“Holy shit! That’s fucking awesome!” Ty said gleefully.
The logs flared brightly and started crackling as the dragon fire instantly turned the damp wood into a hot blaze. Our fire burned hot, and the little patio was bathed in warmth. The orange light played over Sarah’s face, illuminating her look of shock.
“Is this a trick?” she asked breathlessly.
“Nope,” Ty insisted, suddenly president of the Dragons-R-Us fan club. “You should see some of the other shit they can do!”
“So Dev, Maks turned you into a dragon?” she asked, ignoring Ty’s enthusiasm as she turned wide eyes on my mate.
“No,” he laughed, splaying his hands over his flat belly in the instinctual gesture of everyone who had ever been pregnant. “But he did knock me up.”
“You’re really pregnant?” she asked. “Like, really?”
He nodded, grinning back at her.
“Squee!” she squeed, throwing her arms around him. “Oh, my God! This is going to be so much fun! We should totally have a baby shower together!”
She grabbed Devin’s hand and started pulling him back toward the house, talking a mile a minute about baby plans and collecting Wes along the way. The rest of us were left on the patio, Luke smiling after his wife indulgently and Ty shaking his head in disappointment.
“Dragons,” he said. “Fire.”
“She really likes babies,” Luke said, patting Ty’s shoulder in consolation.
“Babies are great,” Ty agreed. But—” He stabbed a finger at the crackling logs. “—fucking dragons, dude. Dragons.”
20
~ Devin ~
The house was quiet when I got home from work, and I headed straight to the kitchen. Sarah’s car hadn’t been in the driveway, so I was startled to find her sitting at the table. Her eyes were closed and her hands rested on her rounded belly.
“I thought everyone was gone,” I said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “You okay?”
“Very. Luke and Maks took Holly out to the beach at Burfoot Park,” she said, smiling up at me. “He’s kicking. Want to feel?”
I grinned, laying my hand on her stomach. I couldn’t believe it was June already… she was due in August, and she already looked big enough to pop.
Even though my own pregnancy was progressing faster than a standard one, it wasn’t nearly as far along as hers. As near as we could figure it out, I was somewhere around the end of the first trimester, while she was almost done with the second. I couldn’t wait until I felt my little one move, too.
“I wish you could stay,” she said with a sigh. “What did you tell them at work?”
“I just said ‘personal reasons.’ Too bad I couldn’t have taken paternity leave, though.”
I’d thought about taking a leave of absence, but had ended up giving my notice instead. This had been my last day, and as much as I enjoyed my job, it was going to be a relief not to have to work. Even with Maks’s fire supporting me, this pregnancy was exhausting me. I felt bloated and cranky and tired, and of course I couldn’t tell anyone at my office why I was so out of sorts.
I knew I wouldn’t have trouble coming back after the baby was born if I changed my mind, or finding work elsewhere if we stayed in Wisconsin, but Maks had told me that he was over two hundred years old—crazy—and that had been plenty of time to set himself up financially. There was really no need for me to work if I didn’t want to, and I was looking forward to being a stay-at-home dad, at least in the beginning. I couldn’t wait to meet the little one growing inside me.
“Want me to get you some peas, honey?” Sarah asked, standing up and heading to the stove.
I nodded, my mouth watering as I remembered why I’d come into the kitchen in the first place. I’d been craving green peas with cinnamon all day. I’d been obsessed with the combination for weeks. No one else in the house could stand it, which just left more for me.
“Are you and Maks really leaving tomorrow?” Sarah asked, putting the bowl down in front of me.
I nodded, my mouth too full to speak. Oh, my God. Heaven.
“He’s so good with Holly, we’ll miss you both. Are you sure you’re okay with Luke and I staying at the house?”
“Of course, Sare. Don’t be silly. If you left, it would just sit here empty. It’s your home, too.”
“You should at least let us pay rent, honey. The settlement Maks got Luke from the fishing company was more than generous.”
“Sarah, stop. You’re not paying rent. I don’t need it, and you’ll have plenty of things you can put that money to good use for with Holly and the baby.”