Chapter Nine

Logan

Two months into carrying my egg, the around-the-clock sickness had abated, but I started to feel pregnant. The weight came on around my hips and belly. I missed coffee in all its blessed forms. There were mixed thoughts on whether coffee could penetrate the shell of a dragon egg in utero, but I wasn't taking any chances. Eventually the baby would come and I'd down a couple ice coffees to balance things out. The baby's weekly ultrasounds all showed the egg growing a tiny bit each time. We had a healthy egg on the way, but no timeline for when it would want to come out. Besides, the bloodshakes were almost as energizing as the coffee and they had a unique mystery ability to calm my stomach down.

The summer sun beat down on us and humidity buzzed across Hemlock Campus. Inside our house, we were cool and protected, but I still didn't want to leave the nest. There was something cozy about cuddling up with Jessie to read or watch videos on our phones while Jessica ran back and forth playing and coming up with her next grand idea for what she might be when she grew up. Currently, she'd either be a dinosaur or a racecar driver. She'd dropped the ballerina idea because she didn't like tutus. She said it wasn't fair that girls had to wear them, and boys didn't. I agreed with the kid but wasn't about to challenge the dress code of a class my kid wasn't even in.

It was a Friday night and Jessica was off to Delli's for a sleepover. Her friend still wanted her to take ballet with her, but the girls had worked it out one way or another as small kids are like to do.

"I can't remember the last time we had a Friday night alone," Jessie laughed as he settled down into the nest with me.

"Probably fifty years ago," I teased him.

"Nah. For our fifth we're going somewhere quiet," he laughed.

"Not going to jump off a dragon and plummet toward the ground for no reason?" I smirked.

"Probably not. With our luck the dragon would see something shiny and dive for the ground knocking us both off in the process."

"What? Are we asking Clarence Moonscale to take us?"

"Seriously, though," Jessie said a moment later when our laughter had died. "Somewhere quiet."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A cruise or something."

"Ah, have you not planned or not wanting to ruin a surprise?" I asked, snuggling close to him.

"That's still pretty far away," he ran his fingers over my belly. "Anything we come up with now is probably possible even before then."

"Do you need a vacation?" I asked him.

We didn't travel much for pleasure. We'd been down south a few times to visit my family, but most of the time it was family functions or educational trips.

"Just tired," he nuzzled his forehead against my shoulder.

"Me too. Should we call it an early night?"

"No, because we're never going to be alone again," he laughed.

"Are you okay, Alpha? I would ask if you were changing your mind about kids, but it's too late for that."

"No," Jessie answered as soon as the last word left my mouth. "I love our kids. I just meant we won't be alone again for a while. I'll miss adult conversations."

"Eh, for a few months. Once they start crawling life settles down."

"Sorry I'm complaining so much."

"No, complain away. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. It's never easy. This time it's going to be different too. First time we've had two this close in age."

Jessie was quiet for a long moment, and I tried to think of something to say to him that wouldn't make him more concerned about the future.

"Hey, let's just be here for right now," Jessie said. "The future will come, and we'll like it. Might not be easy, but we'll like it anyway. They're our kids. Let's just be here right now, though."

I traced his jawline with my thumb, stubble tickling my flesh. We pressed our foreheads together. Images danced between us over our mating link. We lay in the nest – in the same place as before, but our lives were nothing like they were the first time the nest was built. Grady Moore, who kidnapped me and Zoey, was long dead. Other wars had come and gone. Back then we barely knew each other, could barely find a moment alone because of the war. Now we were partners. Our bond had grown, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

I leaned in until our lips brushed together. He tasted like salt and coffee. I kissed him deeper wanting more of him and grateful he snuck off for his late day caffeine hit. His hand slid down my side to my hip and I leaned up into his warm touch.

Across the room my phone rang.

"Jessica?" Jessie poked at our middle child over the family link.

"It's me! Pick up! Delli's mean and I want to come home!" Jessica said, her voice sniffly.

My heart skipped a beat and the heat stirring between us simmered down.

"I'll be back with our baby," Jessie sighed.

We didn't get a Friday night alone after all. The girls' fight was over a tutu that Delli convinced her parents to buy for Jessica. She didn't want to wear it and she knew she didn't have to. So, we ordered pizza and watched a movie. Well, Jessica watched a movie. I was out halfway through and was pretty sure Jessie wasn't far behind me.