“It’sHow to Train Your Dragon,” I admitted.
“Oh my gosh, that’s not funny at all. Just from the title alone it’s perfect and the best part is that I’ve never seen it before, so I get to see it for the first time with Ruby and Opal,” he replied. “Do you um, think you can teach me how to um, take care of our dragonets once they’re here?”
“We’ll learn together,” I said, reaching out and covering his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. I knew exactly what he was feeling. The uncertainty, the fear of screwing up such a precious responsibility. “I’ve got no practical knowledge of babies either. I checked out a bunch of books and watched a ton of videos on how to change diapers and give them baths, but outside of practicing on a doll, I’m kinda clueless.”
“I’ve spent some time around Ionus’ and Caro’s dragonets, just playing with them,” Rory said. “But beyond that, I haven’t changed a diaper either. When we entered our slumber, thefurthest thing from my mind was finding a mate and having a family. I just hoped that one day we’d rejoin the world again. Beyond that, I didn’t dare get my hopes up.”
“That’s how I felt when I got here,” I admitted as our suncatchers slowly took shape.
I’d hung a crystal dragonfly so it dangled from the top of my smaller ring and attached it so it was surrounded by the larger one, with all of its beads and flowers. Now it was time to work on the strands that would dangle from the larger ring, one long, with two shorter ones on either side of it, one half the size of the other, to create a cascade of light.
“My one hope was to reach somewhere safe,” I said. “Once I had, I didn’t know what was supposed to come next. I knew what I wanted my life to be like, but I had no idea what steps I was supposed to take to get myself there. If it wasn’t for the folks at intake making sure I had a place to stay and pointing me in the direction of the diner when I admitted to having no job skills whatsoever, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“I was just beginning my apprenticeship to become a blacksmith when we were forced to retreat to our cave and slumber,” Rory admitted. “Unfortunately, our blacksmith was lost among those who bought time for us to get safely tucked away.”
“My father is a blacksmith,” I said. “We haven’t had the chance to speak about it yet, but I’m sure he’ll need a forge. Once it’s operational, who better than his new son to apprentice with him, if you still want to learn.”
“I would love to, but do you think Upalo would allow it?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“In my experience, alphas aren’t fond of their omegas learning anything that doesn’t involve taking care of the home,” Rory admitted.
“It was the same way where he and I were raised,” I said. “But Upalo never believed that was fair. He would want you to learn anything you had your heart set on learning. If you’d like, I can speak to dad about it when he returns.”
“No,” he replied as he finished the first ring of his suncatcher and held it up so he could watch the light shine through the glass beads. “I’ll speak to him and Upalo both and make my wishes known. It’ll be much easier now that I know that I have nothing to worry about. Thank you for that.”
“Anytime. I’ll always be here to listen if you need to talk.”
“The same goes for you,” he replied. “I’m excited to have a new little brother.”
“How am I still the youngest?” I moaned.
“Well, technically, I’m older than Upalo,” he pointed out. “I’m just behind on the times after more than fifty years of slumber.”
“Oh my gosh, I never even thought about that,” I said. “My brother went and got himself a much older mate. You must promise never to let him forget it.”
He winked, giggling as he carefully attached aqua and lavender wires to his second ring. “He’s already been warned that he might find himself in the time-out corner if he doesn’t behave.”
Our laughter prompted giggles from the girls, who were always happy to join in anytime merriment took place in and around the nest. I couldn’t wait to tickle their tummies and listen to them babble and squeal at one another. Sometimes I’d lay awake at night listening to them in their eggs, giggling and cooing back and forth, already with their own secret language.
“There is something that I’ve been wanting to talk to Upalo about,” Rory said. “But with all the missions and the new arrivals there just hasn’t been the right time to bring it up. I thought, maybe, when we were down in the hot spring, but then…”
His face flushed then and he squirmed and shrugged.
“He made you forget everything you wanted to talk to him about, didn’t he?”
His giggle was all the confirmation I needed.
“I just wish I knew how to bring it up,” he said. “Like, how would you approach telling your mate if you thought that there was a chance you had another mate?”
Blink.
Blink. Blink.
Whoa.
Was my brother on the verge of being doubly mated?
