Epilogue

Peter

"Is everything okay?" Karl stopped in front of me, as I laid curled up in the nest, the egg safely tucked in around me.

"Everything is perfect." I scootched over and made room for my mate "Come join us. Where's Georgi?"

"Rayne asked to take him with his kids to the park and then for pizza. I texted you about it."

"Oh. I left my phone over there." I pointed to the nightstand ten feet away.

"I'll get it and join you. Is there anything else I can get you?" Karl handed me my phone.

"Maybe some water and the pretzels from the pantry." My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Got it. I'll be right back."

While Karl collected the snacks, I replied to Rayne's text asking if Georgi could spend the night. My phone rang, and Rayne's name popped up on the screen. "Sure. Do you need to pick up anything of his? Clothes? Toothbrush?"

"Nope. We are all good. I keep extras in the bathroom for surprise sleepovers, and he seems to be the same size as Xavier so that he can borrow something from him. I'll have him call you before bed." Rayne was a terrific friend, and I was so glad the kids got along.

"Thanks. Let me know if any plans need to change."

"Will do." Rayne disconnected the call after verifying that Georgi didn't have any food allergies.

I put the phone on the floor outside the nest and cuddled with the egg. Something told me all day that this little one might be getting ready for his newborn debut. So far, there have been no cracks.

"Here you go." Karl handed me a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels. "I also heated some leftover pizza and grabbed some fruit and yogurt."

"Thanks, babe." I leaned over and kissed him once he sat down. "I had breakfast, but time seemed to slip by today, and I was spending time with Junior here."

"Sounds better than my day." Karl rolled his eyes. "Nikolai had another accident today, which caused the whole floor to be evacuated for about two hours for cleanup. So, I took over some hands-on training for the teen recruits GSC sent for the summer. Those kids are vicious."

"Aw." I reached over and rubbed his head. "Did the mean teenager hurt my big, rough alpha?"

"Not that." Karl swatted my hand away. "It's just that they didn't want any breaks, so we kept going. I'm exhausted."

"Poor baby." I bit into the slice of pizza and moaned. "Thanks for thinking about bringing all this. I am starving."

"No problem." Karl squinted at the egg. "Is that a crack?"

"What?" I turned the egg around to examine it. "Holy shit. Finally. All day, I felt it was time, but I hadn't seen any signs. I was starting to think my intuition was wrong."

"Never doubt yourself, baby." Karl stole a pretzel from my plate. "You are usually right on. Remember when you told me that Georgi would get sick a couple of weeks ago, and I said he wouldn't? Who was right? Certainly not me. I got thrown up on during the ride home. That was such a mess to cleanup. All over the back of my seat. Not to mention my hair."

"And now I'm done eating."

"Oh shit. Sorry, babe." Karl grimaced. "I forgot you have such a gag reflex."

"It sucks." I tried to hold back the nausea building at the image my brain was trying to show me. "And raising little kids. Do you know how often they speak of nasty things? A lot."

"Look." Karl pointed to our egg. "It's rocking. I think I see a few more cracks, too."

"Do you know how long this part takes?" I'd only had friends who gave live births to newborns, so I wasn't sure how hatching happened.

"I'm not sure," Karl said, picking up his phone. "I texted my brother the other day. He said it could be a few minutes from the first crack or several hours. So, I guess we need to wait and see."

Our little one seemed impatient to meet us, too. "Wow. Look at it rolling around. And those cracks are getting bigger and bigger. Do you think it's a little bear cub or a dragon baby in there?"

"If we go by the newest generations, we will have a multi-shape shifter on our hands." Karl smirked. "But going by that claw sticking out right there, I say it looks like a polar bear rather than a dragon now."

"Oh my goddess." I stared at the tiny claw trying to tear the shell open. "You'd better take a picture."

"I did. Don't worry." Karl waved his phone around." I know you want pictures, but I am only taking a couple. I don't want to miss this."

"Thanks, babe." I moved all the food out of the nest for more room. "Your phone just takes better pictures than mine does."

"We'll upgrade you soon. That was just a temporary one anyway."

"Be ready to snap a pic. Here they come."

The claw had finally broken fully out, followed by a white paw, then an arm, and finally, the whole shell shattered, and our tiny cub sat there and blinked at us.

"We should shift." I took off my T-shirt and flung it onto a chair.

"You go ahead. I'm going to wait a minute," Karl said, snapping another picture.

Shifting into my bear form, our baby crawled over and rubbed against my fur. I remember Georgi doing this as a baby, and I couldn't wait for him to meet his new little brother.

Karl had undressed and shifted into his dragon form. Luckily, the bedrooms had been built large enough for giant beasts. Thank the goddess the builders knew shifters may need the room during nesting to shift inside. The cub stared at his father and tilted its head. Through smell, he would be able to tell we were his parents, but he still needed to figure out so much about life.

Suddenly, a tiny blue dragonette sat where a tiny cub once was.

I shifted back into my human form and snapped a pic on Karl's phone. "We are going to treasure these later."

That being done, I shifted back and joined my little family again, letting our new addition sniff us and explore our nest.

Life was good.

***

Karl

Rayne dropped Georgi off in the morning, and I thanked him and turned to my son. "Ready to meet your baby brother, buddy?" I hugged Georgi. "We've been waiting for you so we could take a family picture and send it to my parents and brother."

"Do you guys still love me?" Georgi bowed his head, and my heart felt ill.

"Of course we do." I lifted his chin so he could see the honesty on my face. "Hearts are big enough to love all your children, no matter how many."

"But you weren't always my daddy, not like you are with Liam."

"That's true." I nodded. "But that doesn't mean I love you any less. You are both my sons. You also have another father out in the world."

"But he doesn't want to see me."

"Oh, buddy." I hugged Georgi again. "It's not that at all. And when you are older, you will understand much better. Your birth father wants the best for you and knows that right now, he cannot give that to you. That is why he let your papa and you go. So you can be happy and free with me and everyone here, with all the love we can offer. Do you understand?"

"I guess." Georgi looked toward the bedrooms. "Can we go see Liam and Papa now?"

"Sure, buddy. Let's go."

We entered the bedroom and found Peter lying in the nest with a sleeping Liam.

"Sshhh." Peter held a finger to his lips. "He just fell asleep, but he will be up in an hour or two, and you can play with him then. For now, come snuggle with us."

Georgi ran into the room and stopped just before the nest. Carefully, he went over to Liam and kissed his papa before climbing in. I lay behind him and wrapped him in my arms.

"Little buddy was afraid we wouldn't still love him." I looked at Peter. "I told him we have enough love for all our children."

"That's right." Peter leaned over and kissed Georgi's forehead.

"Daddy Karl also said my other father still loves me." Georgi yawned and curled up closer to his baby brother. "That's why he let us go. Because he needed us to be free, and he couldn't be free."

"That's true." Peter smiled at me and reached an arm to hold both his sons. "And now we are free to be here."

Georgi didn't respond, fallen fast asleep.

"I wasn't sure what else to say." I shrugged. "I'm still new at all this."

"You did great, babe." Peter closed his eyes. "Now, take a nap with your family."

And I did. I dreamed of the four of us shifting and running in the field out back.

Together forever.

Happy and with a home full of love.

***