Page 14 of Cam's Treasure

"It's okay, William. Dragon eggs are pretty sturdy."

"Yeah, but they're half-human too. Do you know how breakable humans are?"

I chuckled, pulling my hand back. I knew only too well how overprotective my dad could get. I knew it had a lot to do with me and the cancer I'd had as a young kid, and I didn't blame him. I couldn't imagine what it was like to watch your kid slowly die in front of you and be unable to do anything.

Except my dad had done something. He'd kidnapped a man he'd only heard whispers about, and forced him to make me better. I wondered if I'd even be alive now if he hadn't taken that risk. Maybe DD would've found us in time and healed me instead, or maybe he would've been too late.

I didn't think DD and Dad would've ended up together without me, so I was glad I hadn't died way back then, if only because I wanted my dads to be happy.

"They're beautiful." I gazed down at the five eggs nestled in the blankets. Two of them were a grayish-blue similar to DD'sdragon scales, and another was brown like Dad's scales, while the last two were a mix of blue, brown, and hints of purple, and I smiled at the color, since the purple was the same as my scales. "Does this mean I'll have five siblings?"

I tried to imagine this house being run over by five kids, and yeah...Dad was so going to whine about this later.

"Um, it's a possibility, but it's highly unlikely. A lot of the time, dragon eggs don't have enough magic, and they end up empty. It's only been three months, but hopefully, we'll know in six or so months if they're all viable."

I blinked as the numbers clicked in my mind, and my eyes shot to DD's.

"Wait a minute. How long does it take a dragon egg to hatch?"

"Eighteen months," DD said with a slight smile, and I blew out a breath. Eighteen months? He'd said it'd already been three months, so that meant there were fifteen months left. Wow.

"Are you...okay, Cam?" Dad asked, voice full of hesitation, and I grinned up at him, not wanting him to think I had any problem with this, because I didn't. I was excited for them, and for me. I was going to be the best big brother ever.

Standing up, I squeezed Micah's hand before dropping it, then threw my arms around my dads.

"Congratulations, you two. I'm so happy for you."

Dad and DD hugged me back, their arms tight around me, and I smiled when Micah's familiar warmth wrapped around me, clearly called over by DD. Sometimes, Micah forgot he was also a part of this family, just like I was a part of his, but my dads made sure to remind him every time. These new kids were going to be so lucky to have them as their dads.

Micah and I decided to talk about the house situation some other time, and instead, we spent the afternoon making future plans with the dads. I told them they should turn my old room into a nursery, since it was closer to their room on the groundfloor, and while Dad was reluctant at first—it wasn't like I used that room anymore, since it reminded me of a time in my life I wasn't very fond of—he finally agreed, and I made him promise to let Micah and me handle the renovation.

We knew nothing about it, of course, but we did know a clan full of people who'd be all too happy to help. DD and Dad hadn't told anyone except Ames yet, since they'd wanted us to know before everyone else, so we made plans to make an announcement at the party Noel was organizing, because I knew they were itching to share the good news with everyone.

Afterward, we took our leave, deciding to go say hello to some of our other friends.

"Are you okay?" Micah asked as we walked down the street hand in hand, and I glanced over at him with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm excited, and a little nervous. I've never been a big brother before."

"Well, that's not true. Mateo and Miles would be hurt to hear you say that."

I winced as I thought of the twins, and ducked my head. I knew they looked up to me, though I was afraid I hadn't always been a good role model to them. "Sorry."

"It's okay. You've been a great big brother to them, and you'll be great with your new siblings too.AndI'll always be right there with you if you need help."

The thought made me smile, and I leaned my shoulder against his, thanking him without words. He always knew what to say to make me feel better.

Seven

Micah

We returned to my dads' place for dinner after spending the day visiting our friends. We'd gone to see Neel and Paxton first, since I was pretty close to Neel and they were the only one of the 'kids' we hadn't talked to since our return. There were a few other kids, but we weren't very close to them because of the age gap, so we'd figured we'd see them at Noel's party. After all, the get-togetherwasto welcome us back and so we could see everyone.

"God, why am I so tired?" Cam groaned as we climbed the stairs to my room, and I chuckled as I glanced over at him.

"Maybe because you flew across the continent with me on your back and then haven't stopped moving around since? We need to have a lazy day."

Cam grinned. It was a term I'd coined when I realized Cam had a tendency of rushing around until he was running on fumesand then crashinghard. So instead, I'd started doing 'lazy days' where we stayed in our room all day and lounged. It was hard to get Cam to sit still for any amount of time, but I knew a few tricks.

---