Page 56 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

Finally, Weld's knot loosened, and he pulled out. With a spell, I gathered my slick on the small plastic tarp just outside the nest. Before I could push myself up to sit, Weld was already standing beside the bed, feeding our eggs.

"I've got this," he said. "You need to rest."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I didn't even remember closing my eyes before I fell asleep.

* * *

Weld and I were going to be parents! Our eggs grew larger with each covering of slick. One lagged behind the others. I texted Alma a picture with my concerns, and she immediately responded,"Girl, probably."

"Oh, fuck."

"Hmm?" Weld was snuggled behind me in our nest. He raised his head to read my phone screen and laughed in my ear. "They aren't all like Clementine, are they?"

The touch of sarcasm in his tone made me laugh along with him.

"Opal is a dream child," I said when I could speak again.

"One of her parents is a fucking dragon," Weld reminded me. "If a fifty-ton flying shark had raised me, I probably wouldn't have been such a dick."

"Galen is also one of Clementine's best friends," I reminded him.

"Don't let the dragon spoil our daughter. Got it." I felt his lips curve against the back of my neck, and then he got up, leaving a cold void.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to spell a few things around the house and place an order with Axel." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "My magic is stronger, but I still can't spell something without looking at it."

"Okay." I didn't even try to keep the disappointment from my tone.

"When I'm finished, I'll watch the eggs so you can take a shower."

A shower sounded wonderful. All the precome and slick on my cock had dried, leaving me a sticky, flaky mess. It had also taken a lot of sweat and exertion to push out those eggs. I sniffed my armpit. Beyond ripe.

I covered the eggs with slick gathered on the tarp, and then I dozed off while Weld worked around the house. I woke when he lifted me out of bed and carried me to the bathroom. He even helped me stand to pee before shoving me under the lukewarm water.

"Don't forget to feed the eggs!" I called after him.

I fully expected him to grumble something nasty, but instead, I heard him playfully talking to the eggs while I scrubbed the stink from my body.

"Which of us will you call Daddy? Or Pops? Or Pa?" He glanced up at me when I walked in, still drying my hair.

"Alma's little ones call their daddy 'Duddy.'" It was the cutest thing I'd ever heard.

"Ouch," Weld said.

"No, it's cute!"

He frowned at me like I was silly and then glared at the eggs nestled to his chest. "No one in this house is going to be 'Duddy,' got it?"

I laughed as I dressed in a pair of compression shorts and spelled them to keep the slick flowing to our tarp. At this stage in their development, our little ones might be able to hear us, but they wouldn't be able to understand us for a few months. I'd wait until then to plead my case for calling me Papa, same as my omega dad.

My eyes stung as I crawled back into the nest. Weld had exchanged the towels for new ones, and our four eggs sparkled with fresh slick. I was going to be a father of four, same as my parents. If we did half as well as my parents did raising us, one of the first clutches to be raised completely on Ignitas after a century of sending the alphas and omegas to Earth, then we'd be doing all right.

ChapterTwenty

Weld

A lot had changedin the last twenty-six years. Robin could spell his compression shorts to collect his slick on a tarp, which had to be easier on his poor ass cheeks. Axel taught me a few spells to childproof our home, not just the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. He even knocked out a wall without a sound while Robin napped. We waited for him to wake before constructing the four new rooms, though. Axel said his crew could work in complete silence, but it would have taken twice as long. As it was, it only took them four hours to add on four new rooms.

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