When I walked out onto the back porch a few hours later, I couldn’t help but smile at the scene in front of me. A newer Winnebago had been added to the ring of RVs, but that wasn’t the funny part.

No. The funny part was the herd of unicorns now standing in the large field near the house, surrounding a short, stout woman. She had bright pink hair, cropped short, that seemed to glitter in the late afternoon sun. Tears were streaming down her face as she ran her hand along my cousin Stanley’s horn. He stood in front of her with his head lowered, almost reverently.

“What’s so funny? She’s waited a lifetime to see this,” Sam asked from the porch swing to my left. “She may come off a little loopy, but I’ve found her to be good people. This is a dream come true for Saint Anley.”

The other members of my new dragon family were all sitting around the porch, watching the scene with a wide range of expressions—fascination, amusement, and something akin to sheer horror. The horror didn’t thrill me, but they were at least trying to accept my clan. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

I smiled at Brick, who was standing protectively at my side, and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before I made my way over to plop down beside Sam. Pregnancy and grace did not go hand in hand, it seemed.

“I’m not laughing at her. I would never laugh at someone for loving my clan,” I replied, my eyes locked on Saint Anley while she stroked that long, golden horn.

“What are you laughing at, then?” Sam asked curiously. “Surely you’re not laughing at your own adopted clan?”

“No…” I giggled. “It’s just that… “ I had to stop to catch my breath. “She’s stroking his friggin’ horn! Haven’t you noticed that we really don’t touch there? You’ll see mates touching each other’s horns, but nobody else.”

Sam’s brows furrowed as he thought about what I’d said. I heard a few of the guys around us stifle snorts, but I waited until I saw the light dawn in Sam’s face before I nodded and laughed again.

“Is it… erotic for them?” Sam asked, his cheeks pinking, no doubt trying to remember if he’d ever touched one of my family member’s horns.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured him with a knowing grin. “You haven’t crossed any lines. If you think about it, any time you may have reached to touch a horn, the unicorn in question likely jerked away from your touch. But… yes. To answer your question, it’s extremely erotic to them. From what I’ve heard, you might as well be stroking something a little farther south that’s probably just as hard. And right now? The way she’s moving her hand on Stanley’s horn?”

“Saint Anley,” Sam corrected absently.

“Excuse me?” I was confused for a moment. “Oh! You mean your friend? No, I meant Stanley.”

“Yes, I got that, but the S T is short for Saint. You pronounce it Saint Anley, not Stanley.” Sam was looking at me like I was a dunce.

“Wait, I think we’re misunderstanding each other,” I said politely, biting my cheek hard to keep from giggling. “Your friend, Saint Anley, is the one stroking my cousin Stanley’s horn. Which is funny, I get the joke now, after you shortened her name. St-anlee is stroking Stanley. Wow, I see how that could quickly get confusing.”

Sana and Cory had to walk away at that point, but I could clearly hear them chuckling. Blaze came over to sit protectively near his mate. He grinned at the two of us, flashing me a wink. I took it as gratitude for not embarrassing Sam any further than necessary with my teasing.

“So, what you’re saying is that old Stanley there is getting a horn job in front of everyone? That’s fucking hilarious. Gives new meaning to the word horny, huh?” Blaze finally got Sam to grin with that one. Then Sam’s eyes lit up with interest.

“Wait… I wonder if that might not be the etymology of the word? It would make sense,” he said thoughtfully.

“Stanley! What in the world is ya thinkin’, lettin’ that poor girl go on and embarrass herself like that!” Mama came striding out of the house, the screen door slamming in her wake as she stalked out to the field.

The others were all craning their necks to hear Mama more clearly as she walked up to Stanley and dressed him down while gently pulling Saint Anley’s hand aside and quietly explaining to her that she’d been courtin’ Stanley in an illicit manner.

I, of course, didn’t need to crane or strain—I could hear them just as well as if they’d been standing beside me. That was another reason why I often sat on the sidelines. Acute hearing like mine was a cross to bear in a loud family like this one.

Mama had her arm around Saint Anley’s sturdy shoulders while Stanley quickly shifted and followed after them. My eyes about popped out of my head when I noticed the stiffy he was trying to hide with a hand cupped over his crotch. Blaze must have noticed, too, because he started laughing loud enough to make me cringe.

Vivian came walking over just then and held out a hand to me. In her palm were two tiny earplugs. “I don’t know if you’ve ever used anything like these, but I tried similar ones and I could still hear just fine. It just… muffles things a bit. I’ve been thinking about your superior hearing, and thought they might help.”

“Thank you,” I said as I took them from her. “I’ve tried other ones in the past, but they either didn’t work, or worked so well that it was like I was underwater, but I haven’t tried any like these. Let me give them a try—maybe it will keep me from going crazy and stabbing someone, right? Thank you for thinking of me.”

She waved off my thanks as I popped them into my ears. The world immediately grew quieter. I could still hear people talking, but for once, it wasn’t like they were screaming over megaphones into a microphone with its speaker hooked up to my ear.

I stood immediately and reached out for a hug. “Thank you so much. These are amazing—life changing, even.”

