Page 33 of The Ruby Dragon's Unconventional Mate
“That beautiful one’s Laramie. The other one is Bellamy.”
“Bellamy came first.” Logan cleared his throat, but tears were streaking his cheeks. “Laramie is the little brother. We couldn’t think of a better name for a little brother.”
Lars beamed at his big brother, honored beyond reason. He rocked little Laramie, gently popping the nipple in his mouth before he could start to cry. “Well, hello, my little namesake. Aren’t you tiny.”
Simon chuckled softly and shook his head. “Yes, and his brother’s a bruiser. Laramie is teeny.”
“Beautiful. You’ll be fine. Some of us are the best when we’re little and sleek and quick. You don’t worry your little head about it.”
“They’re both here and whole. That’s what I needed.” Dakota glanced over at him, obviously so tired. “That was scary.”
“I agree, I don’t think we should do that anymore.” They couldn’t afford to lose Dakota. Not now, not ever.
Dakota was Logan’s soul, Logan’s heartbeat. And these babies needed him.
“No, I think that four babies is a good amount of babies. Logan, we’ve talked about it before this, but now?” Dakota hid his face in Logan’s chest and sobbed.
“Hey! You have a nice-sized family here. Ari and Mari are downstairs with the others. You should see them. They’re flying around the kitchen with Lachlan.”
Logan stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Not literally! They’re just waiting for food.” Like Lachlan would have room to fly in here.
Simon nodded. “Something smells good down there.”
“Bryant’s making pancakes and bacon. Everything’s okay. The babies are here. You’re all right, and I’ll stay for a couple of days to help take care of the girls. I might be able to convince Lachlan to be here and take care of the girls with me and Bryant, and we’ll just all stay. I’m not sure the girls would be unhappy just hanging with Uncle Lachlan for however long. We will?—”
Dakota stared at him, wide-eyed. “Uncle Lachlan? You and Bryan? What did I miss? How much? How long was I in labor?”
“Seven or eight seconds,” he teased, and Simon chuckled.
“What did I say? I told you both everything would be fine. Now our family is complete and solid.”
The pull on the bottle grew stronger. “And hungry.”
Lars rocked and fed, his heart full. Bellamy was gold like his father, but little Laramie looked just like him—sleek and small and silver.
“They’re amazing,” Simon murmured.
“They are. Did you want to go get some food?” Lars winked at him.
Simon chuckled. “As soon as these bottles are empty, we’ll both go and leave Logan and Dakota to rest together.”
“Sounds great.”
“I’ll bring you both up a plate of food.”
“No bacon for me,” Dakota said. “Just the sugar.”
“I want all the things,” Logan growled.
The sound made the babies hum with happiness, the noise thrumming along his brain stem. Wow. That was some magical power.
“I’ll bring you a full compliment.” He felt the last pull on the bottle, and he knew it was time to start burping. Simon did the same, patting little Bellamy’s back.
“Thanks, brother. So you and Bryant, huh?”
“He called me right after I came over here. He must have heard me.”
