Things have been hectic for me recently, but here is the final chapter! I know it's hellaciously late, and I'm so sorry about that. Thank you for reading and enjoying my work, it really means a lot.
I was the first one at the lunch table for the first time since I'd been here, Wilt usually beat me here. I'd been working with an injured, pregnant dragon who'd come in two days ago. She was stubborn and fierce, trying to keep her and her baby safe. It was my job to try and earn her trust… a task easier said than done.
"Hey, I'm going to tell the guys I'm gay today and I'm freaking out," Wilt announced as he sat beside me. "Please tell me this is the right thing to do."
I knew I should tell him they already knew, but it wasn't my place. The way he said it gave away his nerves, even if I didn't already know they were there. This was going to be his moment.
"If you're comfortable sharing that part of you with them, then it's the right decision," I replied, getting food.
He sighed and nodded, his leg bouncing quickly under the table. Sparky and Huf showed up together, pushing and shoving as they joined us. Wilt's back was rigid, trying to act normal and failing. This was going to be interesting.
"Where's Weasley?" Huf asked, turning to look at us.
"Better question, what's up your ass, Wilt?" Sparky asked, making me snort on my water before I could stop myself. "Oh, shit, bad choice of words."
Wilt's leg came to a dead stop and he looked at the two of them with wide eyes. "What does that mean?"
"Uhm… what does what mean?" Huf asked, trying to play stupid and failing for the first time in his life.
"Do you assholes already know?" Wilt exclaimed, making me groan and put my head in my hands. "And you knew they knew, Ruby? Oh, my god! I hate you all!"
"I couldn't tell you, it wasn't my place!" I replied, making him raise his eyebrows incredulously.
Charlie came over to sit with us later, dropping a kiss to my head before sitting beside me. "Do you know I'm gay, too?"
"… yes…" he replied reluctantly. "Why?"
Wilt groaned and flopped his head down onto the table in front of him. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating, happy everyone was accepting of Wilt. I grinned at Charlie and gave his knee a reassuring squeeze because I was so relieved he wasn't homophobic.
Wilt started asking questions like how much they knew and how long they knew. I just shook my head and let the group of them discuss it. Huf and Sparky joked around and teased him while Charlie just let things go… only making a couple digs at his expense.
"How's the pregnant dragon?" Huf asked later. "She looked angry."
"I mean, she is very angry… but I think things are slowly changing," I answered. "At least she isn't shooting flames at me as often as before, and I count that as progress."
It was a family weekend and mine had already made plans to come. Charlie tried to be annoyed with me being so excited, but I caught him smiling at me when he thought I wasn't looking. I was playing around with the baby dragons, trying to ignore the twinge of sadness when I thought about how some of them were being sent to other reserves soon. I'd fought tooth and nail to keep Pearl and they eventually caved, to shut me up I'm sure… but whatever.
"I'm so excited to see my family!" I cried, giving up my cool act. "I haven't seen them in over six months!"
"I get it, I haven't seen my family in over a year," he replied, brushing his hair over his shoulder. "I can't wait for mum to gripe to me about how long my hair is."
"But I like your hair long," I replied, leaving the dragons to go over to him and card my fingers in his hair.
He hummed under his breath and pulled me closer by my hips, smirking down at me. "Oh yeah?"
I laughed and stood on my toes, making our faces closer together. "Oh yeah."
He laughed again and leaned a little lower to press his lips to mine, making me smile against his mouth. He'd just ghosted his tongue along my lips when he jolted away from me with a shouted swear.
"What the hell?" he shouted, turning around to find Pearl looking pissed with her nose smoking. "Your dragon just shot fire at me!"
"Pearl!" I cried, kneeling in front of her. "You're such a jealous little girl! That was naughty, you can't burn people like that! You know you're my favorite girl."
She huffed disgruntledly and crawled up my body to sit on my shoulder. It was cute when she was a baby, but she was at least 22 kilograms now. That meant she was way too heavy to be sitting there now, tipping me back onto my bum.
She sat on my belly now and it looked like she was smiling in satisfaction. "That was your plan all along, wasn't it?"
"Never thought I'd see the day I was jealous of a dragon," Charlie quipped from his spot less than a meter from me. "But here I am."
I laughed and looked up at him, his face upside down from my position. "That's sweet, but you've got nothing to me jealous over. I'd choose Pearl every single time!"
The look he flashed me, made me move Pearl from my stomach and run around the enclosure. The dragons could see me smiling and hear me laughing, so they started chasing Charlie playfully. The group of us played around until it started getting dark and my legs started aching from the exertion.
I jumped onto his back the second we were out of the enclosure and he moaned the entire time he carried me to our living quarters. We stopped at mine first and he dropped me to my feet, but I wasn't planning on sleeping alone tonight.
My hand grabbed his and I grinned sheepishly, looking down at my feet. "Can you stay with me?"
He cleared his throat, but his voice still came out hoarse. "Uh, yeah."
I looked up and saw him blushing fiercely, making me more comfortable with my request. "Then come on!"
I dragged him into my room with me and he shut the door behind him, locking it as his lips found mine in the dark.
The next morning, Charlie's snoring woke me up. His mouth was right beside my ear and his breath was brushing my hair, making me smile at the innocence of the action. We were twined together under my covers, one of his arms tossed over my waist leisurely.
