Page 68 of Finn's Solace

I had no idea what Raiden and Levi were talking about, but it looked serious, and I wondered if I should leave them to it.

Levi glanced up, and as if he could sense my gaze, his eyes latched onto mine almost instantly, a bright smile lighting up his face. He waved me over, and I smiled, then started making my way through the crowd to him.

I had to stop and talk to someone a few times, but Raiden and Levi were still chatting when I reached them.

"I'll drop by sometime this week," Raiden was saying, and I glanced curiously between them. Before Levi could explain, though, my eyes fell on Raiden's basket, and I sucked in a breath.

"Oh my God," I murmured, leaning down to peer at the baby dragon nestled in between four eggs. "They're adorable."

"Aren't they just?" Raiden asked happily, and I glanced up at him.

"You don't know the baby's sex yet?"

"Dragons don't have a sex," Raiden said with a shake of his head, and I blinked. I knew that, didn't I? I was pretty sure Cam had told me at some point.

"Right, I forgot. Sorry," I murmured, my eyes still on the little one. They were a little bigger than a newborn kitten,maybe closer to a two-week-old kitten. They didn't have any scales yet, and they peered at me with pale blue eyes as they flexed their tiny wings.

"They can't fly yet, right?" I checked, suddenly worried they'd fly into this crowd and get themself hurt.

"No, that will take a few months," Raiden said, his voice dripping with fondness.

"I'm guessing this one's gonna be like his big brother," I mused, making Raiden and William laugh.

"They do seem like a troublemaker," William agreed, and I smiled. Both of them looked so happy, and I was delighted for them. My conversation with Levi about having kids returned to the forefront of my mind, and I wondered if I would feel just as happy. We couldn't have bio kids of our own, but that didn't really matter to me.

Having a blood connection hadn't made our birth parents love us the way Dad and Papa loved us with no blood tying us together. Love was only as strong as you made it, and I would love any kid we ended up adopting with my whole heart, just like Dad and Papa loved me and my siblings.

"Would you like to hold them?" Raiden asked, making my eyes jerk to his.

"Really? What if I hurt them?"

Raiden chuckled. "They might be small, but they are still a dragon, Finn. They'll be fine."

I swallowed hard, and nodded mutely as Levi slid his arm around my waist, giving it a light squeeze. I leaned into Levi asRaiden picked the baby up from the basket, and placed them in my cupped palms.

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't ask. Have you named them yet?"

The baby peered up at me as their little claws grabbed onto my thumbs, their tiny wings making little flap-flap noises as they moved them.

Raiden and William shared a glance, and it was Will who answered me. "Cam named them Veron, after his mother, Veronica."

I loved everything about that. The fact that they'd asked Cam to name their child—Cam could be serious when it was needed—and that he'd named them after his mom. I knew he'd lost her very early, and that she'd meant the world to him.

"It's a lovely name," I murmured as Veron chomped on my thumb, the gummy bites making me chuckle.

Once I'd had my fill, I returned Veron to their basket and thanked Raiden and William profusely for letting me hold them.

"You look like you want to go to my place and start trying to make a baby," Levi teased once we were out of Raiden's earshot, and my cheeks heated up as I shot him a warning glance. Raiden might not be able to hear us, but we were still surrounded by supes.

Evidenced by the fact that none other than my dad found his way to us a few seconds later, his eyes wide as they flicked between us. "What's this I hear about making babies?"

I groaned, then smacked Levi's arm. "See what you did? He will never let this go now."

Levi didn't look the least bit apologetic as he explained everything to Dad in great detail, and Dad's smile widened the more Levi talked.

"Stop talking, Levi," I grumbled, and he finally stopped, though he'd already told Dad everything from the fact that we might want kids someday to how enamored I was with Raiden's baby.

"I would love to be a grandpa," he said after a pause, and I groaned. "Maybe Pops? I'll have to discuss this with Jai."

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