Chapter Seven

Mason

A month later, I lay in bed with Broderick not wanting to get up. The pregnancy had been taxing on my body, not in the same way that Frost’s had been. I wasn't extremely sick or fatigued but I seemed to be growing to extreme proportions. I looked about the same size at possibly two, maybe three, months pregnant that Frost had looked at almost five.

Broderick shook my shoulder. “Sweetheart, you have to get up.”

“No. I'm too big to move.”

He stroked my face with one hand, while the other rubbed over my abnormally large stomach. “You're gorgeous.” He kissed my cheek, then my belly.

I wiggled away. “That tickles!” I said.

He chuckled. “Valerie's here. She wants to do an exam on you.”

“Again?” I said.

“Yes, again.” He picked me up, then set me on my feet.

I didn't even open my eyes. I stumbled toward the bathroom, feeling my way through the room. “Can I have a cup of coffee, please?”

“Since you asked so nicely, you can have one.”

“Thanks. I'll meet you downstairs.”

When I walked into the kitchen, Broderick and Valerie were there. Broderick had a huge plate of food for me, as well as a steaming cup of coffee.

“Damn,” I said. “I wanted food, but this is a little overboard, Broderick.”

“The article I read yesterday said that it's important for you to have protein and healthy fats. So, I made you an omelet with bacon, cheese, spinach, and mushrooms.”

“It looks delicious, but how many eggs did you use?” I asked.

“Six.”

Valerie threw her head back and laughed. “Well, no wonder your mate is so large if you’re feeding him like this.”

I agreed with her but took a bite just to appease my mate, knowing that he wouldn't let me rest until I had at least had a good portion of the meal he'd made for me. In the past month, Broderick had proven to be the epitome of an amazing mate. Always looking out for me, always making sure that I was happy. Not to mention the sheer amount of research he’d done on having a healthy pregnancy.

“Did you or Armant find out any more about how we can tell how far along I am?” I asked Valerie.

Valerie shook her head. “Dragon pregnancies last between four and five months. Both Frost and Flint made it to four and a half. Without knowing when you might have gone into heat, it's hard to tell.”

“Well, how the hell do they tell with human babies?” Broderick asked.

“Usually by ultrasound or a last cycle date,” Valerie said.

“Can we do an ultrasound?” Broderick asked.

“What are we going to do, order one off the internet and do it ourselves?”

Broderick shrugged. “I’ll bet there’s YouTube videos that could show us how.”

Valerie nodded. “Sure. But being that dragon pregnancies are shorter than human pregnancies, even if we measured the child, there'd be no way of knowing when you were going to give birth or how far along you would be. Right now, you are between two and three months along. Based on your size, I’d lean more toward three.”

Broderick growled. “I don't like not knowing.”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “You're going to be raising a child, get used to being surprised by things.”

“She has a good point,” I said. “Any news on finding Peter or Molpe?”

“Molpe has gone completely underground,” Armant said as he walked into the room. The usually stylishly dressed dragon wore tattered cargo pants and a white t-shirt stained with dirt and grime. “And we have a few leads on Peter. Apparently, he did not kill all the little creations he made, and some are still alive. But I haven't had any luck locating them. I'm on it, though.”

“What happened to you?” I asked.

He looked down at himself as if he’d just now noticed his attire. “Well, the vampires I’m looking for don’t exactly live in the upper echelons of society.”

“I want to help track them down,” Broderick said. “You shouldn’t be out there by yourself.”

“You need to stay here with your mate,” Armant said to him. “We have this well in hand. Besides, I'm still chasing down leads on the amulet. If too many people start asking questions about it, we’ll draw too much attention to it.”

“Can't stand the thought of a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry out there that's not in your possession?” Broderick chided.

Armant shrugged one shoulder. “Well, now that I know it actually exists, yes, I would prefer that someone who knows its purpose and its capabilities have it, so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.”

