Page 37 of Eliza's Cursed Dragon

“You did?” Edward beamed at her. “That’s fabulous. I’ll pay you of course.”

She waved him off. “It’ll look great on my resume, you’ll be doing me a favor.”

Was it my imagination or was she flirting with him? That couldn’t be, could it?

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one having that thought, because Philip pecked at her leg, making her yelp.

“What?” Edward rose. “Sweetheart, your swans are misbehaving. Shoo, shoo. Are you alright? I’m so sorry. Let me see.”

He fell to his knees next to Lucy to look at her leg and my stomach tightened. I glared at Philip who trumpeted. He lifted a wing and so did George. Did my swan brothers just high-five each other?

I tried to get out of my chair, but couldn’t muster the strength. Instead, I kept glaring at my brothers and made a shooing motion with my hands which they pointedly ignored.

“I’m alright, really.” Lucy shook her leg to prove her point and Edward rose, sending a nasty look at my brothers.

“If they can’t behave with our guests they’ll have to eat somewhere else,” he said, piercing my heart.

“Oh, no, please don’t do that on my account,” Lucy interfered. “They’re adorable and they love your wife.”

To make things easier, we had lied to her and told her we were married. I didn’t like lying, but I didn’t want her many questions either.

“If you’re sure you’re okay.” Edward moved back to his seat and picked his fork up.

“Absolutely. Now, tell me again about this creek…”

Edward

The days floated by, one seamlessly merged into the next and soon it was a full month since Lucy entered our household.

I couldn’t deny the pleasure of having someone to talk to. I mean, I talked to people all day long, but it was nice having an actual conversation without having to play charades with someone. I don’t think not talking to my princess would have bothered me so much if it hadn’t been for the secrets and her unwillingness to utilize pencil and paper or even write notes on a computer. Her stubbornness in that regard was beginning to fester inside me.

Still, when she lay in my arms or when we snagged a few moments of privacy, my heart beat just as fiercely for her as it had the first time I saw her. My love for her only grew with each passing day and the joy of soon having a family was indescribable. For giving me that, I loved her even more.

Lucy turned out to be more of an asset to us than I had thought when we hired her. Her knowledge and skills made the playground and park I envisioned a reality we would soon start construction on.

The first equipment had been ordered and I was amazed by what was available now compared to when I had been a kid, despite all the things my father’s money had been able to buy at the time.

I couldn’t wait to take my sons to the playground, to watch them on the swings or climb on the pirate ship.

My greatest worry was that my princess would begin labor at night and I wouldn’t be there for her. I broached the subject during one of our doctor visits. Doctor Weiler gave me a funny look, one that conveyed her disapproval of me at what she thought was me putting work ahead of my sons.

“There is one option, we could schedule a C-section,” she suggested. Warming up to the idea she added, “It might be the best solution anyway. Twins are often born during an emergency C-section, we would avoid that.”

“But she could carry the babies to term without it too, right?” I asked, hating the idea of having her cut open because of my curse.

“Anything is possible,” Doctor Weiler agreed, waiting for my princess to weigh in.

She made a slashing move over her belly and nodded. She was on board with the C-section, even giving me an encouraging smile and nudge with her elbow.

I asked the doctor to lay out the risks for us, because I wanted my princess to be fully aware of them before she made such a decision.

When we left the office, my love cornered me in the elevator. She pointed her finger at her nose, I, she painted a heart over my chest, love, then she touched the tip of my nose tenderly, you.

I pulled her into my arms. “I hate the idea of you being cut open because of me.”

She pushed me away to move her hands between her and me, linking her fingers, she mimed pulling them apart and shaking her head.

“I don’t know how I got so lucky finding you. I love you.” I kissed her tenderly until the elevator doors opened on the ground level.

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