by Ella Hart
He sighed under his breath. This was going to be a trying week. Not that the rest of his life hadn’t already been trying. There was just something extra trying about this week that he had yet to identify correctly. He couldn’t tell if the nervous clenching in his stomach was from the fact that they had to move out, or that it was all happening before the egg was laid. He just didn’t want anything to go wrong with the baby.
He looked up when Paulina sighed. She didn’t seem too excited about the day’s events, but then again, neither was he. It didn’t seem fair.
“Is there anything we can do to stop this, Cobalt?” She sounded desperate. He bit his lip. This was one of those rare moments that he thought about lying to her. He honestly didn’t know if they could stop it, but he doubted it.
He settled on the same decision he always made. He decided to be as truthful as he could be with her. That was usually the best answer to any question.
“I’m not sure, Paulina. At the moment, I don’t think it’d be worth trying to fight. You have enough trouble moving around as is. Let’s just do what we have to, and rebuild our lives from there. When we get to Rani’s, we can look into other options.” He managed to give her a smile. It wasn’t what he wanted to have to tell her.
“All right.” She didn’t seem particularly happy with his answer, but seemingly chose to accept it.
“I wish I could be more helpful, love. With the stairs now employee only, I’ll have to take the elevator to help get the luggage downstairs.” He told her this out of a sense of duty. “I’ll do my best, but it’ll probably take me a few trips to get everything down and out to the car.”. He would drive them to Rani’s this time, so that she could get as much rest as possible during the trip.
“All right. I’m okay with that, as long as we can get everything to the car in a day.” She smiled at him. After what had happened the first time he rode the elevator, she hadn’t forced him to take it again. He appreciated her patience with him.
“Okay.” He took in a deep breath. At this point, he wasn’t quite sure how they were going to do this. “Do we want to start packing today, and leave in a couple of days? Or are we going to take it slower than that?”
“Let’s take it a little slower. I’d hate to see you do it all by yourself, Cobalt.” She leaned over the table to kiss his cheek. “I might be pregnant, but I can still reach down. The egg isn’t all that big; not compared to a nine-month pregnant belly.” She laughed a little. “Trust me.”
“All right. Don’t work too hard, though. I don’t want to risk cracking the egg.” He had been hyper-vigilant the last few days. It was worryingly easy to crack an egg while forming in the belly. There was a reason they didn’t get too big until very close to laying time. She looked ready to lay any day.
“I won’t.” She smiled a little more. “I love you and our baby too much to risk his or her life. So, what do you want me to do?”
“You could pack clothes. That’s fairly safe for the child.” He smiled back. “And you could take small pots and pans to the car, if you wanted. No heavy lifting, all right? Leave that to me.” He kissed her nose gently. There was nothing in the world he wouldn’t do for her.
“I will.” She laughed a little, a smile spreading across her face. “I love you, Cobalt. What do we want to start with?”
“Let’s pack everything but a few days’ worth of clothing. That’ll give us less to pack up later. Maybe only four days’ worth of clothing and pajamas stay out?” He started to think out loud. There had to be something they could do, or someway they could make it work.
“That works.” She smiled. “Do you want to pack your own clothes, or do you not care much about what is left out at this point?”
“Wait. You know what I just realized? After tonight, we’ll have four days’ worth of clothing and pajamas in our laundry hamper. We can just do laundry today and keep that out, plus one extra pair of pajamas. That’s less work for us.” He wanted to work smarter, not harder. Doing laundry that they’d have to do anyway to pack, and just keeping it out, meant they could just shove everything in the closet and dressers into the suitcases.
“That makes sense. Do you want to go do the laundry, then?” She started to walk towards the sink, her empty plate in hand.
“Sure. Are you going to do the dishes from breakfast?” He raised an eyebrow slightly at her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her doing the dishes. The sink was almost too low for her to reach comfortably with her large belly.
“Yeah. Why not?” She smiled at him, and then dropped the plate. Her smile disappeared and she sighed.
“That’s part of why...” He bent down and started to clean up the broken plate. Why she had insisted on getting expensive glass plates had made no sense to him, and now they had one less of them.
“I’m sorry.” She looked on the verge of tears. Her pregnancy hormones had made her much more sensitive than he was accustomed to.
“I’m not mad at you, honey.” He stood up and hugged her softly. “I love you. That’s why I’ve asked you not to do the dishes lately. Can’t I just be concerned about your health without being asked why?” He placed a hand on her chin softly as his tail wrapped around her legs.
His tail?
He looked down. It wasn’t his time of month yet. Yet there it was – his tail – plain as day. He looked back to Paulina. She too was frowning, confused.
“It’s not the full moon this week... is it?” He shook his head. He had always looked up the full moon, and had only been caught off-guard a few times in his many years.
“It’s supposed to be on the 20th, 21st and 22nd this month. It’s only the 8th.” He furrowed his brows together. There was no reason for his tail to be out, unless...
“Could it have to do with the egg?” She voiced the same question that was in his mind. As far as he knew, no dragon shifter had ever married a human, nor lived with one long enough to know what would happen should they mate.
