Page 34 of The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy

"How does she know how to go down a slide?" Galen asked. "There are none of those slide contraptions in Ignitas."

"They've watched videos of children on playgrounds," Lark said from behind us. He'd gone to the concession stand to get bottled water for everyone and missed most of the argument. "What did Clementine do now?"

Punky joined us at our bench and filled him in on how well their children had reacted to the bully.

I could tell Galen wanted to talk to the sulking child, but too many other humans hovered nearby. Most of them were parents of other children, though the bully's parents were nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes of watching with a pout on his face, the bully slinked away toward the washrooms.

"We should go for another picnic," I suggested. "Once the children are ready for lunch, of course."

"They already ate at bible camp." The look on Punky's face was so venomous, I scooted away from him on the bench, placing me in Galen's lap.

"Sorry," Punky muttered. "My mother decided they should eat cotton candy and s'mores instead of a nutritious meal. What did I expect from the woman who thinks ketchup is a vegetable?"

"Shh," Lark said, placing his hand on Punky's shoulder. "It's fine. We'll let them play for a few more minutes, and then we'll stop off at the grocery store on the way to the park."

Punky and Lark's brood had no problem saying goodbye to their new friends, but the littlest boy hugged Clementine so tightly, even Punky looked like he wished he could bring the kid with us.

"He's the bully's little brother," Clementine said on the way to our vehicles. "He's so little. I want to stay here and protect him."

"He'll have to learn how to protect himself," Punky said. "You taught him a way to do that today."

"I taught him how to get his ass beat when he gets home," Clementine corrected. "His brother said his parents would take care of it, and Billy wouldn't stop crying."

She looked back over her shoulder at Billy, who was now in the arms of a beautiful human woman who held the mean boy's hand. They were also heading for a vehicle.

"Don't," Lark whispered, but Punky paid him no mind.

"I can get us food," I said to Lark. "We'll meet you at the park."

"Thanks." Lark rolled his eyes. "This might take a while."

"I don't understand," Galen said once we merged onto the highway that would take us back toward the lake. "There are more female humans than there are female kobolds, right?"

"Just over half of all humans are female, yes."

"Why—"

"That boy wanted to display power over the smartest child there, is my guess."

"Hmm." Galen twisted their shoulders against the back of the seat until their spine popped. "He doesn't know the origin of true power, then. Only the smartest dragons survive, not the strongest."

"I have a feeling Punky's going to have a heart-to-heart with the child's mother." In the meantime, we'd return to the large grocery store we'd passed earlier.

The spacious store layout confused me from the start, but I followed Galen, who followed their nose to the bakery section. They had freshly baked sandwich rolls, which I grabbed. Instead of following the aisles, I walked around the back of the store, picking up lunch meat containers, potato salad, and refrigerated pickles. Galen carried the two gallons of milk for me. We passed a display of cookies on the way to the checkout, and Galen was drawn to the bright colors.

"You'll be disappointed," I warned them. Store-bought cookies were nothing like what the fortress cafeteria baked for us.

"The children will love them," Galen said, as though I didn't know they had the largest sweet tooth of all.

When we arrived at the lake, we parked by the large pavilion. There were a few people using the space to stretch out before a walk, and then they left us alone with our picnic. I helped Galen lay everything out on the table.

By the time I'd made myself a sandwich and filled my plate with all the delectable food, Punky and Lark drove up. Instead of sitting at one table, Lark let the children make their sandwiches and scamper to a table a few feet away to eat on their own.

"Sorry we're so late," Lark whispered when he finally sat down to his own sandwich. "We had to take the mother and her children to a shelter."

"She's leaving her husband," Punky said as he slathered butter on his sandwich roll. "Today's incident was the last straw. She doesn't want her children growing up to be like their dad."

Galen cocked their head, something they'd done a lot over the last few days. I wondered if they were thinking, or only trying to emote in their human form. I still wasn't sure what they wanted to emote, though.

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