Life was an unpredictable storm. It raged and blew in every direction, changing the trajectory of fate for anyone who was caught within its path. The same could be said for Jarek. He had been so certain how his life would go. There was no doubt in his mind he would have spent the remainder of his long life, (and dragons certainly lived for a long time), with his loving wife Sisu. They would grow old together, spending every day in each other's company. Such a life sounded like bliss. Granted, Jarek would have also liked living in a big house, being tended to by servants, and gorging himself on fine sweets and baked goods. Doing so would have probably made him fat, but when one was living the high life, it was something of little consequence.

Jarek had found something more important, and such a thing was a surprise to himself, but it would appear life threw one more surprise at him, and it lay within the solitary purple egg before him. Jarek continued to stare at the oval-shaped beauty, nestled safely and comfortably. Sisu had made sure of that and it had made sense for any mother worth her salt would care for her egg. Correction, their egg.

One word escaped Jarek's mouth, and it had done so after much contemplation, "How?"

Sisu's smile faded ever so slightly as she questioned what her husband had said, "Huh?"

"How...how did this happen?" Jarek's question was as simple and blunt as can be.

A bright giggle parted from Sisu's lips, "Oh sweetie don't be silly! You know very well how this egg happened!"

Jarek turned to his wife and slowly shook his head.

Sisu's eyes widened for a moment, before dissolving back into a sly and playful grin, "Well, let me paint a picture," the blue dragoness flowed freely, dancing through the air with careful steps, "It was a cold night, the stars were shining brightly, the moon bathed us in its silver light," Sisu's voice sang upon Jarek's ears, "We huddled close as we headed inside, but the chill of the night still clung to us."

Jarek looked quizically at how poetic his wife was being, "We started a fire, sat by it, and just drank each other in," Sisu continued, "You whispered sweet nothings to me, and I did the same," Sisu's voice dropped low leaning in as she leaned against her husband's bearded face, "I laid myself upon the ground, you stood over me, we looked into each other's eyes and then-"

"Stop!" Everything came rushing back to Jarek, back to that night, their night.

Now that he recalled it, the more he realized how silly it was to ask how this egg came to be. It was handiwork, no doubt about that.

Jarek didn't know what to do, his body felt light, so much so that he swore he was about to faint then and there. He managed to catch himself, or maybe it was Sisu.

"Oh Jer-Bear, you're so happy you're about to faint!" Sisu cheered, "Now that you know, we should tell everyone! The rest of my brothers and Pranee, Raya, and everyone in Heart, all of Kumandra!" Sisu's excitement was evident, and it was so much she didn't notice the lack of such on her mate's face.

Sneaking a quick peck on the cheek, Sisu chimed, "I'm going to make us something special for breakfast while you and Egguardo get acquainted."

"Acquainted?" Jarek repeated dazed.

Sisu giggled once more uttering one sentence before she headed into the kitchen, "Bye, Baba."

The sounds of pots and pans rang as Sisu went to work on the special breakfast. Jarek stood in the room and continued to stare at the egg. Everything else was cast out, with no disruptions or stray thoughts. Jarek was focused and that focus was centered on the coming blessed event.

There was much Jarek didn't know about hatching eggs. He didn't know how long they incubated, nor how long it would take for a young dragon to reach maturity. It made him want to kick himself for neglecting to educate himself on how that process exactly went.

Waving his claw in the air, Jarek weakly said, "Hey….Egguardo."

The egg remained silent, but life was brewing within.

Jarek parted from the room and headed into the kitchen as soon as he smelt the food ready. Sisu had made some jook, seasoned properly with all the things Jarek liked, sugar being among them. Sisu dug in but Jarek didn't touch his spoon.

"What's wrong honey, aren't you hungry?" Sisu asked.

Jarek stared at the filled bowl, never taking his eyes off of it, "Honey, a question."

Sisu halted her meal and looked at her husband, "Hmm, what is it."

Scratching the back of his head, Jarek asked, "So…how did you not know you were going to lay an egg?"

"What?" Sisu stated confused.

"I mean, wouldn't a dragon have a second sense for these sorts of things?" Jarek inquired.

Sisu's eyes glanced upward before shrugging, "I dunno, I've never laid an egg before now, I just thought it was a stomach bug or something."

Indeed that had been the case before Jarek's trip. Both Jarek and Sisu had assumed the latter had come down with some kind of bug, only now they knew better.

"Yeah...we did think that," Jarek muttered.

Sisu's eyes fell upon her husband, "Skippy, is everything alright?"

Standing alert and slamming the table slightly, Jarek responded with, "Yeah! Never better!"

Before Sisu could say anything, Jarek swiftly began to wolf down his meal. Her eyes remained upon her husband, but before long she went back to eating her own bowl. The rest of the meal was silent, and all the while after, Sisu went about writing letters. Apparently, there was a lot on her list in telling the news. After all, she had friends that extended beyond Dragon Town and Heart. Jarek remained silently trapped within his own thoughts, at least until Sisu's siblings came to visit.

A squeal of delight filled the house, and courtesy of Sisu's big sister Pranee, "Oh my goodness! Sisu this is incredible news!" Pranee cheered, "I can't believe this, my little sister is going to be a mother! Oh, Sisu you must be so proud!"

Flashing with a bright grin, Sisu responded with, "Naturally!"

Sisu held her egg within her palms, carefully held to her chest, while Pranee peered at it, "Hello sweetie, I'm your Auntie Pranee! When you hatch I'm going to give you all the love you could ever want!"

