Page 17 of The Platinum Dragon's Courageous Mate

It had to be so hard to be the older child and to know that there was yet another one coming and to be feeling left out a little bit.

Kieran would have to remember that if he ever managed to mate with someone and have another baby. He had always thought that was completely out of the realm of possibility, but these days he was beginning to allow himself to hope.

Chapter

Six

Lachlan went to Kieran’s little apartment and knocked on the door, wanting to show him his surprise. He wasn’t sure he’d managed to hide it from him really, but at the same time he hoped that it would come as enough of a sweet shock that Kieran would be really tickled when he saw his craft room.

Kieran answered the door, his face breaking into a beaming smile when he saw Lachlan. “Well, hello. I was hoping it was you, although sometimes Alban drops by.”

“It is indeed me. Is Micah having a nap?”

“He is. He just went down in fact. I have the baby monitor out here if you want to come sit with me and have a cup of tea.”

“I would love that in a moment, but why don’t you bring the baby monitor with you for a second? I want to show you something.” He stayed right outside the door of the apartment and waited.

Kieran’s eyebrows flew up. “Oh very well I’ll be right there.”

He moved back inside the apartment and grabbed the baby monitor before coming to take the hand that Lachlan held out to him.

“Where are we going?”

“Not far. Just down the hall in fact.”

“Okay.” Kieran frowned a little, just a tiny bit. His brows came together over his nose, clearly confused. He knew Lachlan’s suite was not just down the hall so he had to be wondering what was going on. It gave Lachlan hope that he’d kept things more of a secret than he’d expected.

He had enlisted everyone around in the subterfuge. If Kieran had asked anyone like Lars or Alban, he would have been told that Lachlan was renovating a guest room so they could have more children come and stay in the night and let Jake and Samuel’s household helper come there too.

Of course he had discussed a craft room with Kieran initially, but he really hadn’t pushed it after that.

He took Kieran to the craft room door and then nodded. “Have a look.”

“You want me to look at your guest bedroom?”

“Just open the door, Kieran. Humor me.”

Kieran opened the door and peered inside and then gasped, his face lighting up with wonder. “Lachlan! Is that— is this— is that my yarn?”

“It is. This is your new craft room. This is what Jake and Logan and all of us have been working on for so long.” He waved a hand, indicating that Kieran should enter the room before him.

Kieran wandered in, his eyes wide, turning around in a circle. “It’s so big,”

Lachlan nodded. “Part of it is that it’s blue. Jake said it’s supposed to make everything look bigger.” He offered Kieran a smile. “And there’ll be furniture. I just wanted you to be the one who picked it out. I didn’t know if you wanted sofas or tables or both. I just wasn’t sure, so I left that for you to decide, and then I’ll make sure that it gets delivered.”

Kieran was so quiet that it made Lachlan nervous.

“There’s all sorts of nooks and crannies and shelves and drawers, things for you to create with. There’s a big nurserythat’s close so you can hear Micah if he cries. I hope that it works for you.”

He was babbling, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Kieran looked as if he was crying, or about to, anyway, and Lachlan panicked when Kieran cried. It made his chest ache, and he had this wild urge to hurt whoever had caused the tears.

Even himself.

“It’s beautiful.” A single crystalline tear ran down Kieran’s face.

“I’m glad you like it. I thought it would be a special place just for you.”

Kieran wandered around, exploring. “There’s even room for a floor loom. I don’t need much else, like maybe a table with a couple of chairs for you and me. I mean, if you want to just sit in here and read or chat while I’m knitting.”