Page 13 of Curvy Girl and the Single Dad Dragon (Cedar Falls: Fated Mates #2)

"Blow out your candle, sweetheart," I encourage, holding Aiden steady on my lap as he stares at the single flame dancing on his birthday cake.

His chubby little hands reach toward the fire, golden eyes gleaming with fascination—so like his father's. Like his sister's.

"Careful," Damon murmurs beside me. "He's been going crazy with his embers."

As if on cue, our one-year-old son giggles and a tiny spark escapes his mouth, merging with the candle flame and causing it to flare momentarily.

"Already showing off," Ember sighs dramatically from across the table, though her proud smile belies her tone. At ten years old, she takes her role as big sister with utmost seriousness. "I was at least two before I made fire."

"Every dragon develops differently," Damon reminds her, reaching over to ruffle her dark curls affectionately.

I never imagined my life would look like this three years ago. Never dreamed I'd be celebrating my son's first birthday surrounded by dragons and shifters, that I'd be planning a wedding to a 642-year-old being who can transform into a creature of legend.

Yet here we are, and I wouldn't change a single thing.

"Need help with that cake, Luna?" Cole calls from where he's manning the grill on our back patio. At six-foot-five, he's nearly as imposing as Damon, though built differently. It makes sense now that I know he transforms into a nine-hundred-pound grizzly bear.

"We've got it," I call back, helping Aiden finally blow out his candle to applause from our gathered friends and family.

It still amuses me to think about how Cole and Damon discovered each other's true natures.

Damon had gone to check on his hoard, something he does regularly, only to find a massive grizzly bear lumbering through the woods near the hidden entrance.

The dragon energy in the cave had called to Cole, apparently, drawn him there without his conscious awareness.

The ensuing confrontation had been brief but intense—a dragon and bear sizing each other up in the forest, neither willing to back down until they both shifted back to human form and recognized each other with mutual shock.

"My boss is a bear shifter," Damon had announced when he returned home that evening, looking both annoyed and relieved. "All this time working together, and neither of us knew."

Now, Cole and his girlfriend Ruby are regular fixtures in our lives. Ruby is human like me, and she's been an invaluable friend as I've navigated this supernatural world, always ready with advice or simply understanding when I need to vent about the peculiarities of life with non-humans.

"One slice for the birthday boy," I say, cutting a small piece of cake for Aiden, whose eyes are fixed on the treat with laser focus.

"And a big one for his big sister," Ember prompts, holding out her plate with a grin.

As I serve cake to our guests, I catch my mother's eye across the room. She's deep in conversation with Sebastian, Damon's brother, who flew in from Australia for his nephew's birthday.

They're an unlikely pair. My practical, midwestern mother and the charming, centuries-old dragon who looks barely forty, but they've bonded over a shared love of gardening, of all things.

Mom has flourished these past few years. The resources Damon provided helped her start a small landscaping business, giving her purpose and financial security. More importantly, she's found joy again, accepting the extraordinary nature of my new family with surprising ease.

"He said your mother reminds him of someone he knew in the 1700s," Damon told me once, explaining Sebastian's fondness for Mom. "A healer with the same kind eyes."

I feel a warm hand on my lower back and turn to find Damon behind me, his eyes soft as he looks at our son happily smashing cake into his mouth.

"Happy?" he asks quietly.

"Completely," I assure him, leaning into his solid warmth. "You?"

"More than I ever thought possible." He presses a kiss to my temple. "Though I'm a little concerned about the state of our house after Aiden finishes with that cake."

I laugh, watching as our son demonstrates his impressive dragon appetite, frosting smeared across his face and into his dark hair. "Small price to pay."

"Indeed." Damon's arm tightens around my waist. "Everything alright? You seemed lost in thought earlier."

"Just reflecting," I tell him honestly. "On how much has changed. How full my life is now."

His expression softens further. "Any regrets?"

"Not a single one." I stand on tiptoe to kiss him properly, ignoring Ember's theatrical groan from nearby.

The past three years have been a whirlwind. When we finally told Ember we were together, her excitement was contagious. Six months later, I moved from the guest house into the main house, and six months after that, we discovered I was pregnant.

Aiden's arrival was both joyous and complicated.

Dragon pregnancies, it turns out, run hot—literally.

By my third trimester, I was running fevers that would have hospitalized a normal woman but were perfectly healthy for someone carrying a dragon baby.

Sebastian flew in to assist with the birth, bringing ancient knowledge of cross-species pregnancies that proved invaluable.

Through it all, Damon has been my rock, my partner, my love. And in two months, he'll officially be my husband, though as he likes to remind me, "Dragons mated for life long before humans invented marriage ceremonies."

"Mommy, can I show Aiden my new fire trick?" Ember asks, bouncing over to us. "I've been practicing with Uncle Sebastian and I can make shapes now!"

"Outside only," Damon and I say in unison, exchanging amused glances.

"Fine," she sighs, then brightens. "Can I tell Ruby and Cole about our flight yesterday? Please?"

I nod, knowing how much she loves recounting our family adventures.

Yesterday had been magical. Damon transforming into his full dragon form, his scales gleaming black with gold undertones in the morning light. Ember had shifted too, her smaller dragon body a perfect miniature of her father's, though with more pronounced gold markings around her wings.

They had taken us flying. Aiden secured against my chest in a special carrier Damon had designed, me riding on his broad, scaled back between his wings. We'd soared above the mountains, the world spread out beneath us like a living map, the air thin and cold but exhilarating.

It wasn't the first time I'd experienced dragon flight, but it never loses its wonder. The first time Damon transformed for me, nearly two years ago now, I'd been awestruck.

His dragon form is magnificent. Powerful and graceful, with squinted golden eyes that remain recognizably his despite the changed face around them.

"Earth to Luna," Damon murmurs, bringing me back to the present. "Where did you go this time?"

"Just thinking about yesterday's flight," I admit. "How incredible it was."

His eyes darken slightly. "Perhaps we could arrange another... private flight soon. Once the little ones are asleep."

After three years together, Damon still affects me as strongly as he did that first night. Perhaps more so, now that our bond has deepened with time and shared experiences.

"I'd like that," I tell him, my voice dropping to match his intimate tone.

"Daddy!" Ember calls from across the room. "Uncle Sebastian says you have to tell the story about the knight and the dragon!"

Damon sighs, but his eyes are bright with affection. "Duty calls."

As he moves to join the gathering around Sebastian, Aiden reaches for me from his high chair, cake-covered hands grabbing at the air. I lift him into my arms, not caring about the frosting now smeared on my dress.

"What do you think, little one?" I whisper against his soft hair. "Should we go hear Daddy's story?"

He babbles happily in response, a tiny curl of smoke escaping with his excited breath.

I carry him over to join the others, settling on the floor next to Ember, who immediately leans against my side.

Damon sits across from us, beginning the tale of a misunderstood dragon and the knight who became his unlikely friend.

A story I suspect may be more historical than fictional, though he's never confirmed my suspicions.

As I look around at this gathering, my supernatural family and the humans who love them, I'm struck again by how beautifully unpredictable life can be.

Three years ago, I was a newly graduated childcare worker taking her first nanny position. Now I'm the mother of a dragon baby, stepmother-to-be to a dragon girl, and engaged to a being who has lived through centuries of human history.

In two months, I'll become Luna Thorne, committing myself officially to this extraordinary man and the magical life we've built together.

Dragons may live for a thousand years, but humans have just one life to fill with meaning and joy.

As I hold my son close and feel my daughter's warmth against my side, watching the man I love captivate our friends with his storytelling, I know with absolute certainty that I've filled mine perfectly.

Thank you for reading it!