“I do know. I have siblings of my own with nieces and nephews I adore.” I handed him his phone and took the egg because it was my turn to cuddle it. “But you need to learn to set those boundaries and she loves you enough to understand that. Call her. She was worried about you.”
“Alright.” Thomas hit the contact information for Rebecca and put the phone on speaker. “I don’t feel like holding the phone to my ear though.”
“I’ve been that exhausted before.” I laughed. “Do you want privacy though? I can go into the living room for a minute?”
Thomas shook his head just as his sister answered the call.
“Thank the goddess.” Rebecca’s voice sounded over the speaker. “I was sitting here thinking about how you two and the baby were. Did everything go smoothly? I know that laying theegg can be rough for some omegas. With the twins, I needed to get a C-section.”
“Everything went well.” Thomas shook his head. “I texted you that before I took a nap.”
“I know but I needed to hear your voice. Now that I have, I feel a hundred times more relieved.” I could hear her twin sons playing and yelling in the background. “I can’t wait to come visit you when you are ready for company.”
“There isn’t much to see right now. Just a pretty blue egg. But once they hatch, you can come see your niece or nephew.” Thomas laid his head on my shoulder, his eye lids starting to fall.
“Oh, okay.” Rebecca’s voice lowered a bit. “You sound a bit tired. Do you need me to cut this call short?”
“If you don’t mind.” Thomas handed me his phone. “I’m gonna take a nap. Talk to Isaac or hang up. I’ll call you later.”
“I’ll let you both rest. You’ll need to get in all the naps now for when the baby is out of that shell and crying all night long.” Rebecca chuckled. “I love you all. I’ll wait for your call tomorrow.”
“Love you too. Tell the boys to behave,” Thomas mumbled as his body relaxed into my side.
I disconnected the call, placed the egg in front of Thomas, and joined my mate in a nap. Our little one safely tucked in Thomas’s arms as I held him from behind.
The sun was already down as my eyes opened again; only the light of the streetlights shone through the open window. I lay still, holding my mate in my arms. I smelled the mixture of our senses lingering on a few clothing items he had added to the nest before the egg was delivered. The scents would penetrate the shell and let our child know his daddy and papa’s scent signatures. It also calmed the omega hormones swirling through Thomas both during delivery and post birth. And as an alpha, I was thrilled to smell both of our essences combined and knowwe were one now. I pulled my mate closer and kissed the side of his neck.
“Honey, I just gave birth. This is no time for getting excited.” Thomas groggily nudged me with his elbow. “Stop thinking sexy thoughts, or I’m gonna make you go in another room.”
“Who says I’m thinking about anything besides holding my mate and getting a nap.” I pulled him closer to my chest. Stop moving and just let me love on you.”
“Fine. You can hold me. But stop poking me in the ass with that thing, will ya?” Thomas pushed his butt back and rubbed it on my hardened cock.
“Well, you stop doing that, then, you little tease.” I smacked his right butt cheek.
“Okay, sorry. I’ll stop.” Thomas arched his neck, allowing me to lay a kiss on his mating mark. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
“Sounds good to me.” I placed one last chaste kiss on his shoulder and laid my head back down on the pillow. “I love you, mate.”
“I love you, too,” Thomas whispered, the signs of him falling asleep apparent in the tone. “Always.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thomas
“That is definitely a crack. Right?” Isaac had our egg up to his face, closely examining it for even the tiniest hint of fractures in the shell. “I swear there is a line here.”
“You’ve been saying that for the last week and it’s always an eyelash or a smudge of dirt or something.” I rolled my eyes but joined him on the floor to look more closely. “Let me see which it is this time.”
“I’m telling you.” Isaac pointed to a spot on the surface of the egg. “Right there. See it?”
“I do, actually.” I grabbed it from him to take a better look. “Wait. You might actually be right this time.”
“Told you.” Isaac lay back on the pillows, his hands folded behind his head. “Our baby will be here today.”
“Not necessarily.” I hated breaking the news to him, but he needed to know. “Dragonettes can still take a few days from the first shell crack to fully emerge. He may have just been testing it out. We will know more in the next few hours if he’s ready to fight his way out.”
“That sounds so dramatic.”
