Page 53 of Mated in the Stars

“Something Lotus related,” Fred sighed. “The kids can stay with us if you want to go check on him.”

“I think I need to,” I yawned again, glancing down at Minter.

“Wanna go to sit with Daddy?” I whispered to him.

“You,” he shook his head. “Teddy no come still. Stay with you.”

I let out a long, slow breath, wishing Teddy would hurry up and get up already if only for my baby’s sake. I stroked his hair until he fell back asleep. By then, Baby Amaranth had finished eating. I kissed him all over the face before passing him off to Fred. My mate stole a kiss before he let me slip out of the house.

“At least it looks like Daliah and Sequin made up,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts.

“That’s something alright,” I nodded.

“I’m in here!” Nelum called as soon as I twisted the knob on the front door. “Just sending out some emails. It took me a bit to figure it all out.” He sat at the dining room table in front of an ancient laptop with a lot of papers in front of him. “Passwords are weird when you have to type them. I sat here shouting at this thing for almost ten minutes before I figured it out.”

“Whatcha up to?” I said, sitting down next to him.

“Planning a party for next weekend,” he said.

“For the baby? Like a baby shower or a mating feast?”

“Probably the latter if I had to name it but it’s for Lotus.”

I blinked at him. Had something about ‘communicating’ with his past self rattled his brains?

“She asked me to. Her last wish put in writing as far as I know was to bring everyone together. I don’t even know these people. I haven’t even shown Freddie the letter yet. But she has all their emails. So, I’m emailing them. I hope they believe me. They probably think I’m some crazy person.”

I blinked again and rested my cheek against my hand.

“I’m not sure Fred’s told anyone you’re back. Maybe Clarence or one of the kids told them.”

“Well, they’re about to find out if they still have the same email.”

Neither of us had ever thrown a party before where money was needed to negotiate things. So, by the end of the evening wehad to let Fred in on things. I was pretty sure I knew how to use the bank card, but Nelum was afraid I’d accidentally spend all of his money instead of only some of it. So, we left the money parts to Fred.

“Do you think Teddy will wake up before then?” I asked Fred.

“I’m betting he will. I think it’ll be good for him to be back on Earthside for a bit. Reconnect with his siblings and stuff,” Fred sighed.

That night we slept in the main bedroom. I thought for sure, Fred and Nelum would seal it all up again with magic, but instead they opened the balcony doors and aired it out. Then we climbed into the fresh sheets and blankets to go to sleep. Nelum had bagged all the old ones up in a scent preserving bag for Fred. Things were moving forward, one tiny thing at a time. Maybe coming to Earthside was exactly what all of us needed.

Chapter Thirty-One

Fred

Once the first quilt was sewn, I headed back to Starscale 2 alone. I was uneasy leaving my mates with the children on their own. Seq and Dal had only come to an uneasy truce. Duke spent a lot of time calling his mate, Syre, and giving him what he thought was coded updates about what his siblings were up to. Teal fluttered between everyone trying to ensure they all got along. Syre and some of the others would come over for the party, thankfully. I wanted to see my newest grandkids and hoped they could convince Duchess, their eldest child, to come and bring her kids too. That last one was probably a long shot since none of them knew me well and I had a lot of time to make up for.

If Sunny was surprised to open the door and find me holding a quilt sewn from Lotus’s old dresses to my chest, he didn’t say anything. He merely gestured to where Teddy was still conked out on his sofa. Laken lounged in a recliner nearby, both of the babies held to his chest for a feeding.

“Hey, Fred. Think we were freezing him out?” Laken chuckled.

“Not exactly,” I said and explained where the quilt had come from as I spread it over Teddy’s back and legs.

Then I waited. I sat there a long time wondering if it would be enough. Would I have to go out and find his true-mate and drag the poor guy back here to wake him up? He’d never forgive himself if he slept through this party. So, with the others still there, I told him about everything that had happened on Earthside in the time since he fell asleep.

“My house is furnished. Dal can live there if she needs to,” he yawned, but didn’t open his eyes. “Tell her not to break my stuff.”

“She has her own house, kiddo. I was telling you, so you’d know how crazy they are now. So much for them being the less dramatic ones, huh?” I laughed.

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