Chapter Twenty-Four: Timing Is Everything
Five Months Later:
Harry huffed a breath, green eyes slanting on the muted screen of the television Theo had dragged into their front room a month ago. He scowled at the bright screen, stretching for the remote on the floor with a pitiful whine as one hand remained wrapped around his rounded belly. The twinges of pain continued on, his once sleepy baby now turning summersaults inside him at the prospect of being free in the next few days. Harry gasped, fingers curling around the discarded remote as a sharp pain jabbed against his back. He glanced down at the bump with murder in his eyes.
"Don't you even dare."
As if in response, the unborn child stilled for a second within him, before aiming a solid kick against his bladder. Harry growled at the little monster, remote forgotten as he wrapped both hands around the sudden convulsing on his stomach.
"Don't you dare, don't you dare, you horrible, bold child! Don't do this to me! You are due on Saturday. Saturday! It's Wednesday, you stay in there!"
Harry huffed, one sweat-slicked cheek stuck to the soft material of the couch as he curled in on himself, his black curls damp and hanging over the edge of the stuffed seat in a simple plait. He tore at the gentle fabric of his oversized shirt, fingers tugging at the edges of the tracksuit bottoms he had shuffled into that morning. They seemed now like one of the worst decisions he had ever come to, hot and itchy against his skin. He whined again, cheeks puffing out as he rolled himself from the soft couch to kneel on the hard wood floor, Erin's prized white rug pushed aside until his palms touched cool floor.
His stomach rolled, pain lancing up his spine as he grit his teeth against the cry threatening to spill from his mouth. He hissed, fingers clenching. "You can kick me all you want, I am not pushing you out until they're back home and I am damn well not calling them back just because you're so bloody impatient you couldn't wait a few days!"
He froze as something dropped within him, mouth gaping as he looked down at the puddle he had just created on the clean floor, dousing his thin tracksuit bottoms in fluid. With a stubborn shake of his head, he clamped his knees together and bowed his back against the pain, flashbacks of Erin's labour and the panic of having to give birth alone swift to flit across his mind.
Theo and Myvi were both at work, their young adult and children's battle class now a growing success. It was only twice a week they left their home to travel to the Community centre on the other side of the village, after all, the perfect commitment for dominants eager to keep an eye on their wayward submissives after the trouble Harry seemed to pull himself into. What harm could every Tuesday and Wednesday evening from three o clock to half six do?
And Erin? Erin wasn't due back until late into the evening, Sorca having arrived by Floo that morning to drag her brother and James to town with her for some family time the blonde had been largely neglecting. Harry snorted as he held his position, arms tensing as another lance of pain drew sweat to his brow. The memory of Erin kicking up a fuss as Sorca bundled up a grinning James and threw her brother's coat at him still fresh in his mind. It had been Myvi in the end that had calmed his nerves on Harry's pregnancy with promises to contact him should anything occur. Harry whined, sparing another glance at the clock above the mantelpiece, the hand ticking by with a snail-like speed that made him frantic.
Ten minutes. Baro had sworn he would be ten minutes with Enka to sign his name as a part of their mateship. Having fought for so many weeks with both the Council and Enka's father that such a connection between two dragonettes could be made and worked without violence, it seemed such a tiny amount of time to ask for to make it official that the raven-haired man belonged with them. Harry had all but cast them out the door, the twinges something that had occurred through the entire last month of his pregnancy and nothing a pain relief potion would not cure.
Merlin, but he was regretting it now. Twinges, his backside. This baby was going to tear their way from his stomach if he didn't give into instincts and push sometime soon. He arched his back, burying his face in his folded arms while his hips remained high in the air. Seven minutes. Baro had been gone seven minutes. He could cope for three... He could hold on...
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Enka latched himself against his Dragonette's back, his slim body fitting between his red wings as he wrapped pale arms around the taller man's neck and hooked his legs around his waist. The younger creature almost toppled with the force, a genuine laugh spilling from his lips as he turned his head to press a kiss to the cheek of his newest mate. The pair crossed the entrance of their front garden, smiling up at their home.
"My sweet shadow," Baro murmured as the silver eyed male climbed back down, rushing for the front door.
"Yes," Enka stilled suddenly, pausing to smile perhaps the biggest smile the Dragonette had ever had grace his pretty features. "I'm yours. And you're mine, and I'm theirs and they are mine... Stars, how did that happen?"
Baro chuckled, openly the door and closing it behind them both, the chill in the air outside numbed by the heat that radiated from the front room and the fire he had lit for Harry as his precious submissive dozed on the couch. "How could it not have happened? You were made for us as perfectly as we were made for you."
Enka's lips parted in a response, only for a near silent whine of pain to drift from the front room. Baro stalked forward, brow drawn down. The pain relief potion should have kept Harry numb of the subtle twinges he had been suffering from, asleep until it was time to eat. But it wasn't to a dozing submissive lounged on the couch that the two Dragonettes walked in on.
