Page 23 of The Dragon’s Stormwoven Bond (Dragon Flight Academy #2)

Pep

My foolish notion of working while sitting with the eggs and waiting for them to hatch had been tossed aside pretty quickly. Try as I did, it wasn’t happening. I was too distracted by our sweet little babies waiting to come into this world.

And my dragon? He was being a butt, not allowing me the peaceful moment with me and my clutch. Nope. He spent the days insisting they couldn’t hatch here. The cabin was too small, too unsafe, and too far.

He never said far from what, which added a whole extra level of stress. While his communication was minimal, his insistence wasn’t. He kept on pushing and pushing and pushing. There was no convincing him things were as they should be.

Trying to sate my beast, my brother and I spent multiple days in the nest with my laptop and extra monitor setup, looking at home listings, looking at properties where we could build a house, and looking at the feasibility of building out here.

It became pretty much our full-time job.

Each day, shortly before Valen was scheduled to come home, we’d put it all away as if we’d just been chilling and doing the brother thing.

Valen was already feeling a lot of pressure…

pressure to be the father he wanted to be…

pressure to continue fixing his relationship with my father, his best friend…

pressure to get his team as ready as he could before he took time off.

He didn’t need to add house hunting to that mix, and he definitely didn’t need to be worried about my dragon.

When I first blurted out that this space was too small, he’d offered to take it over for me and pre-search so I could focus on our clutch, and I appreciated that, I really did, but this was one thing I could do to take something off his shoulders.

When he gave me the last list of homes, I assured him that it was fine for us to wait. And at the time, I hadn’t lied. What difference would waiting six months make? Waiting until after we got settled into our new lives as parents? There was enough room here to get by that long. Right?

Wrong. My dragon decided that my plan was crap and began to push and hard. He got worse and worse and worse until I couldn’t ignore him. He was a freaking pain in the ass.

And I understood why. We were about to become parents.

There were five little dragonets nearly here who would need us to do everything for them.

Right now, they were safe and protected, but in the next day…

week… month, we didn’t know exactly, they’d be out of their protective home.

They would need more than just this nest.

My phone buzzed and my brother tossed it to me. I’d barely accepted the call when my mother asked, “Want me to make dinner?”

She’d been doing her best to give me the space I wanted, while being available if I should need. I appreciated it, a lot. There were some times you just needed your mommy and daddy, and these last few days were some of them.

“You don’t have to make anything. We’ve got stuff in the fridge we can heat up. People have been dropping off casseroles like they were at a Midwest potluck.”

One meal after another showed up on our doorstep. It was great. We loved it. Not only did it give a sense of community, but it also came with the recipe to add to our dinner rotation if we wanted. It was nice to know that our dragonets were coming into a world filled with so much support and love.

“I know I don’t have to make you dinner. I’ll stop at the store and swing by—”

“Oh, you’re making it here?” That was a first.

“Of course I am. I want to spend time with you. My baby’s about to have their babies.”

She’d been pretty sentimental about the whole thing.

Despite her initial response, she didn’t mind me being mated to Valen.

She saw that he was a wonderful mate to me and was working hard to be the best father he could be.

But if she had her way, she’d have preferred that we met in another fifty years.

My age worried her, especially after the C-section.

I blamed Vexus for that. He said my age played a part in that happening.

As if I could change when I was born. And I couldn’t be upset about the way my eggs came into the world. How could I be? It might not have been the most fun time I’d ever had, but now I had four beautiful eggs with five wonderful babies waiting to come forth into this world.

I let my mother know that she was more than welcome, and about an hour later, she showed up with the fixings to make my favorite seafood pasta.

It was one of those quick-and-easy meals that tasted like someone spent hours over a hot stove.

If my brother had known that was what she was fixing, he’d have probably stayed.

“I have time before I have to do the final steps.” She came and sat by the nest and handed me a folder I hadn’t noticed before. “This is for you and Valen.”

“For me? This is from you and Dad?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s just from me. I haven’t told your father yet. It’s a surprise for him too.”

“Dad doesn’t like surprises.” It made planning his birthdays especially unfun.

“No, suppose that’s true. But this one he’s going to like.” She pointed to the folder.

I opened the folder, and it was a picture of their house. “You need to explain some things here, Mom…”

She tapped on a house that wasn’t more than a speck on the page. “See that there?”

I nodded.

“Turn the page.”

I did as she asked, and there was a close-up of the home in question.

“The Ainsworths decided to move to Alaska, and I got first dibs.”

“Because of our babies?” I didn’t think of sales contracts as baby perks.

“No, because that was the house your father and I originally wanted, but we were a day late and they got it.”

I knew our place hadn’t been their first choice, but they never mentioned which house was.

“The contract’s already signed? And you bought that for me?”

“Yes, but no. I signed the contract, but it’s the surprise for your father. My plan is to gift you and Valen the family home.”

That was unexpected and not something I could accept on my own. Baby gifts should be car seats and diapers, not estates.

“What about my brother? You’re just going to make him move?

” He’d been spending time with me, time I knew he had other things to do.

I appreciated it, but I couldn’t help but feel like he was struggling with something.

He always said he was fine when I tried to discuss it. And fine was never fine. That was fact.

“When has anybody made your brother do anything?” she teased.

“Never?” It came out as a question. He was stubborn, sure. But also, we spent our childhood convincing each other to do foolish things so… there was that.

“Exactly. But back to the matter at hand, the sale’s been finalized. It’s a done deal.” That was fast. “I wanted to tell you before I told your father, because he would ruin the surprise and call your mate first.”

