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Chapter Twenty-Two

“H ow much garlic do I put in the butter?” Hawk asked.

“Uh, do we have powder or paste?”

“I made the paste like you told me last time.” Hawk showed him the gooed-up garlic mixed with a tiny bit of salt.

“About half of that.” He was making vegetarian lasagna, and Hawk was going to brown meat for him and Cosmo. Corbin had said the veggie kind was fine.

They were in the big shared kitchen and lounge area, and Cullen was napping on the couch with Tisi, and he looked so pale and tired. It worried him some. All of this stress was making it hard on Cullen, who was getting close to the end of the pregnancy, and his body was really starting to do the wonky.

With Tisi being so energetic, he needed to stick closer to home. Because he didn’t want poor Cullen to get hurt or sick trying to catch up to the baby…

“Okay.” Hawk mixed butter and garlic and then spread it on the bread. “Like that, yeah?”

“Yep. And then in the top oven to brown.”

“Got it. I can cut salad. Go sit with your mate.”

“Thanks, Hawk.” He knew Cosmo would be down with the kids soon, so he did just that, lifting Cullen and Tisi and putting them on top of him on the couch.

He matched his breathing to Cullen’s, taking time to bond a little with his mate. They seemed to have had so little time to simply be together, and he’d heard from Hawk that he’d felt the same. It had been one thing after another since he’d come to the guardian house.

Maybe once the kids were old enough and Corbin worked out his shit with the fae man, Orion would take Cullen on a wee honeymoon to the Glade. The dads would watch the kids, and he and Cullen could snuggle and eat and play.

That sounds so nice , Cullen murmured in his head.

Then we’ll do it.

Okay.

Are you doing all right?

I am. I am not having this baby until after I have my shower.

He chuckled. Right. No popping out the baby until after gifts.

Hey, I need to be able to have nesting. Blankets. Tiny socks.

I hear you. He did. And he hoped everyone backed off the damn stress until Cullen got what he wanted. Orion sent a plea up to the universe, in fact. He wanted Cullen to have such a happy last few weeks or month. To be ready to have their little butterfly.

Tisi stretched, his wings unfurling, and Orion held him down. He’d heard all about the bookcase. Nope. No way, buddy. Resting while Uncle Hawk cooks.

Tisi settled back down with a massive sigh. Like total drama. In his baby form, he was so helpless, but in this form, he was so like a foal. Already up and moving and thinking hard.

Cullen’s mental caress made him feel great. Orion wanted to be the one his mate knew he could count on. And it made him so happy to do it.

Lasagna smells so good.

Thanks, baby. Hawk is trying hard on the bread and salad.

He’s a good guy, Cullen said, patting his back.

He is. He really is.

They dozed together until Corbin knocked on the door, and Cullen sat up, pushing off on him.

“You don’t have to knock, Corbin,” he called, levering up.

Corbin came in, his cheeks dark green. “I wasn’t sure. I know it’s been weird.” Corbin came to Cullen and grabbed him, clinging hard, looking a little desperate if his body language had anything to do with it.

He had to be freaking out.

Orion just sat quietly with Tisi, letting the brothers bond, and soon he had Emily and Elliot while Cosmo joined the dragon-fae mind meld.

When they finally broke, Hawk handed out drinks as Orion grinned at Corbin. “Yarrow’s carrots are roasting.” Yarrow was kind of guarding the front door to the human world as well as keeping an eye on Evander.

“Oh, cool.” Corbin came to love on wee Tisi. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

“Good. Good. How’s the dude?”

“I think better. I just wish he would wake up.”

“What does Arian say?” Cosmo asked.

“That he’ll wake up when his mind has healed from the trauma. Or healed enough.”

“Then that’s what will happen. I’m sorry it’s so hard, though.” Orion put a hand up, and Corbin grinned, pulling him to his feet.

“Making lasagna, huh?”

“Yep. Gonna go rescue Hawk.”

“Thank the goddess!” Hawk called.

