Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

H awk straightened his shirt, which somehow had manifested this morning as sort of a lovely embroidered tunic. The pants were a matching leather, which he hadn't worn in a few centuries, he was certain, and he had high boots on as well.

He was dressed to meet Cosmo's mother.

No one had told him to expect her today, but apparently, his closet knew things he didn't.

Even the colors were his old family livery, the red and gold and black impossible to miss.

He brushed his hands down his chest and belly, then took a deep breath. Yes, all right. All he could do to prepare, he had done. So Hawk wandered down to the kitchen, ready to face whatever judgment Cosmo's mother had for him.

"Wow, you look nice today, Hawk." Corbin blinked at him from the kitchen table, where he sat nursing a cup of coffee. Corbin wore pajamas printed with polar bears wearing hats and scarves.

"You are also sartorially pleasant this morning," Hawk said.

"Thanks. I get these every holiday from Tyson."

"He's of the Estes clutch?"

"Mmmhmm. So why are you all…" Corbin flapped a hand. "Dressed."

"Your mother is coming."

"No shit?" Corbin immediately rose and began cleaning the kitchen.

"Can I help?"

"No, just stay there and be clean. Goddess, why is Mother coming?" Corbin actually sounded worried.

"Is she unkind?"

"Depends on who you're talking to on whether she's unkind or not. My brothers, no. Never."

Oh dear. "She's coming to speak to Cosmo."

"She's coming to tell him he's pregnant." Corbin's voice was dry as dust.

"Well, I hope so."

"I bet you do." Corbin looked over his shoulder at him and grinned. "So do I. I mean, not about the Mom coming part, but about the baby part. I'm into growing things."

So why hadn't Cosmo told him that Corbin and his mother had a problem? It seemed relatively important. Mate.

Hmm? What do you need?

I just told Corbin that your mother is coming to see you.

Okay.

Do you have anything you need to tell me?

Uh. I'm wearing white, so whatever we do for breakfast, it shouldn't be messy.

Cosmo! Oh, he loved his mate, but damn, Cosmo was so frustrating.

What?

Why is Corbin panicking?

Ah, it's just Corbin. The thought was utterly dismissive. He gets weird.

This seems larger than weird, mate.

No, it's just that his magic and her magic are the same magic, and that makes them all angry all the time about each other. It's never ugly; it's always been this way. It's sort of the same thing if you said that our dad was coming. Cullen and I would be a little concerned, but he can't, so we don't have to worry about it.

Oh.

Well, that was interesting. He did understand that oftentimes when dragons were very, very similar there were conflicts. It did seem incredibly unfair to poor Corbin that the only parent who could come and visit was the one that he didn't particularly get along with.

But Hawk was going to be very quietly pleased that it wasn't Cosmo. Very quietly.

He started drying dishes and putting them away, and Corbin offered him a friendly, if slightly worried, smile.

"So tell me about your mother."

"She's fae. She's very persnickety. She does like things the way that she likes them, and she loves roses. Flowers. All flowers of any kind, in fact. She believes that vegetables are a waste of flower space."

"Well, I for one am grateful for your vegetable garden, and for the greenhouse. It's so nice to have fresh vegetables."

Corbin rolled his eyes, but he did smile. "Thanks, brother. I know it's unreasonable, isn't it? She just gets under my skin. I could never grow anything the right way. If she could go outside and see the roses out here in the front of the house, she would tell me they were too antique or not red enough. Possibly the thorns were too long or not curved correctly. Perhaps the vine should spell out ‘I love my mother'. That sort of thing."

"Oh, how fun, though. If you could spell things with vines." The thought charmed him.

"It's easier with ivy. It just doesn't grow as well here. Roses do so much better with the soil."

"Ah. Yes. The acidic soil of the desert is their natural milieu." He sighed. "I didn't mean to make trouble, brother."

"Bah." Corbin came to give him an unexpected hug, and one he accepted with true gladness. The familial feeling he got from being with Cosmo's brothers grew every day.

Much like Corbin's flowers.

"It's no trouble. She will say what she says, and I will rebut, and all will be well."

"Mmm. What can we have for breakfast that will not be messy?"

"Hot Pockets."

"Hot what?" His eyebrows went up.

"Hot Pockets—you know, pastry with goo?" Corbin waggled his eyebrows.

"I have no idea what you mean. Well, I have had pastry with goo. Mostly in Paris or Rome."

"Yeah, this is not that." Corbin chuckled. "But they're fun, and not too messy."

"Hmmm."

