I sat on the tiled floor which was cooler than the rest of the house. I’d have to go outside and face everyone but wished I had a dragon's wings and could fly out the window so no one could see me. All I wanted to do was crawl up to the third floor and fall into bed.
When I finally had the energy to haul myself up, I washed my hands and avoided the mirror. But when I opened the door, there were four people crowded outside.
Skye hugged me, and I picked her up. The boys led me to the couch and made me lie down while Theron hovered behind them.
“Why don’t you get Ledger some water?” my boss told the kids.
He squatted at my side. “I understand you have a lot of questions, but let’s leave that for now.” He brushed hair from my clammy brow. “I’m worried about you, so take a few days off.”
The children returned with the water, and Theron helped me sit up. Small sips were all I could manage before I lay down again.
“You smell different.” Fraser leaned forward and sniffed my shoulder.
“Sorry, guys, I haven’t had a shower yet.” It was odd that I wasn’t as hot as I usually was. Perhaps I was becoming accustomed to the temperature in the house.
Rory and Skye bent over me, sniffing my neck and chest. “He’s right,” Rory said.
Theron didn’t sniff, but his expression changed. His eyes were wide and so dark, I imagined I could see his dragon. He put a hand to his lips and mumbled that he hadn’t picked up on the change.
“What?” Did dragon shifters have the ability to smell an illness? I knew animals of the ordinary variety could often scent when people were sick. Or maybe they were really shifters.
Theron suggested the kids start their homework in the playroom, and they scooted off. I grabbed his arm and begged him to say what was wrong with me.
“N-Nothing’s w-wrong.” He took my hand. “I hope you agree with me.”
He was making no sense.
“You’re pregnant.”
TWELVE
THERON
“You're pregnant.”
That was more me speaking on my dragon’s behalf because he was so excited, he’d forced me to put my thoughts into speech. I couldn’t take them back, though if I’d had more time to think, I might have made the announcement differently.
Ledger’s scent was still distinct, but it was intertwined with mine and a separate one that was our baby’s.
My head was filled with questions about Ledger who didn’t know he was my mate, and would he want to be? He’d be carrying a dragon, so how would he react to having a baby shifter in his belly? And then there were my three older children. Oh, gods, I was now a father to four. How would they react to a new sibling and to Ledger, who they adored, being the father?
There’s no more space in your head for any more thoughts,my dragon protested at the buzzing inside me.
Ledger wasn’t looking at me, and I was grateful because while I was prepared for confusion, I wasn’t ready for horror, sadness, or panic. He yanked his shorts over his hips and had both hands on his bare belly.
“I’m what?”
“We had sex.”
“I understand biology, Theron.” His high-pitched voice suggested he might be about to panic. “But how do you know? Unless you’ve been testing my pee or rushing it off to a local laboratory, how can you be certain?”
“Me and my dragon can scent it. The kids picked up on the difference, but they don’t know why it’s changed.”
He put both hands over his face and sat so still I had to listen for his heartbeat. The kids' voices drifted down from the playroom. I doubted they were getting much homework done, but Ledger was my priority right now.
“Ledger.”
“I’m still here, in the same place I was where the whole family gave me the sniff test.” He waved at me. “Give me a minute or a lifetime.”
