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“That's the mail taken care of,” Dustin says, shoving another piece of parchment under Steve’s nose so he can put his seal and signature on it. “Oh, except for this one. The king and queen of Lenora would be delighted to welcome you at the coming of age feast of their daughter Angela.”
Steve makes a face.
“You mean they'd be delighted to set me up with her. No, thanks. She's a self-centered, mean-spirited bitch that I wouldn't wanna share a room with, much less a kingdom. And apart from that, I'm married already, just not by any definition they'd recognize. Tell them to finally get that through their dense heads.”
“-regretfully have other duties demanding my attention,” Dustin mutters, quill scratching away on the parchment. “Good call. Not like you can be expected to travel in your condition.”
Steve groans. “For the last time, Dustin, I am not pregnant.”
“Yeah, tell that to Eddie,” Dustin retorts. He pretends to be busy with the paperwork, but Steve doesn’t miss the curious side glances. “It, um … should be time soon, right?”
Steve nods, feeling his stomach flutter with the familiar anticipation. “Any day now.”
“Wicked,” Dustin grins. “Any idea if it's gonna be a boy or girl? Have you picked a name? Oh, what if it’s twins? I know Joyce believes it’s only one, but-”
“Dingus?” Robin doesn’t bother knocking, just pops her head into the study. “Can I steal you? Someone’s getting restless.”
“What, already?” Steve says, but still puts down his quill to join her. “I was hardly gone for an hour. Sorry, Dustin, can you take care of sending these?”
The kid waves them off. “Got it. You two go ahead before he freaks out.”
Robin tosses him a wave and a grateful smile as she ushers Steve out into the corridor and up the stairs. “Sorry to interrupt, but he’s getting unbearable.”
Steve winces. “I think we’re all about ready for that kid to be born, huh?”
“Right?” she huffs. “Who would’ve thought that dragons were such doting parents? This was in none of the books.”
“Yeah, well,” he winks. “I think we’ve learned a lot about dragons those past few years that were in none of the books.”
“You most of all,” she quips. “Still not interested in the specifics, by the way.”
Steve is already drawing a breath to continue teasing her, but that's as far as he gets. Because they've reached the top of the stairs and stepped into his chambers, and a black, winged blur comes shooting out of nowhere, sweeping him clean off his feet.
“Woah, calm down,” he yelps. “Excuse me for actually needing to do things.”
“What you need to do,” Eddie grumbles, setting him down in the positively huge mountain of furs and pillows and blankets he has piled up, “is stay in the nest. Baby could be born any second, can’t have an empty nest. Need you save and sound-”
“-in the nest,” Steve finishes the sentence for him, scratching the base of his tail when it curls around him protectively. “I know. I can’t believe I keep having to explain this, but I’m not the pregnant one. And apart from that, the contractions haven’t even started. Or have they?”
The last part was directed at Chrissy, who is comfortably propped against a huge pillow, an embroidery frame resting against her pregnant belly. She’s long used to their antics, so she doesn’t even look up from her work - a tiny blanket with dragons and flowers all over it.
“Felt a bit of a pull earlier today, but it didn’t last long,” she smiles, tightening a stitch and checking the back of her work before setting the frame aside. She extends a hand, and Robin nearly trips over her own feet in her haste to help her up. “It’s probably nothing serious yet. Not like I’d mind getting started right now.”
“Yeah, speaking of which,” Robin says. “Joyce said there’s some things you could do to help matters along. Like leisurely walks. Or a warm bath. Or … other physical activities.”
Steve throws a pillow at her blushing face. “Alright, remember what we said about specifics? You two have fun, I’ll keep this one in check.”
Eddie watches the two girls go, heads tucked together as they whisper and giggle, and sighs into the flower crown sitting on Steve’s brow. “Dunno why they need to be alone for that. You humans are strange, with your social norms and your weird need for privacy.”
“Oh yeah?” Steve laughs, combing his hands through his dragon’s dark curls. They’re even more of a mess than usual, and even with Eddie leaning into his touch and purring contently, his tail keeps twitching. “What about your weird new nesting instinct, huh?”
Eddie whines. “Mate and baby need to be in the nest. Not my fault my mate isn’t actually carrying the baby. Cut me some slack, my king. It’s all rather confusing.”
“Sorry,” Steve whispers, and kisses his jaw. “We’re an unusual family, I guess.”
“That we are,” Eddie chuckles, fingers unlacing the bindings on his shirt, sharp nails raking through Steve’s chest hair. They both know they wouldn't want it any other way. “Now, what's this I hear about physical activity?”
“Not the pregnant one,” Steve hums, but still lifts his arms so that Eddie can pull off his shirt. “I don't think that's how it works.”
“Might work to relax us both,” Eddie rumbles, covering his face and throat and chest in kisses as he guides him down into the sheets. “And besides, we'd better make good use of all the private time we can get. I hear baby humans need an awful lot of attention.”
“More or less attention than grown dragons?”
“Now that, beloved,” says Eddie, kissing the dip of his hip bone while pulling off his breeches, “is something we’ll soon find out.”
He’s right, Steve guesses. Yet another thing for him to learn about dragons.