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Epilogue

Zayne

E ver since that first day back from competition—back when we were given our reprieve to go fly—Vexis had either come himself or sent someone in his place to make sure we had time to take to the skies. Although sent might not be the best way to describe it. From what I understood, there were people fighting over the chance to be the one with the eggs, and more than once a group came.

My beast wasn’t one who lived to hunt—not really—but during this time, every single day he hunted. My mate’s bird did, too. It wasn’t necessarily our plan when we walked out of the house, but our beasts always took over and found a creature that needed to be added to our menu. I suspected it had to do with the primal need to provide for our young, who were coming anytime now according to Vexis.

Of course, our time in the sky wasn’t exclusively about hunting. We also played, and honestly did a little bit of work, because that was who we were. But we always had fun and came back rejuvenated, ready to tell our eggs all about what we’d done while we were gone.

And while we were enjoying our time in the sky, our clutch heard stories about college life—far more about biology and hygiene than they probably were ever going to need in their lifetime—and even had some picture books read to them. Jay went so far as to describe the pictures as he went along. He was going to be a great father someday.

Today was different. As the time for us to fly approached, my dragon started to get antsy. From antsy he turned ornery, and now he was full-on holding me back.

“Zayne.” Ash reached up and cupped my cheek. “Something feels off with you. Are you alright?”

“I—don’t— I’m fine. It’s nothing.” I didn’t sound so sure, and I wasn’t. “But... let’s not go today. My dragon’s really pushing against that.”

“Oh, phew.” He rubbed his thumb along my cheekbone. “I thought it was just me. My eagle’s like, ‘stay in this nest and do not move.’ It’s not like him. Do you think that means—?”

He looked to each egg and then back to me.

Could it be? Were the eggs going to hatch today? We’d been told it could be any day now—that we would get to meet our young within the week. We were looking for any hint that it might be time and saw them where they didn’t exist. But this was the first moment that I suspected we really had a sign that it might be time.

And when Vexis showed up and we declined his offer to fly, he smiled bright. “All right. Out of the nest.”

I did not like that idea. Not one bit. Neither did my mate, his dragon close to the surface. But this was Vexis, and we trusted him or he wouldn’t be here.

Reluctantly, we both climbed out, neither of us going very far.

He took out a stethoscope—but not with the standard head. Instead, it had more of a wide cone tip, and he put it over the egg. It looked like something out of an old cartoon more than modern medical equipment. I supposed that was probably where they got the idea for the cartoon ones—finding one that had been tossed away and thinking it was ridiculous and could be a bit.

He listened to our first egg, then our second, then back to our first, and again to our second. Not saying a word, just listening. The silence was getting to be too much when he finally took them out of his ears and gave us a nod.

“I suspect we’re looking at about four hours. You’ll meet your little ones soon.”

Four hours. We had four hours to be ready to meet our children.

Ash’s jaw dropped, worry filling his face as if we weren’t already prepared.

We had cribs and bassinets, clothes that were washed and folded and put away. Diaper stations throughout the house, even though it wasn’t large by any means—but just in case. You never knew when they’d need a new diaper.

We also had two pumps and plenty of bottles so that we could both take turns with night feedings. There were toys and books—pretty much anything and everything that was considered baby gear.

Car seats? Check. Baby wraps? Check.

Slings? Check.

Cribs? Check—both single and double.

Strollers—both all-terrain and city, single and double? Also check.

We had it all. We were ready. And yet, four hours still didn’t feel like enough.

From the look on my mate’s face, you’d think we hadn’t even so much as considered buying a wipe, much less have enough to not go to the store for at least six months.

“We’ve got this, mate.” I took his hand in mine.

We had decided that we wanted everyone to be there for the hatching. It wasn’t normal as far as dragon tradition went. It happened, but not regularly.

Golden eagles, on the other hand—it was part of a long tradition. And Ash wanted to embrace that side of his heritage, and I was happy to do so. Our young were part eagle, and I never wanted that side of them to be overshadowed by their dragon side.

“Phone tree time,” I instructed my mate. And that snapped him into action.

We each took out our phones and dialed the first person on the list. While we did, Vexis sent out a group chat. We weren’t chancing anyone hearing the news on time. They’d all been there every step of the way, and if they wanted to be here, we wanted that for them.

