Page 30 of Curvy Girl and the Single Dad Dragon
"Already showing off," Ember sighs dramatically from across the table, though her proud smile belies her tone. At ten years old, she takes her role as big sister with utmost seriousness. "I was at least two before I made fire."
"Every dragon develops differently," Damon reminds her, reaching over to ruffle her dark curls affectionately.
I never imagined my life would look like this three years ago. Never dreamed I'd be celebrating my son's first birthday surrounded by dragons and shifters, that I'd be planning a wedding to a 642-year-old being who can transform into a creature of legend.
Yet here we are, and I wouldn't change a single thing.
"Need help with that cake, Luna?" Cole calls from where he's manning the grill on our back patio. At six-foot-five, he's nearly as imposing as Damon, though built differently. It makes sense now that I know he transforms into a nine-hundred-pound grizzly bear.
"We've got it," I call back, helping Aiden finally blow out his candle to applause from our gathered friends and family.
It still amuses me to think about how Cole and Damon discovered each other's true natures. Damon had gone to check on his hoard, something he does regularly, only to find a massive grizzly bear lumbering through the woods near the hidden entrance. The dragon energy in the cave had called to Cole, apparently, drawn him there without his conscious awareness.
The ensuing confrontation had been brief but intense—a dragon and bear sizing each other up in the forest, neither willing to back down until they both shifted back to human form and recognized each other with mutual shock.
"My boss is a bear shifter," Damon had announced when he returned home that evening, looking both annoyed and relieved. "All this time working together, and neither of us knew."
Now, Cole and his girlfriend Ruby are regular fixtures in our lives. Ruby is human like me, and she's been an invaluable friend as I've navigated this supernatural world, always ready with advice or simply understanding when I need to vent about the peculiarities of life with non-humans.
"One slice for the birthday boy," I say, cutting a small piece of cake for Aiden, whose eyes are fixed on the treat with laser focus.
"And a big one for his big sister," Ember prompts, holding out her plate with a grin.
As I serve cake to our guests, I catch my mother's eye across the room. She's deep in conversation with Sebastian, Damon's brother, who flew in from Australia for his nephew's birthday.
They're an unlikely pair. My practical, midwestern mother and the charming, centuries-old dragon who looks barely forty, but they've bonded over a shared love of gardening, of all things.
Mom has flourished these past few years. The resources Damon provided helped her start a small landscaping business, giving her purpose and financial security. More importantly, she's found joy again, accepting the extraordinary nature of my new family with surprising ease.
"He said your mother reminds him of someone he knew in the 1700s," Damon told me once, explaining Sebastian's fondness for Mom. "A healer with the same kind eyes."
I feel a warm hand on my lower back and turn to find Damon behind me, his eyes soft as he looks at our son happily smashing cake into his mouth.
"Happy?" he asks quietly.
"Completely," I assure him, leaning into his solid warmth. "You?"
"More than I ever thought possible." He presses a kiss to my temple. "Though I'm a little concerned about the state of our house after Aiden finishes with that cake."
I laugh, watching as our son demonstrates his impressive dragon appetite, frosting smeared across his face and into his dark hair. "Small price to pay."
"Indeed." Damon's arm tightens around my waist. "Everything alright? You seemed lost in thought earlier."
"Just reflecting," I tell him honestly. "On how much has changed. How full my life is now."
His expression softens further. "Any regrets?"
"Not a single one." I stand on tiptoe to kiss him properly, ignoring Ember's theatrical groan from nearby.
The past three years have been a whirlwind. When we finally told Ember we were together, her excitement was contagious.Six months later, I moved from the guest house into the main house, and six months after that, we discovered I was pregnant.
Aiden's arrival was both joyous and complicated. Dragon pregnancies, it turns out, run hot—literally. By my third trimester, I was running fevers that would have hospitalized a normal woman but were perfectly healthy for someone carrying a dragon baby. Sebastian flew in to assist with the birth, bringing ancient knowledge of cross-species pregnancies that proved invaluable.
Through it all, Damon has been my rock, my partner, my love. And in two months, he'll officially be my husband, though as he likes to remind me, "Dragons mated for life long before humans invented marriage ceremonies."
"Mommy, can I show Aiden my new fire trick?" Ember asks, bouncing over to us. "I've been practicing with Uncle Sebastian and I can make shapes now!"
"Outside only," Damon and I say in unison, exchanging amused glances.