"And they come in bacon and egg. What are you cleaning for, Corbin?" Cullen bounced in and went right to the coffeepot.

"Mother."

"Oh, that's why there are so many more flowers outside my door. Cool. Maybe she'll bring up some of those wild orange mushrooms. Those make for magic illusions…"

Corbin rolled his eyes and fought his grin. "You do know they're poisonous, right?"

"Only if you eat them!" Cullen singsonged.

Hawk blinked at them. "You eat poisonous things?" That seemed silly. Why on earth would anyone do that?

Cosmo came down to the kitchen, and he was wearing a lovely loose tunic and a pair of pants in solid white. He glowed against it, his rose-colored skin so bright, his scales showing. Time in the sandpit was doing wonders for him.

"You know you don't have to clean for mother."

Corbin fastened a glare on his brother. "You know you don't have to clean for mother."

Cosmo rolled his eyes. "Corbin has issues. Mommy issues."

"You know if I shove you out the door of Cullen's house and lock it, Hawk can't go out there and save you."

Cosmo pursed his lips. "You wouldn't."

"Try me. You're the one who invited Mother here without asking. You know the rules. You have to at least warn me."

"There's no need to be a panicky idiot. She loves you."

Corbin crossed his arms, tilted his head, and lifted one eyebrow. "I'm sure she loves fruit too, before she bites into it and then devours it whole!"

Hawk was beginning to think that perhaps he'd made a terrible mistake.

Cullen chuckled. "It's fine, Hawk. They just had a big fight the last time they saw each other. It was ridiculous."

Corbin opened his mouth, and Cullen gave him a long-suffering look.

"Oh come on, you guys were arguing about poop."

"Fertilizer."

"Poop."

"Whatever!" Cosmo actually stomped his foot. "Anytime you disagree about the slightest little thing, it becomes this big ordeal."

Then Corbin got a hurt look on his face that broke Hawk's heart a little bit. "You guys always take her side. I never take anybody's side over yours. You always take her side."

Cosmo shook his head. "I swear, we didn't even get into this one. We weren't even there. I only said that I didn't care."

"That would be because we don't care," Cullen pointed out. "It's poop."

"Fertilizer!" Corbin hollered, and Cosmo went right to Corbin.

Hawk was afraid for a moment that Cosmo was going to hit Corbin in the nose. He'd seen a couple of the triplet fights, and they were never as entertaining or pleasant as his fantasies led him to believe they might be. But Cosmo just hugged his brother tight.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I just need to know if I'm pregnant. I don't have any of the grossness. There's supposed to be grossness. Barfing and stuff."

"Are you complaining?" Corbin asked, and Cosmo shrugged.

"Only because I want it to be normal, the baby, everything. But that's all, and I'm sorry."

To Corbin's credit, he immediately accepted the apology and squeezed his brother back. "I hope that you're pregnant and that it's normal too. I am going to be the best uncle ever."

Cullen rolled his eyes. "Unlikely. I'm gonna be the fun one. You're going to be the weird one who ends up giving him, like, medicine and making him eat his broccoli. I can make things appear."

"Talk to me when you're hungry, Butthead."

"I am now. Can we have Hot Pockets?"

Hawk nodded, pleased. "I would very much like to try them."

"I'll take a pizza one so Hawk can try the breakfast ones," Cullen said.

"Okay, cool." Corbin stood and got a box out of the freezer. "And I get the broccoli one."

"Of course you do." Cullen gagged. "Ew."

"Stop it. Broccoli is so cool." Corbin put little frozen things in little paper tubes and then microwaved them.

How odd.

Cosmo chuckled. "Be careful what you let them talk you into."

"Are they not nice?" Hawk thought the boys seemed enthused for something that was possibly yucky.

"Define nice. They're kind of addicting, but nothing about them is actually food."

He didn't follow.

"They're yummy snacks," Corbin explained. "Not particularly nutritious."

"I thought they were breakfast."

"Careful, it's hot." Cullen handed him one when it came out of the microwave. "I'd wait a minute before eating it."

"Okay…"

"They're okay." Cosmo handed him a second one. "I want some fruit. That smells bad."

Hawk had eaten some truly awful things in the Middle Ages. This could hardly be worse. He tore one pastry open to look at the insides. Look at that. "So it's like a sausage roll."

Cosmo winced and backed away. "Yeah, no."

Oh dear.

Hawk bit into it and chewed thoughtfully. A movie line spoken about a bug by a lion came to mind. "Slimy…"

"But ugh." Corbin winked.

