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B ang, bang.

Kai shook her head at the dragon-style knocking on the suite door.

Over the time she had lived among the Drahk, she realized they don’t do anything lightly.

Not walking, talking, fighting, or sexing, or even a simple knock on the door.

It didn’t help that their doors were a thick slab of stone, forcing someone to be aggressive if they wanted to be heard through it.

She had bathed, fed, and rested, after Aodh had worn out her body in the hours before he, Liekki, and Avalore had to leave for the preternatural council meeting.

In the wee hours of the morning, Aodh had heated her a bath and placed her in it before thoroughly kissing her one last time and telling—no, commanding—her to eat and rest.

Well, those things were done, and she was headed to the training field. She quickly skirted the big front room furniture to get her specially-crafted sword off the mantel before answering the door.

She easily pulled the door open, thanks to the child within her, then smiled when she discovered who had come to visit her.

“Hello, Kai. Is this a good time?”

“Absolutely, Brenna. Would you like to come in?” Kai began to step back to allow Aodh’s mother inside.

“That’s not necessary.” The regal Drahk, with her perfectly-coiffed, silken, ebony tresses, shook her head. “I know we talked about you helping me with my flower garden. With Aodh out, I figured this might be a good moment to spend some time together.”

Kai’s heart swelled. She liked Brenna and Rhys, and any time she was granted to get to know the older Drahkelle more, she’d take it. This lovely woman was the grandmother to her unborn child, and Kai valued having a good relationship with her. “I’d love to spend some time with you.”

Brenna caught sight of the sword on Kai’s hip, fastened into the designed belt Aodh gave her to carry it. It sat low on her hips to accommodate her growing belly, but it kept the sword secure and Kai’s hands free.

“Did you already have plans?”

“Yes and no. I was going to get in some practice because I need it, but Khuzaimah works me in whenever I can get to the field. So, this time is yours.” Kai moved out into the hall and then pulled the door behind her.

“Perfect. I have a surprise for you first. Then we’ll work a little before the sun gets too hot and bakes you. Perhaps after that, we can share some tea and refreshments.”

“Well, you had me at refreshments.” Kai rubbed her protruding belly.

Brenna laughed. “I do recall being ravenous when I carried my offsprings. Not much with Eilidh as my sons, but with Aodh and Liekki, I would have eaten a stone table if someone poured sauce on it.”

Commiserating with the older shifter, Kai joined her in laughter.

“I must say, you have blossomed quite well. In your ceremonial white the other day, I could see you were bigger, but now it's evident by your marking how far along you have come.” Brenna's gaze was set on Kai’s bare stomach.

Over the last few days, Kai had begun to wear a tunic top that fastened below her ample bosom but split wide, leaving her swollen stomach exposed with the waistband of her wide-legged pants riding low beneath her round belly.

She felt less incumbered by the material, and she noticed that Drahk, who freely displayed their markings, flashed their gazes with admiration when they saw her exhibit her own.

It made her feel like one of them, and she would hate, once she delivered, to have them disappear.

“Yes, things seem to be moving fast. Even as I try to calculate the timing of Drahkelle pregnancies, you explained to me.” Kai sighed as she set her hands on her lower back and pressed to ease a bit of the tension there.

“Is the baby causing you a lot of pain?” Brenna asked, seeing her actions.

Kai sighed. “No. Not really. Only when I wake after I’ve overexerted myself.”

“The scale markings are already in line with your navel. You're about halfway through the gestational period. Which is interesting because you seem to be progressing faster than even the normal Drahkelle shortened pregnancy.” Brenna’s features drew inward.

“Halfway? Everyone keeps telling me not to worry about how fast the markings are showing up, or how fast this child seems to be growing inside me.” She looked from her stomach to Aodh’s mother.

“But I am. Perhaps even a little scared if things are moving too quickly. Especially with your son’s size.

If the baby takes after the Mckennas’ gene pool, I’ll be ripped in half. ”

“Oh, no, Kai.”

She was trying not to worry, but anytime her mind was unoccupied, the frightful thoughts poured in, and every horror story Kai had heard about women in the Dispatch giving birth and things going wrong because of complications and poor health services freaked her out.

