Page 44 of The Manny's Fiery Dragon Bond

Ollie grinned. “I know another dragon who is the same way.”

I’d gotten it from my mate.

“Chastain would have loved them so much. We’ll have to tell them all about him. And our little girl, too. Chastain is a part of you, Mal. An important part. There’s no reason to ever erase that.” He wrapped his arms around my middle and placed his head against my chest.

I kissed his temple, throat tight. “Thank you. That means the world to me, Ollie.”

When Ollie and I first got together, I’d tried not to bring Chastain up too often. It felt like I was talking about my ex on a date, even though he wasn’t an ex. But still, it was discussing another man, and that had to hurt. It was Ollie who would ask about him. At first, I thought he was trying to be nice, to be sensitive. And he was both of those things, but that wasn’t the reason he asked.

He was afraid I’d feel like I couldn’t still cherish my late mate, at least not around him. That I would suppress those emotions to comfort my mate. He told me that Chastain was part of the man I was and would always surround us, that not saying his name or telling his stories was disrespectful.

My mate was so much smarter than I was.

The two of us stood there in silence, paying our respects. Then Ollie went up on his tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you at home, okay?” he whispered.

He was giving me the time I needed with Chastain, without hesitation or question.

I nodded. He walked away, and I stayed a little longer.

“Chastain, I heard you, you know. I heard you letting me know you gave your approval to be with Ollie. Thank you for that. I miss you. Every day I miss you, still. But Tavian was right, you wouldn’t want me living some sort of half-life. I half wonder if you were the one to send me Ollie.”

I looked at the picture my mate left. “We’ll be sure to do as Ollie said, we’ll make sure your grandbabies and Ollie’s and my daughter know all about you. I wish you could be here, to be part of their lives… our lives, and this will make it possible in some small way. I love you, Chastain, and I always will. Rest in peace, my love. Rest in peace.”

My mate was waiting for me when I got home, and I walked straight into his waiting arms. He held me close as the tears fell, both his and mine. When the tears had dried up, he walked me into the bathroom, set a shower for us, and while the water came to temperature, brought our egg in with their tiny porta-nest.

“Let me help you get cleaned up.” He slowly undressed us both before leading me into the shower and under the cascading warm water.

Starting with my hair, he washed me tenderly and lovingly, dried me off, and brought me to the nest where the two of us and our beautiful pink egg cuddled up, and I drifted off to sleep, feeling so completely loved just as I was.

Chapter 24

Ollie

Todaywasit.Ifelt it in my bones. Today was the day we were going to get to meet our daughter. The egg looked exactly the same. Not even a hint of movement. But I knew.

More specifically, I had felt it in my shoulder blades. All day I had been itchy. I went so far as to rub my back against a tree in the back yard. Mal found me shimming against the bark, his eyebrows raised.

“Let me call Eryndor,” he said.

How or why Eryndor was going to help, I didn’t know.

Twenty minutes later, Eryndor had me and Malric standing in the back yard, facing each other, holding hands.

“You understand that as part of being a dragon mate, you will develop wings?” Eryndor asked.

Yes, I had known that theoretically. I’d just been so busy that it hadn’t occurred to me that it was true, and especially not that it was happening. I’d kinda thought that ship had sailed. Even today when I had stuffed a coat hanger down the back of my shirt, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that my wings could be coming in.

“Of course,” I said. “But I guess I assumed since it hadn’t happened yet, that I might be the exception to the rule.” I was a mouse, after all, and as far as I knew, that was beyond rare. It wasn’t like I could poll all the dragon shifter mice mates to see if they had wings, and if so, when they’d come in.

“You will not be able to fly right away, but soon you’ll take to the skies with your mate at your side.” Eryndor’s voice took on a sultry, soft tone meant to keep me at ease. I knew that he believed in the power of meditation, I supposed that was why Malric had called him.

Malric’s dragon rumbled his approval.

I grinned. “That sounds amazing, but for the record, I’d be happy with a basket.”

“And I will still make you one.” Mal kissed my cheek. It wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned it, and I had a feeling it was because he liked the idea as much as I did.

Eryndor looked back and forth between us as if trying to figure out if we were kidding or not. I held up my hands in the form of a basket, and he rolled his eyes.

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