings unfurled and her body changed into a gorgeous yellow dragon.
Before, her pale-yellow wings were pretty, but now her dragon body was a golden-yellow hue like raw sienna, her namesake.
And she sparkled, the sun catching her as she moved.
The girls squealed in delight, and John and Sienna launched into the air together.
His heart expanded as they circled each other.
He soared higher and she followed him, letting the wind carry them.
They flew for a few more minutes before movement below caught his attention.
They both flew lower. Lily had turned into a small lilac dragon and was flying around her mom and dad.
But what really shocked him was the tiny pink dragon being held by a wide-eyed Eric.
John’s dragon laughed outright, and he heard giggling to the right of him where Sienna flew. Which meant he could hear Veronica too.
After everyone, including Bella, had turned back to their human forms and Megan and Eric had calmed down about their daughter, who wasn’t even two yet, turning into her dragon, dinner had been somewhat uneventful.
Marcus had left earlier in the day to take Mia to stay with her foster mom, Evelyn.
John hoped Mia was able to rid herself of her demons.
He still had a way to go before ridding himself of his doubts and fears, but having Sienna by his side helped.
Eric and Adam were in the living room watching the girls like a hawk.
John stood in the foyer and looked back through the casement opening where Tessa, Megan, and Sienna sat at the dining room table.
The three of them were a powerful combination.
They had brought the curse to its knees.
Megan fascinated him. Tessa exasperated him.
But Sienna…she tempted him. And it was a temptation that he wasn’t going to ever turn away from again.
He stepped closer and slowed when he heard his name.
“Come on, Sienna. Give us something about Sir Grumps-A-Lot. Was it good?” Tessa asked.
Sienna shook her head. “Nope. Not talking about it.”
Tessa leaned forward. “Ah. Was he rusty? I mean, he has been around for a long, long time, maybe things don’t work the way they should any longer?”
John walked the rest of the way into the room and stood behind Sienna’s chair. “Nothing has rusted off, Tessa. But I appreciate your concern.”
Megan blushed and shook her head at her best friend.
Undeterred, Tessa smirked. “Of course. What are friends for?”
Ryan walked into the room and glanced at everyone. “Okay. I must have missed something good. Spill.”
Tessa shook her head. “Nope. Too late. Where have you been?”
Ryan smiled, sitting down next to Sienna. “On a date.”
Tessa shot upright. “A date? With who? It must have been good. You’re smiling.”
“It was very good.”
Before Tessa could drill him for more information, Lily skipped into the room, carrying her sketch pad, with Bella trailing behind her. Adam and Eric came in a moment later. When Lily saw Ryan, she circled the table and climbed into his lap. She opened her sketchbook to show Ryan. “For you!”
Ryan’s ears turned red as he studied the picture.
“What is it?” Sienna asked.
He showed it to her, and John looked at it over her shoulder. It was a drawing of Ryan with his stick arm around the shoulders of a dark-haired man holding what appeared to be a laptop with a distinctive orange cover.
Tessa rushed around the table. “What is it?” She blinked and then pushed Ryan’s arm. “You and Jonas? How did I miss that?”
Sienna smiled. “It took a while for Ryan to get Jonas to look up from his computer screen.”
Tessa put her hands on her hip. “You should have come to me. I’m very persuasive and I’m a natural-born matchmaker. I got Megan and Eric together.”
Megan shook her head and Eric started laughing.
“What?” Tessa demanded.
Eric’s eyes danced. “You called me every nasty word in the book and threatened me with bodily harm.”
“Well, yeah. That was when I thought you were a player who ghosted Megan instead of a dragon with amnesia.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Lily is a better matchmaker than you. She introduced Evelyn and her new partner, Walter. She also drew pictures of you and Adam together before she even met you.”
Tessa stuck her lip out. “True. But she also drew John and I together in front of his cabin holding hands.”
Lily giggled from her spot on Ryan’s lap.
“What’s so funny?” Tessa asked.
Lily flipped through her book and pulled out a drawing.
John could see that it was the drawing that had become legend around there.
It was a picture of him standing in front of a cabin with a blond woman holding hands.
This was the drawing that spurred Adam to tell Tessa he loved her. “Mommy. That’s not you.”
Tessa took the paper from her. “What?” She held it up close to her face. “I’ll be.”
“What is it?” Adam asked.
“When you saw this drawing, did you not notice that the blond in this picture has brown eyes.”
“Megan saw it first and then showed it to me,” Adam said as if that was going to get him out of trouble.
“It’s Aunt Sienna.” Lily giggled harder, which got Bella laughing.
John’s heart thumped at the announcement. He squeezed Sienna’s shoulders.
Sienna looked up at John with huge eyes. “Lily has known all along we were going to end up together.”
Bella held up her hands to John. “Hold me, Unka Gumpy!”
“And apparently, so has Bella,” Megan gasped.
“Holy shi-oot,” Ryan and Tessa blurted at the same time.
John scooped up Bella and looked at all the shocked adults around the table before bursting into laughter. Which had them looking even more surprised. The grump had a funny bone! Which made him laugh even harder.
He had been alone for so long that he never dared to hope he would find a family, let alone someone to share his heart with.
But this once-cursed dragon had been blessed at last. And he would never ever take it for granted.