“Well, he’ll probably expect you to bite him,” Mori nodded. “Sires are usually bitey. Especially the first time.”
“Uh….” I thought about it for a moment. “If I was going to bite him for anything it would be scaring everyone yesterday and then not realizing some stranger put a bag on the table but that’s not going to solve any of our problems.”
“It’s the bare belly up position of the ultrasound,” Preston explained.
I took a second to breathe in his scent. He wasn’t nervous about it. Colton was his brother after all. His twice mated brother who had delivered who knew how many babies. Some of the babies he delivered were during a war too. So, I didn’treally feel like biting him would be appropriate. Was I a bad sire already?
“No,” Preston said. “Colton’s family and you’re pretty chill except for the whole freeze your enemies thing. I think it’s admirable. You don’t stress out about b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t. You just take care of business. Hey! Wait! You don’t want to turn Colton to ice do you?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I think it would be sort of rude to turn him to ice after we ask him to come here and be a midwife.”
“It would be,” Mori nodded.
“It’s not a lack of instinct,” Preston said, shooting daggers at Mori with his eyes. “It’s a confidence in his own abilities and self-control is sexy.”
“Well, after Venal…. Eh, at least your taste in men is improving.”
“Are you two fighting?” I asked.
“Not really,” Preston said. “He’s hurt that I didn’t want to protect Annila.”
“She’s on my ice cube list,” I shrugged. “Wait! My ice!”
“Huh?” Preston and Mori grunted at the same time.
I sprinted into the living room where my trunk of ice had been when we left for the Yuletide party. It was still there and when I drew blood to open it the ice was still there too. I pressed my face against it breathing in its cold. It still smelled like my old home.
“I don’t think anyone wants to steal your ice, dude!” Mori called from the kitchen.
“Leave him alone, Mori,” Preston said and I heard him roll his eyes. “This is why Roh wouldn’t tell you how his pregnancies worked.”
“He’s just shy.”
“No, it’s because you never quite get past what you see as normal. You will one day,” Preston said.
“And you do?” Mori shot the question back.
I swallowed a groan and closed my ice trunk. It was time to ensure Preston stayed relaxed again.
“More than you! I remember how you lost your s-h-i-t because I didn’t tell you I was pregnant right away last time. I remember how you bemoaned the not knowing about Roh’s pregnancies and how you look at Crilus whenever bar stories come up. It’s okay. You can be more reserved. You can be that way but people are living. Roh has babies however gargoyles have babies. I got pregnant because I was in an era of enjoying casual sex and as for my man and that trunk of ice you can back right off and---”
“Should we check the house for bad mood curses?” I asked from the doorway.
“He’s like this when he’s pregnant,” Mori sighed.
“Just so you know my ice is worth a lot. I’ve had strange mages and the like climb all the way up my mountain and make it through the wolf pack below me just to ask me to make some. It can do a lot. I have an ancestor who made up so much for apack of wolves who lived in a desert that he slept for a century, but they survived the changing climate and were able to stay cool enough and hydrated enough with it. So, yes, someone might want to steal it.”
“Uh… Besides being friends with Annila and not knowing about the price of magical ice did I do something to you two?” Mori asked, looking back and forth between me and Preston.
A spirit squirrel peeked through the window, and I did my best to avoid looking at the poor little guy so that Baby Andy wouldn’t notice it.
“No,” Preston sighed. “I’m not angry, Mori. I’m just tired. Tired of Sharon and everything that comes with her. I love you. We love you. Just leave the ice issue alone. I don’t have the energy to explain everything. You’ll get it when you get it.”
“Okay, Dern,” Mori rolled his eyes. “Being curious is not a crime.”
“Never said it was,” Preston said.
“Okay, I’m missing something here, but I can live with that. What can we do to relax everyone before Colton shows up?” I asked.
