Six

Micah

When we arrived downstairs, we were greeted by a passionate rendition of a popular pop song.

While Raiden had many wonderful talents, singing was unfortunately not one of them.

Cam made a face as I bit back a chuckle, and we cautiously made our way to the kitchen.

Raiden was cleaning up as he sang. Big, bulky headphones covered his ears, and I could hear the music from here.

I flushed as I realized why he was wearing them. After being away from home for so long, I'd gotten used to not worrying about who might be able to hear us. Fuck.

Pressing a kiss to my cheek, Cam let go of my hand and walked over to the other side of the counter, waving at Raiden when he finally spotted him.

Raiden grinned as he pulled the headphones off, then shook his head, sending his white hair into disarray.

"Cam," he greeted in a voice just a little too loud, and Cam chuckled.

"Hey, DD. Sorry about—" He waved at the headphones, utterly shameless as he apologized. It was one of the things about him that drove me crazy sometimes but also made me love him more. Nothing embarrassed him or made him feel flustered. Ever.

"Honey, I'm home!" Cam's dad, William, called from the front door, and Raiden's eyes lit up as he hurried around the counter.

Even all these years later, Cam's dads were as much in love as they were when I first met them.

Cam and I were both lucky to be raised by such caring people. I'd heard more than a few horror stories from people whose parents couldn't tolerate each other. I couldn't imagine growing up in a house like that. For all their faults, my birth parents had liked each other, but their love was nothing compared to Cam or my dads'.

Cam and I knew what true love was supposed to feel like, not only because we felt it for each other, but because our homes had been full of it.

Most days, I didn't think much about my past, about my birth parents or Ravenshire, the mage island I was born on. But now I sent up a silent thank-you to whoever was responsible for crossing my path with Aeron’s, the mage I was imprisoned with, and who escaped and asked my dads if they'd rescue me.

As William stepped into the kitchen, Raiden pulled him into a hug, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. The sight made me smile, and I dragged Cam over to the other side of the counter to give them a moment.

While they had a soft, murmured conversation, Cam and I set the table for lunch, then carried all the food over.

William excused himself to wash up as Raiden joined us, taking a seat at the head of the table.

Cam scooped out some stew into two bowls for us; then Raiden did the same. I split the bread between us, and William returned, taking his seat beside Raiden and kissing his cheek, his salt-and-pepper hair still wet from the shower.

As we ate, Cam kept up a steady conversation, telling his dads about some of our other adventures. Like the time we'd gotten lost and somehow both our phones had died. After searching for a familiar street or building for a while, Cam had finally shifted into his dragon form and took off into the air to find the way back. I hadn't really been scared, though, because I'd known Cam would figure something out. He always did.

Once our meal was finished, Cam and I shared a glance. Giving me a nod, he turned to his dads, his focus on Raiden as he started speaking. "DD, there's something we—"

"Kids, we wanted to—" William spoke at the same time, and then they both stopped talking, blinking at each other.

"You go first," Cam said after a moment, nodding at his dad.

William and Raiden shared a glance, and then he took a deep breath before looking at us. "After you left for your trip, and Amelia left for the Amazon, we got to talking, and we realized we want more kids." William smiled as he gazed over at Raiden with hearts in his eyes, and my eyes shot to Cam's, my surprise reflected in his green gaze.

"Are you going to adopt?" Cam asked after a moment, and William blinked, looking a little surprised. Did he think Cam would have a problem with it? He'd accepted Amelia fully when she'd joined the family more than ten years ago, and I had no doubt he'd love any future siblings just as much.

Raiden fielded his question, shaking his head as he clasped his hand around William's. "No. We thought about it, but it would be practically impossible to find supe kids, and we're not quite ready to adopt a human kid and watch them grow old."

"Couldn't you turn them into a dragon like you did Cam?" I asked, and Raiden shook his head.

"I could only do that because Cam is William's biological son. My magic recognized him as an extension of William, so to speak, and that's why it worked."

I nodded in understanding, and Cam's hand slid into mine under the table. I gave it a comforting squeeze, and his lips curved just a little as he squeezed back.

"So...surrogacy then?" Cam asked, then tilted his head. "Or are you going to change your form?"

I knew dragons were genderless, and Raiden had offered to take on a female form when he first started dating William. I supposed he could take a female form now and have a kid that way.

But Raiden shook his head, a smile on his face as he glanced over at William. "No, nothing like that. We...we're doing it the dragon way."

Cam and I both stared at him, utterly confused. What was the dragon way?

"Eggs," Raiden elaborated when we didn't say anything, and I stared at him, stunned. Did he just say eggs?

"Eggs?" Cam asked in a strangled voice, and Raiden nodded quickly.

"Dragons hatch from eggs, you know," he said, then smiled ruefully. "Unless they're you, of course. Or a human mated to a dragon."

"So...you're going to lay eggs," Cam said in a disbelieving tone. "And then my siblings are going to hatch from them."

"Well, create them, to be precise. They're made with William’s and my combined magic," Raiden explained, then ducked his head, the tops of his cheeks turning pink. "And we already have."

There was silence for a long moment. Then Cam shot to his feet, his hand still tightly wrapped around mine. "What? Where are they?"

The visible excitement in his voice seemed to relieve his dads, and I didn't even have to read their thoughts—not that I could, with Raiden's strong magic guarding both their minds—to know they'd been worried how he'd react.

