Chapter 16
Luca
On the day of the next new moon, both Luca and I had the day off. We had a lazy morning, drinking our coffee near the nest. At some point, I shifted for a while and lay in the nest with Luca curled up at my side. He read a book, something about what to expect when expecting. Even though he wasn’t carrying a human baby, he said some of the human texts were still helpful.
He held his book with one hand, and with the other, he lazily stroked my scales. I let out a rumble of contentment, and he laughed.
“We should get up, dragon. It’s time to go to the gathering.”
I let out a deep sigh, smoke furling from my nostrils.
“I know you want to be lazy all day, especially now that I have these sun lamps turned on.”
Luca had insisted that the nest wasn’t going to be warm enough since the window didn’t get adequate sun in the evening, so he bought grow lamps. I had to admit, they were amazing. After a long shift at the fire station, I would change to my dragon form and lie near the nest. I barely fit in the room. We had to get rid of the couch—not that I was going to complain.
When my dragon form wasn’t in here, the room looked rather sparse, but still, it was important for me to be close to my eggs once they hatched. My dragon would want to be there.
For now, Luca and I spent time in the nest making sure our scent was as present as possible so once the eggs were laid, they would sense us there even if we weren’t with them.
“Come on, dragon, we’ve got to go.”
Luca got up from where he sat. He stepped over my tail.
I shifted, shrinking down in size until I was just a mere human man, lying in my nest naked.
“As gorgeous as that view is, I’m not going to let you distract me,” Luca said. He snapped his fingers. “C’mon. I don’t want to be late.”
I let out a sigh and finally got to my feet. Today we would be attending our second new moon gathering, and it seemed my mate was even more excited about this one. In the month that we’d been mated, it seemed that we were welcomed even deeper into the pack.
Within a few minutes, I was dressed and ready to go. We walked hand in hand toward the park. I carried the cooler in my other hand. Inside was some sort of salad my mate had put together.
He had a slight swell to his stomach now. The doctor had confirmed that we were carrying eggs—just two. There was still a chance that there were twin dragons inside one of the eggs, but we wouldn’t know until they were laid. I thought two was a beautiful number.
The park was set up slightly differently than the last time we were there. The last time had just been a regular celebration. This time, it looked like a party. There were balloons in soft pastel colors and various decorations on all the tables. It wasn’t until we got closer that I realized what it was.
The banner at the first table read:
Congratulations, Raphael and Luca!
Of course, Theo was there, right away at my mate’s side.
“We’re so glad you’re here! Although, I was hoping you would be a little late. I’m still putting together a few last-minute things.”
“Theo, what is this?” Luca asked.
“A baby shower. Duh.”
Luca’s eyes welled up with tears. He fanned his face. “Theo—”
“Oh, don’t cry, because then I’ll cry.”
“Yes, please don’t let Theo cry,” Tyler said. “He will be reduced to a puddle of goo, and I’ll have to do all the rest of the work.” Theo slapped at his chest playfully. Tyler dodged it. Tyler shook my hand. “Congratulations again. Welcome to your party.”
“Thank you,” I said. “We—we didn’t expect this.” There was a buffet table like the last time and next to it was a table stacked high with gifts.
“Well, we had to do a bit of a rush job. Now that we know there are two of them, we don’t know what day Luca will be laying the eggs, and, well, we wanted you guys to be prepared.”
The whole town was here, as they always were.
Luca swiped at his eyes and held my hand. “Thank you, this… this means so much to us,” he said.
After we ate, Theo insisted that Luca sit down near the table where gifts were piled two and three high. My heart warmed. I was so lucky to have found this place—to have found my mate here.
One by one, Luca unwrapped our gifts. I kept track of the cards, writing down who had brought what so we could send thank-you notes later.
“Oh, that one’s from me,” Theo said, pointing at a bright pink bag with dark red and black tissue paper. “That one’s not safe for opening in public, and it’s more for once the babies are here and you’re feeling a bit more like yourself.” He winked.
“Oh, goodness,” Luca said. I didn’t know what was in those bags, but I couldn’t wait to find out. Luca blushed. “Thank you, Theo.”
The guys from the fire station carried in two large boxes, hastily wrapped in what looked like trash bags and duct tape.
“You really should have let me handle that, Tyler,” Theo said.
“Hush,” Tyler said. “It’s not about the wrap job. It’s about the thought or whatever. Open it up.”
I helped Theo pull apart the trash bag to reveal two brand-new, matching cribs.
“Wow,” I said.
“Thanks, guys,” Luca added.
“That comes with free assembly, too,” Tyler said. “Levi drew the short straw. He’ll be over tomorrow to help you put them together.”
“Thanks,” I said. “This really means a lot to us.”
The warmth and camaraderie radiating from everyone in the park enveloped me. We had truly found our home here.
Luca finished unwrapping the gifts. We would need a truck to carry it all back to our home. Thankfully we had started on the nursery and it was ready to be filled. I had painted the room while Luca had picked out the few decorations, and now it was ready to be filled with furniture. We had been waiting until the eggs were laid.
Along with the gifts, we had amassed quite a selection of stuffed animals—ranging from dragons to unicorns to wolves and bears. Each present was a testament to the thoughtfulness of our friends. Our pack.
Susette, the wife of the man whose barn had burned, had painted a lovely picture of the landscape of the town, with one green dragon flying overhead, followed by two smaller dragons. It was beautiful. When I first opened it, I hadn’t been able to find words to express my gratitude.
Luca faced the crowd. “Thank you. We’re so overwhelmed by all your kindness. Thank you for taking me in and welcoming me into your lives. I... I just love it here. Our children are going to be so happy here with all of you.”
Everyone applauded.
I held Luca’s hand.
“Truly. Thank you all. I’ve worried about how my young dragons will fit in, but not anymore. I know that you’ll accept them as they are, just as you’ve accepted Luca and me. We’re very blessed to have found this place, and we can’t wait to share our family with you all.”
There was more applause and cheers as our friends and neighbors—our family—celebrated the start of our family.