Page 22 of The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy

"Humans are stupid," she concluded as I snapped the first picture.

"Not stupid," Punky admonished. "Young."

"She said she's three!"

"Well, she's probably three," Punky replied, trying to turn her head toward the camera for the shot.

"We're three!" Thankfully, her shouts were lost in the stiff breeze.

"In human developmental years, you're closer to six," Punky said.

"Six?"

"Six," Lark agreed, "going on twelve."

"I'm six," Clementine said again for confirmation.

Both of her parents smiled and nodded, and I snapped another picture.

"Then I want more birthday presents," she said.

I snapped one more picture, capturing the smug faces of all four children while Punky frowned and Lark's eyes bulged too large for his human head.

"That's the best one," Galen said. "Well done, Clementine. We've captured a true family portrait."

"I'll tell your grandma about the presents," Punky said as he ushered the children toward our parking spots.

Lark fell back into step with us. "After the botanical garden, we're having dinner with Punky's parents again tonight, and then we're going to the amusement park tomorrow. His parents don't want to ride the rides, but the kids really want to go. They're tall enough to ride most of them, but we'll need a chaperone for the ones they can't. Are you interested?"

"Yes," Galen said before I could ask questions. "They have a dragon at this amusement park. I want to meet it."

ChapterEight

Galen

I enjoyed humidity as a dragon,but I hated it as a human. The muggy botanical garden made my human sweat glands work overtime. Once we were past the overhanging greenery and into the heart of the domed garden, I ignored my discomfort, focusing instead on the different plant description plaques along the winding paths.

While we walked, Mac told Punky my dilemma, that I wanted to learn about humans without scaring them with strange questions. Instead of offering up his children as interviewers, he led me to a platform high above the main floor. From there, I could see a bench below, where two humans sat holding hands. Their animated faces and voices carried to us, especially when I allowed my ears to flatten and expand against the side of my head like my dragon form.

"I've had the best time getting to know you," the human with short chestnut hair and scruffy beard said to the other.

"Me too," the human with longer hair on their head but no facial hair said, leaning toward the other. "Best six months of my life. I'm so glad I met you."

"I couldn't leave tomorrow without asking you this," the one with the beard said. They slid to their knees on the path before the bench and dug a small box from their pants pocket. "Will you marry me?"

The other human hopped to their feet and clapped. "Oh my god, yes! Yes, Brian, I'll marry you!" They reached down and pulled Brian into their arms, kissing them the way I'd kissed Mac several times now. I felt like I was intruding on something private, but I couldn't look away. I wanted that, with Mac.

Beside me, Punky cleared his throat.

My face burned, and I pulled back from the ledge I'd been leaning on. I turned to Punky. "What is marry?"

"It's like mating. Humans don't have fated mates, so they date and see if they like each other. Sometimes, they choose to cohabitate. If they really like each other, or they're really religious, they get married."

I didn't know what religion had to do with it. If the dragon goddess tried to come between me and Mac, I would simply find another dragon deity to worship.

"If humans don't have fated mates, is it possible we will cease to have them one day?" I asked.

"We?" Punky frowned at me. "What do you mean?"

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