16
Raja
“Noah, no, put your claws away, sweetie…”
I watched sympathetically as Gabriel tried to herd his son back into his playpen, which was proving useless since the pen couldn’t contain a determined shifter toddler who could simply knock it over.
Gabriel sighed and picked up Noah, who was grunting and half-heartedly struggling for freedom. “Well, I can tell you one thing - parenting is a whole lot of doingthis.”
I smiled. Personally, I thought Noah and his antics were adorable, but I knew that would probably change when I had my own baby running around constantly causing a ruckus.
Lorenzo and Dante had gone out with their father and a friend who I hadn’t met yet to discuss wedding plans. Meanwhile, I took that time to learn about babies one-on-one with Gabriel at his house.
“Did you feel prepared for a baby at all?” I asked.
“No, not even one bit,” Gabriel admitted. “But knowing Dante was there and willing to help? That was a huge load off my mind. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine raising a child alone. I’m not strong enough to do that. Single parents are more badass than any magical dragon.”
I nodded. “Definitely.”
“So, have you felt the baby kick yet?” Gabriel asked, smiling.
My hands wandered to my belly, which was now starting to show after three months. I still had about three more to go. The wedding was planned for the next month, so that I wouldn’t have to deal with a wedding while extremely pregnant.
“I have,” I said. “It feels… weird? But good at the same time.”
“That’s basically what the whole experience is,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “It’s gonna be a lot more exciting when the baby’s actually a real, crawling person. Right now it’s a whole lot of sitting around, doing nothing except having cravings…”
“Oh, ugh!” I cried. “Those are the worst. I keep wanting disgusting food, especially stuff we never had back in the rainforest. Like hot dogs? Gross.”
“Hot dog!” Noah exclaimed, suddenly stumbling over with his hands outstretched. “Want hot dog.”
Gabriel grinned. “I know you think they’re gross, but they’re pretty popular with the little ones.” He picked up Noah and set him on his knee. “We can get a hot dog later, okay?”
“Hot dog…” Noah muttered.
“I’m guessing you’re keeping the name and sex a surprise until the baby arrives?” Gabriel asked.
I nodded. “We haven’t talked about it much. I think Lorenzo just wants to have a healthy baby.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Gabe said seriously. “Hey, don’t forget the even bigger surprise of what kind of shifter the baby’s gonna be!”
I’d completely forgotten about that. I watched Noah, who was getting better at controlling his shifts with age, but hadn’t totally mastered it yet. His hands turned back and forth between fingers and wolf paws.
“Do all kids with dragon genes turn into dragons?” I asked.
Gabriel paused. “Wait. Youdoknow that the dragons here can have multiple forms, right?”
“Huh?”
Gabriel groaned and said, “Are you kidding me? Lorenzo’s usually so on top of things and he didn’t even explainthat?”
“What didn’t I explain?”
Lorenzo, Dante, and Anton waltzed into the nursery, all carrying full bags of baby items. Alongside them were a man and woman I didn’t recognize. At the sight of his dad, Noah instantly perked up, shifted into his wolf form, and galloped towards Dante, who happily picked him up.
Lorenzo came over and kissed me. “Hello, Raja.”
“Hey, before you start making out, are you gonna introduce us?” the man I didn’t know asked. He was shorter than Lorenzo, and had a lithe body, smooth black hair and a kind face. The woman beside him had long black hair, pale skin and a collected expression.
