Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

I t was storming at Samuel's house. He tried not to let his aggravation at his parents spill over into his life, but he thought it was a win that it wasn't raining in the house, just on the house. And so far, no lightning had actually hit anything of any importance.

That could still happen.

Samuel could tell that Jake was coming home. Was flying home even with the food, and he wasn't sure if he was starving to death or nauseated. Possibly both. He wanted to throw up. The baby wanted him to eat.

God knew, storming took a lot out of a dragon.

"Why are they so mean?" he asked Grant.

Grant blinked at him and frowned deeply. "Mean."

"Yes, they're so mean. And I don't know why. They're supposed to like me."

Grant tilted his head again and toddled over to him, holding his arms up high. "Uppies. Picking me up."

"You're demanding."

"Picking me up." The water faucet in the kitchen turned on.

And Celeste moved to turn it off. "Don't do that."

"Picky me up." The refrigerator door opened.

"Not until you shut the door."

Celeste stopped in her tracks on her way to close the door. Grant tilted his head. And the refrigerator shut. This was so going to be a problem when he turned thirteen or fourteen? They were going to have to put him in a steel box deep under the ground. They'd just drop food and magazines down periodically. Wash him off periodically with the hose.

Samuel grinned at Grant. "Thank you, baby." And then he picked him up. Grant smelled good, and Samuel snuggled him close. "Your dad will be home soon, and then we'll have food. Possibly a movie snuggle. Maybe two snuggles? Two are the greatest."

Grant nodded. "Greatest. Two snuggles. One for me and one for you."

There was a soft whomp in the backyard. Well, maybe it was more of a hard whomp and a splash. It was really kind of raining very hard.

Jake walked into the kitchen not long after that, drying off with a towel from the mudroom. "I think I managed to keep the food dry." He dropped a kiss on Samuel's mouth, but it was easy to see he was still working through a fury.

He had shaken the entire wing with his rumbles in the earth.

Between that and his lightning storm, he felt their point had been made.

"Smells yummy."

"Lila sent enough for you too, Celeste." Jake smiled at their family helper.

"Oh, that's kind." She smiled, but there was more than a hint of teeth about it.

He had to chuckle, even if there was no humor behind it. Everyone was in high dudgeon. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe they came here."

"What's so special about the rocks?" Jake unpacked food bags, grinning when Grant started grunting and making grabby hands.

"Rocks?" Samuel didn't follow. "What rocks?"

"The parental units. They gave me like, rubies to keep for Grant. Said they were Susan's."

"Ah. They were the part of her hoard she didn't leave with. It's a shame, huh?"

"Yes." Jake stared at him intently. "But why these? What's so important about them?"

How on earth did he know? He hadn't even seen them, as far as he knew. "Maybe they are just to be for Grant? Does he have the ones she brought with her?"

"He does, yeah. Tucked away in the vault. She had left instructions." Jake shrugged. "We'll put them all together, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe they'll sing or glow or…" Or maybe they would just make Grant smile. Maybe they didn't mean anything.

"Let's eat, huh?" Jake handed him a plate, and it had all the things. Fried chicken. Enchiladas. The hand pies were on the counter…

"Eating is good. Your baby is hungry."

"I baby!" Grant announced.

"You are. But I have one in my belly, too, remember."

Grant looked at his belly, then leaned close. "Hewwoooo, babby."

Like she'd heard him, the baby kicked hard, responding to Grant, whose eyes went wide.

"Babby!"

He loved that Grant pronounced it different than he did baby for himself.

"Yes, that's the baby. That's your sister."

"Babby, Ammu? Babby me?"

"Your baby? Yes. And you're my little love." Samuel never wanted Grant to have doubt that he was loved. Cared for. Important.

"Luff." Grant kissed him, so sloppy.

"I love you too."

"And I love both of you." Jake beamed at him.

I'm sorry about my parents. He felt so…unwanted.

I love you. And they get this one pass from me because they made you and Susan. But if they ever hurt you again, all bets are off. Jake reached out to take his hand.

He held on, unsure of what to say. No one wanted him but Jake. Did that mean Jake was fooling himself?

Lightning flashed outside the house, making the pups jump and bark, and Grant began to cry.

Oh, no. What was wrong with him?

"Hey." Jake shifted Grant to one arm, reeling him in. "I have you."

"I'm so sorry." I don't mean to be…this.

This what?

Hurt? Mad? Affected? Stunned?

"Shh. Let me get Grant settled."

"Okay." He sniffled, trying not to upset their son any more than he had.

Jake kissed his forehead, then took Grant to the highchair to have his snack. They fed him in silence, then Jake took Grant to his playpen to have his nap.

Daddy? The little voice made Samuel blink. Daddy, Ammu sad.

Jake looked back at him, eyes wide.

"Was that…"

"I know, baby boy," Jake told Grant. "I'll help him feel better while you have a nap, hmm?" Jake's grin just dawned like sunrise.

Samuel sat down with a thump.

He'd heard Grant. Like heard him.

Honestly, they were just lucky he didn't have some sort of mental emotional tornado right here, right now.

Between his parents showing up out of the blue without even calling, Grant's worrying about him, and him hearing Grant? He was a swirl of wild emotions.

Samuel supposed that was a little less dangerous than a hurricane of fury or something, but still.

At some point, the wing was going to start complaining about the rain.

A glass of cold water landed by his elbow, Celeste wandering by without a word.

"Thank you, lady."

"You're welcome. I'm going upstairs. I'll hear Grant if he needs me." And then she was off again, her scales rattling softly.

He sighed, feeling drained. The rain eased off to a soft patter on the roof, and he slumped onto one of the barstools at the kitchen pass-through.

"Hey." Jake walked up, putting a hand on his back. "I love you."

"I love you. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I'm not enough. I tried, but I couldn't be the dragon they needed."

"You are enough." Jake stroked his hair. "I know I didn't help your self-esteem much when you showed up, but I was like a wolf with a thorn in its paw. I was hurting." Jake kissed him gently. "You made it better."

"I wanted to. Not at first. At first, I just wanted to be somewhere else."

"I can understand that." Jake pulled him off his stool, then grabbed the food and tugged him to sit on the couch. "We'll nosh. Now I see why your sister just ran too."

"She promised that she would come back for me, but…"

"But then she had a baby. And shit happened. But she led you here."

"She did." He suddenly teared up again. "I miss her. I loved her, so much, mate."

"I know. I miss Jolie too." They gave up on the food, Jake putting it on the coffee table in favor of holding him in those strong arms.

"I bet. I'm so sorry. I love you, you know. I'm sorry they died, but I'm glad I found you."

"I'm glad too, sweet." Jake cradled him close. "So glad. Grant and I are the luckiest of dragons."

"I love you both. More than I can say."

"Good. Then your old keep and your parents can fuck right off."

"Fuck!" Grant said distinctly from his playpen.

Samuel's eyes went wide. "Jake!"

"Oops." Jake did not look contrite, but he felt the hum of communication between Jake and Grant, then Grant trilled.

"Sowwy."

"You're all right, sweet boy. That's not a nice word."

But Daddy said it.

Mmhmm. Daddy was being a bad dragon.

Grant's happy laughter made him smile. He took a deep breath, then let it out. He had a place here. A family. No matter what his parents did.

He just needed to remember that.

More than that, he needed to embrace it.