“It could be, since I’m the one that’s going to be taking care of it. We can’t stall any longer, Paulina. If my tail is coming out, we’re going to have an egg soon. There’s no reason to stall now. We have to leave today or tomorrow.” He sighed. “Forget doing laundry. Just keep an outfit for tomorrow out. We leave tomorrow.” He pulled away from her, forcing his tail to pull away too. It wanted to wrap around her again, an instinctive need to protect her and keep his family safe.
He managed to hide his tail for the day. He couldn’t risk it being out while he was moving things to the car.
Paulina packed the clothes as best as she could. It was a sloppy job, but she got them all to fit in the suitcases. That’s all that mattered to him. While she was busy in the bedroom, he packed up their pots and pans. They agreed to order pizza for lunch with an extra one for dinner too. It wasn’t the healthiest option, but were out of options.
He took each suitcase to the car as she finished packing it. She stuck their dirty clothes in trash bags and placed those on the top of one of the suitcases. Every piece of clothing – but what they would wear the next day – was packed. That’s what he called good timing.
The next thing he did was pack the car. As he got more boxes of pots and pans packed – they only had two to begin with, so it wasn’t that hard to make everything fit in a single box – he got those to the car, too. The trunk fit the suitcases neatly on one side, and the box of kitchen items on the other.
The last thing that went in was the duffel bag of baby clothes. They hadn’t ordered or purchased baby furniture yet. He hoped that Rani would have some suitable furniture that they could use while they were there, just in case they were there after the baby was hatched. It would be a little embarrassing for him.
He’d have to tell her. After his tail had randomly appeared, he was afraid that his cycles were off and that he’d be irregular for a while. Was this something normal? He doubted it. He honestly doubted that this was normal.
No matter how hard he tried to forget what had ha
ppened, he couldn’t. It stayed on his mind all day, like a stubborn stain on a shirt. Was he finally done with puberty? He’d heard that dragon shifters would turn into a dragon a week or two before the full moon, and turn back after the full moon at the end of puberty. Something about getting the body used to not shifting at only the full moon.
If that’s what it was, it’d be even harder to keep his secret. He could hardly speak for the first day or two that he was a dragon, every time. Not to mention he would eat Rani out of house and home – especially since they didn’t have a ton of money to spare at the moment. They needed gas money to drive the couple of hours to Rani’s.
He finished packing up the car and was satisfied with his work. There was nothing else left to do but enjoy the pizza and wait for the morning. He didn’t want to leave today simply because he was too stressed. He’d driven like this once before, and it hadn’t ended well.
With that, he headed back up to his suite and his awaiting wife.
Chapter Seven: Arrival
The next morning came, and he helped his wife into the back seat of the car.
“You ready to go, honey?” He slipped into the driver’s seat as he spoke. Looking into the rear-view mirror, he saw her nod. “All right then. Here we go. You’re going to have to tell me where to turn and where to go, but other than that, I think we’ll be okay.” They had eaten breakfast just moments before, in the dining room. He’d turned in their room keys, and had made Mr. Jackson incredibly pleased. Somehow, he wondered if there was something that he hadn’t told them when they were evicted.
He shook the thoughts away. Driving distracted wouldn’t help the fact that he was already distracted enough. As much as he didn’t want to do this, he was left with no choice and had to do what was best for his family.
With a deep breath, he slowly turned the key in the ignition. He hoped that they wouldn’t have any car problems. It was the last thing they needed.
To his relief, the car started up properly and roared to life underneath him. He put the car into gear and started to drive away. He pulled out of the hotel parking lot, looked either way and took a right. They were on the road and off to Rani’s.
A few hours into their journey, a craving struck Paulina and he pulled over at a gas station. She wanted something sweet and sour. What kind of food could he get her to fill that craving? Sour and sweet. He wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but he got her a pack of a sour candy and something a little sweeter. It wasn’t the most glamorous, but he had to make to with the limited selection at the small convenience store.
He returned to the car and opened the door for Paulina. They were only half way through their journey, but he still had trouble sitting for long periods of time. He often took odd jobs that involved moving around so he could satisfy his need to move. It worked.
“Oh. That’s what I needed.” She smiled as he offered up the snacks. “I didn’t know it, but apparently you did. Thank you, love.” She got out of the car to stretch her legs. He continued to pace the length of the car as she ate her candy.
“Are you okay?” He turned to her when she started coughing. She nodded.
“Went down the wrong pipe. I’m good.” She took a sip of the water they’d gotten a couple of hours ago, and she took in a deep breath. “Are you? I would like to be there before nightfall, if possible.” He nodded slowly.
“I just needed to stretch my legs.” He helped her back into the car. It wasn’t easy to keep her comfortable with all the different bags and boxes, but she was making do. They had put the front passenger seat down enough that she could rest her feet on it if she needed to.
