Page 25 of Alpha Dragon's Wings of Love

Our son was last, and we hadn’t had as much time to admire his puppy cuteness, but when he shifted to a sturdy, brown-haired baby with a white streak right at the front, he was even cuter. But while the girls matched perfectly to some of the names we’d had on our final list, this little guy did not. Our names were too dragony for a beagle. And this beagle was going to be the prince of dog shifter in our home. His sisters had already done the extraordinary for this young man.

“What shall we call him?” I asked my mate. “I have an idea.”

“Tell me.” He had his arms filled with babies who would soon need to feed. “I leave it to you, alpha.”

I finished wrapping our son in a soft blanket and looked down into his brown eyes. “I think this young man’s name is Rex.”

“That’s perfect.” Casey’s lids were drooping and I took the babies and laid them around him. “I think I’ll try to sleep for a few minutes. But what if they need to eat?”

“I understand babies have a way of letting you know.”

And let him know they did, a short time later, showcasing impressive and healthy lungs. Sleep was going to be at a premium around here for a while.

And I didn’t mind a bit.

Epilogue

Casey

It had been far too long since I’d seen my mate’s brothers. When Brock called to ask what we were going to be doing for the kids’ birthday, I told him I’d get back home and talk to Nolan. We knew it was coming up, but with me being pregnant, the doing-something-about-it part of things hadn’t quite happened yet.

“Your brother is curious about the upcoming birthday.” They were turning four, and it was a pretty big deal. At least, in my eyes it was.

Of course, I thought one was a big deal, being the first and all. And two was a big deal because they were walking and talking and could enjoy it for the first time. Three was huge as well because it was the first one they actively looked forward to. And four? It was the first time they asked for a specific theme…obviously making it a huge birthday as well.

There was going to come a time when I conceded that all birthdays were huge deals. Today was not that day. Today, the fourth one was the big one, and we needed to do something spectacular for it.

“What are you thinking? Should we go see them? Make a family trip of it?” We’d talked about doing that last year and decided last second to stay here, instead.

But, this year, I was pregnant again and wasn’t in the mood to travel to the store, much less to them. This pregnancy was different than the last. I could feel every kick, every stretch. There was no egg. Instead, I was having a baby the way I thought I would always have my babies, which was somehow now theunusual way, in my head.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it because I loved this connection I felt this time around. Knowing when they were awake or asleep was wild and fabulous. But I also loved the safety that came with having them ensconced in a shell cave.

“A party here it is.” Nolan called Raphael and Brock to make all of the arrangements, and I called my family.

After the kids were born, we’d ended up building a larger cabin for us. And by we, I meant that my brother and my parents and Jonah came for a few weeks and built it with us, from a kit. I hadn’t known those existed before we bought one, and it was perfect for what we wanted. Now our property was a houseguest wonderland. We had our original cabin for guests, along with our tents, if anyone wanted them.

It was going to be chaotic, and I couldn’t wait. And we didn’t have to wait long, the day arriving in a blink.

“Daddy?” Coralee came in. “What time are they coming?”

“I don’t know. They said this afternoon.” They were traveling from all different directions, and I didn’t want to give our daughter a time only to disappoint them when I miscalculated.

“But no cake until tomorrow, right?” And that was why the little stinker was so vested in their schedule.

She and her siblings were obsessed with cupcakes, more specifically the decorations on them. They had taken turns nagging me about them for three days.

“That’s right, honey. No cake until tomorrow, on your actual birthday. Today is just cousin day, and we’ll have a huge dinner together outside.”

“And grandparents and our uncles, right?”

“Yes, all of those people.” I pushed her hair behind her ear. She had decided she wanted bangs then hated them. We were currently in the grow-out stage of getting them again.

“What if it rains?”

She was my questioner. She had questions about everything—especially how things worked. She was probably going to end up some world-class engineer or scientist at the rate she was going.

“If it rains, we’ll eat inside. Now, go get your siblings and play. Your father and I have a few things to do around the house.”

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