Page 18 of Mated in the Stars

I didn’t think I did but I let him lift me and Minter into the nest anyway. Everyone had times where they needed to feel useful. I loved that dragon to death but didn’t know what to say to let him know that somehow all this would turn out alright. If Teddy was right, like I believed he was, it would really be okay. It would sort of be a miracle. Somehow we all beat the odds over and over to be together all at once while we were alive.

I curled up with Minter who passed out almost as soon as his little head hit the pillow and gazed at our egg until I passed out too.

Chapter Ten

Nelum

I spent more time researching this Lotus lady than I’d ever admit to anyone else. Accessing Earthside’s internet data base was easy enough whenever Sunny left his phone lying around. She was way more high maintenance than I’d ever be. Liked flowers a lot more than I did too. Except, she kicked ass. Maybe none of them had seen it but she did. Hell, she kept it together for decades despite knowing she was gonna die in pain. How was that not badass? Her parties were beautiful. Her wedding and her birthdays. Her children’s birthdays. Her mate’s birthdays and anniversaries. Everything she touched turned fucking beautiful. I almost remembered what all those flowers smelled like. Almost. Her funeral was beautiful too. Someone laid me – her – out surrounded by flowers. Someone loved her. A lot of someones from all the memorial pages I found.

“Thought you didn’t believe in looking to the past,” Laken grunted sitting down in the armchair with one of the twins nursing from his chest.

“Everyone keeps calling me mum,” I shrugged. “Had to know whether it was an insult or compliment.”

“You know, I don’t know if you are Lotus. I have no way of knowing except maybe that your star is yellow. What I do know is being compared to her isn’t an insult. If you are her, sure you’ve changed, but dying does that to a soul. You have a whole new life. Dad’s a spell hunter and mom’s a pig farmer?”

“Something like that,” I shrugged. “They work hard. We have enough. Well, enough eggs anyway,” I laughed. “Everything else we work for.”

“Why don’t you eat the pigs you farm?” Laken blinked at me.

“Oh, no. We raise wooly pigs. You don’t eat wooly pigs. You shave them and then have to process the wool. We have chickens for their eggs and we hunt for the rest of our meat. It’s not hard when Dad’s not pregnant. He’s a spell hunter. A couple words and his arrows never miss. I on the other hand did not pick that up. I shoot straight but that’s not always enough if the hide is tough.”

“Makes sense. Will they be okay without you? Do they know you’re okay?” Laken asked.

“Yeah. Yeah. All of it yeah. I sent them a letter through that overgrown Earthside dragon.”

“Which Moony?”

“My dad,” Sunny sighed coming through with the other twin.

I could never remember the babies’ names. They looked too much like one baby copied over to have their own names yet anyway. I couldn’t imagine having four or five of them of my own. Well, maybe I could. Not on the farm. I loved my parents. I even loved the wooly pigs but sometimes I wanted food I didn’t have to shoot myself or pluck out from under a bird’s bottom.

Sunny’s phone rang and I almost answered it but he snatched it up from me before I could.

“Talk to me,” he said, walking back through the house before turning right around and swapping babies with Laken so the other twin could have a snack too. “I told you Minter would tell him sooner or later. Kids can’t keep quiet.” He paused and sighed before walking through the house.

“Do you think they’re going to expect me to wear a dress?” I laughed.

“That’s not funny,” Laken rolled his eyes. “You might be nervous about this but that’s not funny. Wear what you want but don’t poke fun at others. Besides, Fred ran a club with drag night. So, really don’t be that guy.”

“I just meant---”

“No, they’re not going to be upset that you’re a guy. You are a guy, right? I mean we all just sort of assumed and didn’t ask.”

“I’m a guy,” I nodded.

“Okay then. Fred is about as pan as they come. I think Elio is gay, maybe. I don’t know. Anyway, they both like guys, obviously,” Laken sighed. “Don’t do that thing younger dragons do where they act like assholes because they’re afraid someone won’t like them. It’s not cool and before you say you’re not, yes, you were.”

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “You just think you know everything.”

“No, I don’t know everything. I’ve just spent plenty of time around dragons who are afraid or who just had their asses kicked. It comes with my line of work.”

Sunny walked back into the room and rested his arms on the back of Laken’s chair for a second before he ran his hands down to his mate’s shoulders. Would my guys be like that? If they were my guys? I waited for him to say something but the longer the silence stretched on the more certain I became that the two of them spoke over their mating link.

“They can,” Laken sighed. “Though, if anyone starts fighting in my house, I’m going to toss them so far, they’ll have to fly from the Vila Ice Belt back here. Maybe having their testicles frozen off will cool down tempers. I’m not putting up with any pissing contests. Get that enough from you and Selt.”

“Selt and I don’t---” Sunny started and then stopped. “We haven’t done that in a while.”

“I know. You two have to learn to get along. Teddy has enough issues without you two competing for best platonic friend. I told you what I thought about you and him. You said it wasn’t like that. If it’s not like that, drop it. If it is, well tell him. Liatris doesn’t share. So, Selt has never been your competition, Sunny. You’re his best friend.”

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