Page 72 of The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy

"So we improvised!" Tuft tugged on the air between them, pulling into view a beautiful ironwood dresser with delicate carvings etched into the wood. "Where do you want this?"

"Give us a moment to decide where to put the bedrooms," I said. "Better yet, come help us decide."

"Not touching that," Punky said. "I'm the worst at interior design."

"Aww, look at him," Grindl pointed to Tuft, who vibrated with excitement. "He was made for this, Mac. You've created a monster."

I laughed and extended my elbow to Tuft. "Come with me."

Galen had a much better idea of what they wanted than I did. Axel was more carpenter than stone mason, but he had a good eye for architecture.

While Galen and Axel discussed the new rooms, I worried Tuft would launch into redecorating the rest of our space. I was pleasantly surprised when he dragged me to our makeshift nest instead.

"Look at how adorable they are!" Tuft whispered. "Do they always sleep like that?"

Opal was draped over the top of Slate's head again, clutching their horns with her claws.

"So far, yes."

"Clementine wanted to come with us," Punky said, joining us around the nest. "We ran out of room, even after we stuffed our individual spaces full."

"You are welcome to bring all your children," Galen said while they and Axel measured a few doorways against the rock wall.

"Soon," Punky promised.

Once Axel had the doorways drawn against the outer wall, Galen and I worked together to create the rooms. Each room was like an interdimensional space, but open to the cave so it filled with air. Then, Galen tied off the magic so it would hold until we needed to expand the space, which we most certainly would as Slate continued to grow.

Opal's room was in the middle, sandwiched between two dragons. Axel also included a doorway between her room and Slate's so they could play together, but in their own rooms.

I walked Punky, Lark, and Tuft through my wish lists, sharing what I'd ordered for each room. We had another pile of toys and games left over for the playroom, so Axel, Galen, and I discussed where to put it.

We used a ton of magic to shuffle the kitchen from the back of the cave to the side along the entrance, which would make food prep and cleanup much easier when Galen hunted. This left plenty of space to turn half of our former bedroom into the play area and the other half into an entertainment room, complete with a television.

"You mean we could have been watching movies on a big screen this whole time?" Galen whined.

"I told you about TVs," I said. "They're glorious."

"You made it sound like they did less than your tablet without emphasizing they are bigger!"

Punky backed away slowly as smoke started rolling from Galen's nostrils. "Well, now you have a television."

"Your bedroom is still bare," Tuft said from the doorway.

"We can handle it from here," Galen said.

I fully expected them to chase our friends out of our enclosure, but they invited everyone to sit and show them how to work the television. The kids had awakened from their naps, so we moved the makeshift nest in front of the television. Sunny sat with the babies on the floor while the adults filled the giant sectional couch to watch a half-hour ofSesame Street.

Growing up on Ignitas, I'd been denied the wholesome education offered by the cute and cuddly monsters. I wouldn't let my kids miss out.

"This is such a cute show," Galen said when the episode ended. "If I'd known humans had something like this, I wouldn't have needed a trip to Earth to evaluate them."

"The show's existence doesn't mean all humans are good," Punky reminded them. "But yes, it was one of the best things about growing up on Earth."

I'd picked up on some familiar names in the episode. "Are your kids named after the show?" I asked. Ernie and Grover each had a skit, but no Clementine or Robin.

"They are." Lark had his arm draped over Punky's shoulders along the back of the couch while we watched, but now he gave him a light squeeze. "That was all Punky's idea. I was clueless about names."

I'd felt the same way, even when Galen asked me to name Opal. While I was still thinking about baby names, Coz and Grindl reminded us they needed to get home.

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