“Good afternoon, Rory. I didn’t come looking for your father. I’m delivering a gift.” He gestured to the truck.
“They’re… statues?” I guessed.
“Indeed.” Bruno’s eyes twinkled. “But not just any statues.”
I walked along the length of the truck, and Bruno walked with me, Patrick, Connor and Harry trailing behind. “They’re… dragon statues?”
“To be precise, they are the brothers who attempted to kidnap your father and ransom him. After discussing things with them, we discovered that since leaving our employ, kidnapping your father wasn’t the only troublesome activity they’d gotten up to. My mates and I decided that it was time to deal with them a bit more… permanently.”
“Damn.” Patrick whistled. “When I want to get rid of someone permanently, they’re generally not in any state to serve as a present after I’m done with them.”
Bruno bowed his head. “Turning life into stone is one of my gifts. It is the natural process of things, after all. I simply speed it up a little.”
“Wow. Okay. I mean, I appreciate the honor, but—”
“You aren’t sure where to put them on such short notice, I know.” His eyes flashed, and I suspected he knew I’d been about to decline. “If I may make a suggestion?”
Clearly declining was not an option. “Please.”
“I recommend that you set them here, in the middle of the yard, one on either side of the entry. It’s a clear sign of the friendship between us.”
“It’d make a pretty good playground for all the little ones Rory’s about to be popping out, too,” Patrick said.
I glared at him. Bruno gave me a half bow. “I heard about your good fortune. May you be blessed with fruitful loins.”
Patrick snickered and I moved the conversation along quickly. I did not want to be talking to anyone about my loins, fruitful or not. “I think your suggestion is wise.”
After Bruno relayed the instructions to the crane operator, we stepped back to let him safely raise the stone dragon in the air.
“If you do decide to also utilize the dragons as a playground, do let me know. It would not be too difficult to add a slide or steps.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “It wouldn’t be disrespectful to do that?”
“To me? Not at all. To the bastards stuck in the stone? Infinitely disrespectful.” He seemed delighted at the idea.
Huh. That actually wasn’t terrible, if we needed to have these giant stone monsters in the yard.
“Hey, Bruno, I have one question. Why are these guys so small? Wei was at least four times their size when he shifted. What gives?”
I recognized the love fueling Bruno’s smile, because it was what I saw every time Misha looked at me.
“Wei is a very powerful dragon from a very old family. These brothers were weaklings who wanted power without earning it.”
“Is it too rude to ask how big you are?”
Bruno’s teeth flashed as he said, “Yes.”
And I left it at that.
The dragons’ gift was such a surprise, I forgot I was mad at Connor and Patrick. By the time we got back inside, I was too tired to deal with them. But I didn’t forget how terrible it was to attempt to work in the same room as them. So I packed up my bag, told them I expected to see a fully finished crib when I got to work in the morning, and booked it out of there.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I passed the stone dragons. Da was going to have a fit when he saw those. I was glad Patrick and Connor would be stuck explaining it to him. He’d be fine with it, just surprised. I checked my messages.
that is the cutest baby bump evr i just want to squish it and kiss it and ugh why does it take babies so long to grow inside you but then they grow up way too fast once they’re born also cyrus told me that vasily told him that patrick told him you’re planning a baby shower or a gender reveal party or whatever i don’t care what i just want innnnnn okay hearts bye
Leaf’s message was overwhelming, and I couldn’t help but sigh at the two gossip trains of the Novak and O’Malley families merging, but it was exactly what I needed. I started tapping away on my phone as I walked, glad at least someone was as excited about all the baby stuff as I was.
12
Misha
I stepped back to examine the freshly painted wall. The fox wall clings I'd found would pop nicely against the buttercup yellow.
"Nope. Absolutely not. That's completely the wrong color. I'm glad I came in to check before you finished the whole room, I would've felt bad if you’d have had more than one wall done."
I turned at the sound of Rory's voice. He leaned against the door jamb with one hand draped protectively over his big baby bump. I set the roller in the tray and wiped my hands before walking over to pull him into my arms.
"What are you talking about, Irish? That's buttercup. That’s the exact shade of yellow that you approved after painstakingly going through all those samples. Your attention to detail is flawless and we've planned the perfect nursery. I promise you're going to love it when everything comes together."
Rory huffed and kissed my neck before shoving me back. He skirted around me, holding a hand over his nose as if that was enough to protect the baby from paint fumes. "Didn't you get my last email? I changed my mind. I want to go with the sage green instead."
I considered that for a moment before daring to question. "If you emailed me today, then no. Not only did Patrick pick up the paint for us yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to check my email. I've been busy."
"No, busy is dealing with two sets of books and tax season coming up. And being pregnant while you're at it. Don't even get me started on keeping the boyos in line. I swear, it's like herding cats with them." He turned and stuck his lower lip out, looking adorable as fuck as he pouted. "I'm sorry. Did I forget to tell you that I changed my mind about… um, everything?"
"Everything?" I rubbed my chin, absently noting that I needed a shave. "No, I'm pretty sure I would remember something like that. Talk to me, Irish. Tell me what you're thinking."
Rory sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Shit. I'd bet I forgot to tell you. Stupid pregnant brain. Leaf was right, you really do forget everything if you don't write it down with a foggy preggo brain." He walked over and sat down in the new rocking chair, frowning when the wood creaked. "This has to go too. The last thing I need is something keeping the baby awake during the middle of the night feedings."
He gave it another testing rock then shook his head when it creaked again. "Nope. I definitely hate it. I knew I should've chosen the glider. No worries, I have a receipt."
I went over and squatted in front of him, resting my hands on his knees as he gently rocked in the defective squeaking chair. "All right, I'll take care of that. Now tell me what you mean by changing everything. If you say the crib and changing table have to go back, I think Patrick might actually cry."
"Ha! I know, right?" Rory started to smile and then spotted the painted wall and shook his head again. "Right. You asked what everything entails. I guess everything is too broad a term. The crib and changing table are staying. You think Patrick might cry? I would lose my damned mind if I had to oversee another furniture-building project."