“All right.” She smiled, and then settled down to take a nap. He hoped he’d be able to find his way from there, but she had said that from this point, it was fairly easy to get to Rani’s house. Straight on down the highway to exit 41. Once they got to exit 41, he could wake her up. That helped him, a little. He was still a little concerned that they wouldn’t make it before nightfall, or before his wings came out.
Driving with his wings out would be nearly impossible, the situation made worse by the already cramped car. If he was able to get them there safely before his wings came out, they’d be able to unpack the car a bit before he had to worry about anything else.
As he was taking the exit an hour later, he heard her moan from the backseat. He cast a glance back via the rearview mirror. She had woken up.
“Hmm... where are we?” She sat up in her seat, rubbing her eyes lightly.
“I just took the exit you told me to, exit 41. Where to now, honey?” He smiled at her softly. He was glad he wouldn’t have to wake her himself. He hated having to rouse her when she looked so peaceful in her sleep.
“All right. You’re going to go through the next three lights. Then, turn left.” She gave him just a few steps to follow for the moment. He appreciated the fact that she wasn’t going to push him beyond what he could remember. They knew from previous experience that it took him a while to learn things.
He took in a deep breath, and began to count the lights that he went through. The first two were easy enough; there wasn’t a lot of traffic, and they were both green when they got to them. The third one was red when they pulled up to it, but soon turned green. He changed lanes to turn left, and waited behind a couple of drivers as the light went from a green arrow, to a green circle, to yellow, and then red. At least this time, he’d be the first one to go through the light.
“All right. Once you’ve turned, just follow the road until it ends in a three-way intersection. Then, we go right.” There was a lot waiting until they got to the end of a road to turn. He wasn’t surprised though. The area Rani stayed in was more rural than he had expected, and he was grateful for the quiet neighborhood. The only downside was that the roads were small and got backed up quite quickly.
It did take a while to get there from any direction. Her place would be perfect while they looked for something a little more permanent.
He shook his thoughts aside and focused on the road. Paulina continued to give him directions as she saw fit. They only missed one turn, but the next turn was actually closer to the house so it worked out.
Paulina smiled as she pointed out Rani’s house. The house was the last one on this particular block, and he liked that it was identifiable. He parked the car in the driveway, and helped his wife out. She slowly walked up to the house as he pulled a suitcase from the back of the car.
He watched as she bent down to pick up a key. He was glad that she was taking it slow, aware that their egg would arrive any day. When she had her hand around the key, she used the wall to help herself up. He walked up to offer her support, but she managed on her own.
“Here we go. This is the key Rani left for us. She wants me to put it on my key ring so that we have our own while she’s away and while we’re here.” She smiled as he walked in behind her. “She said we can have the room you stayed in last time we were here, as well as the room beside it. For the baby.”
“Wonderful. I’ll get our things upstairs as fast as I can. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable on the couch while I do that?” He smiled at her and took the suitcase he was currently holding upstairs. He remembered quite easily where that room was, which was surprising to him as remembering details wasn’t his strong suit.
“ Honey? Rani said there was leftover pizza from last night in the fridge, and that we’re welcome to anything in the kitchen.” He smiled as she called up to him. She was the sweetest woman alive in his eyes.
He set the suitcase down on the floor in the room, and set about bringing the rest of their belongings inside. First the pots and pans up to the room. Then back to the car to pick up the clothing suitcases. Then back to the room. The cycle continued until he was done.
Luckily, there wasn’t much else to grab after the clothing. They had only accumulated so much in that small hotel room. It was only a few hundred square feet, a typical two-bedroom suite in a hotel, no matter where you are
from.
He set the last thing down and sat on the bed. He was happy to have a place to stay. Planning their next move could wait until they had settled into their new lives as parents.
“Honey?” Paulina’s voice floated up to his ears. It was high pitched with a sense of urgency in her tone, making him rush downstairs.
He found her in a crouched position on the floor in the living room.
“Are you okay honey? Is the egg coming?” He furrowed his brows. She managed a nod. He was glad to see that she’d had the presence of mind to change into her nightgown.
He took her hand softly in an effort to calm her down.
“What do I do?” She was freaking out.
“Just breathe, honey. Breathe.” He caressed her face softly. “Just breathe. It’s like going to the bathroom. Push. Hard.” He kissed her cheek softly. “Push, honey.” It took a few moments, and then they heard a soft “pop-splosh” on the carpet.
When she stood up, he saw white. She laid the egg.
“There you go. There you go, honey. I’ll be back in a second.” He returned with towels and spread them out on the couch. Gently rubbing her back, he helped her to lie down. She laughed a little.
“I just laid an egg...” She wasn’t sure whether to laugh from excitement or cry from pain. He kissed her cheek.
“Yes. You laid our egg.” He kissed her nose softly. “Now you can rest. I’ll take care of the mess. I promise. You don’t have to worry about a thing.” He kissed her forehead before getting up from his knees on the floor. He gently moved the egg into a warm corner of the room, and then cleaned it off softly, carefully. In a few days, their baby would break out of it. He felt a strong protective urge come over him, and he knew he would do all he could to keep their egg safe.