My eyes were wide as I panned them over Alys’ family, from the sternly glaring Shaessath to the suddenly worried-looking Amara and Soren.

  Alys sighed. Then, with a return of the bluntness I had gotten to know so well, she stated, “I am pregnant.”

  There was a moment of perfect calm. Of Seasons-blessed stillness. Then the world erupted into a squeal so loud and enthusiastic, I could swear I lost my hearing for a second.

  Amara launched herself in her daughter’s direction. She then promptly tried to slow down before slamming into Alys, and planted her face onto the stairs instead. That prompted another wince from everyone, but the draconian was up and moving again instantly.

  “I’m fine!” she cried, now in front of her daughter. She stopped herself from lunging forward yet again, flailed her arms around, and finally gave up by thrusting her hands in the air. “You are pregnant!”

  “Yes, I am,” my dragoness responded dryly. I could see the tension and terror draining from her in the face of her mother’s wild emotions, like the other woman’s excitement was somehow grounding her. “And I am not fragile.”

  She pulled her mother into the hug Amara had clearly wanted all along, to the accompaniment of more unintelligible squealing noises.

  “Congratulations,” Shaessath rumbled sincerely. I caught something happy and vulnerable on her face before she replaced it with a contented smile.

  Soren was still looking at us with wide eyes, but he managed to get himself under control quickly enough to offer a nod and an attempted smile.

  No one was trying to eat me, skewer me, or set me on fire. Which, while I knew all these responses were unlikely to begin with, was certainly a relief.

  I considered what to do or say while Amara fussed over my dragoness, but in the end, only a single word made it past my lips as I stared at Grandmother.

  “Help.”

  The incredulous look she sent me was wiped away a moment later by a bout of laughter. Even Soren’s lips twitched into a sincere smile.

  “Do not laugh at me!” I protested. “I have no idea what I am supposed to do! And I don’t think one of my first instincts, to erect a forest fortress of poisonous plants between Alys and the world, is the correct response!”

  I would have time later to consider whether shouting at The Molten Expanse was wise, but in the moment, I couldn’t help it. I was still barely pressing down my more turbulent emotions.

  To my surprise, Shaessath nodded contemplatively at the idea.

  Perhaps I should reconsider my stance on the fortress of poison?

  “It is not the worst thing to do, but I don’t think it would be subtle enough,” the dragoness rumbled. “Maybe if we were back at my lair…”

  She trailed off, her intense stare drifting between me and Alys.

  “No. Both of you, no,” Alys declared, before I could latch onto Shaessath’s suggestion.

  I admit it sounded more tempting than ever. A strongly defended dragon lair, already wrapped up in all sorts of protection, which I could then surround with enough living death to make Autumn think twice about attacking…

  Yes, definitely tempting.

  A glance at Alys, however, told me she was not amused by where the conversation was going. I thought it best to change the subject for the moment.

  “Would you happen to know why Alys is siphoning my mana away?” I asked as Alys picked up her mother and we finally finished coming down the stairs. “And perhaps more than just mana?”

  “She is?” Shaessath sounded genuinely shocked.

  I nodded. “That was our first sign that something had happened.”

  “Hrm. That is normal for a dragoness. A draconian too, I suppose, but… it is supposed to only happen between two dragons.”

  My now-simmering stress faded somewhat when she assured us the phenomenon was normal, but her qualifier made no sense.

  “I am very much not a dragon.”

  “I know,” was her dry response. “If you’ll recall, I was briefly disappointed by that.”

  “Then what is happening?” Alys demanded, looking less reassured by Shaessath’s words than I was.

  She also had her hand closed around her mother’s snout, presumably to stem the flood of cooing and reassurances that had been unleashed with the hug.

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  Shaessath sighed as she made herself more comfortable on the sofa she had claimed.

  “Normally, the process happens between two dragons, or a dragon and a draconian. It is a necessary step in order for the offspring to inherit their mixed bloodline properly. No two draconic bloodlines are completely the same, after all. Not even two fire dragons. The way we use our flames differs, along with certain other traits, like the intensity of our breath or how long we can use it. Theoretically, a child would inherit the best of both parents.”

  “And dragons of completely different natures?” I asked, still trying to understand what this might mean for me and Alys.

  “The offspring of such a union would always be of a singular elemental type. Take a fire and an ice dragon, for example. Their child would only inherit one of the two elements. However… the child would also inherit certain desirable traits. Their fire breath might mutate in unpredictable ways, for example, and they would be more resistant to ice and water.”

  I found it amusing that she had defaulted to the child being a fire dragon without expressly saying so.

  “But Thorn is not a dragon.” It was Soren who interjected this time, having made his way over to his wife and child to envelop both in a hug. Amara looked quite happy to be stuck between the two, though I noticed she was waving her hands towards me in frantic nonverbal signals. Alys still hadn’t removed her hand from her mother’s snout, after all.

