Page 57 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

I let Robin return to his nap and followed Axel out onto the porch when they finished. "Thanks, again."

He grinned and shook my hand. "My pleasure. I felt bad when I mentioned the additions before."

"That was my fault. I wasn't ready."

"And now?"

I shrugged. "It's not like I can take it back."

Now that our eggs were growing and taking on slick, I had a different set of worries. Sometimes as we lay in our nest at night, I wandered down dark paths where I yelled first and asked questions later or lashed out in violence instead of using my words. I'd learned the behavior from my adoptive parents, and I didn't want to pass it on to my own children.

"It's scary as fuck," I whispered.

"I remember." Axel patted my shoulder. He was a little shorter than me, but damn, I was glad I didn't have to wrestle him to prove my strength, back in the day. "Just remember, you're not alone. We'll be here with you all the way."

"Thanks." He was right. I'd given the same advice to dozens of parents who were worried about the teenagers in our class, and here I was, thinking I had to do it alone. "Won't it be weird?" I asked. "Because Tuft and I … you know."

He laughed and slapped my shoulder with even more gusto, making me wince. "That's ancient history. Giving Robin the cold shoulder when you first returned, now that was weird." He shook his head. "I told Mac it wouldn't work. I'm glad you saw right through it."

"I don't care how you all feel about me," I said, "but I won't allow anyone to hurt Robin if I can help it."

Axel nodded. "I feel the same way about Tuft. Hell, that's how this fated mates business works."

I couldn't argue with that. Once Axel and his crew left, I sat on the front porch and watched as the village teamed with life around us. Galen and their little dragon flew overhead, followed by Mac on his dragonet. Kobolds returned to their cabins after their workdays. Punky and Lark walked home from the fortress, followed by Ernie and Lemon a moment later. They weren't far from mating, if the kiss they shared against the windowless wall of Punky and Lark's house was any indication.

Robin and I would have been happy in The Meadows, but our lives here were so much richer. Robin had his parents and siblings, and we both had our friends.

My heart ached for Clementine, who would leave us for the Meadows with Tim soon, but she was far more independent than Robin and his family gave her credit for. Plus, with a friend like Galen, she would stay on top of The Pavilion's gossip. Once Robin and I could travel with our little ones, we would make weekly visits to see her, along with the rest of their family.

I had a family now. That surprised me more than anything. These kobolds I had seen as enemies were now my closest kin and best friends. I couldn't imagine life without them. It humbled my heart and filled me with gratitude.

My dragon bond with Robin swelled in return, reminding me of my duties. I went back inside and fixed a simple meal from our housewarming supplies. While I had enough magic to request food from the fortress cafeteria, I wanted to cook for Robin, too. It settled my mind to fill our little kitchen with steam from the pasta water and the savory scent of tomato and basil sauce. It was a simple meal, but Robin and I both enjoyed it. Afterward, we coated the eggs with more slick. I lay down facing Robin in our nest, but I couldn't take my eyes off their beautiful shells. The colors of the setting suns shifted across their pearl-like patina and faded into darkness. I couldn't look away.

In the dark, I promised each egg I would be the best parent I could. Then, I covered them with another layer of slick.

ChapterTwenty-One

Robin

I thoughtmy parents had been insufferable before I laid the eggs. Thankfully, they gave me a full day to recover from laying them before calling all our family and friends over for yet another party.

After that, they dropped by the house every other day with more food and supplies. "I found a great deal on these educational toys," Papa said. I had a feeling I would need to donate half of them to the school, for sheer lack of space. Already, we could fill a full bedroom with all the toys.

"Here's a case of condensed milk if the babies are fussy." Dad left it on the kitchen floor.

The case looked more like a pallet to me. We moved it out to the front porch once they left.

Weld navigated my quirky family with kindness and grace. He laughed at my brothers' sex jokes and wrapped Clementine in a hug when I accidentally made her cry. He reminisced with my parents about the days before we were born and praised Axel for taking excellent care of Tuft. I sensed some guilt in his comments, but I reaped the rewards. Every day, Weld made me breakfast, watched the eggs while I took time for self-care, and kept me so hydrated, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, our eggs grew and grew. Once they were too large for me to cradle all four to my chest, Weld lay across from me in our nest at night, and we each took two. I gripped his hand in mine between our eggs, and we slept until our alarm woke us to feed them again.

Days turned into weeks and months with the same hourly routine. I reduced some of the monotony by working on my doctorate thesis on my tablet during the day. When the suns rose high in the sky, their rays kept our eggs warm enough for me to sit with my back to the headboard.

Weld spent those hours in the children's rooms, hauling furniture from Papa's storage space and setting it up, one piece at a time. We started with the rocking cribs, but he also put together the single beds and stored them back in the inter-dimensional space until we needed them after their second molts. Every time I heard Weld's tools, I was grateful for Papa's gift all over again. He could have split our baby stuff four ways, but he'd given all the baby furniture, necessities, and decor to me.

After feeding our eggs and leaving them warming in the sunlight, I padded down the hallway to the first set of new rooms. Weld had painted each room with a different fantasy theme. The room on the right had a beautiful meadow surrounded by tall trees. On the left, a handful of tropical fish danced around a bearded merman with a trident. I didn't find my mate, so I continued down the hall to the next set of doors across from each other. On the right, the floor was spelled to look like a stone drawbridge that led into a beautiful castle on the wall. On the left, the bare plank floorboards fit the deck of the pirate ship overlooking a beautiful seascape with land on the horizon. That's where I found Weld, sitting back on his haunches on the floor and admiring his handiwork.

"Pirates, eh?"

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