Page 30 of Marked By His Alpha Dragon's Desire

I let out a sigh and finally got to my feet. Today we would be attending our second new moon gathering, and it seemed my mate was even more excited about this one. In the month that we’d been mated, it seemed that we were welcomed even deeper into the pack.

Within a few minutes, I was dressed and ready to go. We walked hand in hand toward the park. I carried the cooler in my other hand. Inside was some sort of salad my mate had put together.

He had a slight swell to his stomach now. The doctor had confirmed that we were carrying eggs—just two. There was still a chance that there were twin dragons inside one of the eggs, but we wouldn’t know until they were laid. I thought two was a beautiful number.

The park was set up slightly differently than the last time we were there. The last time had just been a regular celebration. This time, it looked like a party. There were balloons in soft pastel colors and various decorations on all the tables. It wasn’t until we got closer that I realized what it was.

The banner at the first table read:

Congratulations, Raphael and Luca!

Of course, Theo was there, right away at my mate’s side.

“We’re so glad you’re here! Although, I was hoping you would be a little late. I’m still putting together a few last-minute things.”

“Theo, what is this?” Luca asked.

“A baby shower. Duh.”

Luca’s eyes welled up with tears. He fanned his face. “Theo—”

“Oh, don’t cry, because then I’ll cry.”

“Yes, please don’t let Theo cry,” Tyler said. “He will be reduced to a puddle of goo, and I’ll have to do all the rest of the work.” Theo slapped at his chest playfully. Tyler dodged it. Tyler shook my hand. “Congratulations again. Welcome to your party.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We—we didn’t expect this.” There was a buffet table like the last time and next to it was a table stacked high with gifts.

“Well, we had to do a bit of a rush job. Now that we know there are two of them, we don’t know what day Luca will be laying the eggs, and, well, we wanted you guys to be prepared.”

The whole town was here, as they always were.

Luca swiped at his eyes and held my hand. “Thank you, this… this means so much to us,” he said.

After we ate, Theo insisted that Luca sit down near the table where gifts were piled two and three high. My heart warmed. I was so lucky to have found this place—to have found my mate here.

One by one, Luca unwrapped our gifts. I kept track of the cards, writing down who had brought what so we could send thank-you notes later.

“Oh, that one’s from me,” Theo said, pointing at a bright pink bag with dark red and black tissue paper. “That one’s not safe for opening in public, and it’s more for once the babies are here and you’re feeling a bit more like yourself.” He winked.

“Oh, goodness,” Luca said. I didn’t know what was in those bags, but I couldn’t wait to find out. Luca blushed. “Thank you, Theo.”

The guys from the fire station carried in two large boxes, hastily wrapped in what looked like trash bags and duct tape.

“You really should have let me handle that, Tyler,” Theo said.

“Hush,” Tyler said. “It’s not about the wrap job. It’s about the thought or whatever. Open it up.”

I helped Theo pull apart the trash bag to reveal two brand-new, matching cribs.

“Wow,” I said.

“Thanks, guys,” Luca added.

“That comes with free assembly, too,” Tyler said. “Levi drew the short straw. He’ll be over tomorrow to help you put them together.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This really means a lot to us.”

The warmth and camaraderie radiating from everyone in the park enveloped me. We had truly found our home here.

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