Chapter Twelve

Axlin

In hopes of not coming across like a cave dragon, I didn't ask for much when it came to the nest. Casimir and the crew came in and out of it. None of that bothered me, but any time Izora was there in his official healer capacity to see my mate, I chased the rest of them off. I prayed that Melon didn't lay her egg until after our baby was born. That way I wouldn't have to worry about her feelings about it. She hadn't bitched about it yet, despite practically living in her nest.

I showered at Sprinkles and put on a good pair of slacks before flying home. I knew I didn't have to dress up for Izora but it only felt right to dress up for this picture session. By now our baby would look like a baby. They'd have all their little digits and eyes and maybe they'd somehow remember this day. I was probably crazy, but my carrier always said being a parent makes you that way.

On the flight home, I thought about how much I'd talked to my parents since meeting Castor. We talked on the phone nearly every day now and I took photos of all the baby pictures and sent them to my parents before submitting them to the website. They were over the moon at the thought of their first grandchild. They were currently on a cruise around Starscale 3's vast oceans. They offered to take a flight and be of assistance, but we had things handled. Still, it was nice that they wanted to be part of our kid's life.

The dining hall was already clear of people except for Castor and Izora when I arrived home. Castor's eyes lit up when I walked in and something inside me melted – the same something that always melted every time I saw him. Even after months of waking up next to him every morning he still melted me.

"After the doctor leaves," he teased me over our mating link.

"How was work?" Izora asked, taking his machine out of its little carrying pouch.

"Good. Sprinkles was lit today. A group of retirees came in from Starscale 3. They were a hoot!" I laughed. "It was fun."

"Sounds like it," Izora laughed as I climbed into the nest and gave Castor a quick kiss hello.

He rested against the edge of the nest, shirtless now. Shirtless almost always like the rest of us. His black scale looked extra shiny from all the hormones pregnancy surged through his body.

"Let's hope they haven't crossed their legs and gone modest on us," Izora said.

"Do they do that?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Not to spite us," Izora laughed. "I doubt they ever know what we're doing and if they do it probably makes no sense to them. They just get comfy without a thought in our direction."

A few minutes later our little boy showed up on the screen of Izora's machine and a sob tore from deep within Castor's chest. He was a big baby. A healthy baby. I wrapped my arm around Castor's shoulders and kissed his temple.

"Beautiful. He's so beautiful," I whispered to him, and he nodded.

"We're going to frame this one," Castor said a second later and I nodded my agreement.

***

And we framed that photo and hung it up right in the dining room two days later. It was the same day that I started my parental leave from Sprinkles. I would miss the crowds and have to find other ways to burn off my energy, but I didn't want to leave Castor on his own during the last days of his pregnancy.

By then Castor's belly was big enough that he needed help in and out of the nest. Melon had taken to reading her books and magazines on all fours. No one mentioned it, but I'd have bet my favorite cod scale on it being a sign that she was close to laying her egg. Casimir was around more and more too as if his inner beast sensed that the time was coming.

For now, gone were the days of romping all over the ship. It wasn't Casimir or Melon who stopped us, but how uncomfortable Castor was in general during the last few weeks of his pregnancy. Sometimes he couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep at night no matter where we tried. So, I'd stay up with him talking until we were both too tired to worry about if a position was comfortable or not. It was during one of those late-night conversations that our son was named.

"Caxlin," Castor said that night out of the blue. "Caxlin. What do you think of that for our baby? After the two most important men in my life."

"Caxlin," I tried the name out.

It rolled off my tongue as I imagined a little toddler, the perfect blend of me and Castor, roaming the Medwin 2.

"It's perfect," I told him a moment later. "Caxlin."

A grunt tore from the other nest and I started to jump up. Castor grabbed my arm and shook his head.

"She's laying her egg," he said over our mating link. "Leave her be. If she needs help, she'll speak up. It's not exactly something she wants to turn into a spectator sport. She already chased Casimir out of the nest tonight. Said he'd never look at her the same way if he saw how the egg came out."

"That's bullshit. I don't think Casimir is that shallow," I furrowed my brow.

"I don't think he is either, but they're not mates. She has the right to privacy. She'll let him see the egg. He'll be there when it hatches, but right now this is her thing. She can deal with it however she likes."

We lay in silence for a long time and when Melon finally fell silent Castor asked if she needed anything.

"I'm just waiting for the egg to harden up before I take a shower," she said and let out a long, slow breath. "It's black. I know the shell doesn't always match the baby's scales, but he's black like Casimir. It's sorta cute."

"If you need anything let me know, alright? I may be a scaley beached whale, but I can help," Castor chuckled.

"We're okay. The egg is so cute," she said.

"She's flooded with that love hormone that makes birthing and egg laying bearable. Izora says without it no one would ever do it more than once," Castor yawned over our mating link.

"Are you afraid of having our baby?" I asked.

"A little bit. I think everyone is a little bit scared, though. Today while you were gone out hunting with Casimir, Izora came in for a chat. He felt all over me like I was a prime rib rack and then told me the baby was head down now. That's a good thing. Head down babies are easier to birth than those who want to jump into the world feet first or those who come ass first to tell the world to kiss it."

I laughed and bit my lip to stop myself from disturbing Melon's bonding time with her egg.

"I'm a little bit scared too," I admitted once I got over the positions the baby could've been born in. "I'm scared it's going to hurt you. I'm afraid that something will go wrong. Things are good. We're happy. The baby's healthy inside you. I couldn't imagine losing one or the other of you."

"And you won't. Izora's good at what he does. He's even sterilized the clinic for an emergency c-section. That's where---"

"They have to cut the egg—I mean baby out. It happens occasionally when eggs don't want to lay and get too big for their own good inside their carriers."

"It shouldn't come down to that but if it does, I'll be in good hands."

"I know," I said and kissed his temple. "I love you so much. I'm so glad you came here."

"Me too, mate," he said and turned over for me to spoon in behind him.

We fell asleep to Melon cooing and talking to her egg. I wasn't sure if she ever got that shower. If she did it was after Castor and I drifted off.