Page 45 of Matched By the Dragon

He smirked at me as he turned the little allen wrench to seat a part.

“Hey! I can’t believe I never asked you this, but before you came here what did you do?”

“I was a mechanic. Handled both magical and mundane vehicle problems for the Hemlock SUV fleet. I was one of many of course,” he shrugged. “Never considered the job part of my personality and I guess it shows. What about you?”

“Eh, here and there. Whatever was in front of me for the most part. I’ve been a server. Worked retail. Anything so I didn’t have to ask my parents for money.”

“Well, they’re dead and you have their money,” I smirked. “They probably hate that, but that’s what they get for being assholes.”

He carried the bassinet to the bedroom and I waddled behind him. Then we lay awake whispering for hours about how life would be when Baby Linden got here. I couldn’t wait to hold the little guy in my arms and smell the top of his little head. I also couldn’t wait to see my own feet again. Durin assured me they were still there but if it wasn’t for how quickly they grew tired I wouldn’t have believed them. I dozed off while still talking about how we hoped the boys would love being big brothers.

“They’ll be excited about more parties,” Durin said with a sleepy chuckle.

He was right. Ever since their birthday party, they thought about it a lot – the cake, the games, the presents, and everyone being here. Well, everyone they knew. We’d kept the celebration to a small one for their first birthday but that enabled us to do more with them and the few kids who were here.

“If we’re not careful, we’ll have a kid’s birthday party every month of the year,” Durin chuckled and that was the last thing I heard before sleep won the battle against my brain’s trying to remain awake to talk some more.

***

“Baby Linden heard us say we were ready for him,” my bear mumbled into my sleeping thoughts from inside his inner sanctum. “Ready for him. He’s—”

I woke up feeling as if maybe I peed myself from the wrong side.

“Water…” I mumbled.

“Huh?” Durin was up on his feet, turning on the lamp, and waking up the whole universe. “What’s wrong?”

“Water…” I mumbled.

“I… What time is it?” he mumbled. I opened one eye to look at my phone screen. It was five twelve in the morning. I’d been asleep for like three hours! Only three hours.

My back ached a little but only a little. Still I had to get up and change and change the sheets. I had people to call or poke over the group link. Why did labor come with a to-do list?

“Hang on,” Durin said. “I got it. Let’s get you changed and then…”

“I can do it,” I grumbled, managing to sit up.

“Are you sure? I’ll come with you?” he asked.

“Change the sheets. See if I murdered the mattress.”

“Mattress cover,” he mumbled back, sleepy too.

I’d done this once before. My water had broken in this very house under very different circumstances. This time I could grumble without anyone complaining and had someone else to help. Many someone else’s as soon as we let them know.

“I don’t hurt enough,” I said.

“Huh?” Durin blinked.

“I don’t know if it’s too early to call Clyde.”

“He can decide that for himself,” Durin said, already texting once the sheets were stripped off the bed.

I changed in the bathroom and washed my face. My back hurt a bit and my thighs too. It felt as if Linden’s big head wanted to headbutt my hip bones straight out of his way and slide on out. Only my body didn’t work that way. I gritted my teeth as the first contraction – at least the first contraction I was conscious of – hit me. It wasn’t that bad yet. It was a little one. It still hurt like a son of a bitch with all its squeezing and contracting but it was survivable. It wasn’t one that was going to make me thrash and bite – not yet anyway.

I just needed to move around. So I paced the hallway back and forth until Clyde arrived. Then I only stopped long enough for him to get a look.

“Three centimeters,” he announced and I groaned.