Page 44 of Emerald Waves (Primordial Protectors #2)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Caro

Once Emerson and I had figured out how the infant, or in this case, egg carrier straps worked, our little Cade spent almost as much time tucked against my chest as he did in one of the bassinets.

I loved having the chance to carry him now that Emerson had completed the truly hard task of nurturing Cade’s egg inside of his body.

Our hatchling was a happy, giggly boy who we’d quickly discovered loved music, any kind of music, but mostly songs that were guitar heavy, like the one that poured out of the smart speaker as I loaded the dishwasher after supper.

While Emerson was pregnant, I came to realize that I had a passion for cooking.

I’d amassed quite the collection of recipes from the internet and reveled in sharing them with my mate, his expressions, whenever he tried something new, one of awe and excitement.

Now that he wasn’t constantly ravenous, it was awesome to watch him take his time and savor every bite in between our often-dizzying conversations.

His excitement and passion for his research was infectious, with one topic feeding into another like some crazy madcap word association game.

He’d say something that would trigger a memory of a past encounter, and as soon as I started filling him in, I’d spark a reminder of something he’d read in an archive once and yet somehow, by the end of it all, we always managed to make it back to the original conversation and wrap things up beautifully.

Our precious egg was always present for those, tucked in the reclining, multi-setting highchair that Alex and Ionus had given us, with a removable attachment that held the egg in place.

We stationed it between our chairs, where we could touch, tickle, or stroke his shell during our conversations, so he could get used to the flow of our day, even before he was born.

Right now, we were handling cleanup, while Emerson searched for an old medallion with markings on it that he was certain matched one of the pieces I’d recently returned to Mattias.

If it was a match, like we both believed, then we’d get that one to him too so he could get it back to the Merdragon clan it belonged to.

As the final notes of the old Motley Crew classic, Kickstart My Heart, faded, a familiar guitar rift hit, and I felt Cade start wiggle-dancing around in his egg.

“Oh yeah, my boy,” I said, caressing the top of his shell. “You know an amazing song when you hear one.”

Head banging, shoulders rocking, I loaded a few more dishes, then joined in with Axl as he launched into Sweet Child o’ Mine.

My hair blinded me, but I didn’t care as Cade giggled from inside the shell while I played air guitar on the outside of it whenever we got to one of Slash’s infamous guitar solos.

Somehow, I managed to get everything loaded without dropping any of the silverware, and spun, fingers tickling Cade’s shell in one final air guitar solo, only to realize that my mate had emerged from the horde, phone in hand, and was currently recording us.

“Did you find it,” I asked as I crossed the room to kiss him.

“I did,” he replied, pointing to where he’d laid it on the table. “And we were right, it matches.”

“If you want to run it over to Mattias while I finish up in here, I can have everything set up for our movie night once you get back, you know he’ll have questions.”

“He’s home then?”

“Yes, I felt his presence arriving not too long ago.”

“Why don’t you take it over, I’m sure he’d love the chance to see Cade.”

“Because Cade and I have a few things to attend to before movie time and one more song he’s been itching to hear all night.”

“Purple Rain?”

“You nailed it.”

He chuckled at that and nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it over while you and Cade get your Prince fix on.”

I watched him leave the kitchen, eyes glued to the sway of his ass in those cozy lounge pants, loving how my mate could rock anything he decided to put on, at least in my book.

Where others craved sophisticated and sleek, it was his comfy-cozy bookish style that took my breath away.

That and the sexy professor vibes he gave off when he pulled on a sweater and a pair of slacks.

“Cade,” I murmured, knowing Emerson would hear whether I kept my voice low or not. “Your daddy is one seriously hot dragon.”

Our little one giggled, while Emerson cast a glance back over his shoulder to grin at me.

“You just wanted me to be the one to go so you could stand around and watch me walk away,” he remarked.

“Maybe.”

“No maybe about it,” he called back, laughing on his way out the door.

I told the smart speaker to play Purple Rain , swaying while I cradled our egg and swayed to the music, as content as a dragon could be while I lulled Cade to sleep.

