Page 16 of Purple Protector

“It won’t be long now. I’ve been keeping an eye on them.”

“Well, congratulations.”

Hedley slowly nodded. “What about you? Do you have children?”

“I wish, but I’m very much single. It would be a dream come true, though.”

“You’re still young, but if you really want children, why wait?”

“I couldn’t afford adoption.” Aaron wanted to talk about something else, but at the same time, he had questions about the eggs and how Hedley had ended up adopting them.

From what he knew of dragon anatomy, males could become pregnant. In theory, Hedley and Killian could have their own children, which would make sense for a king who needed an heir. Instead, they were adopting these two.

“You could here. The clan doesn’t take money when it comes to adoption. We just want the children who are still in the nursery to have parents and loving families.”

Aaron blinked. Was Hedley suggesting what he thought he was suggesting? “I’m sorry?”

“Or you could have your own children if you dated a dragon,” Hedley added.

Aaron’s thoughts went straight to Birch. Did he want children? Aaron did, but he didn’t feel ready for it just yet. He couldn’t dismiss the thought that Hedley had put in his head, though. Maybe in five years, when he was ready, he could have kids. Maybe he could even have them with Birch.

No. There was no way Birch was interested in Aaron. Aaron needed to keep a straight head on his shoulders and be realistic. Birch was an important man in the clan. He was Killian and Hedley’s bodyguard and their friend. He was family to them. Why would he want to be with an uninteresting human who wouldn’t be sticking around?

“What about you, Birch?” Hedley asked, pulling Aaron out of his thoughts. “Do you want children?”

Aaron gaped when he turned and realized that Birch had been in the room the entire time. He was standing next to the door on the opposite side of the room, which explained why Aaron hadn’t noticed him. When he’d come in, he’d gone straight to Hedley. He hadn’t looked around, especially after noticing the eggs.

And now, Hedley had just asked Birch if he wanted children and was heavily implying that maybe Birch could have them with Aaron.

BIRCH KNEW WHAT HEDLEY was doing. He glared at the consort as he moved closer, but Hedley ignored him and continued softly smiling at Aaron. Hedley was meddling, just like Killian kept doing. Those two truly belonged together.

It was annoying, but it was a sign of how much they cared. It reminded Birch of his mothers, and even though he had enough meddling with those two, he couldn’t exactly tell Hedley to stop. Even though Aaron knew they were friends, it wouldn’t be good for Birch to be disrespectful to his king’s consort in front of a journalist.

“Well, like Aaron, I’m very much single,” Birch said, hoping that Hedley would leave it alone.

“That’s not what I asked,” Hedley pointed out instead.

“I’m also extremely busy with my job. I feel it wouldn’t be fair to anyone I might be with to have children with them when I work so much. Besides, my job means that they would have to be pregnant and not me, and again, it’s not something I want to push on anyone.”

Birch didn’t miss the way Aaron’s smile fell a little. Aaron tried to quickly get it back up, but it wasn’t as bright as before.

Birch wasn’t sure why Aaron looked sad because of what Birch had said. It made sense. Birch worked for the king, so he couldn’t take the time off to have a child. That meant that whoever he was with would have to carry the pregnancy.

Unless they couldn’t.

Aaron couldn’t get pregnant. If he and Birch were together, the only one of the two who could have children would be Birch. If he wasn’t willing to take time off from his job, they would have to adopt. Maybe that wasn’t what Aaron wanted. Maybe he wanted his own children.

What the fuck was Birch thinking? He was imagining their life together, and he shouldn’t. Hedley might be trying to tempt Aaron into staying, but he might decide not to, and even if he did, Birch was too busy protecting his king to have a relationship, no matter how much he liked Aaron.

So far, everything Birch had seen of Aaron was nice. He was respectful of everyone, not only the king and the people who worked with him. He’d made friends with some of the humans who lived with the clan. He hadn’t bothered people with his questions, and he’d withstood the curiosity of the dragons watching him with a smile, albeit a nervous one. He might not have initially thought he was right for the job, but Birch thought he was.

“Don’t you think that’s something whoever you’re with should decide?” Hedley asked. “I mean, they might want you to get pregnant, but knowing it’s not possible, they might be okay with adopting, like Killian and me. Or you could wait to have children. No one said you had to have them tomorrow. We don’t know what the situation will be like in five years, but maybe then, you’d be ready to take some time off the job and have children and build a family.” He glanced at Aaron, then back at Birch. “Killian and I don’t want your entire life to be the job. We love you too much for that. It goes for both of you,” he added, looking at Marlin.

“I’m not having children,” Marlin said instantly. “It’s not for me.”

Birch couldn’t help but wonder if his brother wanted kids. They’d never really talked about it, but he imagined that the answer was yes. Curran probably didn’t know that Marlin was opposed to it. What would it do to him? Should Birch tell him? Or should he try talking to Marlin?

It would be best if he stayed out of that relationship. At the moment, there wasn’t one, anyway.

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