24. Morning Sickness #2
Zenith waited until all the flames had been sucked down, leaving glowing embers on the charred edges of the box. “This doesn’t feel like much. Just a tickle in my body. It’ll take a bonfire for me to really feel its effects.”
“Would a bonfire hurt you?”
“Naw. Just makes my core hotter. It depends on how much fire I absorb.”
Zenith didn’t say aloud that a forest fire would be his limit. He couldn’t inhale enough fire to slow down something of that magnitude, but that was why a firefighting team would need several dragons, or some non-dragon folk with plenty of water.
He dropped the half-burned box into the trash can. “That’s enough for today. I don’t want to push you too hard all at once. What do you think?”
Emre nodded shakily. “I think... this might be helping. It makes me feel better that the tiny fires don’t scare me as much.”
“Yeah? That’s great.” Zenith allowed the tension in his shoulders to drain away.
“Can we do this again tomorrow? With slightly bigger fires, for slightly longer.” Emre’s breath hitched, but he was staring at Zenith fiercely, daring him to deny his request.
“We’ll do that,” Zenith said. “Always remember that you can stop me anytime, if it’s too much for you.”
“Okay. It’s just—I don’t want to freak out during an emergency. I can’t afford to freeze and lose my mind if the pups need me. And that means getting used to fire now, even if it scares me like hell.”
Pride roared in Zenith’s chest. He closed the distance between them, gently taking the cushion away and folding Emre into his embrace. “You did so well, sweetheart. You should be proud of yourself.”
“Yeah?” Emre stood taller, a smile playing on his lips.
“Yes. Also, you should avoid spicy food for now. I don’t know if you knew—hot peppers will make you breathe fire during a dragon pregnancy. That would probably really suck for you, even if you’re immune to fire while you’re pregnant.”
Emre wrinkled his brow. “That’s assuming that I really am pregnant. Are there... other signs?”
“Omegas sometimes burp smoke, or sparks,” Zenith said hopefully.
Emre looked down at his belly, then back up at Zenith. “It might be a while. I don’t have many symptoms—”
He hiccupped. And a tiny thread of smoke curled from his lips.
Both of them stared, eyes wide.
“Holy crap,” Zenith whispered, his heart leaping. “You’re really carrying my baby!”
“Holy crap,” Emre said.
Zenith hugged him again. They did a little dance together. Maybe it looked silly to everyone else, but Zenith didn’t care.
Emre was carrying his baby!
Zenith grinned giddily. Emre smiled back, just as pleased.
Then Emre rubbed his belly and looked thoughtful. “This means I’m... really fireproof right now?”
“Yes,” Zenith said.
“So I can... stick my hand in fire, and it would be okay?”
“Well... yes. But are you sure you want to do that?” Zenith frowned, sobering.
Emre made a face. “I should prove it to myself. Just one touch?”
Zenith eyed his omega; Emre seemed determined. So he turned his head away and breathed a tiny, continuous stream of orange flame—the coolest fire he could manage.
Emre’s heart pounded loudly in the space between them. He inched his fingers closer, yanking his hand back every time he neared the edge of the flames. Then he breathed in and squeezed his eyes shut, plunging his hand into Zenith’s flames.
His hand remained pristine and intact. His heart thundered. Zenith watched as Emre cracked his eyes open.
“Mother Moon,” Emre whispered, staring at the flames engulfing his hand. When he pulled it out of the fire, his fingers looked better than before. Very slightly pink, but nothing out of the ordinary. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Zenith beamed and kept on breathing fire.
Slowly, Emre pushed his fingers back into the flames, his eyes open this time. He wriggled his fingers and clenched his fist, then pulled it back out and examined it again.
“Wow,” he whispered.
Zenith stopped the stream of fire, grinning proudly. “What do you think?”
“This is amazing,” Emre said. “I don’t think I can erase that instinctive fear, but at least now I know it’s not going to kill me.”
“Hot peppers will make you breathe fire,” Zenith said. “If that’s something you want to try. I can make you some spicy sandwiches.”
Emre chewed his lip. Then he shrugged. “Why not? I’m already all in.”
How would his body react to the sweet round peppers? The dastardly wrinkled ones? Would he hiccup a burst of sparks? Or would he breathe a huge fireball? Already, Zenith’s imagination was running wild.
“We’re out of peppers,” Huxton yelled from somewhere in the mansion.
“I know a grower who has all kinds of peppers,” Zenith said excitedly. “It would just be a short trip—”
“Do you think the pups might want to go too?” Emre said.
It had been so long since they’d had a trip, all four of them. Zenith’s heart skipped. “Hux, will you play lookout from the skies?”
“Of course!”
It didn’t take long for them to be ready. They decided to drop by the grocery store first, for some fresh sandwich ingredients.
The shopping carts were out in full force today, wheeling up to them in the hopes of being adopted.
“Sorry, we’ve already got Buttwheel,” Emre said apologetically to the carts. “Maybe if we fill up Buttwheel and there’s no space for the pups?”
Zenith eyed him. “We’re only here for sandwich ingredients, sweetheart.”
Three minutes later, they passed a display rack full of giant pink rabbit plushies. They were soft. They had floppy ears. Emre couldn’t stop touching them, but they were the size of Buttwheel’s cargo basket.
He turned his puppy eyes on Zenith anyway.
Zenith sighed and scooped the pups out of Buttwheel, sticking a giant fluffy bunny into the cart.
Emre’s bright smile made up for everything.
“You win,” Zenith said.
“I did!” Emre bounced on the balls of his feet. He took both pups from Zenith, cuddling them against his chest. His happiness was enough to buoy Zenith through the entire shopping trip.
Zenith added fresh bread to the cart, lettuce and tomatoes to give the sandwiches some crunch. Then he added eggs too, because Abbie seemed to really enjoy them.
By the time they left the grocery store, there was no more space in Buttwheel’s basket for two pups.
Zenith laughed. “This was because you wanted another cart, wasn’t it?”
“Me?” Emre fluttered his lashes innocently.
A cart came up to them, squeaking its wheels and nudging Emre’s hip. Emre beamed and patted the cart. “Hi! Do you mind carrying two pups for a while?”
The cart lifted its flap, and Emre carefully placed Abbie and Bean in its cargo basket.
“Good cart,” Emre said.
The cart squeaked its wheels.
Then it turned abruptly, racing away. With Abbie and Bean still in its basket.