17. How To （Not） Deal With Being Pregnant

Joey settled uneasilyon the couch next to Blade, earning a sideways look from the man.

"What's wrong?" Blade murmured.

"Nothing."

"Joey." Blade narrowed his eyes. He wrapped an arm around Joey and tucked him into his side, his embrace so grounding that it released the air trapped in Joey's lungs. "Tell me."

"This was my mom's favorite show," Joey said in a small voice.

Blade froze. "Do you want to watch something else?"

Joey bit his lip. He hadn't thought about The Golden Dragon since he'd lost his family. It was an old show, and most people his age hadn't even heard of it.

Would it be so bad if he... tried watching it again? Maybe just for a little bit?

Joey straightened his shoulders. "I can watch it."

"We don't have to."

"I want to."

Blade angled another look at him. "All right. But we can stop at any time."

Joey nodded. Blade hit the button to start the first episode.

Everything about it was familiar. The twittering birds, the fake waterfall, the enraged roar of the Golden Dragon as it returned home to its forest, only to find its hoard completely gone.

It took Joey back to the days of him and his parents in their ghetto apartment, with the stained coffee table and the couch so worn that the stuffing had begun falling out.

But it had been comfortable. Mom always popped the DVD into the player with a happy dance, pulling Joey to his feet to dance with her as the opening credits rolled.

A pang struck Joey's chest. When he blinked, he was back in Blade's living room, with its polished hardwood floors and plush leather couches and a carved wooden coffee table, the huge TV mounted on the wall in front of them.

Blade was watching him closely, his large hand rubbing Joey's side.

Joey breathed in deeply, then breathed out.

In Blade's other arm, Katie babbled and cooed. Joey felt sorry for her, suddenly, being so far away from her real parents.

The misery piled up in his chest. He thought he could handle it. He'd been holding his own for a while.

But tears began streaming down his cheeks, hot and itchy. Joey cursed and swiped at his face.

"We'll watch something else," Blade said immediately.

Joey shook his head quickly. "No. No, it's... It's not so bad. It brought back memories."

"Bad memories?" Blade's concern grew.

"No, good memories. I used to watch this with my mom and dad. They were happy."

Blade's gaze softened. "Want to tell me about them?"

Joey nodded. "Mom used to make buttered popcorn for TV nights. She'd make a bowl for me and her to share, and one for dad because he kept finishing ours in the first ten minutes."

For no reason, Joey began to cry again.

"Joey." Blade frowned.

"It's okay." Joey tried to stop crying; he wasn't even feeling horrible right now. But the tears wouldn't stop. "I don't know why I'm crying."

"It's the show," Blade said.

"No, it's not. I just feel bad. D'you think it's because..." He glanced down at his belly.

"It's possible," Blade said softly, nuzzling his temple. "We really can watch something else."

Joey shook his head. Blade tipped Joey's face up, and kissed him gently on the mouth.

"You're incredibly brave," Blade whispered.

Joey cracked a watery smile. He pressed himself into Blade's side, seeking comfort.

Quinlan and Wren peeked at them from the other couch, their own babies cradled in their arms. Wren's baby began to cry; Wren hurriedly excused himself to the next room.

Eventually, Joey began to relax. In the show, the Golden Dragon had been interrogating every animal it could find in the forest, accusing them all of stealing its hoard.

"Golden dragons don't do that," Blade scoffed.

Hong waggled his eyebrows. "Because you know so much about golden dragons, huh?"

"Does hide color make a difference?" Joey blurted.

"No," Blade admitted, looking sheepish.

"And yet! Cop Master thinks golden dragons are better than any other." Hong clucked his tongue.

Blade flipped him off. "I didn't pay you to snark at me."

"Too bad," Hong said unrepentantly. "The snark is a freebie. Hire me, get it free!"

"I wish I'd fired you."

"You always say that." Hong cackled and waved toward the dining room wall, where the giant painting of cocks still remained hanging up.

