Page 178 of Nine-Tenths

Oh my god.

No.

"If you tell me you're already thinking about getting me with egg, or whatever, you can just slam the brakes right on down, buster." I thwack him.

Dav laughs. "Draconic biology is notthatdifferent from humans, Colin. I cannot get you pregnant, and if we were toagree to add children to our family, it would not be without many months of conversation."

"Good."

My brain rewinds a bit.

Did Dav just call us a family?

I guess we are. Him and me.

How about that.

"So what are you thinking about, then?"

"Will you let me tell you, or will you interrupt again?"

I pinch my fingers in the air in front of his nose. "Smart ass."

"I’m clever, yes," he says smugly. "As for my ass—"

"Not in front of the baby," I remind him.

He gets thoughtful again. "Are we doing the right thing?"

"Changing the world?"

"Changingherworld." Misery tugs at the corner of his mouth, tangling up in his Peter Pan kiss.

"Babe, look at me." He does. "Do you think we're changing it for the better?"

Dav hesitates for only a second. "Yes."

But he hesitated all the same.

"Are yousure?"

He scratches at his chin. "It will be different. Harder. She'll have to work more than I do. But I think she will be… happier than we are." He squeezes me tight against his side.

"Did you tell your mum?" I ask. "Is that why you were up here so long last night?"

"I couldn't accept her hospitality, and not explain what we intend."

"What did she think?"

"She was upset at first," Dav admits softly. "She didn't understand what was sowrong. Then she told me …" He clears his throat, crackling out a small cough. "She says Da… there was a girl in the village. Da was set to marry her."

"She didn't know?"

"Of course she did."

"Then why—"

"Because it didn'tmatter." He arches his eyebrows significantly. "My mother picked, and my father was Collected."