Dragons are Forever

by H. M. Gooden

  “So, stud,” Vanessa teased. “What’s it like to have a harem?”

  Jake's ears began to look suspiciously red and he cleared his throat several times.

  "Ummm. Well, ummm."

  He looked desperately at Mai, who smiled and rolled her eyes at his difficulties finding the right words.

  “God, Vanessa, give the poor guy a break. This is way too much estrogen for one man after the week we've had."

  "Here it is!" Aud pointed at the red door one building over and Jake threw his head back, looking at the sky.

  "Oh, thank God!" Jake muttered before he opened the door, allowing them to proceed ahead of him.

  They entered into a cafeteria-style restaurant, containing a number of small tables for four and a few booths along a side wall. In one corner, a few flashing video games from the eighties were surrounded by teens, and loud music blared from an old style jukebox. Obviously the music had been updated, as one of the latest pop songs was currently playing.

  Mai spotted a large booth that was empty and made a beeline for it. Jake squeezed into the corner beside her, and Cat, Vanessa, and Zahara sat across from them. They waited for the waitress to take their orders, then Cat got right down to the questions Mai knew had been plaguing her since she'd arrived in Norway.

  Cat checked over her shoulder to make sure they didn't have an audience before plunging in.

  "So, spill. I need all the details. You must have been so scared! That's super impressive that the two of you were able to get all the kids back safely, all by yourselves."

  Mai squirmed in her chair. She hadn't wanted to examine the details of their rescue mission. So far, their wedding planning, followed by the short honeymoon, had kept her mind off all the conflicting thoughts she'd had about their encounter with the trolls. Now everything came rushing back. The new creatures that they'd met, the one that she'd maybe, probably, killed. The trolls and that awful smell. Mai winced.

  "It was a lot to deal with. I'm not sure I even know where to start."

  Jake rubbed her arm encouragingly. "I can start, if you want," he said, waiting only a second for her smile, before launching into details. "Well, it was pretty much what I'd been expecting. I know that people around these parts are more...erm, open...to the paranormal."

  Jake shrugged, taking a sip of the coke that the waitress had smoothly placed in front of him.

  "So it wasn't a huge surprise when we encountered a few creatures. Luckily for me, Mai can be a little territorial and came after me at the first roadblock that popped up, otherwise I'd have been toast."

  Mai exhaled sharply. She'd hoped he'd leave that part out, but the look of pride on his face was unmistakable.

  "I'm glad you're so happy with that. I'm still coping with the fact I could murder someone without even seeing what they were up to."

  Mai shook her head, rubbing her forehead at the memory.

  Zahara blinked. "But, Mai, you're the calmest person I know. If you killed someone or something without waiting, I'm thinking your instincts likely overrode your mind." Zahara reached across the table to pat Mai's hand. "That's usually not a bad thing. Sometimes, our minds get in the way. I like to think I'm a pretty nice person, but if someone I loved was in danger, you better believe I'd be on them faster than you can say 'get out of my way'."

  Mai sighed, looking down. "I get that. I do. But at the same time, I still feel like I've done something awful."

  Cat interjected. "Remember when I took on Bathory?"

  Mai nodded slowly, having completely forgotten about that. "Yes, I do."

  "Remember how I burned her to a crisp? Or what about that creepy English dude with the hot dog truck?"

  Mai looked up at the ceiling at the memory. That man had terrified her with his darkness. In fact, if it hadn't been for Cat, Mai would have been dead years ago.

  "Yeah, but that's completely different. You knew that those guys were completely evil. I can't see that in auras the way you can." She laughed humorlessly. "Heck, I didn't even give this creature time to show themselves as good or bad."

  "Um, hello? Are the lights completely off upstairs?" Vanessa looked at Mai as though she'd gone crazy. "Did Jake not just say that he almost died?"

  Jake nodded, looking at the girls seriously.

  "Yes, I was tied up underwater, unconscious. In fact, it took me most of the day to start feeling better, even after Mai got me out."

  Vanessa held her hand out, using Jake as her example.