"I'm going to burn that," Blade said.

"You can't. Even the paint is fireproof."

Even though Blade was scowling, he didn't seem... mad. Just mildly annoyed.

"Do you actually enjoy that?" Joey whispered with sudden realization.

"No," Blade growled.

"Joey." Hong turned with the widest shit-eating grin Joey had ever seen. "Did you know? When Blade was a wee child—"

"Hong." Blade frowned deeply.

"—he sneaked into the pantry where his parents had stashed his grandpa's birthday pie. And little Cop Master ate the whole pie. But not only that. He went up to his dad with his face covered in blueberry pie filling and said, ‘Papa! Guess what I did!'"

"Oh, gods," Joey whispered, cringing in sympathy.

"He got a good thumping for that! His papa told me he cried a lot." Hong grinned. "If you ever thought Cop Master was a big, strong man..."

Blade released Joey, transferring Katie to his other arm as he lunged at Hong. "Quit telling Joey stupid stories!"

"That wasn't even embarrassing!" Hong cackled, ducking out of the way. "That's a 2 out of 10 on the embarrassment scale! Here's another one—"

Blade chased Hong around the couches. Hong ran quickly enough that he was always three steps ahead of Blade's snarling grasp.

Katie squealed delightedly in Blade's other arm.

"Remember the ice cream cone incident? That I was going to tell you about?" Hong leaped over a couch. Blade followed, gnashing his teeth. "When ice cream cones were invented, your humble Cop Master lost a bet. A very special bet."

Joey held his breath. Blade blew a mouthful of flames at Hong; Hong ducked.

Katie laughed, all high-pitched and bubbly.

"I feel like I shouldn't ask," Joey said.

"I'll spare you the asking and tell you straight." Hong ran down a hallway, Blade hot on his heels. He emerged from a different hallway with a mad cackle. "The loser of the bet had to open his pants and drop his ice cream cone onto his... police baton. Love baton? Love rod. That sounds better."

"Shut up," Blade bellowed.

"I'm so glad dragons are not fast on their feet," Hong said, ducking from a swipe of Blade's clawed hand.

The way he moved, it felt like he'd had decades of practice staying out of range of Blade's attacks. Blade breathed in deeply and blew a long stream of fire at Hong.

Hong pulled up his silk robe to shield his head. "Fireproof. Cop Master made sure all my clothes are fireproof, so he can continue to breathe fire at me."

"Shut your mouth right now," Blade growled, his ears red.

Hong ducked behind Joey's couch, using him as a shield. Blade narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway." Hong threw himself sideways when Blade lunged around the couch. "When Cop Master got the ice cream all over his love rod, he didn't manage to wipe it off completely. He kept scratching his crotch through the whole day as it dried. People thought he'd gotten an infection. The news spread throughout the entire police department."

Blade roared, lunging for Hong and grabbing the back of his robe. Without missing a beat, Hong transformed into something small, dropping out of his clothes and out of sight.

Blade scowled, his neck red.

"I'm sorry," Joey blurted.

"I don't want to talk about it," Blade growled, looking at everything but him.

"Accidents happen," Joey said so Blade wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. When Blade kept glaring at the floor, Joey got off the couch, daring to wrap his arms around Blade's waist. "It's okay if you've done embarrassing things. Hell, I threw panties at your face when we first met!"

Blade snorted, but his lips twitched into a smile. "I'm supposed to provide, Joey. I don't want to mess up."

"Every day, I feel like I'm not enough to be your mate. I don't even have a job, or things, or..."

"We have to fix that," Blade murmured. "I think so highly of you. You don't need a job or things to convince me you're good enough. I know you are."

Joey bit his lip, trying to wrap his mind around those words.

"Katie thinks you're enough, too," Blade murmured. He gently placed Katie in Joey's arms. She babbled and smiled guilelessly. "Maybe one day, when things are a little calmer, you'd like to go to school for something? I'll pay."

