Julian smiled as he landed in the back yard, turning to watch Kaylee. She was just getting used to her wings, since he had spent a lot of time encouraging her to remain in human form. But he had someone to help him in the sky now, and the three of them loved taking evening flights. Kaylee was always impatient for the sun to go down, bouncing in joy as she waited for the right time. And she always slept very well at night afterwards.

The little dragon spread her wings and tipped them upward, trying to slow herself down. She was coming in too steep, which was usually her problem. Naomi was right at her side, touching the tip of her wing to the little girl’s. “Keep flapping, dear. You need a little more lift!”

Kaylee obediently swooped back up as she slowed down, landing lightly in her father’s arms. She screamed her excitement. “Again! Again!”

“No, sweetie. It’s about time for bed. You need to get your rest so we can go again tomorrow. And maybe we can go even further.” He watched as Kaylee shifted back to her human form in his arms, her wings tucking into her back and folding away. Her scales each stood on end and flipped over, rippling down to soft skin.

“Yes, it’s definitely time for bed,” Naomi agreed. Her wingtips touched the ground as she walked toward the back door, and she shifted more slowly than usual.

“Are you alright?” Julian had noticed that she’d been tired a lot lately. He had chalked it up to the fact that she was still getting used to being on Earth, plus the fact that they had a little one to run after all day. Kaylee was energetic, and she could be a lot to keep up with.

She shrugged, now completely back to a form that was acceptable by society, should any of their neighbors happen to look out the window and see her profile in the porchlight. “I’ll be fine. I didn’t sleep very well last night, so I think I’ll turn in early.”

Julian nodded. “You go ahead and get ready for bed. I’ll give Kaylee her cup of milk and her bath.” He didn’t mind being the one ‘stuck’ with bedtime duty. He enjoyed the quiet moments with his daughter, when he could wash her hair and talk to her about the events of the day. She was getting bigger all the time, constantly learning new words and showing him new things she could do. He didn’t want to miss out on any of it.

When he had her all clean and dressed in her pj’s, he carried her to bed. She could walk very well on her own now, but there was nothing better than snuggles from a freshly-bathed child. He sat in the rocking chair and pulled a book from the shelf. “How about this one? We haven’t read it in a while.”

Kaylee nodded her agreement, and he began reading about a little puppy who couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble. Julian flipped the pages slowly, knowing that she needed to get to sleep, but was unable to resist this wonderful, special time with her.

His reading was interrupted by a thump against the wall. “Naomi? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” came the muffled reply.

Julian read two more pages before he heard a crash. He gathered Kaylee from his lap and set her in her crib before dashing out of the room and across the hall. “Naomi!” But when he grabbed the bedroom doorknob, it was locked. “Let me in!”

“Hang on!” There was more crashing and a gasp that sounded pained.

“What’s going on in there?” The dark fantasies that occupied Julian’s mind were a scary thing. Had another demon shown up, one they didn’t know about? Was there some other enemy, perhaps a neighbor who had seen them in dragon form?

“Just a sec!”

The next few seconds were painfully silent, and then Julian heard the click of the lock. He rushed in to see Naomi standing demurely at the end of the bed, a smile playing on her lips. Several books had been knocked off a nearby shelf, and a porcelain lamp lay broken on the floor. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I am,” she nodded. “It turns out we don’t have quite enough space to shift indoors.”

He felt completely stupefied as he looked at her. “But why would you do that? We just spent over an hour with Kaylee as dragons.”

Naomi looked down at the floor for a moment before lifting her eyes to meet his. “There are some things I just can’t do as a human.”

“Like what?” he asked slowly. “Naomi, you’re really starting to make me worry.”

She reached out and took his hand, leading him around the bed and pointed to the floor. On a pile of blankets lay a shimmering silver egg. Julian stared at it for a long moment, his brain refusing to acknowledge what he was seeing. “Is that…?”

Naomi beamed at him. “Yes. Now I know why I’d been so tired and why I hadn’t been able to sleep. I’d never gone through this before, so I had no idea what to expect. But as I was about to change for bed, I had this overwhelming sensation to shift. I couldn’t stop it.”

Julian knelt down to touch the smooth shell. It was just like the egg Kaylee had come out of, but larger and more robust. And it was his. Truly his, and Naomi’s as well. He felt a tear trickle down his cheek. “It’s absolutely beautiful.” He stood and pulled her into his arms, kissing her.

“So, you’re happy?” she asked when they finally broke apart.

“More than you could ever know.” He didn’t even know quite how to put it into words, but they were going to have a child together. Another dragon would soon be hatched on Earth. Not only would they be expanding their family, but extending a race nearly brought to extinction by genocide. Only time would tell if future generations would keep the line going, but at least for now, they had one more soul to love.

Julian squeezed her hands and let go. “I think we’ve got a sleepy little girl in the next room who would love to see this.” He slipped back across the hallway.

Kaylee was standing in her crib, leaning on the rail. She watched her father come in the room with wide, curious eyes. “Story?”

“We’ll finish in a minute, I promise. But first, I’ve got something exciting to show you.” He picked her up and took her back to the master bedroom, smiling at Naomi as he did so. “Look right over there. You’re going to be a big sister!”

She pointed one chubby finger at the shape on the floor. “Egg?”

“Yes, sweetie.” Naomi took Kaylee now, wrapping her in a big hug. “We’re going to have a baby.”

Kaylee clapped her hands. “Baby! Baby!”

Julian held his mate and his daughter, staring down at the silver egg that would bring their family and friends incredible joy. He had left so much behind on Charok, but there on Earth, he had found so much more.