Chapter Sixteen

"You really need to get outside, honey." Stone squatted beside me, looking like he'd rather be having any other conversation other than this one. I didn't blame him. It was embarrassing.

The worst part was that he was right. I did need fresh air. It had been over a week since I'd spent more than the time it took me to brush my teeth and take a three minute shower away from the eggs.

We were at the point where the babies were going to be born any day now. According to the midwife, they could be here as soon as tomorrow, which, giving some room for error, could mean any second. I didn't want to miss a single moment of their hatching.

But I also hadn't seen sunlight, except through the window, in a long time.

Those were the facts. What I was going to do with them, I still hadn't decided.

"Stone, I know. " And I needed the sunshine. "but what if they're born while I'm outside?"

"Hold on. I have an idea." He righted himself and left the house. He wasn't angry or anything. His "idea" was obviously not in our cabin, but what it was? I had no idea. I was almost curious enough to get up and look out the window to see where he was heading. Almost.

"Your papa's being silly," I said, stroking each one of the eggs.

I wasn't sure if eggs were like babies in the womb who could hear me, or if they could sense us close by. But I figured every word I said had an opportunity to get to them, and that made it worth it.

Even before I laid them, I talked to my babies. I'd told them so much since discovering I was pregnant. I told them about my grandmother and what an influence she had on me growing up. I told them all about my math class, which I'd managed to both finish and ace last week from the nest. I also shared with them all about Stone's dragon and how they were going to be big and strong like he was.

When I discovered they were coming in the form of eggs and were therefore by default dragons, it piqued my curiosity. Would be the same color as my mate? Each other? According to Stone, we'd know when we knew. I didn't have a preference.

I spoke to them about pretty much anything and everything that came to my mind. When I showered, I'd hear their father chatting with them. He did when I was around too, but it was still all kinds of adorable to listen to him share his favorite stories with them while I washed away the day.

I could only imagine them being good and done with all the chatter. They were going to be born and have their first words seconds later. "Please, please, please stop talking."

A few minutes after he left, my mate came back in with the laundry cart.

"What are you doing?" There were no turnover cabins today and, even if there were, this wasn't one of them.

"I told you I have an idea." He took the couch cushions off and put them in the bottom of the cart. Then he piled our bedding in there followed by a bunch of the pillows I'd insisted we needed that the nest hadn't had room for.

"You're still not explaining what you're doing."

"Trust me."

Of course, I trusted him. I just was clueless as to what it was he was up to. Next thing I knew, he was picking up one egg and then the other and laying them gently inside the laundry cart, and it all made sense. He was making a portable nest for our little ones.

"Okay, outside time," he said, wheeling the cart right to the front door. "Get out there."

I wasn't going to argue. His plan was actually quite genius. I wasn't sure why we hadn't thought of it before. Probably because the house was so small, doing things like going out in the yard or grabbing a cup of tea didn't feel impossible like I had heard was the case for so many other nesters.

Or maybe that was the human side of me, and I was going to suck at being a dad. I pushed the anxiety away. Stone and I had talked a lot about my worries over being the father of dragons. He assured me I was the exact father these babies needed. The sincerity of his words had me almost believing it too.

I stepped outside, narrating everything I saw to the babies—I described everything in singsong, from the river to the trees to the blue sky to a twittering bird on a branch.

My mate stayed right by their side, promising to keep an eye on them, just like when I showered, and let me know if they made even the slightest movement. I appreciated it and had to admit I felt a ton better. How could I not? It had been days—possibly a week.

"Thank you for that," I said.

"Oh, anytime. I don't know why this hadn't crossed my mind before, but now that it has, we have it in our pocket."

"We aren't going to need it again, though. The babies are close. Very close." And I couldn't wait to meet them.

Stone helped me change into my pajamas, less because I needed to and more to be nice. When I was all settled, we each lowered one of the eggs back into the nest.

"I think I felt our baby move." Which didn't make any sense. There couldn't be any room for them in there.

"Do you think it's time?"

"Only one way to find out."

Stone tucked the laundry cart in the corner and snuggled on the nest with the eggs and me. We watched and watched and watched the eggs.

Nothing.

An hour went by.

Nothing.

We finally decided I'd been imagining things, and he took the cart back and started on dinner. My poor mate had been working so hard. He did not only his own work but also took over mine, everything except for the paperwork which I could do here, that was.

Stone said he didn't mind, and I believed him. There was no reason for me to believe otherwise. But also, he had to be getting tired, and that would get better once the babies were here.

We were having his famous grilled cheese for dinner. Famous around here, anyway. He was able to cook it on a large griddle attachment for the grill and would sometimes make it for the guests. Word had been getting around to the point a couple of reservations requested the Grilled Cheese Package for their stay, which didn't exist. But they were that good, and I'd been craving them.

And then I saw it. An egg moved. It wasn't my imagination. This was happening.

"Stone, it's time."

"Time?"

"Time!"

He came in a minute later with the grilled cheese. "We're going to need this. The midwife said it could be a couple of hours from the first movement."

We sat there, telling our babies what wonderful dragons they were and watching as one little move became two, became three, and eventually there was a crack in one, then a crack in the other. The crack became a little hole, and then a shell popped off.

Sitting there, looking at us, was our first little dragon.

I wanted to reach in and say hello, to greet him with my touch. But, as soon as they were held by their parents, baby dragons shifted into their baby form, and they were still too far in the egg. The odds of our baby getting hurt were too great. I needed to be patient.

I sucked at patient.

Eventually, the shell fell away, and our first little dragon looked around. He was stunning—the same sapphire color as his father.

I looked to my mate. "He's...he's you."

His eyes were filled with tears.

Our little dragon hopped over to me, and, when I picked him up, he shifted for the first time into his human form, letting out a gorgeous cry. I never thought I'd think of a cry as beautiful, but I did. I helped him latch on, getting his first meal as we waited for his sibling.

The second egg inhabitant didn't mess around. It was as if once they heard their brother cry, they went to town and had that egg open. Less than a minute later, he was out. Our second little dragon was a ruby color and he, too, was looking for his meal.

"They're beautiful." I looked down at our two sons, both of them eating happily.

"They're perfect."

We'd already picked out some names. We decided to call the first after my uncle Tyler and the second after my father, Ryler. It saddened me that Stone didn't really have anybody to name them after, since he wasn't sure about his adopted dads after all the dreams, but we all had each other now, and that was what mattered.

Stone climbed into the nest beside me.

"Happy Birthday, little guys." He looked down at their sweet faces then kissed my cheek. "I love you, omega mine."

"I love you, alpha mine. I love you."