Crimson Flames

by Alex DuBois

  “Yeah, we do, baby. But don’t apologize.” Johnny definitely hadn’t done anything wrong. “I’ll call down to get the front desk to call a cab for us.”

  Once he made sure that Johnny was steady on his feet, he did just that. Soon enough, they were bundled safely into the back seat of a cab, being driven off to Doctor Summers’ office.

  * * *

  It had been a long time since Malachai had seen the good doctor. It was a time he actually preferred not to think about, because while he wasn’t the closest to Jason, that didn’t mean that he liked to remember his brother coming to him and Levi, scarred and actually somewhat close to terrified.

  As far as Malachai knew, no one had been brave enough to challenge his mother to a fight for a very long time. No one except Jason, who had never been exactly sane. What had caused the fight between the two, Malachai had never known, but what he did know was that Jason might have died, dragon or not, if not for Keith Summers.

  So yes, it had been awhile, but Malachai had seen Keith work miracles, and he had heard nothing but good about him ever since. Maybe there were other shifter doctors. In fact, there doubtless were, and they were probably closer to California, too, but Malachai wasn’t going to trust his mate to anyone but Keith.

  Lightly, feeling Johnny’s nerves, Malachai stroked his clean hair soothingly. Johnny turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile.

  “I’m fine, baby,” he told him, and Malachai gave him a smile back. This bond between them was getting stronger all the time. They could both feel each other so easily.

  “Good,” Malachai said, and then lightly teased, “Though if you have to throw up on the doctor, I’m sure he’s used to it.”

  Johnny gave Malachai a stern look, but his eyes danced and the corners of his mouth twitched, unable to hold on to the strict demeanor.

  “I will actually be avoiding that, thank you very much,” Johnny said, and Malachai couldn’t help but laugh at the tone of his voice. A wave of love and need washed over him. He’d never had this sort of open, easy relationship with anyone, not in his whole life, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

  “He might appreciate that,” Malachai laughed, and Johnny gave him a grin as the cab pulled up in front of the clinic.

  It looked about the same. There were no signs, and if you didn’t know what you were coming for, you would have walked right by the office. Malachai, however, did know, and he walked unerringly to the unremarkable door and pushed it open.

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” Johnny asked, looking a bit nervous. Malachai took his hand and nodded, tugging him in.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. I think he just doesn’t want to be overrun by people looking for a walk in clinic,” Malachai said. Come to think of it, why did Keith, a human even if he was a witch, want to help shifters? Well, he supposed that was none of his business. He should just be grateful that he did.

  When they walked in, the wolf shifter receptionist looked up at them with a pleasant smile.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, and he recognized her voice from the phone the previous day when he’d called to make the appointment.

  “Yes, thank you,” Malachai said carefully. Ever since the incident with the bear, he’d been trying to be more polite to people who weren’t, well, dragons. This was a wolf shifter and his instinct was to look down on her, but he was fighting against that.

  He wanted Johnny to be proud of him, but more than that, he wanted a better life for their son than one filled with prejudice.

  “We have an appointment for one thirty,” he continued, and the wolf nodded, typing away on her computer.

  “Johnny Merin, right? The doctor is ready to see you now,” she said, standing up and leading the way to a hallway with a a couple of different doors opening up onto it. “It’s the door right at the end,” she directed, and Johnny went to follow her.

  Malachai was filled with a moment of panic. Would Johnny want to be alone for this? He hesitated, and then decided to just go for it.

  “Can I come with you?”

  He wanted to make it clear that it was Johnny’s choice, but he was still relieved when his mate gave him a smile and held out his hand to him.

  “Of course you can,” Johnny said with a bright smile, and Malachai returned it. He was very curious about what was going to happen, and also very protective of his mate.

  “Just take off your shirt, Johnny,” the nice wolf lady said, “And the doctor will be in in a few minutes.”

