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Sighing, she whispered to Rafe at her side, “I still say Aaron did this on purpose.”
Rafe took a step closer toward her. “It’s my understanding that dragon-shifters treasure children, so this should be an honorable post.”
Nikki eyed Annabel shaking the gate enclosing the kids. “It sort of is, but we easily could have protected them from the outside.”
Lightly caressing her hand with his forefinger, Rafe whispered, “Not every assignment or duty will be glamorous, Nikki. But it doesn’t mean it’s any less important.”
“I know,” she muttered as she leaned against Rafe for a second.
Jack now had a toy dragon in one of his hands. Just as he approached his sister and raised his arm in preparation to hit her, Rafe leaned down and swiped it away. Jack babbled something incoherent and went back around the outside, in the opposite direction from Annabel.
Rafe chuckled. “He’s pretty determined for a one-year-old.”
“Given his parents, are you really surprised?”
Before Rafe could say anything, Annabel leaned against the gate making up the enclosure, and it tilted forward. Before one of the pieces could snap off and let the little one escape, Nikki crouched down and held it up. Keeping her voice friendly yet threaded with dominance, she said, “I know you want out, but the great hall is big and you will get lost. You need to stay in here.” The little girl grunted at Nikki’s tone and Nikki smiled. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Besides, you can find a way to outsmart your brother. That’s more fun, isn’t it?” She pointed behind Annabel. “If you can walk to Jack, you will surprise him. Then you’ll win.”
The little girl’s green eyes moved to her brother. Nikki gave her a little pat. “Try walking. You can do it.”
Keeping one hand on the gate, Annabel took a step. Then releasing her other one, she took another wobbly step. The girl took a second to keep her balance before taking another. She was nearly to the other side when Melanie’s voice sounded behind Nikki. “Go, Annabel! I knew you’d be the first one to walk. Go to Jack.”
At her mother’s voice, Annabel looked behind her and promptly fell onto her arse. Rather than cry, the girl grunted in frustration. Nikki stood and looked to Melanie. “I think she takes after Tristan.”
Melanie sighed. “I think they both do.”
Yet despite Mel’s tone, love shone in her eyes.
Sensing Rafe’s eyes on her, she turned her head. They shared a moment of understanding—they could be cheering on their own child’s first steps in less than two years time.
Nikki’s dragon spoke up. You are better with children than you think. It will be a joy.
The thing about helping out with other people’s children is that you can give them back. I can’t do that with a babeebabe of my own.
Of course you can. We have Rafe, who can take over for a while.
Tristan, walking up to the children, prevented Nikki from answering her dragon. Melanie reached into the pen, picked up Annabel, and presented her to Tristan. “She walked, Tristan! You missed it, but I’m sure she’ll do it again. Once the twins learn something, they are out to perfect it.”
Lightly running a finger down Annabel’s cheek, Tristan smiled. “They are clever buggers.”
“Tristan,” Melanie said with a frown.
“What? I’d rather they be little buggers than angels. It’s more fun that way.” Annabel put out her arms and Tristan took his daughter. “Isn’t that right, my little bugger?”
Annabel slapped her hands against Tristan’s chest and made some enthusiastic noises. Tristan chuckled. “That’s daddy’s little girl.”
Shaking her head, Melanie moved to the other side and picked up Jack. “Don’t worry, Jack. You can be mommy’s little boy and help her get back at Daddy later. But first, your grandparents and uncle are here. Let’s go see what Uncle Oliver is up to.”
Looking across the room, Nikki spotted the gangly seventeen-year-old human male hovering at the edge of the food table. One of the teenage dragon-shifter females, Zinnia, walked up to him with a smile. As Oliver’s cheeks turned pink and he picked at the tablecloth next to him, Nikki bit her lip to keep from laughing. She said to Melanie, “You might want to rescue your brother from Zinnia. If she’s set her sights on him, he doesn’t stand a chance.”
Tristan answered, “She talks all the time about landing a human male during classes. She doesn’t seem to remember it’s illegal.”
Melanie nudged his side. “Tristan.”
Both Melanie and Tristan looked from Nikki to Rafe and back again.
As Nikki tried to think of how to respond, Rafe moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. At his touch, she leaned into him. Rafe’s voice rang confident as he stated, “By the time she’s old enough to try and actually land a human, the laws will be different.”
Tristan raised his brows. “Like that, is it?”