Enka shrieked, all but tripping over the crumpled rug and side table to land on his knees by Harry's flushed and panting side, his pale hands raking through dark hair to pile it in a small knot by the base of Harry's head. Before he could think on what to do, Baro was beside them, rumbling gently to Harry as the green eyed male shuddered and moaned pitifully.
He was picked up swiftly, Enka racing up the stairs before them to swing open the door of the birthing room and grab the towels stowed away in the cupboard. He doused one in cool water before folding it against the submissive's pinkened forehead, Harry's crooked smile of gratitude drawing a croon from his lips.
"Clothes off him, Enka, I'm going to alert the others. It'll be another hour at least before he's birthing."
Enka nodded as Baro moved past him, a small mobile against his ear and his other hand still locked in one of Harry's. The silver eyed Dragonette listened to his voice as he stripped Harry of his damp shirt, throwing the garment aside before nimble fingers grasped the line of his trousers and pulled down. The sight of Harry bared before him was enough to drive a flush of pink across Enka's face, his eyes focusing instead on the swell of his submissive's stomach. The touch of his hand against it seemed to calm Harry enough to allow the green eyed youth to breathe, his stare locking with Enka's for an immeasurable amount of time.
"Apa!"
"Dammit, James, come back!"
Harry frowned as the door was swung inwards, the sight of James rushing to his side and pressing small chubby hands to his face, a frown puckering his pink lips, had Harry snorting in laughter. His stomach heaved but his chuckles continued as Erin ran through the doorway, one arm in his rain-jacket and the other loose. The blonde chirruped at the sight of Harry, grasping James around the middle and sitting the tall child on his hip to nuzzle his nose against the crook of his mate's warm neck.
"I'll get James settled with a show in the front room, then I'll be straight back up."
Baro watched them go with a smile and a shake of his head. James was now tall enough to clasp Erin's cheeks between his hands where he sat on his father's hip, a trait he was becoming far too fond of these days. His soft curls were straightening as they grew, a darker shade of blonde than Erin's own in the same way his violet eyes were a shade darker than Baro's own. He would be a powerful man, if the span of his scarlet wings was anything to go by.
The Dragonette turned to find Enka smiling that subtle curve of a smile up at him, his hands gentle against Harry's stomach and his silver eyes soft. Slanted eyes skimmed over Harry's lean form against the bed, a low rumble of comfort leaving his throat when the submissive sniffled and turned wide green eyes on him.
Baro smirked. Every single one of his children was going to be beautiful.
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"He's tiny."
Harry's eyelids flickered from his half-sleep, his head lolling against the solid mass of muscle he had been pulled against. Pale hands drew him up higher, while another set of equally pale hands tugged the light sheet around his middle.
Harry tilted his head back to smile sleepily at Baro before patting Enka's hands in thanks, his lids already falling shut once more.
Erin watched him with a wrinkle of his pert nose, grinning widely. He was sat by Harry's side, a chair pulled close to the bed as he cradled the tiny thing in his arms. The memory of how small his beautiful James had been was nothing compared to the tiny face that stared up at him now. Green eyes, huge and filled with curiosity stared at him, rosebud lips open in thought. His skin was a peachy white, pinkened with a healthy flush and soft beneath his fingertips. There was no mistaking the shock of bronze hair that fell about his head, thick and light enough to fluff out each time he was passed to someone else. Erin chuckled.
"No offense Theo, sweetheart, but this version of you is so much cuter."
Theo huffed at him, before his brown eyes locked with the baby's wide gaze again and he melted at the sight of his son, his eyes bright. He took the tiny little human with a look of devotion, before bending his knees so that the child perched on Myvi's lap could see their new brother.
James squirmed to inch closer, his eyes wide with awe and his face coming ever closer to the baby until he pressed his cheek to the infants and purred a high-pitched sound that had Baro eyeing him with an amused smile.
"Do you like your little brother, James?"
The youth chirruped back, planting a wet kiss on the baby's brow that had green eyes squinting up at him as if to decide whether or not such an action should be allowed.
"What's his name, Sire?" Purple eyes expanded happily, never leaving the observant face of his tiny new brother.
"It'll be your Apa who decides that, James, once he is awake enough to. We've all given an input so Apa will find one that suits."
The exhausted form wedged between Enka and Baro wiggled suddenly, heavy lids rising to peer at the two infants with a small smile. He watched the pretty blonde cherub nudge his nose against the newborn's neck, cooing until the baby began to drift, his eyelids sliding shut.
"What's his name, Jamie?" Harry asked groggily, ignoring Theo's uncertain rumble and Erin's snort of amusement.
James looked up at him, lips splitting in an ecstatic grin. "He smells like Daddy's trees, soft and sweet. He's like a Willow."
Harry nodded decisively, eyes closing and smile lighting his lips. "Willow it is."