  * * *

  “You’re so beautiful,” Malachai said honestly, admiring Johnny as he stripped off his shirt. Johnny had always been beautiful. Malachai had noticed him right away, even in that full club of people. He was even more beautiful with the slight roundness of Malachai’s baby inside him, though.

  Johnny smiled at him and took his hand, even settling down on Malachai’s lap. This was new, the dragon shifter realized, for both of them. Neither of them had really done relationships before, but they’d fallen so effortlessly into one.

  The door opened and Keith walked in, looking just as handsome as ever. He looked slightly older, of course, but then it had been a couple of years since Malachai had dragged his bleeding little brother in to see him.

  “It’s nice to see you again, Malachai,” the doctor said, giving him a smile that was small, but not without warmth. Keith was a subtle man, not overly demonstrative, but he cared deeply.

  “Hey doc,” Malachai said, giving him a smirk. “Look who I found.” He hugged Johnny close, and Keith smiled at the human and patted the examining table.

  “I hope it’s your mate,” the doctor said, his tone somewhat dry. Johnny got up as he’d been wordlessly invited to do and settled down on the table. “Nice to meet you, Johnny. I’m Doctor Summers. Keith is fine, though.”

  Malachai could sense that his mate was relaxing a little. Keith had an excellent bedside manner. The man was a little bit quiet, but he really seemed to really focus on the person he was speaking to, he seemed to care about what happened to them, and that came through loud and clear in everything he said or did.

  “He’s the best mate ever,” Malachai said honestly, trusting Keith enough to tell the truth. Johnny grinned at him, then lay back on the examining table, shirtless.

  Yes, Malachai realized that they were in a completely inappropriate place for this, but that didn’t stop him from wanting Johnny, all spread out for him like this. He’d never had a medical fetish or anything, and he didn’t think he was starting. It was just that he wanted his lover all the damn time.

  Johnny gave him a wicked little smirk and Malachai laughed a little. He couldn’t even help it. Johnny could feel what Malachai was feeling. What would Keith think of their little interplay?

  Come to think of it, though, Keith was probably perfectly used to this sort of thing. As far as Malachai knew, all sorts of shifters found it impossible to keep their hands off of their fated mates.

  “Any morning sickness?” Keith asked, and Johnny gave a bit of a nod with a wry expression. Keith nodded, then put his hands on Johnny’s stomach, feeling the slight bump there.

  There weren’t too many people in the world who could get away with touching Malachai’s mate like that. Luckily for Keith, he was one of them.

  “Tiredness?” Keith prompted, and Johnny nodded again, this time more emphatically. The fatigue had been way more of an issue for him, Malachai knew, than the intermittent nausea.

  “Interesting. Malachai, did you say that he’s about five weeks along?” Keith looked at him curiously, and Malachai, feeling a bit apprehensive, nodded. Was something wrong?

  “Yes, so he’s got eleven or twelve weeks left,” Malachai offered, and Keith nodded a little.

  “It’s just that he’s bigger than I would expect for this early on. Let’s take a look and see who we’ve got growing inside there.”

  Malachai liked the way Keith put it, like their baby, even unborn, was a person. He watched approvingly as Keith turn
ed on the ultrasound machine, then squirted gel onto Johnny’s stomach. Keith took the wand in his hand and started to press it into Johnny’s skin, seeking out the baby.

  Now Malachai was definitely nervous, and so was Johnny. What would the doctor find? He clutched to Johnny’s hand, probably far too tightly. But it was okay because Johnny was clinging back to him just as tightly.

  “Do multiple births happen often with dragons?” Keith asked suddenly, which struck Malachai as an odd question to ask.

  “No, not really. Very rarely twins. The rulers of China are twins, they’re older than I am, and I haven’t heard of any twins being born since then.” Malachai looked at Keith, who had his brow furrowed in an intense, focused way.

  Keith smiled a little bit, then looked at both of them before focusing on Johnny.