“They really are getting along better, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. And I’m glad. Keeping friendships isn’t easy—not for weeks, months, or years—but when they span centuries, you need to hold on.”

I was pretty sure that my mom’s influence had been integral in my father coming around so quickly.

“Mom, you didn’t like Valen, but you turned around quickly. How come?”

“No, I always liked Valen. I just thought he had… shall we say, made bad personal choices.” Meaning he had a habit of one-and-dones.

I didn’t love knowing that, but also, he was hundreds of years old.

Expecting him to be alone all that time wasn’t realistic.

“Those days are behind him now. He only has eyes for you.”

She tapped my nose and went back to the kitchen. Apparently, our conversation was over.

I slowly climbed out of the nest and went over to help her peel the shrimp.

“My dragon’s been not too happy about us being here.

He wants our eggs hatched someplace else.

And for the longest time, I didn’t realize what that someplace was.

But now that I’m thinking back… remember that day when I found my nest and Dad nearly turned my mate to ash? And I couldn’t get myself to leave?”

She chuckled, which was huge. It meant there was no residual pain from what had, at the time, been a pretty shitty day… not the finding out we were pregnant part, but all the family drama.

“I remember.”

“I think… that’s where my dragon wants our babies to be born.”

“Well, shit.” She dropped the clam she was working on, went to the sink, and washed her hands. The whole time I watched her, my jaw open. My mother didn’t curse, and she definitely didn’t just give up on a meal midway like this.

“Call your mate. Tell him we need him. I gotta make some calls.”

My mate was home in record time. He was good like that. Also, he was probably worried, because I couldn’t tell him why, other than “my mom said so.”

She had my brother, my father, and a bunch of their friends and colleagues over pretty quickly, along with the travel nest and a van.

“What’s going on?” Valen was holding me from behind as the chaos began.

“I’m not really sure.”

“Katrina?” he asked.

“Your mate’s dragon wants the eggs hatching in our house. But our house is your house now. The Ainsworths’ house is ours. And that’s a long story for later. We need to get moving if we’re going to get everything there on time. Remember how we got everything to the championship?”

“Yeah…” I answered, my brain finally piecing together what she was planning, and it was good she hadn’t asked my opinion earlier because I’d have full-on panicked.

“We’re doing the same in reverse. But also, I need your team to take the nest. We don’t want to ruin any of your work, so you have to have them move as one.”

And Valen nodded and called his team as my mom laid out the plan.

Valen and I would stay with the eggs in the van.

My dad would drive. And all these helpers?

They would make sure the room was ready for us.

At least that was what I thought the plan was.

Everything was coming at me all at once, so I wasn’t sure.

Once the team arrived, everything went quickly. Some dragons headed to the family home to empty out the room the nest had been in. My mom said that my dragon would be pissed if we didn’t. I took her word for it. She’d been through this multiple times.

Others, including my neighbors, were there to help us transport the eggs into the van. And the flight team had the important job of carrying our nest so slowly and delicately across the sky to my family home that not a single item woven into it would be displaced.

The team were rock stars. They had the nest there and in the room when we arrived. One by one, we brought our precious cargo upstairs. And when the last egg was set down, it jumped… not really jumped, but it moved enough that I jumped, so close enough.

And then another.

And another.

We were there just on time. It was dragonet time.

Valen slid behind me, wrapping his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder as we watched our eggs hatch, surrounded by my family, our friends, and the flight team.

I couldn’t remember a time we’d ever had that many people in the house.

It was crowded and chaotic, but also one of the most beautiful feelings I’d ever seen.

Our children were not only being born into a world that was ready to love and embrace them, they were being welcomed by their flight from their first breath.

A half-hour later, the first egg hatched, a teal dragonet, our adorable little girl already winning everyone’s hearts.

My mate held her first and then set her in my arms. We didn’t have time to name her before the next egg, and the one after that both hatched only seconds apart.

A blue and a red dragon, another beautiful girl and a perfect baby boy.

Now it was time for our twins.

My mother, father, and brother each held onto our newborns as we collectively watched and waited for the final one to hatch. But they weren’t even moving. Not so much as a wiggle.

I placed my hand on the shell, and I could feel them. I didn’t know if they were fine or not, but their presence was strong. That was a good sign. But also, why weren’t they moving? I looked at my brother who already had his phone out and was calling Vexus.

Vexus arrived less than a minute later, having already been on his way thanks to the flight rumor mill.

He walked straight to the nest and did as I did, putting his hand on the egg.

Without any other explanation, he turned to Valen and told him to partially shift like he had during my C-section, just enough to get his claw in.

Tension filled the room, but no one said a word.

Even the babies were silent as Vexus directed my mate to help begin cracking the shell…

the shell that had grown too thick. The extra strength was designed to hold the twins in until they were ready, but theirs was too hard and they weren’t able to get out.

It was a delicate balance, one no one was ever prepared for. We all knew that you didn’t help eggs hatch. Not unless you had to. They needed that exercise to get out. But they weren’t able to. We had to help.

My mate was so gentle. Too gentle. And nothing was happening.

I wanted to be by his side, but Vexus was the one who knew what needed to be done. If he picked Valen, I had to trust that decision.

And then I heard it. A little crack. And another. And another.

My mate stepped back. He took my hand, and as we watched with the doctor right there at the ready, a chunk of the shell fell off.

From that point on, it was like every other one of our hatches… quick. Our two little dragonets popped out, looking like mini-mes of my mate. So freaking adorable.

And we each took one into our arms.

“Just like us, Brother. Twin boys.”

“I think maybe we might have trouble on our hands,” my mate teased.

My brother laughed. “Oh, you definitely have trouble. The best kind.”

The very best.