Chapter Ten

Nycto

I invited Izora's flight mates to stay the night, but with so many hatchlings and an egg back where they stayed, they opted to fly home. I did my best to keep it off our link, but I was relieved to be alone with Izora and Waj again. Izora cleaned up after the others while I assured Waj that he was the best dotter in the world.

"Sunny's just young," Izora said when he joined us in the nest room with his little doohickey. I'd forgotten all about it with all the talk about the vision. "And homesick and probably sexually frustrated. Didn't like the purple district as much as he thought he would. Hasn't found his mate."

"Waj doesn't like people being weird about stuff," I shrugged and ran my hand down the length of the dotter's back.

"Eh, Sunny will survive Waj," Izora climbed into the nest to join us. "I gave them what information I could. What they do with it is up to them."

"If they're smart, they could ask at our Star Room too," I said. "What's that do? Is it a sex toy?"

"Ummm… No," Izora held up the attached piece as if he never considered that it could be. "It's an external ultrasound. They make internal ones too. Which go exactly where you think they would, but they're medical devices which most patients would go above and beyond to avoid."

"Ultrasound?" I asked as Waj scurried over to examine it.

"No biting," Izora warned Waj. "It'll let us see our egg inside your stomach. I know you guys usually use your sonics, but this gives photos. Well, it'll print photos when I get it hooked back up to the computer at the ship."

"So it's a camera?" I arched a brow.

"Yeah, for the inside of you," he said.

I crossed my arms over my stomach suddenly protective of the egg that was probably inside me. I knew Izora would never hurt our child, but I wasn't so sure about his camera.

"They used to be these huge machines. Then they became sorta portable. Now they're this," he held it up.

"I liked it better when I thought it was a sex toy," I let out a laugh, trying to relax.

"Well, it's a toy for after sex," he scooted closer to me. "We don't have to use it." He laid it aside. "We could call out one of the healers with a sonic if you prefer."

I thought about it for a long moment. I definitely wasn't letting any stranger healer inside my house. I didn't even invite the food delivery dragons inside. Maybe our claiming vows hadn't shown Izora how territorial I was. Maybe he thought I was always as friendly as I was with his flight mates.

"I don't think that for a minute," Izora said, picking up my thoughts over our mating link. "I know it was a big deal to have them all here. If not for your morning sickness we'd have gone to them."

"Wild dragons don't see healers for eggs," I said.

"I know. Well, you tell them, if they want to change that, they can talk to me. I'm not afraid of no wild dragon. I have one for a mate," he smirked.

"Has that thing ever cracked an egg?" I asked.

"Our egg isn't an egg like you'd think it was. Not yet, anyway. It's a tiny bundle of cells that look vaguely egg shaped."

I bit my lip. That description sorta made me want to see how the egg looked now. Maybe it would give us an idea of how long we had before it was due. My mother usually was with eggs for a few weeks and then they'd start hatching in eight to ten days.

"Eight to ten days on the regular?" Izora asked, peeking into my thoughts again.

"Yeah. About that long."

"Even with you?" he asked.

"I don't know. She didn't keep track of days before me. She had to learn a lot of stuff that I talked about. I was her first and only wildling. Others learn too if they have them. Wild dragons might be the best parents in the world."

"Do you think she'd remember if you took longer than other eggs to hatch?" Izora asked.

"Maybe. I'll ask her."

"Do all of the eggs hatch that quickly out here?" Izora asked.

"Yeah. It's always just a bit longer than a week. Though, if we add us together and divide by two, maybe ours will take longer," I shrugged.

"Maybe. We'll find out. I'll keep a record of everything. So, we can plan for the future."

"We're not having eggs as often as my mother, though. Not every season. That's too many hatchlings," I leaned back against the nest and nodded toward his machine. "I know the cold season is the fun season and that means come the hot season eggs are laid, but we're not doing that every time laying season comes around. Come on. Before I change my mind and my dragon decides to eat that damn thing."

"I don't have a lot of them on the ship, babe," Izora frowned at me. "Please refrain from eating my medical devices. And I agree, a kid every season would leave us both dead."

"We're not like them," I shook my head and nodded skyward.

A second later, with his not-sex-toy pressed against the lowest part of my belly, the screen showed what Izora said was our egg. To be fair, it was vaguely egg shaped, but only just. I might've missed it if I didn't know I was looking for an egg.

"How does that compare to eggs where you come from?" I asked him.

"About the same for where you are in carrying," Izora nodded.

"But your eggs can take months and months to hatch?"

"They can but so can eggs of the shifters here."

"True," I said, looking up at the stone cavern's ceiling. "Are you excited?"

"I am," Izora nodded as he put his machine away and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Unlike Sunny I'm not trying to hitchhike back to Earthside. My mind was made up the moment I realized who we were to each other. Raising a kid where there's no wars sounds like paradise."

"Paradise is on the other side of the world. It's sorta like the purple district, but it's women only. There's a men's only one too, but I forget what it's called."

"Interesting," Izora grinned. "Did you spend a lot of time in the purple district before we met?"

"Sometimes," I shrugged. "Not as often as you'd think. I only know about Paradise because I flew over it one time and the council tried to lecture me until they realized I was a wildling, and no one ever told me that there was a woman only no-guy-fly zone. Then they gave me pizza and sent me on my way. So, we can't raise our kid in Paradise."

We both laughed and glanced at each other. That glance led to a look, that led to a kiss, that led to me being lost in him all over again as our hands and mouths slid all over each other before we finally came together again. I was over the moon at the thought of having a baby with Izora – a baby of our own. I also wasn't surprised that we were already expecting an egg. Out here and left mostly to our own devices, we became each other's favorite pastimes.

We fell asleep in a tangle of limbs and satisfaction as we'd done most nights since we met. I buried my face in his muscular chest. In his arms was my favorite place to be.