“No, a brother.” Fraser’s voice was louder.
“Sister!”
“Brother!”
“Guys, we’ll love the baby whether they’re a boy or a girl.” I patted Ledger’s tummy.
My mate gripped my arm. The happiness had vanished from his face and so had the color.
“Do dragons lay eggs? Have I got an egg inside me?”
The three kids were stunned into silence. “Daddy?” Fraser tugged at my shirt. “Is there an egg in Ledger?”
“No.” I was trying to reassure Ledger and my children. “A dragon is a creature who has fire and creates fire. But just like humans, we have live babies.” I looked directly at Ledger. “No matter what human myths say, we are not reptiles. Not that there’s anything wrong with reptiles. I have some lovely snake friends.” I was rambling.
“Chickens lay eggs.” Fraser jumped off the couch and clucked. His siblings joined him, and they laughed as they pretended to be chickens.
“Good to know.” Ledger nuzzled me. “I was picturing me having to make a nest.”
“We can make one if you want, but the only eggs in this house are in the kitchen,” I teased as I covered up my alarm with a smile, though my heart was still racing. My poor Ledger thought he was going to lay an egg. I had so much to teach him about dragons.
Sitting with my mate while our children made silly noises and bopped about, it struck me that after Vince died, I was adrift, hanging on while I was the best father I could be. But now with Ledger and a new baby, life had come full circle. The gap where I hoped to be and where I was had closed, and I was happy.
THIRTEEN
LEDGER
“Are you sure about this?” Theron had me by the hand and we were walking into the garden.
The kids were already out there, and if anyone had just arrived, they would have assumed we’d been feeding them too much sugar. They couldn’t keep still, and they’d been asking, “Is it time?” since before they got out of bed.
“I want to see. I’m their dad, and I need to see what my children are capable of. Besides, there’s another little one inside me, and I don’t want to spontaneously burst into flames while brushing my teeth.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Good to know.”
“It’d happen when you were drinking coffee.”
I tickled his ribs, and not for the first time, told him my sarcasm was rubbing off on him. My mate grabbed me and kissed me on the lips.
“Daddy, you’re doing the kissie thing.” Rory was eager to show me what he could do, and he threw his hands up.
“That’s because I love your dad so much.”
“Daddy took off our bracelets.” Fraser held up his wrist, revealing the absence of the woven leather cord. “See?”
“I do. Where do you want us? Sitting or standing?”
The children pointed to the garden wall and arranged themselves in front of us. Fraser’s hand shot up, and he asked to go first. I was worried he was going to combust.
“All right, Fraser. Show me what you can do.”
He held out his hand palm up and scrunched his face. A small blue flame flickered on his palm. It was similar to what I’d witnessed the day of the fire, except now this was calm and contained.
I clapped, and he bowed.
Theron put an arm around me, a reassuring gesture that calmed the tiny bit of anxiety in my belly. Or perhaps that was the baby reacting to his brother’s fire-making ability.
