He was the only thing I needed.
“I need some of that lasagna,” he said, reaching toward the center of the table for the dish. “I’ve been hearing amazing things, Wes.”
“Careful, Dev!” Sarah blurted, coming halfway out of her chair and reaching a hand out to stop him. “We just pulled it out of the oven. It’s—”
“Hot!” he yanked his hand, back, shaking it with an embarrassed laugh. “Of course it is.”
“Oh, honey. Let me get some ice.” Sarah was already headed to the kitchen.
“It’s fine, Sare,” Devin called after her.
But she was already back. “I did the same thing earlier,” she said, holding her hand out and showing an angry red burn mark. “It still stings.” She grabbed Dev’s hand and then crinkled her brow in confusion. “Was it the other one?”
“No, it… Sarah, it’s already healed.” He swallowed, looking both nervous and excited to share his news with her. “Remember I said I have some things to tell you?”
She had both his hands in hers now, flipping them over again and again as she looked for signs of the burn. Of course there wasn’t one. Now that I’d given Dev my fire, my dragon’s powers flowed to him and he healed as quickly as I did.
He needed that fast-healing ability to carry my child, as the babe took what it needed from his body in order to grow. He wasn’t naturally designed for it, but just as the dragon let me change shape, it was reshaping him on the inside to accommodate the baby and then allowing him to heal and replenish as the child grew.
Sarah had finally given up on finding any evidence of the burn, and she looked at Dev expectantly while Luke raised a curious eyebrow behind her. I could see my mate fumbling with what to say, nibbling on that lip that I wanted to taste again. I could “hear” him trying out different scenarios in his mind, searching for something that didn’t sound crazy.
Ty was sitting across from us, and after a few minutes of silence he started laughing. “Dude, just tell them. Trust me, there really isn’t any way to ease into it.”
Devin ignored his advice, still searching for something to tell her that would sound reasonable. I agreed with Ty, but it was still cute to watch him try.
“Sarah, the thing is… Maks and I are going to, um, have a baby.”
Her eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at me in surprise before turning her attention back to Dev. “That’s pretty serious, honey. Pretty… fast. You guys have only known each other… what? A month or so?”
“I know, but… remember what you told me about Luke? The way you’ve always felt you were destined for each other? It’s like that.” He was blushing. Fucking adorable.
“It’s fated,” Wes said, winking at Dev in support.
“O-kay,” Sarah said, drawing the word out. “Still, thinking about a baby is a big deal. Although I’ve heard adoption can take a while, so I guess—”
Ty’s bark of laughter interrupted her, and when Sarah looked up her eyes narrowed.
“Why do I get the feeling that everyone here knows something I don’t?” she asked, her eyes moving around the table suspiciously.
“Not me, pumpkin,” Luke said loyally, tipping his glass at her and taking a drink. “But I’ve got to say, this is classic Dev.”
“What are you talking about?” Devin asked, pushing at his non-existent glasses again.
“You’ve always gone all-in whenever you did anything, Dev. Why should it be different now that you’ve finally decided to start dating?”
“It’s actually more than dating. I love Maks,” Dev said, his blush getting even deeper. “And we’re not adopting.” He took a deep breath, and just blurted it out, “I’m pregnant.”
Luke started laughing.
“Funny,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes. She rested her hands on her baby bump and smiled, adding, “Although oh, Lord, I would love to see a man have to deal with morning sickness and food cravings.”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you about that… I mean, wait. I’m serious, Sarah.” He pushed his bangs out of his face and then dove into it, the words tumbling out in one, long rush. “So here’s the thing. Maks and Dane can turn into dragons, and Wes is really Elise’s father, and now that Maks has breathed fire into me I can heal from things like burns, and I don’t need my glasses anymore, and I really am pregnant… probably due in October, because I guess it happens faster for dragon babies. And yeah, morning sickness has been a drag, but I’m still really excited and I wanted you and Luke to know about it because, well, for obvious reasons I won’t be able to stick around once I start to show so I didn’t want you guys to wonder why I’m going to disappear for a few months.”