Page 85 of Emerald Waves
“Brother, we’re counting on it.” Caro clapped his shoulder. “My mate’s dragon needs to stretch his wings soon.” My dragon popped up, ready to shift. “Down, dragon. Let’s give Emerson another day or two to heal.”
His audible whimper made us chuckle, but the idea of spreading our wings and soaring high above the ground with our mate was a wonderful thought. Nothing but the open air and our dragons. How cute will it be when Cade first learns to fly? His tiny wings fluttering away with Papa and Daddy nearby, ready to catch him when he inevitably falls.
“All in due time, dragon. All in due time.” Caro assured him. “We have Uncle Odem on call.”
“Knock-knock,” Alex called out as he stepped inside. “Came to check on my bestie and my new nephew.” Alex hugged me then joined the others in the nest, Ionus standing nearby smiling wide. Guess he wasn’t such a grouch after all.
“I’m so beyond elated for the both of you,” Ionus wrapped an arm around me and gave me a side hug. “Cade will be a magnificent dragon.”
“Aye, he will,” his proud Papa added. “I can’t wait to see him playing with his cousins.”
“Hopefully,” Ionus sighed, “he doesn’t pick up any bad habits from them.”
Laughter in the morning with family, surrounded by love and waking with my mate and our baby. Neither man nor dragon could ask for more.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Caro
Once Emerson and I had figured out how the infant, or in this case, egg carrier straps worked, our little Cade spent almost as much time tucked against my chest as he did in one of the bassinets. I loved having the chance to carry him now that Emerson had completed the truly hard task of nurturing Cade’s egg inside of his body. Our hatchling was a happy, giggly boy who we’d quickly discovered loved music, any kind of music, but mostly songs that were guitar heavy, like the one that poured out of the smart speaker as I loaded the dishwasher after supper.
While Emerson was pregnant, I came to realize that I had a passion for cooking. I’d amassed quite the collection of recipes from the internet and reveled in sharing them with my mate, his expressions, whenever he tried something new, one of awe and excitement. Now that he wasn’t constantly ravenous, it wasawesome to watch him take his time and savor every bite in between our often-dizzying conversations.
His excitement and passion for his research was infectious, with one topic feeding into another like some crazy madcap word association game. He’d say something that would trigger a memory of a past encounter, and as soon as I started filling him in, I’d spark a reminder of something he’d read in an archive once and yet somehow, by the end of it all, we always managed to make it back to the original conversation and wrap things up beautifully.
Our precious egg was always present for those, tucked in the reclining, multi-setting highchair that Alex and Ionus had given us, with a removable attachment that held the egg in place. We stationed it between our chairs, where we could touch, tickle, or stroke his shell during our conversations, so he could get used to the flow of our day, even before he was born.
Right now, we were handling cleanup, while Emerson searched for an old medallion with markings on it that he was certain matched one of the pieces I’d recently returned to Mattias. If it was a match, like we both believed, then we’d get that one to him too so he could get it back to the Merdragon clan it belonged to.
As the final notes of the old Motley Crew classic, Kickstart My Heart, faded, a familiar guitar rift hit, and I felt Cade start wiggle-dancing around in his egg.
“Oh yeah, my boy,” I said, caressing the top of his shell. “You know an amazing song when you hear one.”
Head banging, shoulders rocking, I loaded a few more dishes, then joined in with Axl as he launched into Sweet Child o’ Mine. My hair blinded me, but I didn’t care as Cade giggled from inside the shell while I played air guitar on the outside of it whenever we got to one of Slash’s infamous guitar solos.
Somehow, I managed to get everything loaded without dropping any of the silverware, and spun, fingers tickling Cade’s shell in one final air guitar solo, only to realize that my mate had emerged from the horde, phone in hand, and was currently recording us.
“Did you find it,” I asked as I crossed the room to kiss him.
“I did,” he replied, pointing to where he’d laid it on the table. “And we were right, it matches.”
“If you want to run it over to Mattias while I finish up in here, I can have everything set up for our movie night once you get back, you know he’ll have questions.”
“He’s home then?”
“Yes, I felt his presence arriving not too long ago.”
“Why don’t you take it over, I’m sure he’d love the chance to see Cade.”
“Because Cade and I have a few things to attend to before movie time and one more song he’s been itching to hear all night.”
“Purple Rain?”
“You nailed it.”
He chuckled at that and nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it over while you and Cade get your Prince fix on.”
I watched him leave the kitchen, eyes glued to the sway of his ass in those cozy lounge pants, loving how my mate could rock anything he decided to put on, at least in my book. Where others craved sophisticated and sleek, it was his comfy-cozy bookish style that took my breath away. That and the sexy professor vibes he gave off when he pulled on a sweater and a pair of slacks.
