Varnog instinctively took my brother’s hand, looking totally overwhelmed. “Hi and thank you. And hello… Mother.”
“Good man,” Mom said, gesturing for him to bend forward. As soon as he did, she took his face in both hands and kissed each of his cheeks soundly before locking eyes with him. “Thank you for making my daughter happy and making her greatest, most impossible wish a reality.”
Varnog swallowed hard again, but this time with gratitude. “No, Mother. Thank you for raising so perfect a female that she would find worth in one such as me. Before her, I never thought I would ever know such happiness. I am forever in your debt.”
Mom stared at Varnog for a moment, and then her face dissolved into that tender, motherly expression she was far too stingy with.
She gave me a sideways glance and smirked. “We’re keeping him.”
We all laughed, and with the matriarchal seal of approval granted, my dad was finally given a chance to meet my mate. He apologized for my mom’s rough ways before welcoming Varnog to the family.
Sitting on the grass by the shallow river of the Dragon’s Rise, I watched Varnog playing with our daughter Rania, named after the Janaurian female his host had been in love with. She had my hair and a mostly human nose, although a little flatter than usual. Her fair complexion had slight hints of blue and sprinkles of scales adorned her skin. Like Varnog, her eyes were larger and almond-shaped, devoid of sclera or pupils but possessed the same midnight blue color as mine. Like all the Scelks, she could read minds and mind-control, which proved quite the challenge when she became stubborn about what she wanted and didn’t. Of course, her father was completely whipped when it came to his little princess, and he wasn’t the only one.
“So, you’re going to tell him?” I asked Sabra, sitting next to me on our picnic blanket.
“Hell no!” she exclaimed, shaking her head violently. “Anyway, until they are older, we won’t know for sure. And Phoenix is calling dibs as the oldest of the children.”
“My daughter isn’t some prize the Warriors and Dragons can fight over,” I said in a sterner voice.
Sabra snorted, not intimidated in the least. “Agreed, but it’s not my fault she’s unbearably cute and shamelessly uses her powers to manipulate our boys,” she deadpanned.
I opened my mouth to argue, but her daring stare shut me up. I scrunched my face. “She is a menace. But she’s so adorable.”
“Exactly,” Sabra said, with a fatalistic expression.
“Varnog is going to lose his shit when he finds out the boys are already planning on dating his three-year-old girl,” I mumbled.
“Who says he doesn’t already know?” Rania psychically asked me.
My head snapped towards my daughter, who was staring at me with a mischievous grin, her father also observing us with a predatory expression.
“You were eavesdropping!” I exclaimed, accusingly.
“I wasn’t, but she was,” my mate said smugly. “And don’t worry, I won’t mess up the Warrior or Dragon boys. By the time they’re old enough to come pestering Rania, her brother will be there to kick their asses.”
“First off, any daughter of mine will be able to do any required ass kicking on her own,” I countered. I cast a sideways glance at our infant son sleeping in his portable crib between Sabra and me. “And second, the boys will be much bigger than Harak by then.”
“Whatever happened to the greatest things coming in small packages?” Varnog taunted.
“Touché!” I conceded. “You win.”
“No, my love. We win, you and me, always,” Varnog said, giving me a psychic caress.
“Always.”
THE END.