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23. Brooklyn

Chapter 23

Brooklyn

Ever since the eggs were laid and brought home to the safety of their nest, Marcelo had stayed by their side. He snuggled into his fairy-lit nest, the three of them right in front of him. The eggs were beautiful, especially with the colored lights reflecting off of them.

At the time, the chairs and the nest didn't really make sense to me. But now that he was settled in, I saw why he had set them up so carefully. He set each one in a chair, like little dragons all in a row where he could see them. During the day, he often brought them into the nest with him, wrapping around them all papa-dragon like. But when he slept, he set them in their little chairs so they wouldn't be harmed. He also had them in there when he wanted to read them some of the books he bought. He would even show the eggs the pictures. It was freaking adorable.

I didn't love that he wouldn't leave the nest for more than a few minutes at a time. I didn't think it was the best for him, but he did stretch and grab something to eat if one of us were in there, so I tried not to worry too much about it.

"What can I get you for lunch?" I asked.

"Nothing today," Marcelo replied. "I mean right now. Not today."

I curled up beside him, holding him close.

"No, you meant today. Is your stomach upset?" It hadn't been since his first trimester, but that didn't mean it wouldn't come back. His body was still hormonally charged even after laying the eggs. It was still working overtime to get ready to provide for our babies.

"I'm feeling the pull to stay here."

"I know." I kissed his mate mark.

"No. I mean, it's more than most days. Like if I leave, I'll miss it." He turned to face me. "Should we be calling Jackson to come home?"

He rolled back to face the eggs.

"I hadn't realized that it was so much stronger today. But maybe we should." And maybe it was just me being paranoid, but I didn't want to not call him. "I'd rather him be here when it wasn't time than not be here and miss the babies."

He agreed with me on that. I dialed Jackson's phone and put him on speakerphone.

"Is it time?" he answered.

"Maybe. Marcelo's feeling a pull to be close to them."

"I'll be home in ten," Jackson said, hanging up before we could say anything else.

"He's gonna break every speed limit to get here, isn't he?" Marcelo asked.

"Yeah, probably. Did you want to hit up the bathroom before he gets here?"

He growled at me. "Not leaving them."

"Okay. I was just offering." I preferred he took care of himself, but if I were the reason he missed the first wiggle of the egg, I'd never forgive myself, so I dropped it.

"I'm at least getting you lunch." He needed to eat. I went with the quickest lunch I could come up with, turkey on bread. I didn't even bother putting veggies on it and assembled them in the room, but he'd have a bit of nutrition and that was something.

I sat with him, the two of us watching the eggs for any sign of movement as we ate our sandwiches and waited for our third.

According to the midwife, they could hatch anytime now. Literally anytime—today, tomorrow, next week, in a minute. We didn't know, and not having an exact gestation age made it a little more difficult to pinpoint.

It was only a couple of minutes before Jackson joined us, just watching the babies expectantly. Minutes turned into hours, and eventually, Marcelo did need to get up and pee. He contemplated bringing the babies in the wagon to the bathroom. It wouldn't be the first time. But when he realized it was faster just for him to hurry up, he opted for that instead. And did he ever hurry, coming back with his hands still soaking wet a minute later, wiping them on his pajama pants.

"I made it in time," Marcelo said. And even if they had wiggled a little, I had a feeling Jackson and I wouldn't have "seen" it so that he could experience the first.

Jackson made the executive decision to order in food after Marcelo's stomach growled loud enough to wake the neighbors, if there were any. Mark had found his mate and was now living on the other side of the city, his house currently for sale.

Jackson cited that we needed to eat if we were going to be ready to take care of our babies. He delivery-apped the order, because he didn't want to leave the eggs either. He might know as much about this process as we did, but he loved our little dragon eggs with a love so deep…

There was a movement in the corner of my eye. "Did anyone see…?"

"I think so?" Jackson mumbled about not caring if the food came and sat on the porch until morning.

"I think?" Marcelo scootched closer.

Jackson sat straight up. "There. They moved. The one in the purple, for sure." Meaning the purple chair.

The eggs had our undivided attention. We sat there, holding hands, watching them intently. I was almost afraid to move, in fear that I would miss it.

There was another little move, then the one to the left, the blue egg, jiggled.

We moved a little closer, so close that the next move would have us sitting on them. Nobody wanted that.

Minutes passed before there was any more movement, this time the first egg again. And from there it kept on jiggling. The other two both had their little moves, but baby number one was determined, and it showed.

Wiggling turned to tapping. They were hitting the shell with their little claws. Then we heard a beautiful sound, the sound of the egg cracking for the first time. That crack turned to a little piece falling off, the tilt of the first shell breaking. The entire thing wasn't here yet, just a little piece that fell out. And then another.

And then I saw it, the nose of a beautiful baby dragon.

The midwife had drilled into us not to help. That didn't stop me from wanting to do so. Knowing we weren't supposed to help and feeling comfortable watching as the little one struggled to break through was hard.

It was so very difficult watching our baby dragon struggle, trying to get to his father. But he did it. Our little dragon broke off a huge chunk of his shell and pushed his way out. When he did, his wings opened up—and the beauty of them nearly sucked my breath away.

We watched him in wonder for a minute, before Jackson leaned forward and picked him up, bringing him to our mate's chest for our boy's first meal.

It was the last time we'd see our son's dragon for many years, and I was going to cherish that memory until my last breath.

When the next one cracked open, Marcelo handed our son to Jackson and reached over and gathered our sweet dragon, suddenly holding our baby girl.

"She's so perfect," he whispered, and she began to cry.

"Perfect and hungry," I teased.

The last little one was our fierce little dragon. The first crack came so quick, but then everything else from there went in slow motion. There was no little piece falling off. No wiggling. It started to feel like maybe it was taking too long, and I was about to call the midwife, when he finally broke through in one quick motion.

"Sure likes to keep us waiting," I teased as I picked him up and watched him shift into our baby boy.

We named them Kristin, Josh, and Matthew, and they filled our hearts so completely.

Our little family doubled in size in one evening, and as we all snuggled together on the nest, I felt happier, more content, than I ever had before.

"I love you… all of you."

"As we love you." Jackson reached over with one hand, placing it on mine.

"As we love you." Marcelo's hand joined ours.

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