18. Marcelo

Chapter 18

Marcelo

As much as I wanted to mark him right here on the spot, it was important for Jackson to have all of the information. He had already gotten so much thrown at him pretty much all at once. First he learned about my pregnancy, then that Brooklyn and I shifted into dragons, and then the very basics about mating.

He handled it far better than I thought he would. Heck, better than I would have had I been in his shoes. He was amazing, though. Not once did he seem afraid of us, and if I were being honest with myself, that had been my biggest concern. I didn't want there to ever be a time where he was scared of me, to think that I could or would ever do him harm. And my beast wasn't a kitten. Being scared of a person turned fire-breathing beast was a logical response.

Jackson reached over and slapped my arm. It took me half a second to realize that he had killed a mosquito that was feasting on me.

"Thanks."

"Maybe we should go home and finish this conversation, and maybe some other stuff." Jackson swished his hand around his ear, and when I looked over there was another of those little vampires buzzing there.

By "other stuff," I assumed he was referring to us marking each other, and I was on board with that. No one needed something that important to be thwarted by hungry mosquitoes. It was pretty bad out, and it didn't help that two of us were naked.

We got dressed and went back home, driving through a chicken place along the way. Shifting always made me hungry, and after everything my stomach had gone through earlier, and then flying around, I wanted to keep feeding myself to avoid feeling nauseous again. And chicken sounded like it would hit the spot.

We ended up at Brooklyn's, sitting at his table, eating chicken fingers and biscuits. It was almost anticlimactic considering we'd learned about babies, did the big reveal of our beasts, and agreed to mark each other. But also, it was pretty perfect. It was as if everything was as it should be. If we could just be normal together after a day like today, then our lives were going in the right direction.

"You know what I don't like?" Jackson asked.

"Ranch," I guessed, because he was the only one of us not using the ranch for his chicken.

"Ranch is fine." He half shrugged and set his chicken down. "I don't like that we don't live together. I know we spend almost every night together, but that's not the same."

"I don't like it either," I said, and Brooklyn agreed.

"So what should we do about it?" Jackson asked.

"I think we should agree that we're gonna move in together and agree to table the conversation as to how that's going to look for the moment." Brooklyn's words had Jackson sinking into his seat, as if Brooklyn had just broken his heart."I only say this because we've already had a lot of decisions to make today, and adding more might be… too much?" Brooklyn continued, "Besides, I want to get to the next part of our day."

"The next part?" Jackson asked.

"The part where you become ours for always… after we make sure you know all the details." I hated adding more delay, but I'd hate it more if he had even an ounce of regret.

"Okay, okay." Jackson reached for a new biscuit. "We can talk."

And we did. While we were eating, Brooklyn and I explained every little detail we thought might be relevant for Jackson while making his decision. He asked questions. We answered them. and we kept the conversation going until everyone felt comfortable.

As soon as our meal was over, I offered to do the dishes, which was just throwing out our trash thanks to the takeaway gods, and then I dragged them both into the bedroom.

"My dragon, he feels unsettled," I admitted. I'd never have put this pressure on them had I not known that this was exactly what they wanted too. My dragon was being an ass, though. He wanted to have marked them already.

"He doesn't like knowing I'm carrying your young and no one's marked."

"My dragon's feeling the same," Brooklyn said.

"I know I don't have a dragon, but I think that's as close to a description as I have for how I'm feeling. Like there's unfinished business. I didn't understand what it was that I was feeling. I thought it was nerves about the reveal. But now I get it. It's like… like I don't really feel whole either."

Jackson spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know how to do this. Maybe you should start. Maybe you two should mark me first, and then I can get all chomp-chomp."

In all my life I'd never heard mating described as chomping, but I supposed that worked as well as any description.

We stood, Jackson in the middle, Brooklyn behind him and me in front of him.

"I love you, both of you," I said, feeling extra emotional. Mating? Hormones? I didn't know which, and I didn't care. The joy filling me was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.

I had my mates, and they both accepted me. I was about to mark and be marked by them. We were going to be a family.

"I love you." Jackson's words had me lunging forward, my teeth clamping down as I marked his shoulder and Brooklyn did the same from the other side.

My dragon felt the snap of the beginning of our bond. He was prancing around like he'd just won the lottery, and really, as far as mates went, we really had. I pulled back, kissed the spot where I marked him, and then nestled into the crook of his neck, hugging him close. Jackson was the delicious cookie center or our first round of marking. We'd each get a turn.

"I feel different, like… I don't know how I feel, but it's like I'm more whole?" He kissed the top of our heads. "Let's put you in the middle this time, Marcelo."

We all agreed, and a few seconds later, I stood with Brooklyn in front of me and Jackson behind. To my surprise, Jackson was the first one to mark me, his teeth sinking into my shoulder. Brooklyn followed a couple of seconds later.

My bond with Jackson solidified, snapping into place the second my flesh broke. It was so much more than I thought it would be. Like I was somehow more me. And even with that powerful connection there for the first time, I could also sense the beginning of my bond with Brooklyn.

"Thank you," I murmured and kissed each of their cheeks. Just like last time, we clung to each other, holding ourselves close.

"Let's get me in the center. See if we can seal this deal," Brooklyn said.

Brooklyn got in the center this time, and for the third time, the outsides marked the middle. This time was different, though. This time I felt the final of our bonds firmly snap into place. It felt so… complete.

"I feel… Thank you. Can we maybe… Is it okay if we snuggle for a while?" Jackson said.

"We can snuggle for a while." I took both their hands and led them to the bed where we undressed each other, both of them kissing my belly above where our babies were growing.

We climbed into bed and under the covers. I lay in the middle with my mates flanking me on each side, their hands resting on my belly.

"We're growing a family," Brooklyn mused.

"A family with little dragons." Jackson kissed the spot where he marked me. "I hope they are like both of their alpha fathers."

"That's funny, because I was hoping they would be just like you." Jackson intertwined his fingers with Brooklyn's. "Will we know if they will be dragons or humans right away?"

"Oh yeah, you'll know really quickly," I said. Eggs had a way of letting things get known.

But before I could tell him about that part of my pregnancy, both he and Brooklyn's hands started traveling lower, and all rational thought fled from my head.