He chuckled, moving into the kitchen, listening to the brothers with half an ear. Cullen sounded so happy now, and that was perfect. His love needed downtime. Family time. And he would give all that Cullen needed for as long as he could.

Cullen came to him, burrowing into his arms after he checked the oven. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.” He hugged Cullen tight, so grateful to be here, to be with his family. His dads were so…remote sometimes as much as he loved them. This family was immediate. Messy.

And perfect.

He could just stay with them for?—

He grunted, looking down at his feet, his eyes widening. “Cullen, I think your water just broke.”

“No!” Cullen looked down at his belly. “I need mini socks! And lasagna!”

“Well, you can still have lasagna after we clean up the kitchen floor.” Cosmo was not helping.

“Absolutely,” Hawk said. “And I’ll go across to the dragons and get you socks. The baby shower was going to be this weekend anyway, right? You two were planning what, four showers? Twelve? Something like that?”

“Hawk, that’s not helping.” Cosmo grinned at his mate, Hawk grinned back, and Cullen started sobbing, which had Tisi flying over to see him and bashing Orion right in the head.

Boom.

“Ouch.” He grabbed his son and rubbed his noggin.

“Sorry, he just yanked out of my arms. He’s a strong little bugger.” Corbin’s eyes were wide from where he had landed on the floor.

“At least he didn’t slide through the baby goo on the floor and then have a dirty coat.”

Orion glared at his brother-in-law. “Cosmo!”

“Sorry, I’m just glad it’s someone else.” Cosmo looked at Cullen. “That would be you. You’re the someone else.”

Cullen was still just standing there. He’d stopped crying, which Orion thought really was Cosmo and Hawk’s purpose, but he looked a little gobsmacked.

“Let’s take you upstairs. We’ll get you cleaned up. And then we come back and have lasagna and then have a baby. Hell, you could have lasagna before and after delivery.”

Cullen glared at him. “I love you, but I really need you to shut up right now and help me get cleaned up. Also, someone needs to watch the baby while we go do that.”

Oh, it always sucked when Cullen was in logical mode. Cullen was the least logical of all of them.

No shit on that, Corbin muttered.

Suddenly, shocking him, his Cullen was a dragon—a relatively small, bright purple, really pissed off dragon, who snapped at him with huge teeth, and said, Now, now would be good.

“Dude, can you give birth as a dragon?” Cosmo’s eyes were huge, and Hawk shook his head.

“I don’t think so.”

Corbin shrugged as Cullen roared. “I don’t think Cullen cares what we think.”

“Fair enough. Cullen can do whatever the hell he wants to. I’m going to get the mop.” Hawk was a good brother.

Orion handed Tisi to Corbin, and then he went to the front door. He couldn’t go out there, but he went to the door and hollered. “Yo, buddy! Yarrow! Could you come help?”

Yarrow popped up like a daisy through the snow burying the front walk. “Totally. I live for this shi—oh my gosh. Hello, dragon, you’re very purple and?—”

Orion nodded. “Hi. Right, so. Cullen’s water just broke. Don’t go in the kitchen. I mean, you can after the mopping, but—” He sort of stood there, feeling like a giant lump. “I don’t suppose that you could be an extra set of hands.”

Yarrow nodded, so happy. “Like I said, I live for this. You take your dragon, who looks very hungry, and I’ll take the flying horse. Who is way smaller as a baby. Can you tell him to become a baby?”

“If you can figure out how to communicate with my son, you’ll be doing better than I have.”

Yarrow’s head tilted. “Aren’t you part horse? Isn’t there some sort of whinnying situation you could attempt?”

Orion was fairly sure that he had gritted his teeth more in the last six months than he had in his entire life. “He’s little; he’s a baby, that’s all. He just needs to be fed and loved. And he’ll learn.”

Cullen roared again, and somewhere in that roar, he was fairly sure he heard some more complaining about socks.

“I don’t suppose you know how to knit.”

“Actually, yes, I’m pretty good at it.”

