Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
Kieran stretched, bending back just enough to ease the pressure on his lower spine.
His baby bump was growing steadily, and he was having to rest a little more. The nursery had hit a little snag when a few things went on back order, but it was back on track now, a little more than a month after he’d started it.
Suddenly he had to go to the bathroom, which he thought was so silly. Why did magical beings have to do that? He supposed because they wanted to be more than just energy floating around.
On the way back from the bathroom, he saw the basket of laundry he’d placed on Micah’s bed.
Oh, he should put that way since Alban had been so kind as to fold it.
He farted around for quite a while before he realized he was hungry, so he wandered down to the kitchen. Micah was with Lachlan today in the office playing “Take Your Son to Work Day”.
He thought it was adorable because Lachlan had made a place for Micah to sit with Wiver and play with his toys and be still under Lachlan’s watchful eye. But that meant Kieran had the run of the house and he didn’t really have to worry about keeping track of his son.
There were fresh cinnamon rolls sitting on the counter with a note from Alban that said, “Had to run into town to get some groceries. Please help yourself.”
So he poured himself a cup of tea and sat at the counter and munched because this was the life.
Kieran put a hand on his belly. “I tell you what, little girl. You really are pushy when it comes to the cinnamon.”
He kind of felt sad about how different this pregnancy was from the one with Micah.
He’d been so worried then, so scared, because he was all alone and trying to do things without the dad involved and also trying to avoid Micah’s birth father’s family.
They were not good dragons. They were doing bad things, keeping things that were not theirs.
This little girl, though, she was having the best time, singing her little songs, already communicating with her brother, he thought, and generally making everyone around them smile, even though she was still a goodly way from being born.
That was what happened when one really had nothing to worry about.
Kieran wished he didn’t have this suspicious feeling that it was all going to go directly to hell.
Hopefully it was just nerves. In fact, that had to be what it was.
He was not going to be one of those people who borrowed trouble. He didn’t want any trouble. He wanted a happy baby, a happy son, a happy mate.
He ate another bite of cinnamon roll, focusing on his happiness.
Cinnamon flavor burst on his tongue, sharp and yet sweet because of the sugar that had been added to the rolls.
He also loved how it mixed with the gooey frosting on the top.
Lachlan tended to peel the frosting off, but Kieran loved it.
He liked it even better when Alban used cream cheese because then it had that weird little hint of sour as well.
The soft scrape of some sort of shoe over the flagstone out on the patio made him lift his head and look out through the kitchen windows, but it was just Alban who obviously had managed to make it back from the shops, carrying some grocery sacks.
He’d obviously stopped to look at some of his plants, which needed to be moved inside to be perfectly honest. Kieran would have to get Lachlan and maybe Bryant and Logan on that ASAP.
Assuming, of course, that Lars didn’t have them doing exactly the same thing.
That was one thing he learned from Lars pretty quickly. The most fun things about being pregnant were getting others to do things for you that you really didn’t want to do.
He headed over to the door to open it. “Do you need any help?”
Alban shook his head. “No, no, I have it. How are you? Did you find your cinnamon rolls?”
“I so did, thank you.” He groaned and rubbed his belly, then took a couple of bags from Alban. “I’ll see if Lachlan won’t move those plants in before we have a freeze.”
“I do think you’re wise. The cold is definitely coming. This is the very last hint of autumn. I see snow on our horizon.”
“That’s good, though. I like it when it snows.”
“As do I, my friend. I like when we have hot chocolate and a gentle fire and time for contemplation.” Alban pulled out a big container of cinnamon from one of the bags and set it on the counter.
The very sight of it made him smile. “What are we making today?”
“Perhaps some cookies.” Good thing Alban liked to bake as much as he liked to eat it.
“Have I told you how grateful I am for you? Honestly? You are so good to all of us.”
Alban smiled at him, feathers ruffling softly. “It is my complete pleasure. Honestly. I am satisfied to the core.”
“I’m so glad. I know it was difficult to begin with.”
“He was very wounded by what happened to him. I understand that. How could I hold it against him when he finally welcomed me here with such open arms?”
Kieran loved that. Alban was so generous and he had helped heal Lachlan as much as anything had, Kieran thought.
And he was so pleased to have Alban be part of his family now too. He would need all the help he could get once the new baby came.
Not only that, within their immediate family there were about to be two twins, two two-year-olds, and two brand new babies.
It was going to be amazing, and somehow the thought of a whole thing was completely overwhelming.
“It’s going to be fine. You’re going to have a family here, and we’re all going to enjoy it.”
“I hope so.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I used to be happy-go-lucky. I used to play music all the time and make art, and I worry that part of that has been taken away from me.”
“Have you tried?” Alban asked.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Have you tried to make music or art? Have you taken a moment to yourself to create a conservatory? We could do that.” Alban’s smile was warm, not mocking at all. “Lachlan would be overjoyed. The house would love it — to have art and music inside of it.”
“Oh.” He pondered that. “I would love to be able to enjoy doing that again. I really would.”
“Then we will make it happen.” Lachlan came wandering in, Micah in his arms. “Whatever you need, mate.”
He grinned because he had heard Lachlan coming in his head and knew that his mate was worried about him. But he was very positive about this actually. He thought he really enjoyed just making art for art’s sake, not necessarily to redecorate a room.
“I think I can’t wait to see what you do.” Lachlan handed him Micah, then took a kiss. “How’s it going up there?”
“It’s going. I got frustrated, so I did some laundry, came down for a snack.” He popped a bite between Micah’s lips. “And then Alban and I had a chat.”
“About art, hmm?”
“Yes. I would love to make some again.”
“What kind do you do, love?” Lachlan stole a cinnamon roll, and Alban got busy making other food. Lachlan needed protein.
“I love music, painting, sculpting. I love to draw and…I like creating. And I love the yarn room you made me already too.”
“Of course you do. I’ll pull up catalogs, and we’ll make orders.”
“As easy as that?” he asked, and Lachlan nodded.
“As easy as that, my love. I want your life to be full. And I happen to know where there’s a piano we can restore if you like to play.”
Tears stung his eyes. “I love to play. Oh, Lachlan, thank you.”
“Cwy?” Micah patted his cheek. “No cwy.”
“Happy tears, baby boy.”
“No cwy, Daddy. Luff luff baby.”
He nodded, nuzzling his son. “Yes, I love my baby. More than anything.”
“An’ Papa?”
“And your papa.”
“And sisser?”
“Yes, baby. And your sister.” He still couldn’t believe how wonderful his boy was being about his sister. Micah was so curious about the changes to Kieran’s body, and how life would be once his sister was born.
“Luff sisser.” Micah leaned on his shoulder. “Happy.”
“We’re very happy, love. You’re right.”
“Here we are.” Alban laid out a tray of meat and cheese, which Lachlan tucked into with gusto.
“Come sit with me, you two. We’ll look at art supplies.”
He slid into place next to Lachlan at the through bar, and Alban handed them the tablet they all used for recipes in the kitchen.
Lachlan called up an art supplies site, and they scrolled it for anything Kieran might want. He felt terribly spoiled.
In fact, he never wanted it to end. He wanted to sit and listen to Lachlan’s voice rise and fall. To Micah laugh. To Alban move around in the kitchen. Oh gods, that this was his life.
Honestly, he could be happy for the rest of forever just like this.