Lachlan spoke again. "Finn and the DDA are handling everything. For now, your duty is to get well." He kissed her wrist. "And protect our daughter."
"Daughter?" she echoed. Dragon-shifters usually didn’t learn the gender until birth.
He smiled. "Dr. McFarland let it slip. And I couldn't keep it a secret from you, even though I know dragon-shifters usually wait until the birth to find out."
She glanced down at her abdomen. A daughter. She'd always wanted one but had assumed she'd have a male since they were more common among dragon-shifters.
Having a daughter was a precious gift for a dragon, and Cat was determined to do whatever she could. "I guess this means I have to suffer bedrest for a while to make sure she shows up and eventually becomes Daddy's wee girl."
He smiled, chasing away some of the sadness from his gaze. The sight warmed her heart. He replied, "I'll do whatever it takes to help you, lass. Cravings, entertainment, anything. You'll be so sick of me that you'll sigh in relief when I have to use the loo."
She shook her head, not caring that it sent a twinge down her shoulder. "Never. Well, mostly never. I'm sure my temper will flare at some point, and I might need a few minutes' break to tame it again."
He stood and leaned over her, gently pressing his lips to hers. She wanted more than the chaste touch but knew she couldn't. Not yet.
Her exhaustion alone told her that.
He moved away a few inches and murmured, "I'm rather fond of your temper. The last time it flared, we ended up in bed, and I had marks down my back."
"And as I recall, you didn't mind them."
"Not one bit."
She smiled, but it took more strength than she wished to admit.
She was so bloody tired.
Her dragon's weak voice said, We should sleep again, to help us and the bairn.
I thought you wanted to be awake?
We were. We saw our male, helped ease his worry. I want to sleep now.
For all the times her beast said some human emotions were a waste of time, her dragon had a soft heart when it came to their mate.
She must've not kept that thought to herself because her beast huffed. He is ours. We must take care of him. He's our treasure.
Despite what stories always said about dragons hoarding jewels and the like, the only kind of treasure dragon-shifters truly guarded was love and family.
Most of her kind did, at least. And she was most definitely one of the majority.
Lachlan stroked her forehead and said, "Sleep, lass. I'll be right here."
She searched his gaze. "Only if you promise to sleep too. You probably look as bad as I do right now."
He placed a hand over his heart. "Such flattery from my mate."
Her lips twitched. "Just promise to take care of yourself too, aye? This child needs both of her parents."
Stroking her cheek, he murmured, "I promise. I'll sit here until you fall asleep, and then I'll take a wee nap myself."
Her eyes drooping, she muttered, "I'll ask later for how long, so you better."
His warm chuckle finally enticed her to sleep, dreaming of the day she could cuddle her mate in bed again without worry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After six weeks spent mostly sitting in a bloody bed, slowly losing her mind each day, Cat was determined to convince both Lachlan and the doctor that she could leave it, at least for a few hours a day.
The only question was how.
It wasn’t as if she wanted to make trouble, especially since Layla had only recently given birth to twins, meaning Dr. Campbell was handling everything on his own until Dr. Innes came up from Stonefire to help.
And she, of course, would do anything to protect her own daughter, even if it meant more boredom.
But surely, if she was in a wheelchair, she could sit outside for a while. Or visit her family. Or even have Lachlan take her to her studio.
She hadn't really had a chance to paint anything since the warehouse bombing. Oh, she could've sketched or painted something even in her bed. But it'd been hard to return to the happy place inside herself where she found her inspiration, especially with so much that could still go wrong in her life.
However, a wee bit of freedom might help her from snapping at Lachlan so often. Her male didn't deserve it.
Her dragon snorted. He's worse than a hovering male dragon around his mate.
Be kind, dragon. He thought he’d lost us. Of course he's going to be protective. You're just cranky because you haven't been able to shift either.
Her dragon huffed. And if the doctor has his way, we won't be able to until after the bairn is here.
And yet, Cat knew her dragon would refrain from shifting to protect their child.
They were both merely cranky, it seemed.
Cat went back to thinking of how to convince everyone to let her spend some time out of bed for more than the toilet, taking a shower, or her short walks to keep her muscles from atrophying when someone pounded on the front door. A minute later, Lachlan raced into the room. "Your mother's gone into labor, and the doctor thinks the bairn will be here shortly."
She scooted to the edge of the bed. "Then I need to be there when my sibling arrives."
Lachlan hesitated. "Should you be out of bed?"
Reaching for his hand, she waited to see if he'd help her up. He gave it. She took his hand and squeezed. "You can carry me if need be, but my mum needs all of us there."
Because she still hadn't mentioned the father or reached out to him was left unsaid.
Finally, he pulled gently on her arm and helped her up. "The surgery is close enough. As long as you promise to sit whilst we wait for your brother or sister to arrive, I suppose it should be okay. The distance isn't much more than what you do on your required daily exercise around the house." His gaze turned protective. "But you tell me the second you feel tired, or if anything else seems off. Promise me, Cat."
After nodding, she kissed him. "I really do love you, you know?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm going to let you walk? The bar has sunken rather low, aye?"
Despite the words, humor danced in his eyes. She stuck out a tongue a moment before replying, "More because you're going to have to deal with my family—including my extended family—once my sibling arrives. And that most definitely earns some love from me."
He sighed. "Just try to keep your granddad away from me, aye? I'm glad the man has people to care for so late in life, but I'd rather not hear about his latest exploits."
She giggled. "What? My grandfather mentioning how he likes to be tied up doesn't get you all hot and bothered?"
He put an arm around her waist and moved her toward the bathroom. "You're most definitely going to owe me, lass. Now, let's get you ready."
She continued to tease her mate the entire time, never ceasing to be amazed at how far he'd come since that first day he'd set foot on Lochguard.
His sister, too, was becoming less hesitant around most everyone inside the clan. Although Cat thought the human female would be cynical for quite a while yet, which was understandable given her family history and arsehole of a husband that would become an ex soon enough.
As they walked toward the surgery, Cat leaning against him more than she cared to admit, everything almost seemed normal again.