"I have had worse." It honestly wasn't bad. It wasn't good , but it wasn't bad.

"It smells like death." Cosmo was positively green.

"Oh, Cos, it's not that bad." Corbin chuckled. "I mean?—"

Cosmo bolted for the bathroom, and Hawk handed Cullen his extra pastry so he could wash his hands. "We should have waited to call your mother."

"So, what part of this do you think made him urpy?" Corbin seemed more curious than concerned.

"The pregnant part." Hawk chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with it. But I can't eat more if I want things like kisses."

"Ew." Cullen rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not worried about that."

Corbin rolled his eyes. "I was talking about feeding him like with food. Not kisses."

Suddenly, there was an odd sound, like the echo left behind after a bell stopped ringing.

About the time that Hawk recognized that something was coming, a willowy, sharp-featured lady with skin as green as leaf hoppers floated into the room.

That must be the mom.

She looked at both of her sons, nodded without a word, and turned her attention to Hawk.

"So, you're the one my son decided upon." Her voice was surprisingly low, like two stones rubbing together. Fascinating. He'd expected light and airy, somehow.

"I am. He's my mate. I'm so glad to meet you. I'm Hawk."

"It suits you." She offered him an arched eyebrow. "Calla of the Flower Mound. Pleased." She held out one hand, and it was tiny but strong, and that reminded him of the triplets, all three of them.

He shook, careful not to squeeze too hard or to be too limp.

Honestly, he needed to check up on Cosmo. He needed to see how badly Cosmo felt, tell him that his mom was here already, because…

"Mom." Cosmo stood there just as suddenly as his mother had arrived, pale face a little damp. "I'm sorry, I wasn't feeling well."

"It happens to the best of us." She went over and kissed Cosmo's cheek, laying one hand on his belly.

Hawk could hear the ringing of bells, feel a vast rush of power, enough that it made his toes curl.

Hawk watched Cosmo as Corbin and Cullen went back to eating their Hot Pockets, while Calla basically stood there and glowed.

He wasn't sure if this was some sort of a fae ritual or what. Maybe he shouldn't speak—especially if she was doing some sort of magic.

One way or the other, the boys weren't giving him any clues on how to act.

She's blessing the baby. She's making sure all is well.

She's—oh, my love. My mate!

Yes. Cosmo began to laugh, the sound overjoyed, and it was all he could do not to rush for his mate, but he did stand, vibrating as he waited for Calla to let him swoop in.

She chuckled, the sound deep and earthy, and glided toward her other sons after kissing Cosmo's cheek. "Congratulations, my son."

"Thanks, Mom." Cosmo opened his arms to Hawk, who came to hug him close.

"Love."

"Yeah." Cosmo beamed. "We're pregnant. And it just took a Hot Pocket."

"Imagine that." Hawk couldn't stop grinning. Goddess, he adored Cosmo. And now they were having a baby.

Then she went to Cullen and handed him a package. "The mushrooms you requested, my dear. I love the way your house looks."

"Thanks, Mom." Cullen took the Hot Pockets and wandered off, muttering softly to himself.

Which left Corbin staring at his mom.

"Are we still fighting?" she asked.

Corbin shook his head. "Of course not. Thanks for coming. Cosmo needed you."

"He did. I'm glad to see him happy. You need to be happy too."

Corbin simply watched her and arched an eyebrow.

"I did bring you a gift." She handed him what looked like a handful of seeds, pouring them into his hands. "I found these. I don't know what they're for, and I can't make them grow. So I thought perhaps you could."

Corbin looked shocked for a moment, and then pleased. "Well, thank you. That was very thoughtful."

"I do love you, son. Even though we might snarl periodically."

Corbin nodded and rested their foreheads together. "I love you too, Mom. I'll let you and Cosmo and Hawk get acquainted and talk. I'm going to go see if I can't identify these seeds."

Then Corbin walked away, leaving them alone in the kitchen.

"Would you like some tea?" Hawk asked.

"I would, and I would love to see your home if that's an option."

Hawk nodded and smiled, tickled to show off. "Of course."

Cosmo smiled suddenly. "I would love to show you the house. We have the best bedroom, and there's a stained-glass window and a tower."

"And a nursery, soon?"

Cosmo nodded. "Overlooking Lunastra."

"Ah, yes. Well, that's?—"

"Hawk was born there, Mom."

She looked stricken. "Oh. Oh, my dear, and now you're here…"

"With Cosmo. I will never regret that one bit."

And he meant it. No matter what else happened, he had a family now.

He would never be more grateful for anything than he was for them.