Page 26 of Matched By the Dragon

I glanced at Brad and he nodded. So, I let Resin and Oaklan down onto the floor. They glanced toward the shut front door. On the other side of it was the pillowcase that held the jerky hostage. For a moment, I thought they’d scratch at the door, but they went over and sat on Clyde’s feet, looking up at him.

“We’re going to give your daddy a test to see inside his belly,” Clyde said. “Then we’ll know why the bacon made him not feel well.”

Resin bit his pants leg, and Clyde touched his nose with a single finger and gave him a look. Resin moved his head back and licked Clyde’s finger before rising up on his hind legs with his little paws resting on his knee. Oaklan copied his twin. For a moment, I almost grabbed them, but Clyde switched his attention to Brad.

The cubs watched him intently and so did I. I didn’t want to bite him, but he was nothing like what he was when I met him at the temple. It was like either his job or the kids smoothed out his rough edges.

“Watch the little screen,” Brad said.

And I did. It took me a full three seconds to realize the direction was for the babies and not me. Still, I watched the screen. Soon a little jellybean baby appeared.

“Bear cub,” Clyde said to Brad. “Even without asking his background, I can tell they’re a bear cub. Wolves would be bigger. So would most big cats.”

“Nine-ish months,” Brad nodded. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me, but before you leave can you tell Durin what you told me before I left the hospital about having kids.”

“Which part?” Clyde asked, taking measurements and all the other stuff doctors do with ultrasounds.

“Me in particular,” Brad said.

“Oh, he’ll be fine,” Clyde said. “He healed up really well. Last time wasn’t so much a complication of the birth or labor process. It was because he wasn’t given time to rest and recover. I know a lot of omegas are moving around their homes the next day after giving birth, because all shifters heal a bit quick. Except walking all the way into town while carrying a newborn, chest feeding almost all the way there, and being that stressed out isn’t moving around your own home. The most important thing after he has the baby is rest. You’ll have three of them after this one comes. If you need help in those early days you say something. If family can’t come in or you don’t have anyone to come help, you call me. If I can’t come, I’ll send someone safe and then if Brad doesn’t like them, I’ll come myself. Hell, call Raziel in a real pinch until I can get here. He just has to rest. Maybe bed rest except for bathroom visits and sitting up to eat for the first few days. Just to be safe, but we’ll talk a lot more about that once the due date is closer.”

“I’ll do whatever I need to,” I said and meant it.

“I know you will,” Clyde said. “But that includes getting enough sleep to be functional for the children.”

After Clyde left, I brought in the pillowcase with the jerky and snuggled on the sofa with Brad while the cubs played. His stomach was calmer and he didn’t feel close to a panic attack. I was a bit anxious. We did talk about this before deciding to leave conception up to fate, but the thought of him being hurt like that again scared the shit out of me again.

“They’re dead. My parents are dead,” Brad said. “I don’t think I’ll have the problem of having to walk too much. I think I’ll run into the problem of Clyde telling me I’m cleared from bedrest and you trying to keep me in bed longer to rest.”

“Probably,” I admitted. “I’m not going to lie. While I didn’t want to bite Clyde, because I’m used to doctors doing a lot more painful things than ultrasounds to people that I love, I’m still probably going to be a pain in the ass with worry. It’s on me to manage that but it’s going to be there without a doubt.”

“I think…” Brad said, resting his head on my chest. “I think I’d be more concerned if you weren’t worried. Not that I want you to spend the next year worrying about me, but if you weren’t worried at all…”

“You’d feel like I didn’t care?” I said it for him, because he felt like such a jackass for thinking it.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“I would be. Like I sort of want to kick your parents and that’s the polite way of saying it. I’d be the donkey’s rear if I didn’t care.”

“It’s strange.”

“What is?” I asked him.

“I feel completely safe about it because of you and Clyde but I’m also freaking terrorized because of what happened last time.”

“Mate, as that time gets closer and you figure out what you need to feel safe during the last months of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum you let me know and you’ll have it. If it doesn’t go against the midwife’s orders, you’ll have it. Hell, depending on what it is, I might get it for you anyway. Like if you want to go have the baby in a cave in the woods or something.”

“I had the boys here,” he told me. “Like in my bedroom. They wouldn’t call my midwife and whatever they did made it impossible to reach him or anyone over the group link. It was crazy.”

“So, do you want to have the baby at the hospital then?” I asked.

“No,” he shook his head hard and fast. “I… I don’t want to be that far from home.”

“You have time to decide how it happens and when the time comes I’ll make sure you get everything you want.”

“I know you will. I think that’s the strange part.”

“That I’ll stand up for you?” I asked.