Page 41 of The Dragon’s Accidental Manny

“The baby’s head is out.”

Okay, okay, I was getting there. I pushed again as Price relayed my progress.

“Now the shoulders.”

One last push and I was done. There was crying, but it wasn’t from me. I raised my head and both our little one and my mate were sobbing.

But as Price’s crying faded, he cooed at the little red-faced bundle before placing the baby on my chest. “We have a son.”

The baby’s hair was plastered to his forehead, and I pushed it away. At my touch, he opened his eyes and looked up at me. I kissed his nose and cheek as I held his warm, slippery body.

“Welcome to this far-from-normal family. I hope you’re ready for this.”

Price snuggled beside me and slung an arm over both of us. “Embrace the chaos, little man.”

Hours later, the children arrived home. Jack had a present, his plastic wings, minus the batteries, but said he’d look after them until the baby was old enough. Bea and Isla lay on either side of me on the bed, counting their baby brother’s toes and fingers.

I looked around the bed at my dragon shifter, our four kids with the newest one asleep on my chest, and thought of the man I was who’d wandered into the wrong house. He’d never have believed this, and some days, I still didn’t.

NINETEEN

PRICE

Opening my eyes, I wondered why the house was so quiet.

But after checking the time, I lay back and listened. During the day, it was a loud house, and even now in the early morning, the baby monitor on the nightstand carried the sniffle of our five-month-old, Finn. Like me and the rest of our children, his internal temperature was hotter than a human’s. The pregnancy had left some dragon in my mate’s blood and his skin was now dragon-level heat.

Beside me, Cam slept diagonally as usual, and I’d learned to adjust my sleeping position to his. He’d stopped stealing the covers, and I no longer complained about his cold feet on my back.

Finn woke, not with a cry but a gurgle. He’d be holding his hands up, before putting them in his mouth, amazed that they belonged to him.

I raced to the nursery and stood in the doorway as Finn grabbed a foot and brought his toes to his mouth.

I wish I could do that, my dragon sighed. I must be getting old.

Picking up my youngest son, I sniffed his perfect baby smell as he gummed my shoulder. We stood in the dawn light, and I studied the wall with the two dragons, me and my brother, and Cam in the corner.

“Morning.” I greeted my brother. It had stopped being sad a while back and now it was part of my early-morning ritual.

The sun came up and peeked into the room. It caught the suncatcher and it lit up, scattering the family’s dragon colors and Cam’s favorite over the ceiling. The clear section was the same as when I’d made it and would stay like that until Finn revealed the color of his flame.

“That one’s yours.” I tipped it so Finn could see it. "It might be years before you show us, but that doesn’t matter.” He watched it turn and reached out one hand. “You have your place.”

By seven, the kids were up and dressed and Cam and I were making breakfast. I took every opportunity to kiss my mate when he came close, and he pretended I was distracting him and the kids would be late for school.

The baby was in his highchair, though he hadn’t started solid food yet. His attention was on the colored blocks on the tray. And when he got bored, he tossed them on the floor and expected his siblings to pick them up.

Jack was wearing a cape because he’s retired his wings. They sat in his drawer, waiting until Finn was old enough for them. Our older son was still obsessed with flying, though it’d be a while before he met his dragon and got his own wings.

When everyone was eating, I thought back to the day I’d buried my brother and become what I assumed was a placeholder dad. I thought I’d never be enough for these three kids, but I was wrong.

“Anyone interested in seeing the studio’s new logo?” Cam was holding his tablet close to his chest.

Finn banged a block on the highchair tray.

“That’s one yes.” My mate kissed the top of the baby’s head. “Do we have another?”

Jack put up his hand, Bea looked up from cereal and nodded, and Isla said, ”I want to see what Dad Two has designed.”