Maybe. Joey had never thought he'd scrounge up enough money to go to school for art or design. "I don't want to impose."

"I just want you to be happy." Blade rubbed circles into Joey's nape.

The moment they stepped into the kitchen, Joey's stomach rebelled.

Why did the smell of food make him feel so bad?

"I don't think I can eat," Joey blurted. "My stomach."

Blade frowned. "What's wrong?"

The longer Joey stood in the kitchen, the harder his stomach churned. He hurriedly handed Katie to Blade. "Gotta go."

He stumbled to the nearest washroom and emptied his stomach into the toilet. Then he crouched in front of it and kept retching, feeling miserable.

A large presence crowded behind him. Hot fingers rubbed the back of Joey's neck, then his shoulders, before they disappeared.

Water ran. With one hand, Blade filled a mug. "Here."

"Thanks." When Joey was sure his stomach had settled, he rinsed out his mouth and flushed the toilet.

"That wasn't flattering, either," Joey mumbled. "Sorry you had to see this, Katie."

"She's stuffing her hand into her mouth," Blade said dryly, bouncing Katie in his other arm. "But now we're even, me and you. I've seen you throw up; you've heard my grotesquely embarrassing stories."

"Cop Master's parents have even more stories," Hong called out from somewhere. "Wait ‘til you meet them!"

Joey's stomach flipped so much that he thought he might get nauseous again.

Blade scowled. "Don't make Joey more anxious. Shut up. Or get him something for his stomach. Ginger ale?"

"Sounds good. I like ginger ale," Joey said.

"I'll make sure the fridge is fully stocked with it. Ginger candy, too. Would you like some crackers?"

"And spicy pickles." Joey rubbed his stomach. "Oh, gods. How long will this last?"

"The morning sickness? Less than a month, hopefully. Dragon pregnancies are six months. You're two weeks along now." Blade was looking intently at Joey.

Joey still remembered their very first time in bed. When he'd probably conceived. He blushed and accepted the hand Blade offered to him, letting Blade pull him to his feet.

Blade waited until Joey had flushed the toilet and washed his hands. Then he drew Joey against himself, rubbing his back.

"I want to be around when you feel sick," Blade murmured. "I would love to brush your hair out of your face and clean you up, rub your back when you feel this way."

"Your job's more important," Joey said.

Blade snorted. "My job will be there even if I neglect it. Maybe... I can take a few days off. Stay home and take care of you."

Joey's heart skipped.

"You haven't taken any days off for the past few years," Hong said outside the washroom. He'd put his clothes back on. "Cop Master is a terrible workaholic."

Blade scowled. "I had no reason to come home and suffer the thorn in my side."

"Hey!" Hong exclaimed.

To Joey, Blade murmured, "Now I have a reason to clock off work early every day. Maybe I can take days off in the middle of the week. Spread out my vacation days so you'll see me a lot more often."

No one had ever done that for Joey before. He blushed. "That sounds really good."

"That's what I'll do, then." Blade brushed his fingers in small circles across Joey's scalp, before nudging him out of the washroom.

"Are you okay, Joey?" Wren asked worriedly when Joey saw him.

Joey rubbed his belly. Wren and Quinlan's eyes widened.

"You knocked him up," Quinlan accused Blade.

"Congrats?" Wren whispered. "You want the baby, right?"

Joey blushed and nodded.

At that, Wren broke into a hesitant smile.

Blade grinned and pulled Joey against his front, covering Joey's belly with his hand. "We might have to repeat the process a few times to make sure it really took."

Joey's face burned. "Blade!"

"When you're feeling better, of course." Blade leaned in to drop a kiss on Joey's head.

Before Blade could settle them back on the couch, Hong turned his head, the mischief in his expression falling away. His eyes went unfocused.

"Cop Master."

His tone had Blade snapping his gaze up.

"We have visitors at the forest hedge. No goodwill."