Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Kolton?” Simon came back into his human form with a start. A few things were immediately obvious. The weight in his gut had gone. He had a serious urge to use the bathroom, and it was a lot darker outside than it had been when Kolton had gone to the Underworld.

A whine to his side immediately reminded Simon of all the things his gargoyle half had warned him about before his change. But as Simon saw his beloved hound, curled around the egg protectively – he’s even put the blanket on the rug – his smile stretched his cheeks it was so wide.

“Oh, Kolton. I swear, that is the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Look at you, being so protective over our egg already. I love you so much.”

There was another whine, and the hound tilted his head slightly to one side. Simon pushed his need for the bathroom to the side, and sat down cross-legged, next to his hound, marveling at the size of the egg he’d been carrying.

“I’ve been a real shit these past two weeks,” he said softly, stroking over the hound’s head. “I owe you the biggest apology – making you feel as though I didn’t want you anymore or causing you to doubt how much I love you.”

The hound’s nose nudged his other hand and Simon chuckled as he started stroking with both hands, running his hands from the wide head and down an equally wide neck.

“I could make a thousand excuses, but none of them would justify the way I spoke to you or how I treated you. None of that was ever acceptable in any way, and I’m truly sorry. I turned what should’ve been a really happy time in our lives into me being a demanding diva, snapping because the world wasn’t turning the way I wanted it to.”

The hound sniffed the egg, and then lifted his head slightly. More pat encouragement. Simon understood those cues at least. “Do you remember ages ago - it feels like a lifetime ago now - when I talked to you about that need I had to be perfect and how badly I messed things up with us in the start?”

The head nod was slow, but Simon would take the acknowledgement for what it was. “When I realized I was pregnant, I was desperately worried I wouldn’t be a good father. The only examples I saw among my kind were for such a distant form of parenting. I didn’t want that for our child… I know, I know, we talked about that, too. You told me how you thought things would go with us raising a child when I learned we could have one. But inside I felt so inadequate. Children are so special, so innocent, and…and… I was so scared I’ll fuck things up with our little one and with you.”

Simon sniffed, his eyes watering as the weight of his confession sat out in the open. “You’re so strong,” he whispered brokenly. “You’re so open with your fears and if you don’t understand something, you ask – or you try to when your mate’s not being an asshole.

“As for me, instead of embracing that and turning to you with my deepest fears, I pushed you away to the point where you resorted to talking to a friendly dead person.” Not a sentence Simon ever thought he’d hear himself say, but that was his reality with his mate. He pushed on.

“I hate that I hurt you so much. I hate that I caused you to doubt me, my feelings for you and our baby and our mating. I would literally die without you, not because of the silly fated mate rules that mates die within a short time of each other. I do realize we’re both immortal. But if I didn’t have you in my life I don’t have a reason for living. Not now. You showed me how to have fun, how to embrace this wonderful world, and the endless opportunities in it. I’m so thankful you’re in my life.”

“And now we have this.” Simon had to sniff again and rapidly blinked, trying to clear the tears from his eyes. “Our precious egg, our new life that we created together. I could feel your happiness, even in my stone form, my other half is so much more attuned to you than I am at times. But your happiness as you touched the egg for the first time, despite everything I put you through, it gives me hope that we’ll make it, and we will have the relationship I crave, and I think you do, too.”

The hound whined, twisting his head around and rubbing the top of it against Simon’s shirt. “Is that you telling me we’re going to be all right?” Simon chuckled. “Does that mean I’m forgiven? That you still love me?”

I never stopped loving you, even when you were an ass to me.

Simon burst out laughing. The shock at hearing Kolton in his head was the icing on the cake. “When did we get a mind link?” He asked, blown away at what that bond between them meant.

Since we became genuinely connected, the hound said simply. I can feel how much you mean what you say, and I think next time you snap at me, I…I will be secure enough in our bond to tell you to stop and know that you will hear me.

“I will, my mate. I swear I will. I love you so much.”

I love you, too.

Bending over, Simon wrapped his arms around the hound’s neck, holding Kolton’s head close to his chest as his tears fell down his cheeks again – happy tears this time. The two beings stayed that way for some time, until Simon heard Kolton’s voice in his head again.

Your stomach sounds as if it’s about to explode. Simon could hear the humor in the hound’s words. Did you think you could spend some time in the bathroom now?

“I definitely could, and should,” Simon agreed. “And then we can think about dinner when you’re ready to shift.” Brushing a kiss on the hound’s head, he jumped up, reaching for his phone that had been left on the coffee table. “I want to do one thing first,” he said with a grin, clicking the camera app open and pointing the cameras at his mate. “The first picture for our baby album. One we can share with your group chat. Smile.”

The hound’s ears perked up, and he showed his teeth. Simon was laughing as he took the picture. It was truly adorable.