Page 28 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
The panic of losing Sparky was quickly replaced by a pit in his stomach as he regarded the destruction. This was all his fault. He should never have let Sparky run loose in here. Luckily, the dragon hadn’t destroyed any of the prized collections of the gardens, but still. This should have never happened at all.
He lost his head around Saphira. Lost all sense.
“Bad Sparky,” Aiden snapped, pulling the dragon out of the bush. Sparky’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open. “You can’t go off on your own like that. Very bad!”
Then, Sparky’s head drooped low, his little shoulders hunching over. With a little sniffle, Sparky walked away—something dragons only did when they were too low-spirited to bounce or jump like usual.
Regret panged through Aiden; he shouldn’t have snapped atthe little guy. But Sparky needed to know he couldn’t wander off like that; it wasn’t safe!
“What iswrongwith you?” Saphira asked, coming to stand in front of him. She was livid, and the sight frightened him cold. He had never seen her be anything but sunshine, but she was a storm now.
“It was an honest mistake!” Saphira scolded. “How could you yell at him? He’s a baby! And now he’s devastated!”
“I’m—”
“He only wants your attention,” Saphira continued, lower lip trembling. “He’syourbaby dragon.”
“I never wanted him,” Aiden said, voice soft. He had never expected this, never dreamt of it, and so he had never prepared. He didn’t know how these things worked; it all came so naturally to Saphira, but it didn’t to him.
His words only seemed to make Saphira more upset. She shook her head at him. “You’re so ungrateful,” she said, disappointed now. “If you don’t want him, then give him to someone who does.”
That was what Aiden thought he was doing by having Saphira train Sparky, by giving them uninterrupted time to bond. Before he could say as much, Saphira stalked over to Sparky and scooped him into her arms. She gave him a kiss, comforting him.
Aiden felt awful, so awful in fact that he couldn’t move. He was afraid he would throw up. It was only after Saphira had stormed off that he realized he shouldn’t have let her go when she was angry with him.
Aiden chased after her, but by the time he made it out of the gardens, she was long gone.
A lump rose in his throat. Aiden sat down on the curb, catching his breath. Suddenly, he had the feeling that Danny would be terribly disappointed in him. He felt like he wasn’t doing right by Sparky—he was mucking everything up.
He knew he had good intentions, but what he didn’t always know was how to execute those intentions. Everything made sense in his head, but it didn’t always translate that way to the real world.
However, Aiden knew enough to realize that he owed Saphira an apology.
Chapter 9
Saphira arrived back at her cafe, tears falling down her cheeks as she held Sparky, who fidgeted in her arms. She let him down, hands shaking as she tried to look for her keys in her purse.
But then she looked down at Sparky with his head bowed, and her heart broke all over again. She scooped him up, giving him a kiss.
Abandoning the cafe door, Saphira walked to the gate leading to the garden in the back of the cafe. It was crowded and messy, even more so in the darkness of the evening, but she didn’t care. Saphira sat down amongst the overgrown bushes and weeds, hiding out in the greenery, sniffling to herself. She let the tears fall.
She was properly crying by then and didn’t even know why!
The evening with Aiden had been so nice; it was so lovely just walking around with him, talking and enjoying the beauty. Then there had been that heated, intense moment—god, but she had almost passed out when he brought her finger to his mouth and sucked. The sensation had shot through her like anelectric current, and it was one that she desperately wanted to feel again.
Then the panic of not seeing Sparky, the worst thoughts running rampant through her mind: poachers stealing him away, her little baby; or Sparky getting lost and falling into a pond or fountain and drowning—even though technically dragons knew how to swim, but she hadn’t been thinking with logic. Only with breath-stopping fear!
When Aiden had found Sparky, all she felt was relief—until Aiden snapped at Sparky. Snapped! At a baby! Who did that?!
Did Aiden not know how special and wonderful Sparky was? He simply took the baby dragon for granted. If Sparky was hers, she wouldneverdo that.
Saphira wished Nani-Ma was here. Her grandmother would of course tease Saphira for being such a crybaby, but she would give her a good cuddle, too.
Sparky climbed onto Saphira’s lap, reaching to lick the tears away from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Spark,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m crying so much.” She attempted a smile. Sparky didn’t seem so upset anymore; he was more so concerned about her.
Saphira’s heart tugged. She loved this little draggo. He snuggled against her in her lap.
