15. Nicholas

It'd become a habit for Damon and George to come to my place after school and work on a Friday and leave again early Monday.

Damon had suggested that if they moved in, we should look at schools nearby, though the smaller towns wouldn't offer the specialized art classes that George enjoyed. But I had shifter friends, accomplished artists, all of them. I could call in favors and have them tutor my soon-to-be stepson.

My beast turned up his nose. I hated the words stepson/stepfather as much as he did, but his dad and I weren't mated, we weren't living together, and he considered me his father's boyfriend.

My dragon turned green, hating the word boyfriend more than stepson.

My dream was to adopt George, but bringing that up with Damon was way down my list.

Damon and I were sleeping in the same bed now, and George was fine with that and often joined us for a morning cuddle. He loved being at my place, which I hoped would soon be our place. This morning I woke up early.

I crept out of the bedroom, wanting to bring Damon coffee in bed, but when I walked barefoot into the kitchen, the tiles cool under my feet, a tiny figure was staring at the coffee maker and reading the instructions I kept in the drawer underneath.

"Hey, watcha doing?"

He held out the pamphlet. "I wanted to make you and Daddy coffee but didn't know how to do it. We have the pod thing at home."

I kept my expression neutral, because those pods were terrible for the environment. I used a simple French press, fair-trade coffee and composted the coffee grounds.

"How about we do it together?" He nodded and measured the coffee while I boiled the water. "That's not a lot of water. Dad always fills the kettle."

I only boiled what we needed, but I wasn't going to criticize his dad. Instead, I pointed out that I conserved as much electricity as possible and explained I had solar panels on the roof to generate power from the sun.

"Cool. I should tell Daddy about that."

We made toast, and George chose the jam his dad liked from the three varieties I had. He commented the labels were different from the usual, and I explained I made the jam myself from fruit growing in the garden.

"Wow, you can do that? Can I make jam with you one day?"

"Absolutely."

George carried the toast into the bedroom, and I brought the coffee on a tray. Damon was stirring when his son yelled, "I made the coffee, and Nicholas has jam from the garden!"

Damon yawned and blinked as I put the tray in front of him. "Did you find the jam on a treasure hunt?"

George giggled and licked some of the jam off his father's toast.

"Do you want some?" Damon offered him the plate, and he grabbed a piece and slid into the middle of the bed beside his dad. I got on his other side, and we ate breakfast together—as a family.

This is nice. Even my dragon recognized it as something special.

"Can we do this every day?" George stole another piece of toast. Just as well we made plenty.

"Saturday and Sunday mornings but not during the week."

"Awww." Damon caught the crumbs with a napkin that George spilled. "But I like it here."

I munched on toast and followed it with coffee, wishing I could interrupt and add my voice to the move-in vote. That would be two against one.

"It's too far for you to go to school every day from here."

George sank down in the bed, his arms folded. "Maybe I don't want to go to school."

Damon stroked his son's hair. "Wouldn't you miss your friends?"

His son shrugged. "I don't have many."

Damon had told me George wasn't interested in sports, and as art was his great passion, he spent a lot of time alone, not in teams chasing, kicking, or hitting a ball.

We both hugged him, saying we'd work something out.

Maybe I can flame those kids and tell them they should be friends with George or else?My breast was raging and ready to battle the other children in George's class.

I didn't point out he couldn't talk to them, and after flaming, they'd be in cinders and not much use to anyone.

George asked if he could play in the garden and ran outside.

"We could homeschool or there's a small school in the town where we ate barbeque."

Damon sighed. "I want to live here with you, wake up beside you every morning, and kiss you good night as we lay in one another's arms." He flicked a crumb off the sheet. "But I can't turn my son's life upside down on a whim. Today he wants to move here, tomorrow he might want to go to the moon."

He can do that?My dragon often stared at the moon, wondering what was up there.

We had a situation. On the one hand, Damon was my mate and we wanted to be in one another's lives, not visit every weekend. But there was his work to consider and George's schooling. Plus, living with a third person when they had been jogging along together as a sole-parent family would be an adjustment for everyone.

"Would you feel okay about George attending a smaller school if we can get people to tutor him in whatever his education lacks?"

"Sounds good in theory."

We could visit the school if Damon took a half day off.

"How would you feel about commuting to work?" There were no trains or buses in this area, so he'd be driving every day.

"I can work remotely one day a week when I'm on paperwork duty, and I'm sure I can find a similar job locally. Every town has a library."

If he could finagle it, we could tick that problem off our list.

"Daddy, Nicholas, I've got something to show you."

We wandered into the garden, and George showed us his latest painting. Instead of the mountains or the garden, he'd painted a dragon, surrounded by fire.

Who's that? Not me.

He's never met you, just seen you in his mind.

"Do you like it?" he handed it to me, not his dad.

"Thank you. I love it."

George looked at his feet and then stared above him, shading his eyes from the sun. "Could I meet him one day?" he said in a small voice. "I'd like to."

Now, my beast insisted.

Not yet, I warned, telling him to keep his scales hidden.

"You will."

Damon squatted in front of his son. "If we moved here, our lives would be very different. You'd go to a small school. There'd be no ordering in for dinner or going out for ice cream at ten in the evening."

"You eat ice cream late at night on the streets?" It was hard for me to imagine them living that busy urban lifestyle.

Damon side-eyed me. "That's what you got from my speech?"

"Sorry," I mouthed.

"I won't miss those things." George hugged his father and extended an arm to me. I joined them, our arms wrapped around one another. "But don't two dads have to get married before you live together? That's what my friends told me."

I looked at Damon, and he shrugged. I guess it was over to me.

I sat on the grass, hoping George would sit next to me, but he plonked himself in my lap. My heart melted, and my insides were warm and melty.

"People like me don't usually marry."

He looked up at me, sporting a solemn expression. "People who have dragons inside them?"

"Yes, but not everyone has a dragon. There are wolves, bears, foxes, and every animal you can think of."

George's mouth formed a huge O. Just as well I hadn't mentioned unicorns. He might have keeled over.

"Instead of a ceremony and a piece of paper, we mark one another to show the world that we love one another."

He nodded, his brow furrowed. "Okay."

I glanced over his head at Damon. "But I suppose we could get married if that would make you and your dad happy."

Damon didn't care, as we'd discussed it. But if it was important to George, that was what we'd do.

"I'd like that. Can you get married here in the garden?"

"First I have to ask your dad to marry me?" George stood, and I got down on one knee. "Will you, Damon, marry me, Nicholas?" I extended a hand to George. "So that you, me, and George can be a family?"

Damon sniffed and wiped tears off his cheeks. "I'd love to."

"Group hug."

"Nicholas, what do I call you after you and Daddy marry?"

"Whatever you want." I so wanted him to call me Pop or Papa, but that was his decision.

"Okay. I'll think about it."

We wandered back to the house, arm in arm.

"I guess we have a wedding to plan." Damon kissed my cheek.

"Can I tell Uncle Sandy about Nicholas's dragon?"