Page 34 of Having the Dragon's Baby

“You are clearly listening to some type of radio or TV station that only you can hear,” Rachel sassed back. There was a hint of laughter in her voice.

“Do you remember any of the drive?” he asked. “I am blank after hearing the news. I am high as a skylark. I don’t even remember buying the food and the other things.”

“You know my name is Rachel, right?”

“Ha, ha,” he cracked back. “I also know tonight we are having a blowout cookout. A real ringer. I want the whole den and your family and friends to be invited. We are going to tell everybody that you are my mate and that a baby is coming.”

“Okay. Good,” Rachel replied. “You are remembering some things.”

“Okay, tease me all you want. I am floating. You have brought me the best news today. You are bringing me what I have dreamed of for so long. You and I and what we are building is the legacy I have always wanted.”

“It is three in the afternoon,” she told him. “This late in the day, we have to get moving if we want anything to get done.”

“Absolutely. I know what you are saying,” Marcus added.

“I am saying it’s late. You have a vision of a cookout where we announce that I am your mate. We also announce the new arrival that is coming. We need to get moving.”

“Correct, correct, and correct,” Marcus told her. He could hear a touch of laughter behind his words. “The women of this den are monsters of productivity when it comes to last-minute festivities. We will unload, delegate, beg, and plead for help, and then really get into making this the finest cookout.”

They unloaded the SUV with help from other den members. Then, they moved the vehicle to the back of the property to make room for when the guests arrived.

Inside the house, Marcus got on the phone with Vincent and several other thunder members. He really rallied the crowd. They would be ready, too.

Marcus heard Rachel in the bedroom. She was also notifying her parents and Luna

about the cookout.

Marcus felt so good hearing Rachel’s voice, robust with delight, as she invited others. He was really touched by how she was making the rounds on the phone inviting her family for the evening’s cookout, but she wasn’t mentioning the mate announcement or the baby.

She was saving all the glory for him. She clearly wanted him to have the choice to make the announcement or ask her to do it.

The den women working the grill in the back let Marcus know the meat was done. They also told Marcus that a large bonfire had been built in the fire pit at the edge of the lawn, with plenty of chairs gathered around it. He thanked them for their expediency and asked them to let him know when the first guests arrived.

In the kitchen, Marcus found himself confronted with several loaves of freshly baked bread and an equal number of different salads. He was not sure who worked faster, the women on grill duty or the women doing bread and salad. Marcus sincerely thanked the women and left them with the same command as the women on grill duty. They were to let him know when the first guests arrived.

Marcus ran upstairs and tracked down Rachel. Rachel looked stunning in a green sequin-scaled gown. The scales shimmered in the bedroom light. When Marcus entered the bedroom, Rachel twirled like a dancer without saying a word.

“I really don’t have words for how lovely you look,” he told her.

“Then make something up,” she fired back. “Make something up, but sound like you mean it.”

“You look as lovely as the morning,” he told her. “I was in love with you before I knew you.”

Rachel stopped her half-dance, half-twirl, and walked up to him until their bodies touched. She reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck.

“Tell me this will never end,” she said to him. “Tell me this beautiful dream has no stopping point. Tell me there is no ceiling to this happiness I feel and that we will never be done.”

“I will tell you that I love you. You are my mate. As long as I exist, you are to be with me.”

“You better grab a shower quickly,” she told him. “I hear some guests downstairs. I also hear a car on the long driveway out front revving its engines.”

Marcus hurried and showered, then he outfitted himself with black trousers, a burgundy blazer, and a forest-green turtleneck sweater matching his eyes and Rachel’s green, sequin-scaled dress.

Downstairs, both the kitchen and the lawn were filled with den members, along with Rachel’s family and friends. Everybody was laughing, chatting, eating, and drinking. Children ran this way and that way. Marcus tried to imagine the house with children running around every day, morning and night.

He couldn’t wait.

Rachel walked up from behind him and wrapped her hand through the crook of his arm.

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