  “Well, Johnny, even this early on there’s no doubt that you’re carrying twins. See?” The doctor’s finger gestured to the monitor, and Malachai turned his attention to it fully. “There’s one, and there’s the other.”

  Malachai had a hard time seeing anything at first. The machine just looked like a mess of gray shapes, but then, suddenly, he did see it. Two babies, clear as day, once his eyes had gotten used to the machine.

  “Twins?” Malachai could feel Johnny’s elation, and then his terror. He sympathized. He was in the exact same position. He wanted these babies, but at the same time, he hadn’t felt like he could take care of one. What was he supposed to do with two of them?

  “Yes. Most definitely,” Keith said quietly, taking up a cloth and wiping off Johnny’s stomach, cleaning the gel off of it.

  “I sort of knew. I thought it was just that I’ve never done this before, but part of me knew,” Johnny admitted, and Malachai remembered Johnny saying things that had seemed mysterious at the time. Now, Malachai understood. It wasn’t one flame growing inside Johnny, it was two.

  “Is it too soon to tell the gender?” Malachai leaned over and kissed his lover on the forehead, finding that they were both shaking just a little with fear and elation. There were some very complicated emotions in the room, and Malachai was glad for Keith’s steadying presence.

  “It is,” Keith admitted, “But from what I saw, the babies are both healthy.” He nodded to Johnny. “You can put your shirt on now, if you want. Does either of you have any questions?”

  Johnny did put his shirt on, and Malachai wrapped his arms around him to help him off the table then continued to just hold on to him. He could say that it was to soothe his lover, but the truth was, he needing the soothing just as much as Johnny did. It was a mutual sort of thing.

  “Dragons have a lot of boys, that’s why we can ... Why we take human male mates,” Malachai admitted. He knew that other dragons would not approve of him talking so openly to this human, but he trusted Keith.

  Malachai considered, trying to figure out if he had any questions. He reached down and stroked over Johnny’s stomach. Twins!

  “We’re going to have to see you again, aren’t we?” Malachai realized. His original plan had been to try to get back to California while it was still safe to fly Johnny. He hadn’t been thinking all that clearly, though. And there was that issue with his mother, too, which just complicated things more.

  “I would suggest staying here until the birth,” Keith said solemnly. “From the very little I know about dragon birth, there’s very little risk, if the bond between the mates is true. Twins, however, can complicate things.”

  Johnny winced, and Malachai knew how he felt. Johnny was a West Coast boy, born and raised, and Malachai had been hanging out in that part of the world for long enough that he felt a bond to it, too. He’d rather go home to sunny California then spend dreary, rainy days in New York.

  “No. I don’t think I have any questions, Doctor.” Johnny gave Keith a smile. “Keith. Thank you.”

  Keith smiled at him, that tiny, elusive little smile.

  “You’re going to need to take prenatal vitamins,” he said, “And the closer that you stay to each other, the easier the pregnancy will be on Johnny.”

  Malachai nodded.

  “We stay close all the time,” he agreed, “And we’ll get him vitamins. Oh, actually, there is one thing. Do you know of a good place to get parenting classes?”

  It was hard to ask for help. It always was. However, Malachai knew that he needed the help, whether he wanted to ask for it or not. For his mate and for his baby (babies!) he would ask for it.

  “Of course. Just ask at the reception desk. There’s many options, both shifter based and not.”

  Malachai shook his head. It hadn’t occurred to him, probably because of bias against other shifter breeds, that there might be groups of shifters who did things like parenting classes. On the other hand, it made sense, and Johnny wouldn’t have to hide there.

  “If there’s nothing else, I’ll say goodbye,” Keith said, giving them a slight smile. “Johnny, take those vitamins, stay close to your mate, and I want to see you again in one month to see how those little guys are coming along.”

  Johnny nodded, and he still looked a little dazed. Malachai didn’t figure anyone could really blame him. Even just two months ago, Johnny hadn’t even thought that men could get pregnant at all. Now here he was, pregnant with twins.

