His heart grew about three thousand times its normal size, and he leaned down to kiss her softly.
“To our future, love. To our future.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Corinne
There were pink and blue streamers everywhere, balloons to boot, and little paper booties. The decorations made it very obvious that it was a baby shower. Not that there was any doubt about what type of event Johanna Warwick was hosting.
She had been telling everyone, shouting it from the rooftops, that she was going to be a grandmother. She was so proud and excited, it was the sweetest thing Corinne had ever seen.
There was no doubt in Corinne’s mind that Johanna would be the best grandmother that the kids could ask for. She would insist on babysitting, she would get down into the sandbox with the children, not caring that it got her designer clothes dirty. Hell, the woman would probably take to the skies and fly off with her grandbabies if they asked her.
That’s just who Johanna was.
The babies weren’t even born, and they already had their grandmother’s unconditional love.
Corinne might not have parents of her own to be there for her, but Johanna was such a wonderful presence, that it almost made up for it.
The other guests, family friends of the Warwicks, had long since gone. It was only the brothers and their mates who were left in the back yard now.
Corinne had overindulged at the chocolate fountain, dipping fresh fruit into the thickest, most decadent melted chocolate, but she didn’t care. It had been worth every bite. She was just happy she could eat and keep her food down, her Hyperemesis Gravidarum was finished running its course.
When Johanna took out the champagne for a toast, along with sparkling cider for Corinne and Josie, the matriarch’s three sons teased her for having the celebratory drink at a baby shower.
“It’s a joint baby shower! It’s a major party,” Johanna said, lifting her flute of champagne high up in the air. “I have been waiting to have grandkids for years and years. Now I will have three in a few short months.”
“You only say that because you can’t wait to meddle into more lives with those weird psychic abilities of yours,” York said, giving his mother a sly grin.
Johanna arched a brow at him. “I will have you know, dear, that I am not psychic.”
“I don’t know about that,” Beth cut in.
“I know, right?” Josie added. “You do seem to know a lot of stuff before it ever really happens. I mean, you hired Beth to get London under control, and she just happens to be his mate?”
“Happy coincidence,” Johanna shrugged.
“Yeah, but then you hired me to do the catalog of your estate, and I’m York’s mate,” Josie pointed out.
Once again, Johanna shrugged elegantly. “Serendipitous circumstances.”
“I’ll say,” Corinne added. “I was just a crying waitress at a restaurant, you offered me a job, and I wasn’t just Paris’s mate, but also his very pregnant baby momma.”
“Come on, Johanna,” Josie shimmied her shoulders. “Tell us your secrets. How do you do it?”
Johanna picked at an invisible piece of lint on her shoulder and gave them all a winning smile. “I assure you, my darlings. It’s all just luck.” With a wink, she turned on her heels and went to refill her flute of champagne.
“I don’t believe her,” Corinne stated.
“Here, here,” Paris agreed.
“It’s too uncanny,” York put in.
“Exactly. Though, I don’t think any of the six of us mind at all that Johanna is a little bit psychic and brought us all together.”
Corinne laid her head against Paris’s shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. Her stomach wasn’t as flat, but that had to be expected. She was in her second trimester of carrying twins. Dragon twins, at that. It was only natural that she should show.
She patted her stomach happily. The Hyperemesis Gravidarum was all but cured now, and she only ever felt a bit of nausea first thing in the morning, if she didn’t sleep in a sitting position.
It was a good thing, too, because she was in France, the land of the croissant. She could stuff her face with as many of the buttery goodness’ as she could, and no one could say shit to her because she was eating for three.
She would enjoy it.
Corinne looked around the vast background.
She had been an orphan, raised all alone in a locked room, held captive by a really bad criminal. She had always just expected that she would be alone.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
She had a mate, two kids on the way, two sets of in-laws, a psychic mother-in-law, and Armstrong.
She was really happy that she got along great with Josie and Beth. Though they lived in New York City and London, plans had already been made for multiple family gatherings. Johanna was over the moon. She would get to see her sons more often, and she insisted that it was because of the babies. She had claimed that nothing brought a family together like little babies.
Johanna wasn’t too far off the mark. Kids did bring families together. Corinne was having images of Peanut and Nugget playing with their cousin or cousins. There was no way Beth and London were going to wait to get onto the baby train now. There would be a whole new generation of Warwicks to raise, and Johanna would insist that the cousins be close.
Corinne wanted that. A bunch of little dragons, making their parents crazy with their antics.
Corinne felt a wave of happiness, and she shivered happily with the joy that was pulsing through her body.
“Are you okay?” Paris asked her, nuzzling her neck.
“I can honestly say that I have never been better. This has been the best day.”
“It’s been nice, yeah.” He dipped his mouth down to her ear. “Though I can’t wait to get you alone back at home.”
This time, when Corinne shivered, it was with anticipation with what was to come.
They had waited to complete the mating ritual, only because they wanted to make sure her Hyperemesis Gravidarum was under control. Paris had also done extensive research to make sure that it was safe to mate a woman when she was pregnant.
Apparently, that happened a lot.
Go figure.
It must be those insanely powerful shifter dicks and their magical sperm.
“Take me home, then,” she said breathlessly. She kept her tone low. They were in a back yard filled with shifters, after all. They had to be discreet.
But judging by the claps on the back that Paris got from his brothers when it was time to go, everyone knew exactly what was going to happen.
Corinne didn’t mind. The other two couples had already been through this step in their relationship.
Paris led her to the minivan and helped her up into her seat. Soon, she wouldn’t be able to see her own feet, so she appreciated the help. She was getting used to all of the little things Paris did for her. He was attentive to her and all of her needs.
It made their sex life pretty amazing.
But Corinne was with her mate. Everything was wonderful when you had a dragon by your side.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Corinne
As soon as they walked into the penthouse, Corinne kicked off her heels. They were only two inches high, nothing like the five-inch ones Josie was still wearing through her pregnancy. Corinne didn’t know how her sister-in-law did it.