Page 43 of Hoarded By the Dragon

Kalos strides forward from his place behind the desk, and I’m hit with the intimidation of his presence all over again.

“I have some concerns, but I need for her to try to calm down,” Maggie says. “I thought it would be better to tell the two of you together.”

His arms come around me in the next moment, and my shaky hands slide under his suit jacket. I breathe in his scent, and my heart rate starts to slow.

“Next time, just tell her. Don’t wait for me. It’s her body the child is in. She deserves to know what’s going on,” Kalos growls.

“Of course. I’m so sorry, Katarina,” Maggie says.

I just nod, focusing on keeping myself calm. “Can you please say what you’re worried about? The guesses in my head aren’t good.”

Maggie looks hesitant and glances at Kalos before starting, “The child isn’t developing.”

I tighten my hold on Kalos, not caring that we don’t have the type of relationship where I can take solace in his arms. His body is a comfort I won’t refuse.

“Explain,” Kalos commands.

“They are only a little further in their development than they were when Katarina came here last month. They aren’t progressing like a normal pregnancy. You did say that eggs can lie dormant for years at a time without enough heat to spur growth.”

I breathe out a choked sob in relief. This could just be a dragon thing. This could be completely normal.

Maggie smiles at me, but her concern is still there. “But I don’t think the gestation would be safe to leave dormant. I believe that you need to provide more heat than what you have to spur them to grow.”

“What do you suggest?” Kalos asks, his hand rubbing my back.

“More spicy foods and at least a few hours more a day of contact to start. We’ll check in a few days to reassess. Are you okay with that, Katarina?”

“Yes. Are you sure we shouldn’t be doing anything else?” I ask.

Maggie’s face softens. “You are doing everything we know will help.”

Kalos nods, and suddenly I’m weightless. He’s picked me up and is carrying me to the couch. “Please bring our dinner in here tonight, Maggie. If you can think of anything else that could help, let us know.”

And with that, Maggie is gone. Kalos sits on the couch, arranging me on his lap.

They aren’t growing.“What if—”

He interrupts me. “Everything is going to be okay.”

I scoff, and it breaks through the worry clutching my heart. “You can’t promise that.”

His chest rumbles, and a wave of comfort has my muscles starting to relax.

“Nothing will harm you or the babe, I swear it,” he continues like my words aren’t stark fact.

“You said dragon eggs needed fire, what if that’s what the baby needs, and I can’t survive that?”

“Rina, you don’t have a dragon egg inside you, but we will figure it out if that is what needs to happen.” Kalos’s claws comb through my hair, and my eyelids lower in pleasure. “For now, we follow Maggie’s orders and have more contact.”

I inhale and nod. “Okay.”

I clear my throat and look around the office. The position of me on his lap is reminiscent of when I first told him about the baby, but I don’t dare move away from him. I can feel the heat he’s giving me now. He’s giving me what the baby needs, and something about that calms me enough for embarrassment to heat my cheeks.

“I should have been calmer about the whole thing,” I say more to myself than to him. “I don’t know why I freaked out. Maggie did say it wasn’t serious yet.”

“Because you don’t have control over this.” Kalos’s voice is smooth. There’s a lulling quality to it that makes me want to rest my head on his shoulder, but I don’t want to further invade his personal space. “There are many things in life that we lie to ourselves that we are the ones who are in control, but when it comes to children, we discover how much that is a lie. Parenthood humbles everyone.”

I cough a laugh. “Like death and taxes.”

---