Page 14 of The Dragon’s Emberlinked Mate (Dragon Flight Academy #3)

Rhythe

“How is it that I’ve never visited the Commander’s home?” Pip asked as he stepped inside.

He had a car seat on each arm. His mate carried two car seats as well, and their manny, or more accurately one of their nannies, Shaun, had the other. It boggled my mind that they were ever able to all get out of the house.

It was always an orchestration to get all five babies to one place at the same time. And that was when they could take their minivan or SUV. This was a far more complicated expedition. If anything, I’d have been shocked if he had come up here before.

Much to many people’s dismay, since there wasn’t a road to get up here, and my brother was one of those people. They’d flown with all the car seats hanging on a pole which Valen carried in his talons.

It was safe. Valen wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t. He was beyond protective. But watching it for the first time was like being at the top of a rollercoaster for the first time. My stomach had not been ready.

And that was when it hit me. That would soon be my reality, only with one fewer baby.

We’d made it up here with an all-terrain vehicle when I was hurt, but that wasn’t a great experience and definitely not one I wanted to do with multiple car seats in tow.

We would need to take a page out of Valen’s playbook while we lived here.

But now that the babies were all in here and safe, I was ready for uncle time. Pip, on the other hand, looked like he was going to have a heart attack, my guess from seeing his mate carry all five carseats on a stick.

It was safe to say they wouldn’t be traveling up here with all the babies very often.

“Why hadn’t you been up here? Guess you just weren’t important enough, even with your fancy job.” I stuck out my tongue, and he visibly relaxed. Mission accomplished.

“Did you get to have a meeting here when you were hired for your job?” he asked his mate.

“Indeed, I did. It was a delicious catered meal.”

I sighed. “Every meal here is catered. We have a chef.” And they were amazing.

Pip’s eyes bugged out. “You have a chef? I need a chef.”

His mate pulled him into his arms and kissed his cheek. “Come, let’s get these babies out of their seats. They are going to wake soon, and you know how much they hate waking up in their baby suitcases.”

Valen wasn’t a fan of car seats for anything other than transportation and actively judged the manny they interviewed who recommended they keep the babies in them to make their lives easier.

Valen wasn’t one to care what people did with their own kids, but that candidate hadn’t been talking about random kids, they’d been talking about my niblings.

That was a hard pass for Valen who marched them right on out of the interview, reminding them his children weren’t luggage.

Looked like he was still a wee bit salty about that one.

“Are things going any better now that you have more help?” I asked.

Ollie and I had spent some time talking to my brother and discussing ways in which we could connect him with additional mannies who might be able to help if they needed.

My parents, who would be arriving any minute, also helped with the kids when they could.

It was pretty much their favorite thing to do.

But even so, there were five dragonets, and they were young.

They weren’t even sleeping through the night yet. The more help the better.

“It’s been going well, honestly. Everything’s been really great.

Shaun is a huge help, and the other two we have on rotation.

” Shaun was the primary manny. The other two rotated in and out as needed.

“Sometimes it feels like Valen and I are never alone with the kids. Last night was rough, so I’m cranky. ”

“I’m pregnant and cranky. It’s like we are twinsies.”

I didn’t need to look at either of our mates to know they found us ridiculous, but in the best of ways.

“Almost exactly like it.” He one-arm hugged me. “How have things been going with you? You’re feeling good?”

I smiled as I helped get the babies out of their car seats and placed them in the makeshift playpen we had set up in the living room. Normally, we’d have a family dinner in the dining room, but given there were so many babies, we decided a more informal setting would be best.

It was better, anyway. Our dining room was very formal, and that wasn’t us.

“I feel good. The morning sickness goes away pretty quickly in the morning.” Thanks to Vexus’s medications. If I’d continued to have morning sickness as bad as that first day, I wasn’t sure I’d be able handle this pregnancy with so much as a hint of grace.

My twin was the very first person I told about my pregnancy after it was verified by Vexus, and honestly, had the doctor waited so much as an hour before arriving, I’d have spilled the beans before I had medical verification.

He was my twin. We shared an egg. If I didn’t tell him about something, did it really happen?

Maybe that was why I kept Emmen from him. Gods, past me had been a fool.

Our parents were a different story. I hadn’t told them yet, which was why we were having a dinner to celebrate. I wasn’t keeping it from them; I wanted the reveal to be special and face to face. My mate agreed.

