Page 39

Teddy

“She has a star on her chest. It’s buttercup yellow,”

Othoni whispered as I dimmed the lights and crawled into bed next to him. Othoni sobbed in the bathroom, but we gave him the space he requested when he agreed to deliver our baby. He warned us this might happen. It felt wrong to leave him to cry alone but sometimes you have to trust people to know what they need to manage their own emotions.

“She has such a big family,”

I whispered back to him. “A great big family.”

“She does look a lot like you except she’s blonde,”

Othoni chuckled and smoothed down a stray lock of damp hair.

“She smells like you. Definitely a little cat.”

“We knew that already,”

he laughed again, and the laugh broke down into a yawn.

“You can rest. I’ll keep standing guard,”

I assured him. “You and Mori worked so hard to bring our baby into the world. You both deserve a good rest.”

“There’s so much to clean up,”

Othoni said, his words swallowed up by another yawn.

“I’ll take care of it. You can rest and don’t worry, I won’t let your carrier in here until you’re awake and you say it’s okay. We still have a few hours before he arrives anyway.”

“I love you, Teddy. I’m so tired but so happy. It’s like I’m buzzing from the inside out but I’m tired,”

he yawned. “I don’t want to be tired. I don’t want to miss this time with her.”

“You’re not missing anything,”

I said and kissed his sweaty head. “You’re right here with her. She’s listening to your heartbeat and she knows she’s all same, sound, and warm with up.”

I kept talking until Othoni dozed off. I didn’t get up straight away. I didn’t want to miss these moments either. She was so small and beautiful. She was so new to this big, crazy world. Another little Moonscale. Another little jaguar. Another little soul who had to navigate a constantly expanding universe to find what would make her happy. That was far off, though. For now, she smelled new and happy right where she was.

During the first few years of my sire’s hibernation Duke and I talked about how we didn’t know how he stayed awake so long after Mum died. I knew now. I knew how love must’ve pushed him further and further as he tried to make sure we had what we needed to be okay. It wasn’t strength, courage, or even grit. It was love, plain and simple.

“We gotta call him,”

my dragon chimed off inside my thoughts.

A call would wake up Othoni and Baby Zinnia but I snapped a photo and sent it to him. I knew now and it felt like I was in some secret club. I’d do anything for this little girl. She already had me wrapped around her finger and she couldn’t even keep her eyes open for long yet.

I dozed off next to my mate and our baby.

Vague noises dance through the house.

Mori eventually came out of the bathroom and I felt so lazy when I figured out he was cleaning things up on his own.

Only, I had to stay with them.

There was nowhere in the world I could exist if it wasn’t touching them both.

I drifted in and out and eventually heard the voice of my carrier-in-law talking to a voice I’d know anywhere.

It was probably one of the first voices I ever heard when I crashed out of my egg.

My dad was here. That meant the world was safe and sound and we could all sleep for a little while longer.

(Keep an eye out for the upcoming series, Mori’s Mementos, to discover what happens with Mori, the postcard men, and old and new friends

Hello and thank you for reading! Whether this is your first book in this universe, or you’ve been around since the beginning, thank you! I can’t believe this is the last book in the Starscale Mates! This series has been a joy to write.

It’s been fun exploring a new culture and also finding out more about the Moonscales.

Teddy has been my darling since his first appearance on the page in Meet Me in the Stars.