Page 69 of The Platinum Dragon's Courageous Mate

So he poured himself a cup of tea and sat at the counter and munched because this was the life.

Kieran put a hand on his belly. “I tell you what, little girl. You really are pushy when it comes to the cinnamon.”

He kind of felt sad about how different this pregnancy was from the one with Micah. He’d been so worried then, so scared, because he was all alone and trying to do things without the dad involved and also trying to avoid Micah’s birth father’s family. They were not good dragons. They were doing bad things, keeping things that were not theirs. This little girl, though, she was having the best time, singing her little songs, already communicating with her brother, he thought, and generally making everyone around them smile, even though she was still a goodly way from being born.

That was what happened when one really had nothing to worry about.

Kieran wished he didn’t have this suspicious feeling that it was all going to go directly to hell.

Hopefully it was just nerves. In fact, that had to be what it was.

He was not going to be one of those people who borrowed trouble. He didn’t want any trouble. He wanted a happy baby, a happy son, a happy mate.

He ate another bite of cinnamon roll, focusing on his happiness. Cinnamon flavor burst on his tongue, sharp and yet sweet because of the sugar that had been added to the rolls. He also loved how it mixed with the gooey frosting on the top. Lachlan tended to peel the frosting off, but Kieran loved it. Heliked it even better when Alban used cream cheese because then it had that weird little hint of sour as well.

The soft scrape of some sort of shoe over the flagstone out on the patio made him lift his head and look out through the kitchen windows, but it was just Alban who obviously had managed to make it back from the shops, carrying some grocery sacks.

He’d obviously stopped to look at some of his plants, which needed to be moved inside to be perfectly honest. Kieran would have to get Lachlan and maybe Bryant and Logan on that ASAP.

Assuming, of course, that Lars didn’t have them doing exactly the same thing.

That was one thing he learned from Lars pretty quickly. The most fun things about being pregnant were getting others to do things for you that you really didn’t want to do.

He headed over to the door to open it. “Do you need any help?”

Alban shook his head. “No, no, I have it. How are you? Did you find your cinnamon rolls?”

“I so did, thank you.” He groaned and rubbed his belly, then took a couple of bags from Alban. “I’ll see if Lachlan won’t move those plants in before we have a freeze.”

“I do think you’re wise. The cold is definitely coming. This is the very last hint of autumn. I see snow on our horizon.”

“That’s good, though. I like it when it snows.”

“As do I, my friend. I like when we have hot chocolate and a gentle fire and time for contemplation.” Alban pulled out a big container of cinnamon from one of the bags and set it on the counter.

The very sight of it made him smile. “What are we making today?”

“Perhaps some cookies.” Good thing Alban liked to bake as much as he liked to eat it.

“Have I told you how grateful I am for you? Honestly? You are so good to all of us.”

Alban smiled at him, feathers ruffling softly. “It is my complete pleasure. Honestly. I am satisfied to the core.”

“I’m so glad. I know it was difficult to begin with.”

“He was very wounded by what happened to him. I understand that. How could I hold it against him when he finally welcomed me here with such open arms?”

Kieran loved that. Alban was so generous and he had helped heal Lachlan as much as anything had, Kieran thought.

And he was so pleased to have Alban be part ofhisfamily now too. He would need all the help he could get once the new baby came.

Not only that, within their immediate family there were about to be two twins, two two-year-olds, and two brand new babies.

It was going to be amazing, and somehow the thought of a whole thing was completely overwhelming.

“It’s going to be fine. You’re going to have a family here, and we’re all going to enjoy it.”

“I hope so.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I used to be happy-go-lucky. I used to play music all the time and make art, and I worry that part of that has been taken away from me.”