Page 73 of Emerald Waves
“Em, have you had a chance to look at any of the online shopping carts I sent you links to?” My sweet mate had been doing a bit, quite a bit, actually, of shopping for Cade. Goddess, just thinking his name filled me with giddiness.
Cade, Papa loves you.
A faint giggle came from Cade at hearing his Papa’s sweet words. I’m sure his tummy was full of the yumminess his Papa made us, and it was now napping time for our little egg.
“How about you bring the laptop, and we go upstairs. Taking a nap sounds wonderful but I’d like to get some of the things we need to order sooner rather than later. When do you think you’ll have the bassinette done?” I loved that Caro had extended the library, added more shelves and turned it into a second office for me. This way I didn’t take over the horde that we both adored, and it was easier to pop back and forth while researching. One day I hoped he’d add more tanks, for the lives he saved, to it. Filling it with scrolls and books would take away from that, which I didn’t want. The most precious of my horde was with his, while the rest remained in here.
“I’ll clean up and meet you upstairs.” With a quick kiss, he was off to do the dishes while I waddled up to our room. I had barely got comfortable when Caro came in, laptop in hand.
“Not all of this is for Cade. With the holidays coming I have a few things in the carts for Griffin, Luna, Kade, and Hunter too.”
“Non-flammable, I hope.” Those twins were something else. Cute as a button but deadly dangerous.
“Yes and no. It’s hard to find those sorts of things, but Raven is working on a spell to help with that. Hope she finds it soon or no Christmas tree will be safe in their house.”
“Yes, yes, let’s hope, and on that note let’s keep everything we buy for them at our house until Christmas day.”
“Good plan, mate. Now, for the nest in our room, what do you think of these pillows and blankets?” I swear he had enough to fill and entire room.
“Isn’t that a lot? Also, when will the bassinet in the horde be done?” Caro’s face fell. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve um,” he looked everywhere but at me. “I’ve kind of stepped away from it. Even thought about asking my brothers to finish it.”
“What? Why? You were so happy to make it as a special gift for Cade from his Papa. What changed?”
“I can’t help but think about the life I took with these very claws every time I see them.”
“Oh, mate,” I kissed the top of his head as it rested on my chest. “You protected us that night, so you can’t think of it that way. Besides, using them to create something special for our son is the ultimate redemption. This is so important, not only to us but to Cade.”
“I-I’ll try, I promise.” He kissed my belly. “For you, my son.” Caro jumped when the egg rolled across my belly. “Did you see that?”
“See it? I felt it.” Silly dragon. “The bigger he gets the harder it is to miss. Lately there have been giggles and hiccups and let me tell you, he doesn’t like hiccups one bit. That egg thrashes around until they’re gone. I swear, I nearly peed my pants theother day when that happened. He’s beaten my bladder into submission.”
Caro’s boisterous laughter filled our room. “Little man, you must play nicely with Daddy’s body.” This time there was no way Caro missed his giggles. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes, my love, I did, and those giggles were all for you.”
With Caro’s head now resting on my belly, having dosed off when Cade did, I funneled through the numerous carts, selected the items I agreed with, and checked out. They’d need to take the vans back into town to haul this load up here for sure. But I couldn’t wait to have everything set up for Cade. The contractor was still working on the nursery, having shifted to finish the library for me first after the archive building was destroyed. Caro made me promise not to peek until he did a big unveiling. Somehow, I’d managed to keep that promise.
But only just…
Chapter Twenty-Three
Caro
“Oh. My. Goddess. What the hell did you do, buy an entire blanket factory?” Odem huffed as he helped me carry another large stack of blankets into the house.
“If one had been for sale, I might have,” I admitted. “Though I may have decimated the stock of several online websites.”
“I bet, they ought to send you a customer of the year award, complete with a forklift to help move all the stuff you bought.”
Odem grunted as we headed to the laundry room, each batch of blankets carefully stacked so they could be washed before Emerson determined which ones he wanted in which space.
“Sounds like your stamina is slipping in your old age,” I teased.
“I’m younger than you.”
“By less than an hour,” I reminded him. “And you don’t hear me grumbling my way up the stairs.”
