Page 32 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Ryan
Christmas wasn't usually celebratedon the Island of Dragons. Sometimes we did a secret Santa around the embassy, but that year, I actually had a party to attend. Adrian was getting everyone together at his place, said he wanted to make it a tradition and that Roger had pitched in as well. I guess the two wanted their children to have Christmas, even if they grew up on an island populated with dragons of a different cultural background. I thought it was a cute idea, especially since I was invited as well, which I hadn't anticipated, seeing as I didn't have kids.
Not that it made much of a difference.
There were quite enough children in Adrian's house that night. His own three, their two year old cousin Mecca, and baby Allory, who watched the other children from a safe distance in her papa's arms.
I was so busy watching Finn trying to prevent little Eric from sneaking off with one of the gift boxes that had been placed underneath the tree in the corner that I barely noticed when someone took the seat next to me at the dinner table.
“Hey Ryan, long time no see.”
I turned to the newcomer and had to smile when I saw Michael. Another omega who'd mated with a dragon from the island, although they spent most of their time on the mainland now. “Michael! You came here for Christmas?” Usually, I only saw him in the summer.
Michael shrugged. “Adrian asked if we wanted to come and have a dragon Christmas, and Mecca loves being with her cousins.”
We both looked at Michael's little girl, who was currently enchanted with a remote controlled car that had to belong to one of the twins.
“Maybe she just likes their toys,” Michael mused. “Not that she doesn't have enough of her own. Kylan keeps buying her things that go ignored. Instead she goes through the book shelves. I've had to put all my novels out of her reach.” He blushed just slightly.
“But she can't read yet, can she?”
“Not fluently, but she's getting there.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Isn't she like two years old?”
“She's ahead in everything. Well... Everything but social skills,” Michael said with a frown as Mecca whacked one of her cousins with the remote control for trying to take it from her. “Maybe Kylan's right and she does need siblings.” He made to get up, but his mate appeared on the scene to deal with the children so he didn't have to.
“Are you trying for another child?” I asked.
“Not yet. I want to finish my degree first.” He looked away from his daughter and looked to me. “I hear you're with Finn now?”
“Yeah. And... speak of the devil...”
Finn approached the table and chose the seat on my other side with a smile on his face. “I like this Christmas thing,” he announced. “Why did I never get socks stuffed full of candy?”
“Dragons have other traditions,” I reminded him. “You got Christmas in July, literally.” At least I’d seen some dragon kids show off their new toys at summer solstice in previous years.
“Yeah… but it’s just not the same without candy socks,” Finn said dramatically. I made a note to get him a giant sock for next year.
“I guess.”
And that was when dinner was served and we focused on other things for a while. It was a nice evening, and I was glad to be spending Christmas in the presence of so many people I liked, even if it did make me miss my family a bit. I couldn’t really remember the last time I’d seen them for Christmas.
“So…” Finn leaned in during dessert—chocolate pudding—and pulled me out of my thoughts. “How long you think it’s gonna take before Michael’s pregnant again? Kylan says they’re not trying, but I think he wants more.”
I looked to my side, where Michael had sat during dinner, but he’d gotten up to put something under the Christmas tree. “Michael doesn’t want to try right now because he wants to finish his degree first.”
Finn nodded. “Oh, okay.” He put on a thoughtful expression. “Last time we all had dinner together, you said you didn’t want children anymore.” He left the statement hanging like a question. Of course he wanted to know what had happened to change my thoughts on reproduction.
I knew sooner or later I had to tell him about my circumstances, but this was hardly the time or the place.
“I wouldn't have the energy to raise a child right now,” I said as truthfully as I could. Even on the meds, I was sick every other week after all. How was I supposed to take care of a baby? Never mind pregnancy. No, that was an impossible dream.
“I see.” Finn seemed to mull this over. “But it's not that you don't like children?”
“No, it's not like that.” I cast a wistful glance at the toddlers trying to figure out what was in the boxes underneath the tree. Growing up, I'd always thought that I was going to have kids one day. It was just one of the things I'd taken for granted.
“So you might want to some day,” Finn concluded.