There was still one surprise for my twin.

Pip wasn’t aware of just how many eggs there were, or maybe he had a guess.

The two of us shared a unique bond. But when I offered to tell him, he said he wanted to hear it when our parents did so he didn’t have to pretend to be surprised.

As if our parents didn’t know we shared everything and that all shocked faces were pretend.

We finally had all the babies situated by the time my parents arrived. Emmen came down at the same time. “Chef says dinner will be ready shortly.”

“Fantastic,” I said. I was hungry for once. I was hoping that didn’t change when I smelled the meal. It wouldn’t be the first time I left the table without taking a bite if I did, but I didn’t want that.

“I can’t believe you have a chef. I want a chef.” Pip bounced his daughter Ember on his lap. It was his second time mentioning it, and if I were to guess, he’d have one before long.

“Sweetheart, I cook a majority of our meals. I am your chef.” Maybe I was wrong.

I loved seeing how domesticated and doting Valen had become since meeting my brother.

He’d had a reputation for being a player, a reputation that had his ease into our family more complicated than it should’ve been.

Not that anyone looking at our family would guess that anything had been the tiniest bit bumpy.

He was as much a part of my family as I was.

Well, maybe not me, being the twin and all.

Pip glared and then stuck out his bottom lip. “I want a professional chef.”

I chuckled. “You can come stay here with us.”

Now it was my turn to get his glare.

My parents came into the house, oohing and ahhing over the enormousness of it all. “Can you believe our son is mated to the commander of the academy? It seems crazy,” my mother was saying.

I snorted. That hadn’t been her stance when it was Emmen trying to steal me away at the hospital.

I wasn’t going to bring that up, though.

Like my mate, my family was still struggling with the emotions of my accident.

In many ways it had been harder on them because I spent a majority of the scary times mostly unconscious and that one time sort of dead.

I gave both my mom and dad a hug.

“You’ve recovered well, then? You’re doing all right?” Mom asked, just like she did every time she called, which was down to only two to three times a day, unlike in the beginning when it was closer to six.

“You’ve seen me half a dozen times since the accident and talk to me daily. You know how well dragons heal. I’m fine.” I kept my voice light, but the truth was, I wanted to leave that accident behind me, and my family, mate included, weren’t the best at letting that happen.

“Still. You should be shifting regularly and taking flight,” she reminded me.

“I am,” I assured her. “After all, there’s only one way up and down from this place, right?”

“So you’re getting out of the house, perhaps looking for a job?” my dad said.

Why did he have to bring that up? It was a sore point with me, which we both knew. A fun family time wasn’t the best time to discuss it.

Emmen cleared his throat. “Why don’t we all sit, have a few drinks. There are some hors d’oeuvres on the table for us. Dinner is going to be a rather informal affair so that we can keep a close eye on the children.”

My mate was my hero. Every time my father brought up me getting a job, he changed the subject like a boss.

Unlike my parents, he was in no push to have me working.

Financially we didn't need the money, and starting a new job while pregnant wasn’t ideal.

And besides, it wasn’t like I was sitting around, drinking cocoa and watching television all day.

“Dinner was delicious.” Pip set down his fork after devouring three plates full. “I was thinking we might be heading off, unless there is another reason you asked us here.”

My brother wasn’t subtle.

“Babies?” my mother squealed. So much for the big reveal.

“Sorry,” my brother mouthed.

“It’s fine. You broke the ice.”

My mate intertwined our fingers.

“Yes, we are expecting our first clutch.” I placed my other hand on my belly, and my parents peppered me with questions about my health and whether it was safe to get pregnant so soon after my accident.

Emmen and I had been expecting that and were well prepared. What surprised me was that they didn’t ask how many were in my clutch. But of course, my brother took care of opening that door.

“You are killing me, twin. Just tell me already.”

All eyes were on him.

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t want to know if he has five babies on the way like I did.” For someone who hadn’t wanted to know, he really did want to know.

“I don’t.” I held up three fingers.

“Three babies?” My father’s face bloomed into a smile. “That will make eight little ones in my life.”

“Nope. It will make nine.”

My brother tackle-hugged me to the ground. “Twins, just like us. I knew you could do it.”

“Yeah, I followed the twin instructions.”

“There are twin instructions?” Poor Shaun hadn’t known what he was getting into when he started working for this family. But as the room broke out into laughter, I had a feeling he was beginning to.