Matteo pulled the baby loose from the egg, then his animal side overwhelmed him. He shifted to eagle form and settled his soft feathers on top of the baby to keep them warm.
Unfortunately for my poor mate, our baby wasn’t having it. I laughed as the dragonet chirped and thrashed, tossing Matteo aside like he was an annoying hat instead of his dad.
“Sorry, Matteo,” I said. “Dragonets don’t like being sat on.”
My mate’s chest feathers puffed up. “I wasn’t sitting, I was brooding...”
I grinned at the irony of that particular word. But despite being scorned a second earlier, the baby dragon crawled towards Matteo, pressing close to his downy feathers. Matteo settled contentedly. He sank into the nest and draped his wing over the baby’s side.
My heart squeezed with affection. I sat next to Matteo, stroking his back. Even as a bird, it wasn’t hard to tell he radiated joy.
He chirped, gently nuzzling our baby with his beak. The dragonet responded with a growly chirp of their own. I could’ve died of cuteness overload.
“You’re perfect,” I said. “You and Heather both.”
We’d chosen the name together, inspired by the rustic purple flowers. We figured our baby would have purple scales like me, and the wildflowers also reflected Matteo’s down-to-earth nature. Although humans used it as a feminine name, we both thought of flowers as being gender neutral, and since our child would be raised away from human society, there was no risk of being teased no matter what gender they ended up being.
Matteo beamed at me proudly. “You’re pretty perfect, too.”
I grinned before planting a kiss on his feathery head. “Then we’re a perfect little family.”
Heather yawned, then pawed at Matteo’s side demandingly. They clearly thought it was feeding time.
“Dragonets can eat solid food right away, right? Too bad we just finished off the sushi tray,” Matteo mused.
“Hey, it’s never too late for more sushi.” I scooped up Heather in my arms. “Are you ready for your first ever sashimi dinner, little one?”
Heather yowled in agreement, their sharp rows of tiny teeth demanding flesh.
I laughed. “Then off to the kitchen we go.”
Twenty-Five
Matteo
As I checked my watch,my heart thumped with nervous excitement. It was almost time for the big surprise I’d planned for weeks now. Gaius waited for me on the beach, and we still needed to go over a couple logistics before the whole thing unfolded.
But to do that, I had to sneak away from Thystle, and that was a big problem. He preferred to be glued together for all time.
“Hey, Thystle,” I said, slipping off the bed. “Do you mind watching Heather for a while?”
He nodded, taking the plump infant without question. He grinned as our dragonet wriggled like an overgrown lizard in his lap, flailing their tiny claws until Thystle produced their chewed-up teething ring. Heather clamped on the soother like a crocodile chomping its prey.
“Where are you going?” Thystle asked casually.
I was already in the doorway when I answered, “Somewhere.”
He raised a brow. “Very descriptive. Are you escaping from me, or from Heather?”
Heather spat out the teething ring on cue. Thystle pulled out a second chew toy from his fanny pack. He normally wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one, but for Heather, he made every exception in the book. Heather happily went back to gnawing on the soft plastic.
I chuckled. “I’m not escaping from either of you. You know Ialwayswant to be with you two.”
Thystle snorted, still sounding playful. “Apparently not.”
I doubled back to where Thystle sat on the bed and gave him a long, reassuring kiss.
“If you really must know, it’s part of your surprise,” I murmured. “So, can you be a good little fanboy and sit here patiently for an hour?”
