Page 7 of The Platinum Dragon's Courageous Mate

Kieran made a face. “I’m not sure that’s such a great recommendation, but I’ll take it.”

Lachlan would take it too because he had already made more progress today than he’d made in weeks.

Chapter

Three

Kieran packed a baby bag for little Micah and made sure he was dressed in clean clothes that didn’t have any holes in them. He checked his hair one more time in the mirror, noting that his eyes looked haunted and worried but there was not much he could do about that.

Today was the day he was going to take Micah down into the main house. He was going to meet Kaden’s dads, who were Lachlan’s brother, Bryant, and his mate, Lars. It was possible he’d met them way back at the beginning, but he didn’t really remember it.

He went to pick up Micah and then the bag and went to the main door of their little apartment. He stopped there, hand on the doorknob, and he wasn’t sure if he could do it. He wanted to but he was so scared.

It was little Micah, though, who got him to turn the knob and head out the door. He’d had so much fun with his new friend.

The baby dreamed about it at night, babbled mentally about it all day long, and he couldn’t bear not letting Micah have this.

It was only fair.

Lachlan was waiting outside the door when he opened it. “Hey, I thought maybe you’d like a hand carrying the baby. You look amazing.”

He smoothed his braid and felt his cheeks heat. “Thank you. I’m very nervous.”

“I bet you are. I would be too. I was… I’m relatively new to this wing, but Bryant and I were together, though, so I was never totally alone.”

“I’m not either. I have you.” It popped out before he could even think about it, but he felt as though it were true.

“You do.” Lachlan took the bag of supplies and put one hand on the small of his back, warm and firm, that huge hand spanning most of the space there. “You’ll love Lars. He’s very funny. He cooks a lot. He laughs a lot. He lives in a house that looks like a fairy tale castle.”

He frowned over. “Like yours?”

“No, no, no.” Lachlan got them moving down the stairs. “Like a cottage with gingerbread and colors. Mine is more traditional, a castle with a ball pit.”

“A ball pit?”

Lachlan nodded his head. “A ball pit for the babies. We love when the babies come to visit. I love children, ergo ball pit.”

“Oh.” He knew what that was, theoretically. He’d seen theBig Bang Theoryepisode, after all. But he’d never been in one. “Is that safe?”

“It is. Absolutely. We actually clean it out every time the kids use it for any length of time and sanitize everything because, you know, kids.” Lachlan grinned at him. “It’s very hard to lose a dragon baby in a ball pit. If they get worried, they just set one of the balls on fire, melt it, and then you see them.”

He stared at Lachlan, a little concerned, but Lachlan winked at him, obviously teasing.

“Okay, well, I think when Micah is a little bigger, he might like that.”

Lachlan nodded. “He might. Kaden’s not quite big enough for the ball pit yet. The twins, both sets, they’re big enough, and so is Grant. Little Gwyn, she’s not sure about the whole thing. She just likes to watch.”

“There are a lot of children.”

“There are lots, and it’s exciting because we’re all very close and related.”

Kieran wasn’t sure how he felt about that, either. He was the outsider, but Kaden had been so good with Micah… Maybe they would all be happy to accept him and his baby into the family, just as Lachlan was…

He made his feet move, one after the other. Made his stiff lips smile for Micah.

“I promise this will be okay. You’re safe here. The man who hurt you?” Lachlan stopped and met his eyes, and they were so beautiful, so strong. “That man? Lars killed him.”

His eyes went wide, and he gasped. “He did?”