  I couldn’t hold back a smile as I ‘gave in’ and walked over, letting her pull me into the hug pile as well. Alys shot me a quick, brilliant smile over her shoulder. Amara immediately began signaling Shaessath to join in with the one hand that wasn’t clutching me closer.

  “No, once again, he is not,” Shaessath grumbled, making no move to join us. “However… I suppose a fae is a much closer sort of existence to dragons than mortals ever could be. Clearly, the similarities were enough for Alys’ body to latch onto them. I believe your child will still be a draconian, but I would likewise bet that they will inherit some interesting abilities from their father.”

  That filled me with supremely mixed feelings.

  On the one hand, I was obviously thrilled to know our child would inherit something from me. On the other, dragons were elementally aligned creatures. The only two of my traits I could see easily translating over to a dragon were ‘nature’ and ‘poison’… with the latter being far, far more likely.

  Still, even there, I recognized undeniable benefits. Poison resistance, for example. I would never regret passing that on to my children.

  “Should I stay close to Alys at all times?” I asked. “Don’t give me that look, love. I doubt our child can absorb my mana if I venture too far away from you.”

  In contrast to Alys’ dark look, likely because she thought I was trying to smother her with care, Shaessath’s expression was almost proud.

  “An excellent question, but no. Your child will not be absorbing their parents’ mana for the full duration of Alys’ pregnancy. They just need enough of your mana to form a seed of their own, so to speak… though I admit that I’ve never seen or heard of a situation quite like yours. It would be best that you do stick close together for a day or two, until your child has absorbed all they require.”

  That was easily done, especially since I was already loath to let Alys out of my sight. I could make many of my alchemical products wherever I wanted. The simpler ones, which I was primarily brewing in bulk, did not produce any toxic fumes.

  I didn’t think I would be able to talk Alys into taking a break and staying in bed for a day or two, but that just meant I would need to set up my tools right next to where she was prepping logs for use in building new homes.

  I did feel a twinge of guilt when I realized that, in the chaos of everything, my perfume research had fallen by the wayside. I did have those promising early results, so I resolved to get some of them to Nasha soon, at the very least. The poor beagle had been so excited at the possibility of having some light perfume she could use…

  Of course, the thought of our friends made me realize that we would need to inform them about the pregnancy, too. The thought of Nasha and Amara in the same room genuinely made me fear for my future.

  “I love you. All of you.” Alys’ words cut into my thoughts. “But unless you release me right now so I can have breakfast, I’m going to start taking bites out of you.”

  “Oooohhh, she’s already experiencing cravings! Quick, release her. I remember those were just awful to endure.” Amara shuddered dramatically, trying to disentangle herself from the hug pile.

  “Mother.” Alys’ voice was the definition of deadpan. “Unless I’m completely wrong, I literally got pregnant yesterday. I am just hungry.”

  “Shhh, my lovely daughter, I’ll take care of you! Sit, sit.”

  Amara’s grin was far too wide for her not to be making fun of Alys, but I found it far too amusing to get involved. Once a sighing Alys was situated safely on a sofa, the shorter draconian paused.

  “I am going to be a GRANDMOTHER!”

  Then she erupted into motion. Soren trailed after her at speed, presumably to stop her from making a mess in the kitchen rather than a meal.

  I, meanwhile, tensed as I was struck by yet another revelation.

  “Grandmother… is there something Alys should avoid eating now? Wildefire juice? The things we were experimenting with? Certain types of food?”

  Alys looked at me with dawning horror.

  “Oh no. He is going to hover,” she whispered.

  I ignored her. This was important! I had absolutely no knowledge of how best to take care of her in this situation.

  “She is a draconian, my child,” Shaessath scoffed. “Not a mortal. There is no need to worry about her habits or diet. Though, I will note that her mother almost destroyed my entire wildefire fruit orchard while pregnant, with how much juice she managed to drink on a daily basis.”

  I didn’t have an orchard. How in the world was I supposed to account for that?!

  Shaessath must have seen some of my thoughts reflect on my expression, because she snorted in amusement. “I will help. I am certain we can quickly grow more of the trees. Alys has done a wonderful job of keeping the one you have highly productive.”

  Alys had done well with that tree, which was the only reason I’d been able to supply them with so much of the purified juice. Hearing that Shaessath was going to help also did much to help me relax a tiny bit.

  I couldn’t relax the whole way, though. Not even close. Beyond the mere fact that Alys was pregnant, and the panic of having to deal with pregnancy, the reality was still dawning on me of how many other things I needed to do and prepare.

  Unlike my parents and Alys’ parents, I did not have a whole host of servants to help me take care of my child. I would have to work twice as hard to keep up with the alchemy work I had promised to the town, while also experimenting to produce the best possible health supplements for Alys. Then there were the logistics of raising a child to consider, and —

  “Breathe, you silly fae.” Alys’ hand landed on my cheek to cup my chin ever so gently and force me to look her in the eye. “We’re in this together.”

  As a smile escaped me, I took a moment to luxuriate in her touch. She was right, after all. We were in this together.

  Planning and worrying could wait.

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