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Their two baby ruby dragons tumbled together, falling over each other as they shook off the last pieces of their shells. They quickly noticed their parents, then scampered over to Tovey and Rufus, who met them with happy, tearful embraces.

“They’re amazing,” Tovey gasped through his emotional tears. “Both boys, I see.”

“I name you Ignus and Pyram,” Rufus said in a proud voice, then laughed as little Pyram snuggled up under his chin, then sneezed as his beard tickled his nose.

A moment later, Selle gasped, “Isn’t she beautiful?” as a lithe, golden baby dragon rolled out of her shell then stood up proudly. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything so beautiful in my life.”

The baby gold dragon danced happily to the edge of the nest then leapt into Selle’s arms, pressing herself into him with a purr. She reached one graceful foot toward her daddy as well, and Gildur made a perfectly indignant sound of adoration as he leaned forward to nuzzle her head.

“I name you Gilda,” he said with a teasing grin. “After your father, of course.” He winked at Selle.

I was incredibly happy for my brothers and their offspring, but still deeply anxious about my own egg.

Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths and waiting for our emerald egg to hatch.

Even the silver and sapphire eggs still in the nest, who weren’t due to hatch for several more months, held still and waited to see what would happen with our baby.

I reached for Emmerich’s hand and clutched it nervously as we waited for more cracks to form on the emerald surface of our egg.

Why was it taking so long? Was something wrong with my baby?

I’d asked myself that same question a hundred times over already, but it kept coming back to me.

I prayed that the delay in hatching was just my sweet baby taking their own time making their way into this world.

“If worse comes to worst,” Emmerich said quietly, “we can call for Mother to help.”

I nodded, but prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

A minute later, I was ready to cry out to the right blue sky above for Queen Gaia to come to our aid. My baby seemed to be struggling. It stopped for a few seconds now and then as if catching their breath and building up their strength again .

“Can we help them?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to Emmerich. “Can we pry the shell away?”

“We could,” Emmerich said with a wince, “but dragon eggshells are incredibly sharp. We’re as likely to hurt them as help them.”

“All will be well,” Argus insisted as he and Obi looked on. “Nature has given hatchlings every skill and strength they need to make it into the world.”

“Are you certain?” I asked, glancing at Argus.

A moment later, I snapped my eyes back to my hatching baby at the sound of a loud crack.

“Here we go,” Emmerich said, tightening his grip on my hand.

I watched in awe as pieces of the shell fell away and a bright green baby dragon foot kicked through the shell.

A moment later, another large piece of the shell fell off and a glittering, green eye peeked out.

That eye blinked, and a moment later, the rest of the shell fell apart as the most astounding baby girl pushed her wings open and stood up in triumph.

“Sweetheart!” I gasped, holding my arms out to her.

My baby let out a happy shriek and stumbled over the pieces of eggshell, racing to jump into my arms.

She was warm and lighter than I expected, but holding her for the first time was the most wonderful sensation I’d ever felt.

“I love you, I love you,” I wept over her, rubbing my cheek against her head as she burrowed against my chest. “You are so beloved.”

“She really is,” Emmerich said, resting his hand over her back and bending down to kiss her. “I name you Beryl.”

We’d chosen the name just the day before. We’d had one in mind if she was a boy, too, but now I would tuck that name away and possibly use it in the future, when Beryl was blessed with a brother. The name felt perfect to me. My baby was as precious as the stone that gave her her name.

Better still, there didn’t seem to be a single thing wrong with her. If anything, Beryl seemed far stronger than a newborn baby dragon should have been.

“It’s almost a shame that our egg isn’t ready to hatch,” Obi said with a wistful sigh. “I don’t know if I can wait five more months until our baby is ready to hatch.”

“I don’t want to rush anything,” Misha said, scooping his sapphire egg out of the nest and cuddling it. “I just want to enjoy my baby at this age. They’ll all grow up sooner than we want them to.”

“That’s certainly true,” Obi said, picking up his egg to cuddle as well.

I smiled at my brothers, but most of my joy and adoration was for my own baby and my mate.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy,” I said with a sigh. “This is a beautiful day.”

“It certainly is,” Emmerich said. He kissed Beryl’s head, then kissed my lips deeply.

Contentment filled me that was stronger than anything I could have imagined. My earliest days might have been miserable, but all was right with the world now, I had my dragon mate and now my first child in my arms, and I knew the future would be full of love and happiness.

I hope you’ve enjoyed The Emerald Dragon Prince , and indeed the entire Omega Fairy Tales series! It’s been a lot of fun, and at times really trying, to depart from my usual writing to pen these stories. But what a fun world! I might have to visit it again someday!