Page 46 of The Manny's Fiery Dragon Bond

“Go. Take a shower. Forget they exist.” As if that was possible.

Just like when I’d been sure that it was the day for my hatch to be laid multiple times, I’d been wrong about today being hatching day. The feeling, the sensation I got that told me it was time to meet our little girl, had nothing to do with her at all, and everything to do with my wings.

“I thought I was gonna get to meet you today, sweet girl,” I whispered, kissing her shell as I pulled a blanket over myself. I was chilled after my shower, and the fuzzy blanket was perfect. “Could’ve used the distraction.”

Exhaustion saturated every cell of my being. Taking wings was rough, but putting them away—that was so much more.

“Your father’s taking a shower, and when he comes out, sweet baby girl, he can tell you a story. I want to, but Daddy’s too tired to think straight. I got my wings today. It’s very exciting. It means I’ll be able to fly with you. But don’t worry, I’m still getting my basket.”

And for a split second, I could have sworn I heard our girl chirp.

“See? Even you agree—a mouse needs his basket.”

Chapter 25

Ollie

Whatmademedecidewe needed to have a party when I woke up this morning, I had no idea—but once that notion filled my head, it was happening. I was out of the nest and on the phone, calling my mate’s kids to let them know it was family day. I was going to make food. We were gonna play games. The whole nine yards.

My heart soared, and I was filled with excitement when my mate woke up forty-five minutes later.

The first thing he did was ask me why I was up so early.

“It’s not so early.”

“Did you look at the clock?” Something about the tone of his voice told me it wasn’t mid-morning, like I thought it was.

And for the first time that morning, I checked the time. Crap. “Mal, I maybe called your sons at 4am. Why didn’t they say anything to me?”

If someone called me at that time, first thing I would do was ask who was dead.

“They answered all chipper and happy like it was normal to be called at that time.”

“That’s because they were hoping that you had good news about the egg, and probably pieced together pretty quickly that you were still half asleep.”

Talk about cringe-worthy.

“That’s the thing—I wasn’t half asleep. I woke up ready to take on the world. By the way, we’re having a party today. Get ready.”

And “party” was a term that was pretty loose here. We weren’t inviting tons of friends, just family. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have all the components we needed to call it a party.

I opened up the laptop and placed a grocery delivery order. Mal offered to run the errand for me multiple times, but it just didn’t feel right having him not here by my side where I could see him. Safe to say I was being a little needy.

Groceries would be here by 10. I had gotten all the sandwich fixings I could think of, various kinds of rolls and wraps for people to use, fruits, veggies to make a platter, and, of course, a cake. What kind of a party would it be without cake?

“You keep going at this rate, little mouse, you’re going to be asleep before they get here.”

“No, I’m too wired for that.” So very wired. Like entire pot of coffee and a bag of gummy bears wired.

I vacuumed places that didn’t need to be vacuumed, dusted places that didn’t need to be dusted, and finally conceded—taking the shower my mate kept offering me while he made me some toast and tea.

When I came out dressed, the delivery was just being dropped off, and then it was game on again—prepping platters and worrying I didn’t have enough options.

“You’re not feeding the universe. And they are all family. If they like what’s on the platters, great. If not, they can go in the fridge or the pantry.”

I let out a long breath. “I just wanted to make this perfect. Today feels… special.”

Mal gave me a look. A knowing look.

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