  "See? My point exactly. Your fiancé was tied up underwater, unconscious, and wouldn't have been able to breathe if he'd actually been human. You basically took out something that had already proven itself to be bad. If you guys couldn't breathe underwater, Jake wouldn't be here now, even with you killing that thing. So stop feeling all bad and morally corrupt, Mai. It's not worth your time or distress."

  Vanessa waited for Mai to answer, glaring fiercely at her from beneath her bangs until Mai's shoulders relaxed and she nodded her head in grudging acceptance.

  "Fine, you're completely right, all of you. I'll work harder on convincing myself."

  Jake hugged her. "That's my girl."

  He gave her a big smile then stopped talking as their food orders were placed in front of them, waiting for the waitress to walk away.

  "Okay, well, the rest of the trip went a lot more smoothly than the first part. After that, we kept closer to the water, but then ran into a draugr."

  "What's that?" asked Cat.

  "It's kind of like a dead person. The one we ran into was the Norwegian version of a sailor zombie. Sometimes they're called a draug, or draugen."

  Mai laughed, which caused the others to look at her questioningly.

  "This encounter actually made me laugh, even at the time. We'd changed into dragons after the draugr saw us and Jake convinced him it was too late, that he'd already eaten our human selves. Then the draugr got all pissy and basically told us to get off it's hunting ground."

  Mai's smile didn't leave her face. "You kind of had to be there, but it was pretty funny. Jake's a better actor than I'd given him credit for."

  Jake looked at her, his mouth open.

  "Hey!" he said, before crossing his arms and looking away with a huff, chin pointed into the air away from her.

  Everyone at the table laughed, then dug into their food.

  THE FOOD WAS GOOD, as promised, and Mai enjoyed catching up with her friends. While it had only been a few weeks since she'd seen Cat and Vanessa, Zahara was further away and it had been several months since the last time they'd seen each other. They were animatedly discussing the pros and cons of Zahara sneaking into concerts in London as a fox, when Mai suddenly started to feel unwell.

  Excusing herself from the table, she headed for the bathroom with as much speed as she could muster. She leaned over the closest sink, feeling perspiration bead on her forehead, accompanied by the impending feeling of doom that always appeared whenever she was nauseated. She managed to hold her food down, but had to take several shallow, panting breaths in a half-crouching position before she felt it was safe to move without losing her lunch. Looking at herself in the mirror, Mai let out a quiet groan.

  "I look awful!" she muttered, taking a piece of paper towel and wetting it to dab on her face and the back of her neck. "Maybe no more fries today, hmmm?"

  Mai looked at her reflection, happy to see that she looked slightly less like the walking dead, but was confused about what had just happened. Generally, she had a really strong stomach, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd been that close to throwing up. But just as she started to feel less nauseated, she was struck by a deep, aching pain in her lower abdomen just above the pubic bone that caused her to double over again, as though she'd been punched. It only lasted about a minute, but felt interminable while it was there.

  Mai knew that something was happening, but wasn't sure what. Feeling shaky, but not wanting to be alone with whatever was happening, she went back to where her friends were s
till chatting. Conversation stopped the moment they saw her and Cat stood up first.

  "Are you okay, Mai? You don't look at all well," said Cat, as she shook her head slowly.

  Mai knew she was examining her with aura vision, as Cat's eyes looked blurry and distant. While that particular skill could sometimes be a little uncomfortable for everyone, Mai was grateful for it today, hoping that Cat could look at her and tell if something was seriously wrong. At least, she thought she was, until Cat abruptly sat down, silent but with her eyebrows raised.

  "What? What do you see? I just suddenly started to feel awful. Am I dying?" Mai covered her mouth as soon as she said that, her imagination running completely away with her.

  Cat emphatically shook her head. "No! No, you aren't dying, not at all. Nothing like that. You aren't sick at all actually. But..."

  Cat paused, looking around at everyone, then continued. "Let's go back to the house. I want to tell you what I saw in private, without an audience."

