“You two about done eye-fu…” Thankfully Larkin caught his near fuckfaux pas. “Eyeballing each other. We got the girls dressed.”
“In their finest and most adorable tutu’s I see. Aren’t you just the prettiest dragons in the world.” Ronan said as he picked up Opal. “Your cousin Luna is going to be thrilled to see you.”
Larkin gave Rory a kiss as he stood. I was happy to see he hadn’t denied their bond. He was, however, concerned about getting pregnant in the midst all that was going on. While I understood that, I also knew the Goddess wouldn’t give us more than we could handle, and if he and Rory did indeed get pregnant, it was with her blessing.
And with the help of an overly fertile brother-in-law.
Mattias, Kes and Kaelith were back at home, gathering more intel. The leads to find Cynda were fruitless, though they formed bonds with numerous Merdragon clans along their journey. Each clan provided information for Emerson to add to the archives, and each had Gorynych refugees amongst them. Some having suffered their cruel abuse, while others fled before being captured.
The sadness in Kaelith’s eyes couldn’t be missed, though playing with his granddaughters did help ease the pain, just a bit.
Rory handed Ruby to me and blew a raspberry on her chubby cheek. I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that our dragonets aged faster than human babies. We didn’t get to do all the fun baby stuff for long, but on the flip side, we didn’t have to do all the yucky human baby stuff either. Nope, we shifted to worryingabout burning drapes and melted toys which hadn’t happened—yet.
Aristor and the Synorvyn clan had begun construction on the greenhouse. They insisted on not only building it themselves but maintaining and harvesting the fruits and vegetables. Repayment, they called it. We told them that wasn’t necessary, but they insisted upon it. Ronan pointed out that feeling needed was important to them, so we, in turn, provided them with all the necessary tools they required.
Our compound was full, but with a couple of mates still out there we were nowhere near capacity. It was loud, boisterous, yet so full of life it nearly brought me to tears. I always loved being surrounded by others. All those centuries we spent alone were daunting, and I, for one, didn’t miss them in the least.
Construction on new homes down the mountainside had begun. Still under heavily protected wards, the crews couldn’t see past the area they worked in and therefore had no clue our homes existed. At first, we weren’t sure this was a good idea, until Raven pointed out that it would allow for a wider area of protection, since all would be lived in by dragons that had been thoroughly vetted and trained by us.
One of the homes, at the base of the hill, was for Upalo, Rory and Larkin. Larkin wished to be closest to the city, and with them choosing that home as their own, Ionus breathed a bit easier, and Ronan calmed down as well. He was insistent that his family be on the same grounds as we were and claimed the thought of Upalo and his mates moving into the city gave him hives.
Why? I hadn’t a clue, but Ronan was Ronan and happy mate, happy life and all that jazz, but Ionus put his foot down at connecting them to the underground garage. Too easy to reach our private tunnels.
“There you are!” Ionus smiled. “My beautiful nieces.”
“What are we, chopped liver?”
“Your Papa is so silly. We know Uncle Ionus is your favorite, don’t we girls?” Yeah, my big, angry, control freak brother was a total girl dad too.
Luna tugged on his pantleg. “Papa, want to play with Ruby and Opal.”
“Yes, my princess, that’s why they’re here, for you.” He scooped her up. “See their pretty tutus?”
“Like mine, Papa. Stay away from Hunter and Kane. They burn them.” Poor girl was traumatized for life over that.
“Now, now, Princess, it’s been a while since then. Uncle Odem helped them with their fire.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Papa. Can we play?” That was a mini-Alex right there.
We took the girls to the playroom where Gramps and Alex were entertaining the boys. Griffin rose as we came in. “Cousins. I protect,” he fisted his chest.
“What are you teaching this boy?” I asked my brother.
“He’s our self-proclaimed protector. A true warrior at heart,” Ionus hugged him. “I’m proud of all my children and their gifts. Griffin will make the perfect leader of the new generation of protectors.”
Shouldn’t he be a kid first, Ionus? You know, do all the stuff we missed out on?
Trust me, we’ve tried, but he is insistent this is his role in life. He plays from time to time but is more interested in training with me.
What do you say to that? If the kid came up with that then maybe the Goddess has spoken.
Griffin took the girls’ hands and led them over to the play table where Luna proceeded to set up a tea party for them. “Papa, can you get us cookies, pwease?” I loved how certain words didn’tquite fully sink in with them. Reminded me of their true age and that there was a tiny piece not ready to grow up.
Ionus grinned. “How could I ever say no to that?”
Oh yeah, these girls will rule us.
“Right away, my Princess. Your wish is my command,” Ionus bowed.