Within an hour, not only was everyone here, but there were people in the kitchen cooking food for everyone, others cleaning the windows on the outside—because they didn’t want to have anything blocking the light from shining down on our little ones.

“Are they bad?” Ash asked. “I thought…”

“Shh.” He kissed the top of my head. “They just want to keep busy.” The windows were plenty clean, but sometimes, waiting doing nothing was the hardest activity of all.

Kellan came in with crystals he’d strung up from an old antique lamp he found in town and hung them along those same windows that were now worthy of a window cleaner commercial. Rainbows danced across the room. It was perfect.

Even though everyone was busy and there was a lot of commotion, it felt like time was at a standstill. The eggs were exactly the same, no movement. No sound. If Vexis hadn’t said they were about to arrive, I’d have assumed today was going to be another day of waiting and nothing more.

In every way, they looked exactly the way our clutch always had. That was until they both moved at the same time. The exact same time. Not one and then the other. No—simultaneously as if it were a routine like we choreographed for the team.

Before I could second-guess what I saw, they did it again.

And again.

“Look at that.” Jay stepped a little closer. “They’re going to be on the team. They’re already synchronized.”

It wasn’t me imagining it. They really were in sync with each other.

Little movements became bigger movements—became a crack.

And then another crack.

And then a chip.

And another chip.

Slowly, but with precision, they weakened their shell until it was finally open enough for them to break free. They both pushed out of the shells at the same time, not letting a single second of their birth be a solo act.

Jay was right, they were going to be our star team members when they grew up. If that was what they wanted. Maybe they were going to prefer doing plays or soccer or math team. We’d never push them to join just because it was something we loved.

Our beautiful dragonets were here. While their shells were very different, their dragons were the same exact color, that of my mate’s feathers. They might have had scales, but anyone looking at them would know that they were Ash’s.

We all took a few seconds to soak in the beauty that was a newborn dragon before my mate and I each picked one up. They shifted for the first time into their human form, where they would stay until puberty.

They both cried—which I didn’t love. My initial reaction was that something was wrong. But everyone else seemed to understand the universal truth that crying meant they were healthy, that they were clearing their lungs, and were communicating.

A few minutes later, everyone left to give us time to bond as a family. They went outside—not going far—we could hear them and feel their support while still having some privacy.

I helped Ash into the nest, where he gave our son, Leonidas, his first meal, as our daughter, Lenora, dozed peacefully in my arms.

“They’re beautiful.” I couldn’t stop staring at them, afraid that I was going to wake up and this was nothing but the best dream ever.

We spent the first few days adjusting to our new role as fathers and soaking in every morning. Getting used to sleepless nights and trying to figure out how to meet all their needs while still taking care of my mate all came pretty easily. I’d been terrified I wouldn’t be able to handle it, that I’d mess it up and poor Ash would be stuck carrying too much of the burden.

But I did it—we did it. We were a team through and through.

A knock on the door startled me as I rocked with both children, one in each arm, as Ash took his shower.

“Come in,” I called out, not wanting to get up and disturb their slumber.

The entire team came in, including the trainers. In their arms, they carried two rectangles that I could tell were framed art of some sort—but they were covered with a sheet. What were they up to?

“Where’s Ash?” Jay asked.

“Just a minute.” Ash came out a few seconds later, his hair still damp, wearing joggers and a tank. “What brings you guys here? Needing some cuteness overload?”

We for sure had that.

“Always,” multiple of them said at once.

“But we came because we wanted to give you our gift.” Kellan tapped the top of the one he was holding.

They’d already given us so much—but none of it compared to what we saw when they pulled away the coverings.

They’d created the sunset over our lake, not only with paints, but with the shells from our babies’ eggs. The colors worked perfectly. At least I thought they did, my tears now blurring my vision.

“I—it... beautiful… wow.” Words escaped my mate.

“It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Zayne. Ash. You gave us skill, confidence, and a purpose that was greater than our own.” Jay took a step closer. “And you made me a better dragon.”

He wasn’t the only who had become a better dragon this season. With Ash coming in my life, I was finally who I wanted to be. He soared in, stole my heart, taught me how to love, grew my children, and trusted me with his future.

Ash was my everything.