"Woah there Auntie Pranee," Amba cut in, "Don't hog it all, Aunt Amba wants to give some love too!"

With surprising emotion and vigor, Amba scooped up the egg carefully and gave it a careful kiss upon its shell.

Enough was enough for Sisu, however, "Okay aunties, let Mama Sisu have some alone time with Egguardo," Sisu carefully took her child and held it carefully within her claws.

"Egguardo?" Amba repeated confusedly.

Sisu shrugged, "Well it's better than calling him 'Egg', right?"

"Yeah, but Egguardo sounds like a boy's name, and you don't know whether it's going to be a boy or girl yet."

A brisk gasp escaped Sisu, "You're right! Do you think I should call them Eggtoinette?"

Before that question could be answered, Pranee let out a loud whine, "Ooooooohhhhhhhh Sisu, I'm so jealous! You're so lucky you have a husband and a baby on the way! I want a family of my own sooooo badly!"

There was no malice or fury within Pranee's voice. Sisu knew her elder sister had wanted a family of her own for quite a long time. It was part of the reason Pranee became such a master at baking; it was in the hopes of one day snagging a mate through his stomach, and perhaps one day having little dragons of her own.

Sisu recalled her sister's old crush on Jarek. Part of her worried Pranee's jealousy would reach the skies. Thankfully, her sister's jealousy was minor, and at the same time, Sisu could tell her sister was happy for her.

"Hey Pranee, don't worry, you'll meet the right guy one day," Sisu exclaimed.

Looking at her sister with uncertain eyes, Pranee asked, "You're not just saying that are you?"

"No! I mean it! You have so much love to give, and any guy would be lucky to have you as a wife," Sisu's earnest words were clear, "and you would be an excellent mother. Just like I know you and Amba are going to be great aunts."

If Sisu wasn't holding onto her unhatched child, Pranee would have hugged her blue-colored sister, so she settled for a loving smile.

While the girls chatted, the boys were doing their own sort of conversation. At least, Jagan and Pengu were, Jarek numbly watched Sisu and the egg. As he watched her smile and laugh happily among her sisters, Jarek couldn't deny he felt content with his wife's demeanor. Sisu looked so happy, and it made him sick with his own emotions. But, those would have to wait, as he felt a sharp slap against his shoulder.

"Whoo boy, Jarek! Congratulations, didn't know you had it in ya!" Jagan crowed, "Well, technically it's in Sisu now, but that's beside the point," Jagan chuckled as he finished.

Jarek chuckled as well, albeit with a numbness to his tone. Though he would normally join in with his brother-in-law's fun, he just wasn't in the mood.

Feeling a shadow over him, he knew it was the wise form of Pengu, "I think what Jagan means is that you should feel very proud."

Rolling his eyes, Jagan responded, "Geeze bro, way to dumb it down."

Ignoring his younger brother's comment, Pengu looked proudly at his sister, "Just think, our sister is going to become a mother."

"Yeah, I was almost dead certain Pranee would be the one, but Sisu? What do you know," Jagan shook his head.

"But I think it suits her," Pengu kept his gaze upon Sisu, never straying, "She deserves it," then looking to Jarek, he added, "Both of you."

Jarek didn't say anything, and continued to keep that egg in his gaze, "Yeah."

The rest of the evening passed, and before long Sisu's siblings all departed back to Dragontown. Jarek and Sisu were alone again, though not if one counted the egg.

Sisu carefully tip-toed back into the baby room, or at least what would become the baby room. There was much work to be done, but they had time before the

hatch day. Sisu placed the egg carefully in the makeshift nest and planted a kiss upon the shell.

"Goodnight baby, see you tomorrow," There was nothing but love within Sisu's voice, for inside the shell was new life, one she was eager to meet.

Just as she stepped into the hallway, a strong scent wafted towards her nose. Sniffing once, she struck a knowing look and as she went into the living room, she saw Jarek casually smoking one of those blends Jagan had made. This wasn't unusual for her husband. Sisu had a year to grow used to the smell, and despite not being a smoker herself, she had no issue with Jarek's habit. Of course, they would probably need to make some ground rules about when and where to smoke once the baby hatched, but those could be ironed out. Though her thoughts were filled with motherhood, there was one thing Sisu wanted at the moment, so she took it. Settling herself next to her husband, Sisu leaned into his mane.

"Jar-bear, I'm so happy with you," Sisu sighed.

Jarek took a drag and blew out some smoke, "Yeah...same here hon."

Sisu said nothing, her look never fading from the tenderness she felt, "I just-I never thought I would be here, with a husband of my very own, and I'm going to be a mother on top of that," Sisu breathed in laughter, "Me? A mother, who would have thought it."

Jarek couldn't deny that. Like most in Kumandra, he had grown up with stories of Sisu, hearing how she had taken down the Druun, saving all of Kumadra from a stony hell. An act of betrayal had brought the Druun back, but Sisu's return had served as a symbol of hope for the downtrodden, the victims of the Druun's corrupting grasp. Now she was no longer the last dragon, her people had returned, and now the dragon population was gaining one new member.

Yet, it was that one member that Jarek's mind drifted with uncertainty. As Sisu continued to snuggle within his mane, Jarek continued to smoke, and as soon as he finished, it was time for bed. Sisu never noticed how unhappy her husband was, for her own happiness filled her mind, body, and soul. As Jarek lay within the comforting sheets of the bedroom, his own mind wrestled and struggled. Tonight was going to be a long night. He just knew it.

A/N: Poor Jarek. It seems he isn't as thrilled as his mate to be a parent. Hopefully that can change.