Vivian blushed and smiled happily as she returned my hug. “I’m glad they’re working for you, sweetie. I’ve been looking for an answer to your problem ever since the first time I saw you wince when the alphas were getting loud. Sam helped me with it. He made a pair of sound-nullifying devices and I just stitched them into the soft covers. They’re one of a kind, but don’t worry—Sam said that if they worked, he’d help me make you several backups. The similar ones I mentioned that I’d tried were actually his first prototype. It took a bit to get it right, but I thought these would do the trick for you.”

Sam blushed when I turned to thank him and waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. If I had your gift, I’d have to live on a mountain in Nepal or something. Hearing every little noise like you do would drive me bonkers. I’m glad I could do something to help you feel normal.”

Just then, Mama Vee shrieked. I turned around and looked back out to the yard, holding back a sigh. The shriek was followed by the sound of a loud slap. She’d taken off across the yard like a bat out of hell chasing after poor, naked Stanley.

Stanley sprinted toward the rigs, his erection flying free despite his best efforts to cover it with his hand—a hand Mama Vee was now smacking at while she screeched at him to respect our guest.

All the while, Saint Anley followed behind nearly in tears, yelling, “Leave him alone, he didn’t mean any harm!”

Brick’s arms came around me from behind, his hand coming to a rest atop my protruding belly. “What exactly is happening here?”

I snorted. “I think we’re watching the redneck version of Romeo and Juliet in action. Mama hasn’t stopped to think that this Saint Anley lady might be his mate—she’s too pissed that he popped wood in public where anyone might see.”

“How would that even work? She’s no unicorn.” Brick’s voice was clear as a bell through the earplugs.

“Unicorns can mate with anyone. If their unicorn allows a person to touch the horn without shying away, that’s a sign that they’ve accepted the other person as their mate.” I shrugged, not sure what the commotion with Mama was about. Surely she knew that Stanley had just made his mate connection, and he couldn’t help the biological reaction to her stroking his horn. Besides, none of the younger kids were even outside, and the older ones were either shifted and running around or riding on top of the others. Nobody but us were paying Stanley and his problem any attention. It was Mama’s own yelling that was going to draw the kids’ attention, if anything.

“And humans can carry their young?” Brick sounded almost incredulous.

I smiled and leaned back into him. “You’re cute. Didn’t you ever ask any of the unicorns back in your day about that? Did you really not know anything about them?”

“No offense, buddy. But we couldn’t handle getting that close,” Blaze said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t get upset this time. Even though he teased, Blaze had been the first to help when one of the rigs had needed to have a tire fixed.

I’d also seen him and the other dragon alphas giving piggyback rides to the younger members of my clan. I’d pick my battles. The dragons really were trying to be more inclusive and less offensive.

“So, you’re saying unicorns can mate with anyone and anything?” Sam asked curiously.

“As long as their unicorn form will accept the potential mate, it’s fine. In fact, this is probably why the unicorns have survived through the ages—they’re quite adaptable. But, yes, they can mate with anyone.”

We all watched as Mama, Saint Anley, and Stanley stood in front of Saint Anley’s Winnebago. All three of them had started screaming, and were too busy yelling to hear each other.

Finally, Mama threw up her hands. “Fine! If you wanna git with this fool-ass nephew a mine, go fer it. But just know, we’re changin’ yer name! I ain’t havin’ two Stanleys. I got enough shit ta confuse me. From now on you’s gonna be Annie Lee, ya hear?”

Brick sucked in a surprised breath when Stanley swept the newly named Annie Lee up into his arms like a bride and carried her into her rig. Mama slammed the door behind them, wiping her hands on her pants while she stalked back our way.

She took one look at the grins on our faces and shook her head. “Y’all just wait. All these perty li’l babies y’all got? They’re gonna grow up and start sniffin’ round each other one day. Then what? Then y’all will be the ones lookin’ at that kinda shit.”

Mama sniffed and pointed back at the RV that was now rocking from side to side. Brick buried his face in my hair, but I knew from Mama’s narrow-eyed gaze that she didn’t miss his shaking shoulders.

Blaze was cracking up, too, but Sam didn’t look amused at all. He reached out and smacked Blaze on the arm. “Hey, you wouldn’t be laughing if it were our Sophia or Tidus.”

Blaze straightened and looked serious for a minute, then shrugged. “I don’t know… it all depends on whether they present as alpha or omega.”

Sam gasped with disbelief and walked away with his palms out in front of him. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say something so completely asinine,” he muttered on his way past us to go inside.

Blaze looked around with a comically confused look on his face. “What? Like you weren’t all thinking it? Besides, we all know I’m full of shit.”

Brick snorted. “We might, but Sam’s the one you sleep next to at night, my friend. He didn’t seem too enthralled by your caveman alpha act just now.”

Mama Vee waved a hand. “Nah, he’s just hormonal. Y’all know how these omega boys git when they’s expectin’.”

Blaze turned to Mama. “Are you saying that Sam is pregnant again?”

“Well, I ain’t sayin’ it’s you, now am I? I’d git in there and start kissin’ ass if I was you, honey.”

With an excited grin, Blaze rushed around us and dashed inside after Sam. Sana looked at Brick over my shoulder and shook his head. “And now Sam’s already pregnant for a second time around? This should be about as much fun as it was the first time.”