“Well, maybe next weekend you can come with me and meet my moms,” she said. “They’ll be thrilled to meet you, and there won’t be a fight, I promise. There will be good food, and you can meet my dog. Dixon is mine, but I let him live with my moms to keep them company, plus I’m working all the time. I don’t have time to stop by all the time to walk him. He’s a malamute.”
“I’d like that a lot. Hey, I forgot to ask, how was the marathon?”
“It was good. I earned a lot of money for the charity.”
“I figured you wouldn’t appreciate me showing up there, so I stayed away.”
“You would have been right.”
“Well, hey, the gym is always open to you. You can even go downstairs, now that you know the truth. Phoebe and Teagan would love to meet you; so would the guys.”
“Yeah, maybe sometime next week, I’ll come by.”
“I look forward to it.”
“But now that I’m your girlfriend. Am I your girlfriend?”
“Mate. You’re my mate, but yeah, girlfriend. Bride. Do you want to marry me?”
“Maybe not any time soon, maybe after the baby?”
“Sure, we can wait till after the baby.”
“You are going to do a real proposal right? I mean that wasn’t an official proposal, was it? Because it’s kind of sucked, and well, I want a ring and a romantic dinner. I’m a girl, I’ve been dreaming of my wedding proposal for years, and my wedding, so you can’t disappoint me now.”
“Yeah.” He laughed “Yeah when I propose I will do it right. I’ll even get down on my knee.”
“Well, you don’t have to go that far.” She paused. About the baby, I need to make an appointment with the OB, the doctor who’ll deliver the baby. Do you want to go with me?”
“I am the proud father. So, yes, I would very much like to be involved in all of it.”
“Ok. I’ll make an appointment and let you know when it is.”
“Sounds good.”
“Do you want to be with me when I have the baby? Is there a special protocol for dragon shifter babies? Will the baby look funny?”
“He or she will look like any other baby. If it does have abilities, they won’t show up until later.”
“Right.” She fell silent again, probably lost in thought.
“So, what are you doing now?” she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“Sitting in my office. I might make my way down to the poker game later, tell the guys the good news.”
“Are they all dragons?”
“No, but they are all shifters. Tiberius, you met him at the smoothie cart. He’s a wolf shifter, like Phoebe's mate, Teagan. Hank is a boar shifter. David and Andrew are wild cat shifters. Dave is a black panther and Andrew is a cheetah. Eliot is a dog shifter. I think he’s a golden retriever. Bob is a grizzly bear shifter and sometimes we have another elite dragon play. His name is Balthazar. He is not my friend, we just let him play. I don’t really get along with other elite dragons. I prefer humans and other shifters. The lesser dragons are ok. They don’t like elites, so they give me a wide berth.”
“Wow!” She fell silent again and he chuckled to himself.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she remained silent.
“Mickey brought over dinner and we’re binge-watching our favorite soap opera.”
“Enjoy! Speaking of dinner, Mother will want to know what to serve. Do you have a favorite dish?”
“What do dragons eat?”