"They're with Raiden's hoard," William said smoothly, a small smile on his face. "Would you like to see them?"

Cam nodded quickly, then pulled me to my feet because apparently I was too slow.

As we followed his dads up the stairs, I wondered what Cam would look like as a big brother. While he had helped take care of some of the younger kids in the clan over the years, this would be different. I couldn't wait to see him in this new role.

Cam

I was buzzing with excitement as I followed DD and Dad to the room where DD stored most of his hoard. He'd transferred it here from his house when he moved in, and over the years, he'd added quite a few things in it. It'd been a while since I'd been inside, though, so I was curious to see how much it'd changed.

The door beeped, and DD held it open for us. My eyes widened as I stepped inside, and it wasn't because of all the gems and gold gleaming in their shelves, or the medieval weapons hanging on the walls.

No, the reason for my surprise was the big-ass bed in the middle of the room that most definitely hadn't been here the last time I was in this room.

There used to be a recliner here, one my dads did unspeakable things on. But the bed was new.

Pillows created a circle on the bed, and blankets I recognized as mine—from when I was younger—were curled up inside the circle, creating a nest of fluffiness. Something glittered in the center of the nest, and I took a few steps closer, pulling Micah with me.

When I finally got a peek at the eggs, I sucked in a sharp breath, mesmerized by their gleam. I must've moved, because the next thing I knew, I was kneeling at the edge of the bed, my free hand reaching out toward the sparkling eggs.

"Can I touch them?" I asked in a hushed whisper, as if even speaking too loudly might make them crack.

"Of course," DD said, but a glance behind us showed me Dad was shaking his head.

"It's okay, William. Dragon eggs are pretty sturdy."

"Yeah, but they're half-human too. Do you know how breakable humans are?"

I chuckled, pulling my hand back. I knew only too well how overprotective my dad could get. I knew it had a lot to do with me and the cancer I'd had as a young kid, and I didn't blame him. I couldn't imagine what it was like to watch your kid slowly die in front of you and be unable to do anything.

Except my dad had done something. He'd kidnapped a man he'd only heard whispers about, and forced him to make me better. I wondered if I'd even be alive now if he hadn't taken that risk. Maybe DD would've found us in time and healed me instead, or maybe he would've been too late.

I didn't think DD and Dad would've ended up together without me, so I was glad I hadn't died way back then, if only because I wanted my dads to be happy.

"They're beautiful." I gazed down at the five eggs nestled in the blankets. Two of them were a grayish-blue similar to DD's dragon scales, and another was brown like Dad's scales, while the last two were a mix of blue, brown, and hints of purple, and I smiled at the color, since the purple was the same as my scales. "Does this mean I'll have five siblings?"

I tried to imagine this house being run over by five kids, and yeah...Dad was so going to whine about this later.

"Um, it's a possibility, but it's highly unlikely. A lot of the time, dragon eggs don't have enough magic, and they end up empty. It's only been three months, but hopefully, we'll know in six or so months if they're all viable."

I blinked as the numbers clicked in my mind, and my eyes shot to DD's.

"Wait a minute. How long does it take a dragon egg to hatch?"

"Eighteen months," DD said with a slight smile, and I blew out a breath. Eighteen months? He'd said it'd already been three months, so that meant there were fifteen months left. Wow.

"Are you...okay, Cam?" Dad asked, voice full of hesitation, and I grinned up at him, not wanting him to think I had any problem with this, because I didn't. I was excited for them, and for me. I was going to be the best big brother ever.

Standing up, I squeezed Micah's hand before dropping it, then threw my arms around my dads.

"Congratulations, you two. I'm so happy for you."

Dad and DD hugged me back, their arms tight around me, and I smiled when Micah's familiar warmth wrapped around me, clearly called over by DD. Sometimes, Micah forgot he was also a part of this family, just like I was a part of his, but my dads made sure to remind him every time. These new kids were going to be so lucky to have them as their dads.

Micah and I decided to talk about the house situation some other time, and instead, we spent the afternoon making future plans with the dads. I told them they should turn my old room into a nursery, since it was closer to their room on the ground floor, and while Dad was reluctant at first—it wasn't like I used that room anymore, since it reminded me of a time in my life I wasn't very fond of—he finally agreed, and I made him promise to let Micah and me handle the renovation.

We knew nothing about it, of course, but we did know a clan full of people who'd be all too happy to help. DD and Dad hadn't told anyone except Ames yet, since they'd wanted us to know before everyone else, so we made plans to make an announcement at the party Noel was organizing, because I knew they were itching to share the good news with everyone.

Afterward, we took our leave, deciding to go say hello to some of our other friends.

"Are you okay?" Micah asked as we walked down the street hand in hand, and I glanced over at him with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm excited, and a little nervous. I've never been a big brother before."

"Well, that's not true. Mateo and Miles would be hurt to hear you say that."

I winced as I thought of the twins, and ducked my head. I knew they looked up to me, though I was afraid I hadn't always been a good role model to them. "Sorry."

"It's okay. You've been a great big brother to them, and you'll be great with your new siblings too. And I'll always be right there with you if you need help."

The thought made me smile, and I leaned my shoulder against his, thanking him without words. He always knew what to say to make me feel better.