“Great. Have Cosmo find you needles and yarns. I need socks, little socks. By the time the baby comes, I just need little socks in all sorts of colors for little feet.”

“Are you sure that it’s not going to have hooves?”

He stared at Yarrow as Cullen roared again. “Right. Socks. Knitting. On it, boss. I got this.”

Much better. He handed over Tisi and followed Cullen to their house and up to the big bed.

Cullen flopped. Wings flapping, tail swishing, and it was really, really, really pretty. “How come you never went dragony for me before? You’re really cute.”

Cute?

“Gorgeous.”

Better .

“Seriously. You’re beautiful.” He walked right up to that snapping muzzle and stroked the ridge above one of Cullen’s eyes. “I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful. One day soon, maybe on our honeymoon, we should go for a long run. You can fly. We could just have a ball together.”

Do you think she’s too early?

“No. No, I really don’t. But if you’re worried, we can go to the Glade. We can let the dads help.” They would. They would do anything for their grandchild. He knew that for a fact.

No. If you think it will be okay, it will be okay. You healed someone who’d been bitten by a vampire.

I did, huh? Can we get you cleaned up?

Sure. Um. If I can shift back. I’m trying.

Well, then I’ll get a cloth. Or a couple of wet towels…

Cullen snorted, blowing out little rainbows, and Orion chuckled, heading to the bathroom. He gathered up the stuff to clean Cullen up, and his mate was a man again by the time he came back.

So he looked at the birthline. “I think you’re going to have to have lasagna after the birth, baby. Good thing Yarrow is knitting.”

“What?” Cullen rose up to try to peer at the birthline.

“Well, she’s coming right along. Let me get Cosmo. He’s done this?—”

Cosmo! That mental bellow was enough to make his eyes bleed.

Cosmo came running up the stairs. “The kids are all having a slumber party with Yarrow and Corbin. Hawk is willing to run up and down the stairs. What can I do?”

“She’s coming.” Orion waved at the birthline.

Cosmo blinked at it. “Wow! Towels. Clean sheets. I’ll get Hawk to get the baby blankets we’d gotten for the shower. I’m still working on the quilt. Now!” Cosmo’s eyes unfocused, clearly so he could talk to Hawk. Then he was bustling over to Cullen and piling up pillows and moving stuff around. “Okay, Cullen, it’s time to push.”

“Already?” Cullen breathed in deep, then let it out as Orion got back with towels. “Hold my hand, mate?”

“Of course, love.” He sat on the bed to support his mate, letting Cullen grab and squeeze his hand. Hard. Wow.

I have you, love. You can do this.

I can. I’m almost there.

“Push,” Cosmo said. “That’s it. You’re amazing, Cullen.”

“I am.” Hearts and babies with wings appeared around Cullen, then burst like bubbles.

“Come on, love. She’s ready to come out. Come on.”

And less than half an hour later, they had a wee pure white baby with a tiny horn on her head, and a pair of wings. Dragon wings instead of bird wings.

“Oh. Oh, love. She has silvery eyes,” Cullen told him, crying.

“She’s stunning.” He couldn’t find the words. Orion had no idea what to say when faced with the most beautiful girl child ever. Tisi was clearly the most amazing boy… “We have the most amazing babies. Oh, love.”

Cullen sniffled, nodding hard. “We do!”

Cosmo snorted. “No, those are mine. Here, brother. Hold your little girl.” Cosmo was crying some too, sniffling hard. “She’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” Orion told him.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to clean up, and let you two hold her, then I will let you take her to meet her uncles, Orion, while I help Cullen and change the sheets so Cullen can rest. She’ll need to eat.”

“She will.” He sat with Cullen while Cosmo pottered around, and he helped support his butterfly’s head. Their Serena. “She’s so pretty, Cullen.”

“She is.”

Corbin burst through the door, holding up something tiny and knitted. “Hey, guys! Yarrow got a pair of socks done for you.”

Orion beamed at his brother-in-law. “Just in time, Cor. Just in time.”