Page 24 of Omega Dragon Manny
I stared at him. “Two? Like twins?”
“Two,” he confirmed, smiling. “Exactly like twins.”
Clark blinked, then laughed. “We’re gonna need a bigger car.”
He kissed my cheek, and I laughed, too, while the triplets were running in circles around the chair I was sitting in, squealing with joy. They had no idea what was happening but had fed off of our happiness. It was adorable.
“We’re gonna need a lot more than a bigger car,” I said, smiling down at them. “We might need a bigger house in a few years.”
When the midwife excused us to have some time to talk, I turned to Clark. “Are you okay with this? Are you sad I couldn’t give you dragon babies?”
He took my hand, squeezing it gently. “Why would I be sad? Whether they’re dragons or not, they’reourbabies. They’re healthy. And that’s my biggest dream of all.”
EPILOGUE
CLARK
I never understood chaos theory until experiencing a photoshoot with three one-year-olds in matching corduroy rompers. One was always tugging at another, causing tears or frowns or fists just as the camera shutter snapped. Jack was one of the best photographers in the state, and he specialized in children’s lifestyle photos. And as an old friend from high school, we felt confident he could wrangle our brood into submission.
With lights blazing, softbox shadows darted in every direction as toy-wielding assistants cowered behind adorable backdrops. Rory tripped on his millionth escape toward the front door at the same time that Colby shrieked because Betsy yanked the stuffed dragon from his grip with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Each of the babies had identical stuffed dragons that they carried everywhere they went, but it never failed that they wanted to have the one that their sibling was holding, and drama was quick to follow every snatch and grab.
“You’re a saint, man.” I swooped Rory off the ground and dropped him back in place for the next shot. “I don’t know how you do this day in and day out.”
“I’ve only got them for an hour at a time. You’re the one taking them home.” Jack adjusted his lens and nodded toward Beau. “And going back for more. I think you’re the saint.”
Beside me, Beau’s laugh came out in a breathy huff. His taut belly bounced and made him look like he was hiding a beach ball under his dragon-print tee. The fact that my mate was literally days—hours—minutes, maybe—away from delivering our next bundles of joy had done nothing to slow him down. If anything, Beau was more buoyant than ever, as if he was trying to soak up enough life to last through the looming sleepless months. “He said I can have as many as I want as long as he doesn’t have to do the potty training.” Beau plucked Colby off his sister and attempted to get them both in line. “But he doesn’t know I’m an expert at it.”
“You’ve been doing it for more than twenty years. I hope you’re an expert at using the potty.” I kept a straight face while prying Betsy’s tiny fist from my hair.
“Ha, ha.” Beau rolled his eyes, but I didn’t miss his indulgent smile. “I’ll have you know that I once trained two-year-old twins and three-year-old triplets from the same family in a matter of a week.” He grinned and chuckled to himself as he relived that memory. “It was a messy week, but by the end of it, each one of those pups was able to spend the whole day in underpants with very few accidents. I should have definitely gotten some kind of medal for that.”
“I’ve got some steel for you at ho—” Before I could get my dirty joke out, Beau sucked in a breath and his eyes went wide.
“What’s wrong?” I stepped to his side and slipped my hand below his belly to hold it up. “Are you okay?”
“Not sure.” Beau leaned forward, holding his breath. “Are we done yet?”
I took his hand and squeezed it. “We can be.” We managed to get all the individual shots, at least a dozen viable sibling shots, and a few family shots that I knew were gonna look great covering the hallway wall. That was good enough for their first-year photo shoot. “You good?”
He inhaled deeply and shook his head. “Don’t panic but my water just broke.”
“What?” I swallowed hard, making sure I heard him right. “Now?”
His voice wavered, but he remained calm. “Yes, and it’s fine. We just need to get to the birthing center.”
There was a beat of total silence as I let those words settle over me. And then, all hell broke loose, and the studio erupted with action.
Jack watched me run around collecting our things and children before putting down his camera and placing his hand on my biceps. “I’ll watch the babies, Clark. You take care of Beau.”
“What?” I had two of the three babies in my arms, ready to get them strapped into their carriers. “Are you sure?”
“Of course.” He reached for Colby and put him back in the play area with Rory. “I don’t have any other clients tonight, and they’re easy. Just go get their brothers or sisters out and don’t worry about us.”
I turned to Beau to get his opinion on the matter.
He just nodded as he curled forward, holding his belly. “Thank you, Jack. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