  Cat looked at the others, her head tilted while she waited for their response. Zahara shrugged. "The less uncomfortable stuff I know about people, the happier I am. That's kind of my life's motto."

  Vanessa snorted. "Agreed. I think it's on my clan crest. As close as I feel that we are, Mai, I'm good having you dole out personal facts in your own sweet time. That way I don't have to handle all the emotions at once. Does that make me shallow?"

  Vanessa bit her lip in mock concern and Jake shook his head.

  "Yeah, Vanessa, you're as shallow as the Arctic Ocean."

  He looked at Cat seriously. "I think that if Mai isn't feeling well, we need to go home so she can rest. But Mai, I hope that you'll always tell me everything?"

  Mai gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course, I will. But I'd like to go lay down, if I can. Whatever's going on has made me feel really tired all of a sudden."

  Jake slid her out of the bench then got up, putting his arms around her in a warm, soothing hug before he tucked her arm into his.

  "Let's go. Can I hold your arm on the way home? I won't if you don't want me to, but it makes me feel like I could catch you, if you feel like you're going to fall."

  Mai looked up at his kind and worried eyes with a smile.

  "Always."

  Vanessa rolled her eyes but couldn't quite suppress a soft smile. Cat and Zahara rolled with the change of plans.

  "You go first. We'll follow."

  Cat smiled and held the door open, a mysterious smile playing around her lips that made Mai wonder what the heck she'd seen. She had a feeling that whatever it was would change everything.

  CHAPTER 17 THE FAMILY WAY

  By the time Mai and her entourage returned to the house, it was mid-afternoon and the place was empty.

  Jake looked around, gesturing toward the living room. "We can sit here while you and Cat go and talk upstairs. I'll turn on the TV so you won't be overheard accidentally."

  He looked down at Mai, reluctantly letting go of her arm.

  "How are you feeling? Any better?"

  Mai tried to smile back at Jake reassuringly, but still felt off. "Yeah. I feel almost normal right now. I haven't got a clue what happened back there, but whatever it is seems to have passed now."

  Mai gave him a peck on the cheek, not quite missing Cat standing behind him shaking her head at her answer. Mai stepped back and followed Cat upstairs, nervous but curious as to what she knew. Looking around the room to make sure that it wasn't occupied, Mai closed the door after they'd entered.

  "Okay, what is it? My nerves are killing me. If I'm not dying, what happened back there?"

  Cat motioned to the bed. "I think we should sit down. I'm worried that you'll fall down when I tell you what I saw."

  Mai tilted her head at Cat. "But I'm not dying, right?"

  Cat slowly shook her head before she sat down and gestured to the spot beside her. "No....the opposite actually. Seriously, you're going to need to sit for this."

  Mai sat slowly, her mind swirling in confusion.

  Cat took a deep breath before she let it out with a sigh. She took Mai's hand and patted it gently.

  "Mai, the reason you don't feel like yourself is because you kind of aren't....just yourself, anyway."

  "What do you mean?" Mai felt herself getting irritated at the cryptic answers but forced herself to stay calm.

  "I don't know exactly how to say this so I'll just say it. Mai, I'm pretty sure you're pregnant."

  Mai felt her mouth drop open and attempted to shut it, but it fell open again. She tried to ask what, but only a small squeak managed to slip out. Clearing her throat, she tried to speak again.

  "What? Are you sure? How can you know?"

  Cat shrugged, but a smile crept over her face. "It's what I do, remember? I read auras, and I can tell when people have cancer, or a headache, or no soul. Standard stuff, right?"

  Mai nodded, fully aware that Cat was skilled at aura reading.

  "But how do you know I'm pregnant? That's not really a physically sick thing. Is it?"

  Mai couldn't stop shaking her head, still unable to believe that she was pregnant after less than a week of having sex.

  "When someone's pregnant, I don't see a disturbance in their aura, exactly," Cat explained, stopping to catch her breath again. "What I do see is another aura. Babies are a type of growth after all, but they have their own soul, with their own colors."

  Mai looked at her wide-eyed. "You can see a baby?"