“Wow, when you said we were going for a walk, I pictured a quick wander around the pitch, not an actual hike,” Emerson said as we trekked hand in hand up the front side of the very mountain that Alex had scaled the backside of to get into the cave with the gemstones.

“It’s not far.”

“Oh, I’m not complaining,” he replied. “Maybe months ago, before you brought out my dragon, but only because it would have been a struggle for me to walk this far when I spent most of my time in a chair. Now, my dragon and I love all the opportunities you take to make sure we get some outdoor time and soak up the sun. I can’t believe that I have a tan for the first time in my life, and in winter too. ”

“It looks good on you. Fresh air and sunlight are important, especially to baby dragons,” I replied. “I figured that if we got into the habit now it would be easier to take the breaks we need to so we can make sure Cade gets plenty of it too.”

“This trail looks well used.”

“Because it is,” I explained. “Especially by me and Odem, though he’s probably used it more than I have in recent decades. See that rock face right there?”

He followed where I pointed, cocked his head, and frowned, then shuffled over so he could stand in front of me and our egg cradled in his carrier.

“Is that a cave there?”

“Yup. Neither of us can fit into it anymore, unless I were to ask the earth to widen it for us, but when our dragons were much smaller, we’d crawl way back in there, to where it opens up a bit more, and explore the cave for buried treasure and gemstones.

It was our own secret clubhouse, and we had a ton of adventures in there. ”

“Did your mother know what the two of you were up to?”

“Nope. Neither did Ionus. It took him forever to find it, because I could make the rock move, so I’d block off the entrance, so it just looked like the rest of the mountain to him.”

“You guys were always getting into something, weren’t you?”

“You better believe it,” he said as we reached a bench shaped ledge that looked almost like it had been carved into the side of the mountain.

“You made this, didn’t you?” he asked as we sat down.

“Nope, that was all mother nature,” I explained.

“There used to be a large rock here, but the remains of it are down at the base in pieces now, after a rockslide sent it plummeting down the side of the mountain several decades ago. The way it broke off left this piece behind. Over the years, pounding rains and fierce winds have polished it into this. Kind of fortuitous, isn’t it? ”

“It truly is, and the view is magnificent.”

“Just wait until the show starts.”

“Show?”

“You’ll see,” I said as I wrapped one arm around him. My other cradled our egg and the gurgling little one who seemed to like the feel of the gentle breeze that flowed over us.

“When we were younger, we used to think that the horizon was the end of the world,” he explained.

“Everything was so vast, and so unspoiled back then, with towering trees and thick, lush forests that we loved to run around playing hide and seek and tag in. Of course, Odem always had to add a bit of mischief to the game, especially tag, and would shoot fireballs at us to tag us, instead of using his hands, then Ionus got in on it, with his lightning bolts, and pretty soon Mattias joined in and started drenching Odem in response to the fireballs.”

“How did you tag them?”

“With hands or claws,” I explained. “Though from time to time I’d cause a tree root to trip one of them, or a branch to randomly swing and knock one of my brothers off their feet so I could tag them easier.

It’s been so long since those days, and yet, with Alex’s four and our Cade, there will be five laughing, giggling dragons running through the forest again making mischief. ”

“Is it safe? What happens if one of them gets lost. Or finds a hiding place, like you and Odem did, and refuses to come out.”

“There are way more elder dragons now to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I explained.

“I promise that when the younglings are scrambling around looking for places to crawl into or climb, they will always be watched. Between their uncle Odem and I, we’ve mastered plenty of the tricks mischievous dragons use to try and get one over on their parents.

We’ll be in the treetops or blending in with a pile of rocks, keeping watch over everyone. ”

“I bet the two of you will have fun with that.”

“We will, and hopefully, one day soon, Odem’s little one will be here to join in the fun.”

“Was he the brother you were closest to growing up?”

“Him and Mattias, yes, but it was Odem and I who got up to the most shenanigans together,” I said, chuckling at one of the memories that popped into my head.

“We were always extremely curious and poking into everything and I do mean everything. This one time we found some porcupine quills on the ground and discovered that they were hollow. We could actually string them together with a needle and thread and make things out of them. The problem was collecting the quills.”

“Oh no. I’m almost too scared to hear where this story is going.”