Page 24 of Unhaunt Me

Silently, I promised that I would, somehow, get my shit together, before I passed on whatever unhealthy, learned mechanism inside me to her. This was my burden to carry, and she should never have the weight of the lives that came before sitting on her shoulders. Not her or any of my future children.

Chapter Twelve

Tritus

Casalona was a beautiful baby girl. She smelled so much like Casimir that it was impossible not to long to hold her, but Melon hadn’t even passed her to Casimir yet. My dragon silently considered pulling her bald if she passed the baby to Kelp before her daddy.

“Cas,” Melon gave him a long side eye and Casimir took the baby and held her to his chest.

The hatchling looked even tinier in his big, muscly arm. He grinned down at his daughter, his eyes glistening, and the tension from this morning gone from his shoulders. Casimir leaned back against the ledge of the nest, and I cuddled in next to him. Kelp moved closer and I held back the urge to snap my teeth at him as he leaned his chin on my mate’s shoulder. I had no right to be closer to the baby than he did but Casimir was mine.

Melon climbed out of the nest and crossed the kitchen, searching for something. I figured she was looking for a snack but didn’t pay too much attention to her. I didn’t want to look away from Casimir and his daughter. What would their connection look like? I hadn’t even thought to ask what he and Melon had agreed to or disagreed about on coparenting.

Melon came back into the nest a few minutes later carrying a small tub of hot water and a few cloths. Together, she and Casimir washed Casalona clean. They worked well together but didn’t flow like mates might’ve. They glanced at each other here and there, checking in like two people who were never naturally in sync. When she was clean Melon wrapped her in a little diaper and a shirt that came down over it. Castor took the bath suppliesaway and returned a few minutes later with some snacks. We all tried to give them to Melon first, but she nodded at Kelp and then at me to eat first. The baby lay between her legs and Casimir’s as they watched her doze which she sucked on her little fist.

I was so out of the loop. Kelp didn’t seem to have as many questions as I did but he’d been in their lives longer. I was so out of the fucking loop and Casimir’s habit of being a slammed closed door wasn’t helping any.

“You two can still be on your mating moon,” Melon said. “I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t. Just that you can. This would qualify as one of those special circumstances we talked about. I know how hard the first week will be. I don’t mind taking it all on. Maybe even the second if you need to.” She glanced at me. “And I know he’s a tough nut to crack. Don’t look at me, though, I never figured it out. Ren probably knows but she’s not telling anyone.”

“Who’s Ren?” I asked.

“Family apparently,” Melon said, and Casimir visibly swallowed down a roar. “I’ll shut up now about that.”

“It’d be appreciated,” Casimir said as Castor left the room. “You know, before you break my cousin.”

“He’s not that easy to break,” Melon sighed. “None of us are, fortunately. You two should eat something solid. You smell like a hangover and a half.”

“I’m okay,” Casimir said, and I swallowed down a sigh. He wasn’t okay. He snapped at me this morning and now he was acting like he didn’t have an appetite. Not having an appetite was never normal for a dragon.

“Even if you stick around here, you’re going to need fuel to take care of her, Cas,” Melon said.

“I’ll run and get something from the district,” Teddy said, peeking his head into the room. “I don’t mind.”

“Thanks, Teddy,” Casimir nodded, and he disappeared again.

I wouldn’t get time alone with my mate for another three days. Even then, I wouldn’t know what sparked his outrage this morning. Everyone knew more than me about him or at least it felt that way.

Chapter Thirteen

Casimir

Three days later and I was ready for a break from Melon and Kelp. Four people attempting to cohabitate in a single nest was too much. We all needed our space and time alone with our partners. Tritus had been a good sport about it but he was ready to go home. I didn’t want to leave without Baby Casalona but I had to. I couldn’t be the dad she deserved while so many things hung over my head like daggers. Still, the words wouldn’t come off my tongue any time I tried to tell Tritus and the others what happened.

Before I left, I found Castor outside on the top deck of the ship. We’d spent nearly forty years aboard the Medwin 2 living together alongside the rest of the crew. He was the only person on any Starscale world who knew the whole truth of what happened to send Ren running for the wild. I almost asked him to tell Tritus for me but that wouldn’t work either.

“Don’t ask me. I haven’t told mine either,” he sighed, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Seriously. I always say it’s someone else’s story but I guess it’s mine too. Maybe not mine as much as it’s yours or Ren’s. I don’t know anymore. Maybe it really belongs to Zayton. He’s not here to tell it, though.”

“Neither is Ren. She keeps staring at my star scale but I’m not even sure she knows who we are anymore.”

“She knows. She’s just gone wild,” Castor shrugged. “So the knowledge means something different now. It means you’re someone who won’t hurt her and that you’re not food or a threat to her territory.”

I wanted my---

The thought stopped short. I couldn’t even think it anymore.

Hell, I wanted both of them back.

There I was – a grown ass dragon wishing to hold the moon between his talons.

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