  She looked down at her still small stomach and gently prodded it in wonder before looking back at Cat.

  Cat nodded slowly. "Yes...I can. But it's babies, Mai."

  Mai felt her head spin and put her hands up to hold it.

  "What? Babies?"

  Cat gave her a small grimace of apology. "Yeah. You've got three tiny auras that I can see, all with different colors."

  Mai just looked at her for a minute. "Okay, let me get this straight. Not only am I pregnant, in a ridiculously short time after getting married, but there's also three babies in there and they have different colored auras? What does that even mean?"

  Cat tilted her head and shrugged helplessly. "I'm not entirely sure, although I think it means that they'll have different affinities. Like, Vanessa's aura looks purple to me and yours looks blue, while Zahara's is kind of a green. I can't really see mine but I think if I could, it would be gold, orange or red. And Evelyn used to be opalescent, but now she's like a diamond and I can hardly look at her aura, it's so damn bright."

  "Well, what color are these ones?"

  Cat smiled. "They look to be green, gold, and blue."

  Mai started to laugh, then felt tears leak slowly out with her laughter.

  "Um, can you keep those mostly in? I don't think Astrid wants her house flooded."

  Cat looked nervous as the tears started to increase. Mai wiped them, but kept laughing. Luckily, the tears stopped, replaced by happiness.

  "This is so crazy, Cat. I just got married a few days ago, now I'm having triplets and you're telling me they all have different auras, which most likely means different powers. I may go insane. How am I supposed to handle all of this? I don't have any experience with children, like none. I was an only child and an orphan, for God's sake."

  Cat pointed out the obvious. "Well, maybe you didn't have any experience, but you'll certainly be getting some shortly. Whatever else may happen, I know you can handle it. Jake's going to be a great dad and you're going to be a great mom. You'll get through it. And I can't wait to see the babies."

  Mai was completely blown away, shocked and confused about how it was possible to become pregnant so fast. It had been only a week since the first time she'd had sex and from what she knew about human pregnancies, most people didn't even know they were pregnant until they were a month or two along. For her to already know she was pregnant had to mean that something weird was happening. Maybe, she thought with a sinking feeling, this wasn't a human pregnancy. After all, she was a dragon and so was her mate.
Was it possible that she was having...dragon babies?

  Mai looked at Cat, who was still sitting next to her, watching her with a cautious and nervous looking smile.

  "Cat, I don't think that this is a normal pregnancy."

  Mai stood up, feeling the need to move. She began to pace back and forth in the room, absently touching items on the dresser and bookshelves as she moved.

  "What do you mean?" Cat asked.

  Mai came closer to her and touched her lower abdomen lightly.

  "As a human, there's no way I should be pregnant already. Jake and I weren't...close like that...before the wedding, not really."

  Mai blushed as she thought of the one night in the crevice where they'd made their vows under the stars.

  "If this was a normal pregnancy, I shouldn't even know for a few more weeks and shouldn't be having any symptoms at all. And there's no way you should already be able to see three auras in there. It's just not possible."

  "So what do you think is going on?" Cat asked, before adding, "I'm positive that I can see three little auras in there. I've never been wrong about something like that before."

  Mai shook her head, brushing away Cat's tone of indignation.

  "No, I believe that you really do see three in there. But what I'm saying is that if this was a human pregnancy, you wouldn't be able to see anything yet. I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, this could be a dragon pregnancy."

  Now it was Cat's turn to gape at her, mouth opening and closing without words.

  "What?" Cat finally asked, forcing the question out.

  Mai shrugged, her arms fluttering helplessly.

  "We're both dragons. Maybe dragons do pregnancy differently, but I've got no idea what to expect. I have to share this news with Jake right away, and his family, because I'm going to need a lot of advice. Hopefully, Astrid will be able to tell us what's actually happening and what it all means."

  Cat nodded. "That's a good idea. How about I go and get Jake and bring him up here so that you can tell him alone, before letting everyone else know?"

  Mai smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

  Cat paused at the doorway, before looking back at Mai with concern.