“No, but I can guess. Did you sign a certain contract?”
“God no, but I saw it. I negotiated everything. And then I ripped it up.”
“Good for you.”
“We are trying for a baby, though. I hope that’s not weird for you.”
“It would’ve been weird for me if you were just a breeder like my mother had been. Father is still working on payroll, but I cut out early just to meet the woman who has him in such a mood.”
“What kind of mood?”
“He’s smiled and laughed more than I’ve ever seen him do in the span of a few hours. And he’s got his jacket draped over the chair with his shirt sleeves rolled up like a total slouch.”
“Ha!” Clara clapped her hand over her mouth to soften her laughter. “You just wait, Diem. I’ll have him looking like a right proper slob in no time.”
“I heard a rumor,” Diem said low, her words dotted with giggles. “You got him to shotgun a beer? Please tell me that’s true.”
“I totally did!”
“What’s shotgunning a beer?” Harper asked from behind a sandwich she’d stacked a wobbly foot high.
“It’s the game Uncy Denison is always making the boys play when anyone uses the word ‘pivot.’”
“Oh, when they drink out of the bottom?”
“Yeeep,” Diem drawled. She turned to Clara with a wink and murmured, “We’re raising her up real classy.”
“I can see that, and I approve.” Clara studied Harper for a moment, then let her curiosity get the best of her. “Damon told me you’re a hybrid dragon. But he said dragon females…you know…”
“Don’t survive childbirth? We don’t. It’s not like with the bears who stop Changing into their animals during pregnancy. We have to force ourselves not to shift and grow weaker and weaker. I wouldn’t survive carrying a baby to term.”
“I grew in Riley’s tummy,” Harper said matter-of-factly. “I use ta be this big.” She squished her finger and thumb together.
“Oh. Maybe I should ask you about all of this some other time, in private.”
“No, don’t worry about it. We’re very open with Harper. Riley was our surrogate. She is human and had Harper without any problems, and through all of that, she became my best friend and Drew’s mate. She kind of just came in and fit right in with the rest of the Ashe Crew, and now life is unimaginable without her.”
“I get to spend the night with Riley and Drew and their new baby on Friday nights so daddy can take mommy to the movies. I give baby Bethany bottles and help Riley change her diapers.” The mayonnaise she was squirting on top of her towering sandwich made a farting sound. “She has big, smeary poops sometimes.”
“Nice,” Clara said.
“So, I was kind of nervous about meeting you, and now I super like you,” Diem admitted. She pulled a cell phone from her back pocket. “What’s your number? The crews hang out, sometimes for barbecues, sometimes down at Sammy’s Bar in Saratoga. We celebrate birthdays and holidays and all that. Usually, Father declines invitations, but I have a feeling you’ll be shaking things up around here. I’m going to call you with the invites from here on out if that’s okay.”
“Uuum, I would love that. Please do. I had so much fun meeting the Gray Backs the other night.”
“Oh, God, I don’t doubt it. Willa’s a hoot.”
Clara recited her number for Diem and helped Harper hold her sandwich steady as the little girl balanced the plate and strode unsteadily toward a round dining table off the kitchen.
When the little girl was settled, Clara finished arranging the tray of lunch for her and Damon and said her goodbyes to Diem and Harper. But just as she was about to leave the kitchen, Diem said, “Clara?”
“Hmm?” she asked, turning with the tray balanced in her hands.
“Whatever you’re doing with my father?” Diem smiled emotionally. “Keep it up. I haven’t ever seen him this happy.”
Clara’s throat clogged with emotion, and her eyes prickled and blurred. “I will. He makes me happy, too.”
She had to gather her wits and settle her emotions as she walked down the halls toward Damon’s office. If she was being honest, she’d been nervous about meeting Damon’s family, too, but that had gone better than she could’ve imagined. Diem was easy to talk to and already felt like a friend. And little Harper was sharp as a tack. No doubt in her mind, she would grow up to be a strong dragon female like her mother and definitely not mousey like Feyadine had been.