I ran my fingers through his messy hair watching his eyes slowly open. He blinked a couple times before smiling at me sleepily, leaning forward to kiss me sweetly. I smiled and scooted forward until our chest were brushing, our bare skin touching.
"Hi," I whispered, brushing my nose against his with hooded lids.
"Hello," he replied, his hand dropping to sit on my waist with his fingers tracing over the dimples there. "Last night was amazing."
I expected to flush, but I just smiled instead. "I was wonderful, wasn't I?"
He snorted and rolled me under him, covering my chest and collarbones with kisses before moving them up my neck to cover my face. I squealed and wiggled underneath him, playfully trying to get away from him without really trying.
"Quit it! You're so annoying!" I cried, making him laugh and move over onto his side with his head on his elbow.
We laid together for a little longer, his fingers tracing softly along the lines of my face. Eventually, we got up and he left for his room. I got ready slowly, my happy smile staying put on my lips the entire time. I'd spent the night with the most amazing man I'd ever met and now I got to see my family.
I ate breakfast with the guys and went to work with Annicka, the pregnant dragon. Even if I wanted to think about only seeing my family, I couldn't get distracted right now. The slightest slip up would be disastrous, even if I was starting to earn her trust.
"I know you're just trying to keep your baby safe, but that's also what I want," I told her evenly for the millionth time. "But I have to check for a heartbeat, which means I have to touch your belly."
To my surprise, she sat down and let out an annoyed huffing breath. I approached her slowly with my head bowed, nearly crying out in shock when the roughness of her scales brushed my hand. I lifted my head to see her giant sapphire eyes watching me slowly. She was allowing me close, but she was still on her guard.
I gestured for her to watch my wand and did a sonogram charm on myself, displaying an empty belly. Then I pressed the tip of my wand to her exposed stomach and said the same spell. A dragon the size of a Quaffle sat inside, its ears flicking every few seconds. I grinned happily and checked for a heartbeat, displaying one going quick and hard like it should.
"Your baby is in excellent health," I told her, taking a risk and stroking my fingers over her arched cheekbone. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to keep the two of you safe. You'll never be hurt by those nasty wizards again."
She'd been used to guard a prestigious wizard's vault in Gringotts. It was nearly impossible to tell if a dragon was pregnant if you didn't know what to look for. They didn't get a round belly like normal animals, their backs straightened while they humped over a bit more. The ignorant wizards who enslaved her had no idea until she broke free and left the bank.
Annicka let out a noise I interpreted as a thank you before I left her enclosure. Imagine my surprise when I saw my mother, father, and older brother all waiting for me just outside it. My mum looked as surprised as me while my father just looked mildly shocked and proud.
Robert, my brother, was the first to speak. "Your job is so much more badass than mine! I'm so proud and jealous!"
I laughed and ran at him, wrapping my arms around him tight. He held me just as tight and lifted me gleefully. Then I hugged my dad who lifted me up into his arms and held me there as mum hugged me from behind.
"I'm so happy you're here!" I cried after I released them both.
"Poppet, you were training a huge dragon!" dad told me, his eyes still huge. "I can't believe it!"
"346 is fast on her way to being one of the best trainers here," Delos announced, joining the group of us. "I'm Delos, I run the Den here."
My parents and brother shook his hand before mum said, "I knew she could. It's just a whole other thing to actually see her doing it."
"Thorpe's the first person I've ever seen successfully bond with a dragon," Huf said, coming over to stand beside me with his arm over my shoulders. "The babies love her like they love their mummies."
We continued to talk for a couple minutes before I saw Charlie's hair in the distance. He was surrounded by other gingers, and it clicked that they must be his family. I focused my attention back on mine and started showing them around the Reserve.
"Who's that redhead you're trying to not get caught making eyes at?" Robert asked while mum and dad marveled over the beauty of the desert around us.
I sighed and answered him honestly. "His name is Charlie, he's my boyfriend."
"He's hot, way to go!" he told me quietly, giving me a high five. "He also hasn't stopped staring at you. You had to have sex last night, and it looks pretty bomb."
I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust on the spot. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my sex life with my parents so close. My silence was enough of an answer and had him practically smirking the entire rest of the day.
When it was time for them to head back home, it felt like my heart was going to break. Charlie had already said goodbye to his family and they were gone, but my eyes were burning as I walked with mine to the Portkey. My head was hanging down as I walked back toward the sleeping quarters.
"My mum thinks you're quite beautiful," Charlie said from my bed, making me jump in surprise. "Sorry, love, didn't mean to scare you."
I just shook my head and crawled into bed with him after I shed my shoes. He didn't say anything this time, he just wrapped me up in his arms. I let out a shaky breath and tucked myself underneath his chin, trying to pull myself back together.
"I agreed with her, you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he continued quietly, running his fingers through my hair softly.
I kissed his neck a few times affectionately, feeling my sadness melting away. One day he would probably meet my family and I would meet his, but right now this felt like what we were supposed to be doing. I was doing my dream job and I had a boyfriend who loved me and the same things I loved. As a kid, I never thought I'd get this and I was beyond thankful.
Like I mentioned earlier, thanks so much for reading and giving me such great feedback.