  “Thank you,” Malachai said, and meant it. “I knew we had to come see you.”

  Keith smiled slightly.

  “It’s quite the honor,” he said, and Malachai couldn’t quite be sure if the human was being ironic or not. Keith held his emotions to himself like no one else that Malachai had ever met. Other than perhaps Levi.

  With that, the doctor was gone, and Johnny hugged Malachai tightly.

  “Twins, baby!” Johnny said, and Malachai grinned and hugged him back. No, he honestly outright clung to him, needing Johnny’s strength as much as Johnny needed his right then.

  If they were going to do this, it was going to have to be together.

  Chapter Ten

  Johnny

  Twins.

  The word kept echoing around through Johnny’s head. He had two babies growing inside him. He’d even seen them displayed on the monitor, and his eyes, at the time, had teared up a little. He wasn’t ashamed when they did it again as he thought about it.

  Those parenting classes were sounding like a better idea than ever.

  Malachai, meanwhile, was babbling on in that way that Johnny had learned meant that he was very nervous. He was talking about everything and nothing, about the twins, about his mother, and Johnny just listened. He figured this was something that his mate needed to get out, so he let him.

  “I get to call my other brothers now,” Malachai said, and Johnny smiled and wrapped an arm around Malachai’s slender waist. “We can get a picture from the ultrasound to show Levi, too.”

  Johnny smiled a little.

  “I figure I’ll tell my parents when I show up at their door with twins,” he said thoughtfully. He did want them to know, even if he wasn’t all that close to them, but he wanted to avoid the whole ‘man being pregnant’ discussion, much less the ‘mated to a dragon shifter’ one.

  Of course, his parents would likely be so stoned that they would take that in stride.

  They got to the receptionist, and it all happened very suddenly. One moment, Johnny felt fine, even a little bit hungry. The next, he was gripping onto the desk and urgently demanding,

  “Bathroom. Please. Now.”

  The receptionist took that in stride and showed him where it was, and Johnny sprinted there as fast as he could remember ever running anywhere. It was embarrassing, but at the same time, what could he possibly do about it?

  * * *

  Luckily, Malachai kept his head about him. While Johnny lost his breakfast, Malachai made another appointment and got the information they needed on parenting classes. He really had gotten lucky with his mate, and he knew it.

  From there, Johnny just settled down to wait. There wasn’t much else he could do. He wait
ed for his nausea to pass, he ate, he slept. He waited for something to happen with Malachai’s family.

  While he waited, he did learn, though. He learned that his sickness went away almost entirely if he pressed himself close against his mate. In fact, he felt better just in general when he did.

  Good thing he liked being as close to Malachai as possible.

  They went shopping and bought warmer clothing for Johnny, clothing that also happened to cover the round of his belly. Malachai bought a small fortune’s worth of garnets and rubies, but only so that he could put it in the safe that came with the room.

  Dragons were strange. Malachai said he bought them because he missed his own hoard, and all Johnny could do was shrug and accept that.

  More excitingly to Johnny, though, they bought baby things. Johnny had no idea how they were going to get this stuff home to California, but it was fun to buy the cribs, the changing table, and it seemed like every baby garment in New York.

  Seeing the images on the ultrasound had made this real. Buying the baby stuff, though, that took it to a whole new level, and Johnny couldn’t help but grin like an idiot every time he saw it.

  Meanwhile, his belly grew. Every day, it seemed to him, there was a change. It was slight, but he swore that he could see it.

  He spent a fair bit of time looking in the mirror. Not to check if his hair was nice, for once, but to stare at his stomach and imagine the twins growing inside him

  Which was, in fact, what he was doing when Malachai suddenly sat up straight. He’d been reading a book in a language that Johnny didn’t know, but he put it down and smiled.

  “Levi,” he said, and a few moments later, a knock came at the door. A very self-assured, confident knock it was too, though Johnny wasn’t sure how the person on the other side had managed to make that happen. A knock was kind of usually just a knock, wasn’t it?