Page 3 of Mated in the Stars

“Are you sure this is a good time?” Selt asked. “We can come back. I won’t tell the others you’re arguing. Liatris will understand if you need more time.”

“If you’re mate ever asks who you’d save from a burning building say him.”

“Ummm…. No,” he asked. “Well, maybe. Remember you brought this up. I was trying to avoid the flight link and what you were arguing about with your mate. I’d save Selatris if he was there. Yes, even if he was as old as Teddy. Yes, even if he was as old as Fred. You’d save Minter, right?”

“Of course, I would!” I snapped.

“What? Did Fred say he’d save Teddy over Minter?” he arched a brow.

“No! He said he’d save Teddy or one of them over Lotus!” I growled.

“Oh, yeah. That too. I mean, Elio,” Selt sighed and let out a long, slow breath. “I mean, friend, she’s already gone. If Liatris could save Selatris or me, save my child any day. I’m sure Lotus would feel the same.”

“How do you think Teddy would feel if I told him what Fred said?”

“Like you betrayed his dad’s confidence. Look, Teddy’s not going anywhere. Even if he moves back to Earthside, he’s Fred’s kid and he’s not Fred’s only adult kid either. Fred is one of thoselifetime fathers we all wish we had. Make up with him and move on. Life’s too short.”

“How’d you get so ---” I gestured at all of him.

“Therapy. Liatris. Xav. The latter loves to inform me if I’m an asshole but really, it’s mostly Selatris. I’d fly into death himself and fight him declawed if that was the only way to save him. I don’t foresee that changing.”

“You don’t get it.”

“Maybe I don’t. Anyway. Just let me know when you guys are ready,” Selt stood up to excuse himself. “And maybe don’t ask him if he’d love you if you were a worm or something, okay?”

“Jackass,” I swore under my breath.

Selt left but Fred lingered outside for hours with the baby and Teddy. He was an asshole too sometimes, but it was hard to stay mad at him watching him and Teddy run around with Minter. Fred had raised at least three of his adult children full time but that shouldn’t mean he got veto power on everything.

“I don’t,”he said, picking up on my thoughts over our mating link.“Being a parent is about choosing your battles. You’re fighting for a quiet evening. I’m fighting for family bonds. Duke didn’t grow up with the rest of his siblings for a number of reasons. Minter can’t meet his other siblings because we’re here. I want him and Teddy to be close. Sunny and his brother are close despite the age gap. And you saw how Teddy looked. He took it personally after what he just said.”

“We need to talk about that too.”

“And we will.”

“Today?”

“Yeah. Today. Tonight, after the baby goes to bed,”Fred said, glancing in my direction through the window.

***

That night after his bath, Fred rocked Minter to sleep. I was envious of how unbothered my alpha was by the baby’s cries. He was tired, cranky, and fighting sleep. His cries cut through me like a knife. Not to mention what they did to my nerves. Fred rocked him and hummed a club dance number under his breath.

“How can he be the same guy who tried to burn us alive when he thought we did something to Lotus in the Other World?”my dragon mused as Minter’s little eyes drifted closed.

I knew enough of Fred’s history to know that in many ways my mate was a loose cannon. He didn’t mind fighting. Part of him enjoyed it. He wasn’t shy about sex or emotions. The one place he seemed to level out and be almost a new dragon was with any of his kids. I didn’t begrudge him that. At least, I didn’t think I did.

Fred rose so gently from the rocking chair, still swaying, as he carried Minter to his bed. We’d done away with the crib a few weeks ago and moved him to his first big boy bed. The first week I lost Fred’s warmth in the bed to his sleeping on Minter’s floor because our hatchling feared he’d fall out of bed.

Once Minter was tucked in, he stayed there kneeling by the bed his hand resting on Minter’s little chest as it rose and fell with the easy breathing that came from sleep. He was memorizing the moment. Fred did that a lot. Everything was so fleeting to him. All the moments so short – good, bad, ugly. He knew they’d all pass and he’d miss them. So, I didn’t try to rush him out of the nursery no matter how exhausted I was. I was more ready for bed than Minter had been.

“Do I need to rock you to sleep?”Fred teased over our mating link.“I will and that’s not a joke.”

I knew it wasn’t a joke. I almost took him up on the offer but if we didn’t work this out now, I was afraid it would keep dividing us up more and more. I didn’t want to lose him. Whatwould happen with Minter if I did? The council might say since he parented more than I had previously…

“Stop it,” Fred said aloud and shot me a dirty look.

Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet and stretched his arms high above his head as he flashed me a dirty look and pointed down the hall.

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