“I don’t want to concern Aodh, so I’ve kept my fears in.” However, Brenna was another woman, a mother of three children. If she couldn’t discuss it with her, Kai didn’t know who to turn to.

Brenna stepped closer to her and placed a familial hand on her shoulder.

“I’m glad you shared your apprehensions with me, so I have a chance to explain some things.

Aodh did confide in me that he sensed through the bond between the two of you that you were anxious.

Besides the garden, it is the reason I came. ”

Kai smiled and felt a little relieved. She had forgotten about the Mckenna’s discerning bond with its people, and even though she thought she was doing a good job of hiding her stresses about the coming little one, Aodh picked up on them and reached out to his mother.

“Thank you, Brenna.”

The older woman led Kai across the landing instead of down the stairs. “First, let me tell you that our pregnancies do not work the same as human females.”

“What do you mean? As in the baby won’t come out of my vagina?” Kai stopped walking as her features twisted in disbelief.

Brenna chuckled at Kai’s expression. “No. It still comes through the standard birth canal.”

“Okay.” Relief. For a moment, Kai thought Brenna was going to tell her that someone would take a broadsword to her belly and cut it out.

Brenna had continued to walk and was now paused before the smaller suite door when she faced Kai.

“Our young are delivered in two distinct stages.”

“What do you mean?” Kai folded her hands beneath her belly.

“In a few weeks, or sooner, by the look of your markings, your youngling will be delivered. Do not fear, Drahk little ones are relatively small in the first stage, six or seven pounds, even though Aodh was eight. Drahks like space and prefer to do most of their real growth outside of the confines of its mother’s body. ”

The first stage. Kai was seriously confused. But, glad to hear that she wouldn’t be delivering some fifteen-pound baby, eight was bad enough. She gulped.

“And the second stage?”

Brenna pushed open the door to the suite and entered.

Kai hadn’t been to their other suite since Morlie left. She rarely thought about it, even though she knew it would eventually be their child’s room and an attendant, most likely Tana, would assist Kai and Aodh in caring for the child.

“Hello, Kai.” Tana stood in the center of the suite's front room.

“Tana. I didn’t expect you here.” Kai looked around and saw how much the front area had been transformed before the large fireplace. “And what is all this?”

“This is your nest.” Tana set a hand on the large, bucket-style seat with a curved iron frame and great cushion, which was piled high with at least four blankets and quilts.

The seat appeared large enough to fit three people comfortably. Kai felt the urge to crawl up in the seat and take a nap before a roaring fire.

“Stage two,” Brenna clarified.

Kai looked from the nest to Brenna. “I don’t get it.”

“When you give birth to the youngling, it will still be within its protective sack. We do not do the human’s barbaric act of ripping that open or smacking our young on the ass to scream.” Brenna shook her head, and her expression was tight, full judgment on display.

“That sack protects the child. It will quickly begin to harden once it is outside your body. Allowing your young dragon to form its impenetrable shell. Well, from the outside,” Tana added.

“The dragon’s shell will remain for a couple more weeks until your little one and their beast bond fully. The markings develop through this process. If this process doesn’t happen, the child will never connect with its dragon and lose the ability to shift.”

Kai listened, but it seemed that outside of her caring for the child and giving birth to it, she would have no connection with the baby for weeks while it sat in a shell.

She’d heard how important it was for a baby and its mother to connect through touch and skin-to-skin contact right after birth; how would she do it if the baby came out in a sack then sealed itself away from her?

“What do I do in this time?” Kai didn’t attempt to hide her discontent as she ran a hand over her stomach, hoping to communicate her love to her child while it was inside of her.

“Oh, Kai.” Brenna stepped closer to her.

“That’s what the nest is for. Your hatchling will need you more than ever then.

You will remain here, surrounding the dragon’s egg with warmth and care.

Aodh will come into the nest at times with you and offer his strength, love, and deatach glan heyl to help you heal. ”

“Oh.” It seemed like such a little word to express her emotions surrounding such a significant set of events. She felt overwhelmed and expectant.

She wondered if this explained what had happened to Draig and Jaseena's little one.

It had been delivered and taken away not only from its mother who had passed but the father and all the Drahk kind.

Her great-great grandfather had never bonded with his dragon, living an existence that was only half fulfilled.