Help him.
My bear wanted me to do what we were told not to.
“My dragon says we have to help.”
“And my wolf.”
All three of our animals were in agreement. “But we aren’t supposed to do that,” I protested, even though it was the one thing I wanted to do. “What if it hurts him?”
“Our animals would never do that,” Falkan asserted. “Look at it move. Ginger was making holes in the shell with her beak already.” He cuddled the little girl close to his chest, carefully supporting her head. “There has to be some reason our animals are alarmed.”
“I think I know.” I touched the egg, stroked it. “What if the baby is not a dragon? What if it’s a wolf or bear and doesn’t have anything to use to break out of the shell? I say we listen to our animals.”
Falkan handed the baby to our omega. “I’m calling the midwife.” He left to find his phone on the charger in the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a tablespoon in his hand. “We can help, but as little as possible. If there is no beak, he might be trapped. Here is what the midwife said to do…”
They were also on their way but feared that they might not be in time.
“Okay.” Falkan swallowed hard. “I’ll do this.”
“I can if you like,” I offered.
“I will.” He approached the egg and covered it with his palm. “Baby, this is only because I love you, so please don’t write a tell-all about how your daddy beat your egg with a spoon before you were born.” Having said that, he tapped on the shell softly. It made not so much as a dent.
“Harder, I think,” I said. “I’ll take a turn.”
We went back and forth about four times before Kyle laid the baby among the bedclothes and grabbed the spoon. “You come out right now, baby,” he growled. “It’s not safe for you to stay in there.” One sharp rap started down the middle of the shell and he set the spoon down. “That should do it.”
We watched anxiously, in case we had to intervene further, but a moment later, the shell shattered explosively, sending bits everywhere, And where it had stood, lay the tiniest, most adorable maned wolf ever.
“When we touch him, he’ll shift,” Falkan whispered. “And we won’t see him again for a while.”
“But we will see our baby. I can’t wait.”
“Okay.”
I scooped up the tiny wolf and kissed him on the nose. He nipped at me then shifted. His name was Timber.
Were there ever any luckier alphas? The midwife examined the bits of shell and said we did it perfectly and just in time. We’d saved our son. Really our omega had. He had saved the day.
Epilogue
Falkan
Three Years Later
Kyle brought two squirming kids out of the bathroom wrapped in towels. He set them on the long kiddie-changing bench where Griffith and I stood ready.
We were in their room, which was really a room in two sections where each had privacy. That was for when they were older. For now, neither cared about that as they tried to wriggle away, naked, jump off the bench, and run around the room hollering after their baths.
“Ginger. Come here now.” I chased her and caught her easily, lifting her up and setting her on the edge of the bench then quickly got her pants and shirt on before reaching for her shoes. I’d become a pro at this, dressing wiggly kids before they could escape out from under me in the blink of an eye.
Even though there were three of us and only two kids, it felt like more. Three-year-olds got into everything. Wherever I looked, there they were. Our little explorers. Our daredevils. Our precious little ones.
The pool had already been fenced before they were born, but I’d taken extra precautions and bought a hardtop cover. One of them could fly, so a fence might not deter her.
Still, I found her in trees in the backyard, having only turned away for a second. And Timber was always roaming the edges of the yard, looking for a way out to the hills.
Griffith chased Timber and caught him up, dressing him almost as quickly as I had dressed Ginger.
