Page 21 of Iced Heat

“Me too,” Liatris said a long moment later.

“Let me make you guys something to eat. I know worry and magic both can drain you to the bone,” Sequin offered.

My ice groaned inside me. So much for getting some time alone with Sequin. Still, Selatris was worth postponing our matingmoon a few hours for.

Sequin’s invitation for a meal turned into an invitation to go down to the ocean. We hadn’t gone down there ourselves yet, but Sequin frequented the area enough that I trusted him to know whether or not it was safe for the baby.

Baby.

The world circled around my thoughts.

Baby.

Sequin and I would have a baby sooner or later if we weren’t careful. We hadn’t outright had that conversation yet, but we needed to soon. Kids were infamous for providing a break from heat cycles or for putting them off all together. Having a kid around set off a different set of biological responses that shifted resources to providing for the kids who were already alive. Still,it was nice to imagine our kid walking between us down to where the water met the sand.

“The sun is nice,” Liatris said, his words almost a purr as we neared the shoreline.

I squeezed Sequin’s hand to thank him for suggesting it. I wouldn’t have thought of it, though I really wanted him to myself and maybe in a shower at that. I’d stayed single and celibate for years before moving to the Starscale flight and discovering the purple district. I never imagined myself meeting my true-mate. I wasn’t against the idea, but it seemed almost foreign that someone would be willing to take on my baggage in addition to their own. Now, I knew, Sequin was used to drama and high stakes living. People were here today and dead tomorrow.

We all stood around in a semi-circle as Liatris squatted down and put the baby’s paws into the water. He pulled his furry feet up to his body before extending his legs again to test it.

“It’s like the bath, little man,” Selt said squatting down too.

A few minutes later, he was ‘kitty’ paddling around and chasing his own tail. Sequin and I left them to their play time and walked further up the beach.

“Never a boring moment, huh?” he laughed when we were out of earshot of the others.

I took his hands in mine and turned my face up toward the sun again. Liatris was right. The sun was nice. Sometimes even an icy guy wanted to sunbathe a bit.

“You’re great with Selatris,” Sequin said, squeezing my hands.

“I’ve had practice. My therapist said that Liatris and I had some survivor’s bond from both being outsiders on the world we met on but Liatris is more like family to me than my own family. That made Selt and the baby family too,” I shrugged. “I’d do anything for them.”

“How’s the housing situation over there? I mean, I know there isn’t really a money-based economy but….” his words trailed off.

“I can go back and forth if I need to. I don’t want to take you away from your family and friends either,” I frowned. “I love the Starscales, but we belong together and I want you to be happy.”

“You’re my family too now, Xav, and for better or worse, that means my family is also your family. That baby loves you. He loves you so much he ran away to find you. You’re a big part of their family. I love Daliah and have some friends here and there but so many of them fell off the face of Earthside when Mum died. They didn’t know how to handle it. Dad and Teddy are over there. It seems so ridiculous that I almost quit talking to my sister over a house now. I know it was more than that – it was all of our mother’s stuff and needing my own space, but we really almost fell apart there.”

I wiped a tear from his cheek before he realized it had fallen.

“We all do stuff like that, mate,” I squeezed his hands. “We really do. It’s easy to lose track of what matters when life hurts us. You two made it right in the end. We’re even having a wedding with them.”

When he didn’t say anything, I pulled him into a big hug and held onto him. Never had I wanted to be inside his head so much. His thoughts were quiet over the flight link, and I couldn’t comfort and soothe what I didn’t know about.

“I hate my hormones,” he groaned, and I held off making a joke about how much I loved mine now. “I hate whatever causes heat because it always makes me so bloody emotional! I wanted to talk about having babies! Not come to cry all over you!”

“Do you want kids?” I asked, glad to have something useful to say.

“I do. I mean, I always did at some point,” he said, his forehead still resting against my chest. “Some point just got a lot closer. I don’t know why I’m such a mess! Pregnant people are supposed to be a mess not horny as fuck people!”

“Sexual frustration is weird sometimes,” I chuckled.

“But I just came earlier,” he said, rubbing his forehead against me. “If it weren’t for my heat, I’d think maybe I was pregnant. I’m not a saint. I had a hookup not long before I left London.”

We both froze. In the most logical sense it was very unlikely that he was pregnant. Pregnancy was one of the most sure fire ways to prevent and stop heat in its tracks.

“You want me to pee on a stick now, don’t you?” he sighed.

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