Page 39 of The Manny's Fiery Dragon Bond

“We’re just happy you’re here. And that our children will have the best grandpas ever.”

I grimaced. Grandpa. He was right. Technically, I was the kids’ step-grandfather. Yikes. “I think I’m younger than you.” Which didn’t make the grandfather thing less true but felt a tad better.

Kier laughed. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a grandpa now. That’s why you are Young Grandpa.” He was having far too much fun with this.

I smiled because he was right, and his amusement was spreading.

“Do you have time to talk with the teachers and me about what sort of needs the daycare has? I figured while I was here, I might as well start gathering information. As a new parent, your input will be fantastic.”

“Of course!”

The teachers were amazing. Throughout our discussion, I made a long list of things to bring up with my mate. We had a lot to do and little time to do it in. Once the clutch was laid, I was going to be pretty preoccupied, and I wanted to get things rolling before them.

What I knew for sure was that we would do it together—teachers, parents, my mate, and me. And when people come together for the benefit of children and families, great things happened.

Chapter 21

Malric

Theroutinethatmymate and I fell into was seamless. The way that Ollie fit into my life, my sons’ lives, and the clan was amazing. It was like he was born for this, and I supposed in a way he had. Otherwise fate wouldn’t have made him mine.

Once he gave me his plan for hiring a team to help him navigate the needs of the clan, I gave him the full green light. It was shocking that I’d not heard of anyone doing this before. They had to have, right? It was genius.

And Ollie being Ollie, he ran with it more perfectly than I could’ve ever imagined. He had my team wrapped around his finger, and his own team already had a ton of ideas on community events, improvements, and activities for the clan. His transition into the role had gone so much better than I originally feared after Elias pulled his bullshit.

I was sure the alpha still wasn’t pleased. You didn’t get admonished into no longer being a bigot, but he hadn’t been inappropriate or disrespectful in the office since I kicked him out of the meeting, so there was that.

Somehow Ollie managed to do all that he did and continue to watch my grandkids—who I suppose were technically his grandkids as well. And those grandkids would have aunts and uncles younger than them. Funny how it all worked out. My son liked to tease him with the grandpa thing, but Ollie loved it. He especially loved being called, “young grandpa.”

I stepped into the sunroom where my mate was currently scurrying around the nest. His mouse had been pestering him to get out, and after consulting with some of the best shifter doctors in the country, we felt comfortable letting him shift. Apparently, the not shifting if your beast was small thing was an old wives’ tale that took root, and there were countless studies showing it was perfectly safe.

I wasn’t so sure I believed studies, but I trusted my mate’s beast. He would never do anything harmful to his clutch. He loved them as much as Ollie and I did.

The first time I met his mouse, he stole my heart. To say he was adorable would be the understatement of the year. And was he fast.

Today, his little mouse body was running up and around the blankets he’d arranged. The blankets were all different shades of pinks and reds. It was a beautiful nest. Eryndor, Thalric, and Tavian had surprised us with a new one earlier today, and Ollie wasted no time in getting it set up.

Once Ollie noticed I was there, he shifted to his human form and lay back on the pillows, his large belly on display. I suspected he had a fairly large clutch in there, despite the test results, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that. He had enough going on without worrying if his clutch was the size of a small nation or if he looked huge. And he’d for sure take the comment as meaning one of those two things.

I smiled. “You look amazing, mate.” He really did.

He shot me a look. “If by amazing you mean that I look a bit like a whale, then thank you.”

And I’d made the right call.

“You are perfect.”

“How is it possible that there’s only one egg in here? I feel like I’m carrying five.”

I chuckled. We’d found out it was just one egg two weeks ago when we visited the clan physician, and we were perfectly content with that. With how much we had going on, focusing on one child rather than two or three or four was perfect for us. Though if we’d had more, we would’ve made it work.

He did have a point, though. He looked rather large for how far along he was.

“And how are you and our little princess doing?” We had it on good authority that we were having a girl, and make no mistake about it, she was going to be spoiled beyond belief. Exactly how it should be.

My dragon was said authority. He insisted Ollie was carrying a girl, and while I didn’t care either way, I couldn’t help but be a little excited about the idea of having a daughter.

“We are both fine, mate, and we are ready. In fact, I was just putting the final touches on this nest. I believe that today is the day.”

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