Chapter Eight

Jessie

I'd never claim that I had a more difficult time with a pregnancy than my mate, but it was a rough month for both of us as our egg baby grew inside his womb. When Logan was expecting Zoey-bell we had no other children. She was in college by the time Jessica was born. Balancing a rumbustious six-year-old with the needs of a pregnant mate made both me and my wolf feel as if we were running in circles and sometimes, we were. That's how chase works. Still, I wouldn't have traded those days for anything else. I've never understood people who go around wishing parts of their life away.

Sure, we were tired, but we were happy as we could be under the circumstances. While Jessica slept at night Logan and I scrolled pregnancy sites and forums looking for answers for draconic pregnancy morning sickness. We tried almost everything while Logan was pregnant with Zoey-bell, but that was a long time ago.

"This one sounds good," Logan glanced up from his phone screen.

"Which one," I set my phone down and turned my attention to his.

"A bloodshake. This dragon in Wales swears up and down he's drank them with all his babies, and it helped. His mate is a fox shifter. Neither of them have vampyric ancestry as far as they know. Mate," he said, his voice taking on the tone he always did when he was pregnant and wanted something we didn't have in the middle of the night.

"You want a bloodshake?" I asked.

"Please!"

"Can I buy them? Do you still need a vampyric ID card to do that at the grocery store?" I asked.

"No," Logan laughed. "They did away with that rule. Bloodshakes won't do anything bad to a shifter. Bane didn't leave Sky and Darian alone until that one got changed. He said that he and every other shifter with a vampire for a mate should be able to do the grocery shopping. Eventually Darian relented. Anyone can buy them now."

"Let me get my shoes," I said.

"Shhh! Don't wake Jessica up," he whisper-laughed.

"I'll do my best. You just do your best to rest and keep dinner inside you while I'm gone," I said and kissed his forehead.

The next morning Logan slept in until noon. The dragon from Wales knew something that medical science hadn't caught onto. While he rested, Jessica and I wrapped up the nest. We built it in the living room again just like we had the first time around with Zoey-bell. This time, I made it a bit bigger just in case Bane was right about this baby having a larger egg.

"Will I get to see the baby?" Jessica asked, perching on the ledge of the nest as I checked for any weakness in our construction.

"When they get here, kiddo," I nodded.

"Will the baby like me?" she asked.

"Did you like your big sister?" I asked her.

"Most of the time, but she was never here," Jessica frowned.

"Well, are you going to be here when the baby comes?"

"Where else am I going to be, Dad? The moon?"

"Maybe. I dunno what you kids get up to," I teased.

"I am not living on the moon. There are no ballerinas or racetracks on the moon," Jessica crossed her arms.

"Good to know. The baby will love you because you're their sister."

"When will the baby be here?" she asked.

"That's a two-part question, kiddo. When the baby first comes, they'll be inside an egg. Then later they'll come out."

"I know how eggs work. We're raising chicks in school," she puffed up her cheeks like I was being obtuse on purpose.

"You look like your carrier when you do that," I laughed.

"You're frustrating, Daddy."

"Am I?" I laughed.

"I asked when, not how. When is a time. How is a way."

"We don't know when, kiddo."

"But why?" she asked, drawing out the last word.

"Because babies move on their own time. Even more so baby dragons. Your little sibling will come out when he or she is ready to. Nothing we can do will make them get here any quicker."

"Delli's mama had a due date," she tapped her fingers together.

"You had a due date too," I told her.

"I've never had a baby!" She laughed falling over into the nest.

"I know, but when you were in your daddy's belly, you had a due date. You came late, though."

"I was probably asleep. You know I don't believe in alarm clocks. So I probably didn't have one back then. I wouldn't have one now if you'd let me eat it. Then we could all sleep for as long as we want and not go to school."

"I thought you liked school," I glanced at her worried.

"I do! I just think I'm not going to want to go anymore when it comes back," she said.

"Why not, kiddo?" I asked, keeping my voice light on purpose.

"Because I'll want to be with the baby!" She smiled and the tension fled my shoulders.

For a minute, I thought someone was bothering her at school. We had a lot of antibullying rules and most of the kids she went to school with were related to her, but that didn't mean there wasn't the occasional trouble.

"You have to go to school if you're going to be a ballerina," I said.

"Maybe," she said.

"Maybe what?" I laughed.

"Maybe I have to go to school. Delli already takes ballet."

"Do you want to take ballet now?" I asked her.

Jessica talked a lot about being a ballerina but had declined when we asked if she wanted to take ballet. Little kids see the world in their own way, and we'd never made either of the girls take extra-curriculars they weren't interested in.

"Maybe," she said. "Why aren't there any racecar classes for people my age?"

"Because you're not old enough to have your license."

"That's not fair."

"Take it up with your Uncle Darian next time you see him. I told him. We should let everyone drive at five, but he said no," I smirked.

"You did not! You smell like a fibber!"

"Okay, I said seven."

She laughed again, shaking her head.

"Delli said I have to be a tracker because I hear and smell too much," she said when her giggle fit ended.

"You don't have to do anything Delli tells you to do. You don't have to be anything you don't want to be when you grow up," I said.

"Thank you, Daddy!"

"If your carrier feels like it, maybe we'll go ride the bumper cars today. I know, I know," I held up my hands, "they're not racecars, but they're fun!"

"I hope he feels better. Not just for the bumpers, either. It's sad that him and the baby are sick."

"The baby isn't sick. The baby is healthy. The baby just jiggles him around and that makes his tummy upset," I told her.

"Well, I wish the baby could lay still for a minute. I thought babies took lots of naps."

"They do when they come out."

"They're probably tired because they didn't take their naps while they were inside the tummy," she said, flashing me a look that said that had to be the answer.

"Come on. Snack time," I said, climbing out of the nest.

"Pick me up, please?" She grinned up at me.

"Come on, you," I laughed and tossed her over my shoulder.

Jessica giggled all the way to the kitchen.