“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that it's a jewel that you don't have in your hoard?”

Armant rolled his eyes. “I will not apologize for my dragon’s desire to fill our hoard with precious gems.”

“Wait,” I said. “You have a hoard of jewels? I assumed since you guys have never mentioned hoards, that it was just a myth.”

“Generally, only jeweled dragons keep hoards,” Broderick said. “The rest of us could care less about keeping things in our possession like gems and shiny objects. But, dangle something shiny in front of Armant’s face, and he'll go to the ends of the earth to get it for himself.”

Armant lifted his chin. “It's in my nature. I'm not going to apologize for that.”

I laughed. “Can I see it? Like, where do you keep it? Or is that one of those things I shouldn't ask? Like, you would never reveal the location of your hoard?”

“I don't keep it all in one place,” Armant said. “A lot of it is actually on display at museums or in some of my stores.”

“Stores?” I realized just how little I knew about Armant. He'd always struck me as the studious type, spending his time in the library.

“Armant owns a chain of jewelry stores. That's his current business these days,” Broderick explained.

“So, it doesn't bother you that your hoard is on display for all to see in a museum or whatever?”

“No,” he said. “What's important is that it's mine, and I can see it whenever I want.” Armant stared off into the distance. “And hold it, and touch it.”

“Usually if we can't find Armant for a while, we'll find him in one of his vaults, rubbing diamonds all over his face.”

“Like you're any better,” Armant said. “Transforming into your beast of a dragon and laying on stone.”

Broderick laughed. “Touché.”

It was nice to see him and Armant having fun with each other, even if it was at each other's expense. For too long, my had mate acted too serious and refused to enjoy life. Now, it seemed that he was finally understanding that it was all about balance.

“Eat your breakfast,” Broderick said and handed me a glass of milk. “It’s important to get plenty of vitamins.”

I took a sip of it, despite the fact that I was quite full. If it made him happy, then that's what I would do.

***

After I'd finished an adequate amount of my breakfast to satisfy Broderick, I made my way onto the deck where Flint and Frost were with Keegan and Crispin. The two of them watched Leonidas and Gale set up the tools and sawhorses they'd need to build the playset structure today.

Broderick had finally gotten around to getting the lumber delivered, and the three of them thought that they could complete it all in one day. I had my doubts, but it would be fun to watch. Either way, they refused to allow me to help though I could hold my own with a hammer and a saw. After all, on the wolf compound we built our own homes.

“Which one is going to lose his temper first, do you think?” Flint asked. He had his laptop open, trying to get some work done while also trying to keep Keegan from pressing all the buttons.

I gathered Keegan into my arms and tickled him. “Come over here and play with me, little guy.”

Flint sighed. “Thank you.”

“Normally, I’d put my money on Broderick. But for the past couple of weeks, he seems to have mellowed out. He rarely loses his temper anymore,” Frost said.

I smiled. “He has his moments, this might be one of them. He gets all particular and picky when it comes to building stuff. Last week when he and Armant took out that wall between the library and the playroom, he had a few choice words to say about that ‘damn jeweled dragon.’” I impersonated Broderick’s booming voice. He must have heard me, because he looked up and shot me a grin. I waved.

“I'm going to bet Leo's going to start it on fire before the day’s end,” Flint said.

“He better not. We had a hell of a time getting that lumber here,” I said.

“No kidding,” Frost said. “I had to do all of the damn research on the delivery driver to make sure he wasn't some sort of covert vampire something or other.”

“I can’t wait for all of this business with Molpe and Peter to be behind us,” I said.

“Me too,” Frost said. “Gale refuses to talk about having more kids until they've been dealt with.”

“Leo’s the same way,” Flint said.

“So, the crazy protectiveness doesn’t end after the pregnancy?” I asked.

Both Flint and Frost shook their heads. “Nope. Just gets worse.”

I rubbed a hand over my belly. “So many exciting things to look forward to.”