Which sea critter would you like to go with them?
You know me so well.
He chuckled against my lips as we broke the kiss, his eyes alight with mischief when he rubbed noses with me.
“If the girls take after you when it comes to seafood, we are going to have to invest in a fishing vessel,” he declared.
“Might not be a bad idea,” I replied. “With this rapidly growing family.”
“True enough.”
Upalo was midway through a story when we stepped back into the nursery, and I motioned for him to stay right where he was. There was plenty of room in the nest for me to snuggle up on the other side of the girls and listen to my big brother read to us.
I remember this, I thought as I closed my eyes, one arm wrapped around the eggs next to my brother’s. The nest was far softer than our old childhood leaf piles had been, but the warmth and love I felt was just the same.
I woke to my brother still reading, but the light in the room had changed, lengthening the shadows on the wall. My girlswere no longer slumbering. They giggled as they listened to the story, all the way up until Upalo closed the book.
“Remember the little finger puppets we used to have?” I asked. “I loved the way you used them to act out the parts.”
“We should get new ones,” Upalo said, “and have puppet shows for the girls.”
“And marionettes too,” I said. “I always wanted to learn how to work one.”
“I bet they’ll love that.”
“I can’t believe I just flew,” I admitted. “And memories, like the finger puppets, are starting to come back.”
“You’re one with your dragon now,” he said.
“Is yours the same color?” I asked.
“No, but our mother’s is,” he replied. “Our father’s scales were almost as red as your mate’s. He’s where the lava inside of us comes from. I take after him when it comes to coloring, but we both received his gift of lava.”
“Our mother, what was her element?” I asked.
“Wind,” Upalo explained. “Like Canyon. We’re almost certain we’re related; we’ve just never found any proof.”
“Maybe we’ll find some soon, as more slumbering dragons are discovered,” I said. “Someone has to know where we came from and who we belonged to.”
“I just hope we find them all in time.”
“Me too.”
“I saw some amazing things in my travels,” Upalo said. “But nothing to ever rival those adorable eggs.”
“Did you really go all the way around the world?”
“Every continent,” he replied. “Seeking out remote places, hoping for answers, or at the very least, a clue that would bring us closer to them. We met other shifters too, some living in such deep seclusion that Kes was accused of witchcraft for pulling out an iPhone.”
“No way.”
“Needless to say, we got our scales out of there.”
Our laughter triggered another round of giggles from the girls, that was soon followed by my mate’s appearance in the doorway, carrying a silver tray with my plate and a drink.
“Your lunch is served,” he said, doing his best uptight British butler impersonation.
More giggles joined our laughter, mingling to fill the room with joy. I stepped out of the nest so I could sit on the floor on the other side of it to eat while my mate took my place. Seeing him gently stroke the tips of the eggs peeking up from the egg socks and blankets brought a prickle of tears to my eyes.
