"So, it's all done? It should be moving day soon, right? Mrs. Barlow only let me pack one suitcase, but that's not all my stuff. And I couldn't bring all my stories and books about dragons with me, either. Which I need since I think they're going to be really important."
She laughed. "We'll be moving for good in the next few days. You'll survive without the rest of your stuff until then." She looked up and smiled at Mariana and Freddie. "Thanks for looking after her, Mari."
Mariana's English was teased with her Portuguese roots. "No problem. My Emily loved having a friend around. Although I think my son is happy she's gone."
Daisy's voice prevented Dawn from replying. "It was fun, Mum. But you had fun, too, right? And now I'll have a little brother and sister? And Mr. Whitby will live with us, too?"
Right, Blake. The man was a little nervous about first living with Daisy, and here Dawn had forgotten to include him.
She really needed to remember it wasn't just her and Daisy anymore.
However, Blake spoke before Dawn could say a word. "Call me Blake, Daisy. And yes to both questions—we'll all be living together from now on, and in about nine months, you'll have a sibling."
Dawn bit back a smile at how formal Blake sounded. He may like to help out at the school, but he clearly wasn't used to talking with kids on a regular basis. Dawn jumped in. "How about we all go visit our new home together? I heard that Freddie's mum should be there with some biscuits and cake."
Her daughter jumped back and clapped her hands. "Biscuits and cake? Are they a special dragon-shifter recipe? I had some last time I was here, but I can't remember the name. Do you remember, Freddie?"
The little boy grunted. "Ginger dragon biscuits."
"Right, ginger dragon biscuits. Did she make them this time, too, Freddie? Or maybe a special type of dragon cake instead? There might even be a yummy drink I've never tried before. There are so many possibilities now that I live with a dragon clan!"
Dawn laughed and decided that if she didn't start steering them all in the right direction, Daisy could go on about treat possibilities for a good half hour. "How about we go and find out? That's much faster than if you keep guessing."
Freddie looked at Dawn. "Can I take her ahead? I promise we won't wander off."
She eyed the young dragon-shifter a second before nodding. "No wandering. Or else I hear your uncle will pay a visit to remind you of the clan rules."
Freddie sighed. "I don't want another lecture from Uncle Zain." He took Daisy's hand. "Come on, Daisy. We can pick out the best pieces for ourselves if we get there first."
Before she could say they needed to wait until everyone arrived before eating anything, Freddie and Daisy were already running down the footpath.
Blake spoke up. "Don't worry, Dawn. If there are treats involved, children usually follow the rules. Or, so it's been that way at the school events."
She smiled at Blake and desperately wanted to ask him if he was doing okay so far. However, she couldn't just let Mariana stand there by herself. So Dawn looked at the woman and said, "You're welcome to stay for tea and cake, Mari, if you like."
Mariana shook her head, her dark hair swinging about her shoulders. "No, I need to drive back to Manchester before my children get off school."
Dawn walked up to Mariana and took one of her hands. "Thank you so much, Mari. And as soon as we're all set up here, you have to come visit."
Mariana gave a small smile. Dawn couldn't recall ever seeing her fully grin. All thanks to her ex-husband and his abuse, no doubt. The lingering effects had made the woman cautious, to the point Mariana had never allowed them to be closer than parents of two children who were friends.
Maybe she could find someone for Mariana on Stonefire. Not for purely selfish reasons, either, although Dawn would love to have someone from her old life around. Not to mention Emily was friends with Freddie and Daisy, too.
Mariana replied, "Emily would love that. I'm sure they'll want to set it up soon. Call me when everything has settled down."
She nodded and wished she could hug the woman. However, Mariana was careful never to touch anyone but her children. So Dawn merely replied, "Of course."
After a few more details were sorted and Mariana was escorted away toward her car, Dawn looked up at Blake as she took his hand. "Ready to start our new life?"
"Mostly. But for you, I'd do anything."
His words rang with truth, and it made her heart squeeze a little. She really hoped he could handle Daisy because it was becoming harder to imagine spending her life with any other man. "Well, then let's go. Otherwise, I'm afraid Daisy will sweet talk Sasha and eat four pieces of cake before we get there."
He chuckled and tugged her along the path. "Then let's hurry. I know what sugar does to children, and I'd rather not have my first night as a stepfather be dealing with a sugar rush and the ensuing crash."
"It'd be a good introduction, for sure." He raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. "Okay, not even I want to deal with it." She released his hand. "So I'll race you there."
She took off down the pathway, trying to run despite the fact she was most assuredly not a runner, and loved how, when Blake caught up with her, he snatched her from behind and twirled her a second before putting her down.
As they walked quickly together hand in hand, for once, Dawn merely focused on being happy and pushing her worries aside.
Blake loved catching Dawn and being playful with her. It was something he never would've thought of doing before a human female had shown him how little, pointless games or actions could be so much fun.
Now the question was whether he could do that with Daisy, too, and not have it be weird.
His dragon spoke up. Stop worrying so much. You've seen how parents act with their kids at the various school events you've helped with over the years. Try being less formal, for a start. I don't think Daisy is the type of child to respond well to that.
As if it were as easy as watching kids at a school event. Except this isn't a child we'll see one night and then go home. If she doesn't like us from the beginning, it'll break Dawn's heart.
Then loosen up and win Daisy over.
His dragon had always been the more laidback out of the two of them. No doubt he reveled in the fact he could teach Blake something. You're loving this, aren't you?
His beast snorted. Of course I am. And not just because we have a female of our own now, either. But you might actually have to take advice from me on how to handle Daisy.
He muttered a few words inside his head but didn't get to do more than that because their new home came into view.
It was a two-story cottage with a small garden in the back. While not as isolated as his previous home, it was toward the edge of the main living area. They'd had two choices of houses, but this one was closer to the Atherton place, and he and Dawn had agreed it would be best for Daisy and Freddie.
Dawn squeezed his hand, garnering his attention. "And so our new life begins. Ready for the adventure?"
"More than anything."
Her cheeks flushed, and it made both man and beast happy.
She lightly swatted his side. "Stop with the hyperbole, Blake. Or better yet, save it for your conversations with Daisy. She loves them, and the more over the top, the better. I'm sure before long it'll turn into a contest of sorts between you two."
He wanted to say it wasn't hyperbole but decided to merely nod. After all, he didn't know if Dawn already felt as connected to him as he was to her. "I'm used to giving the facts, but I'll try my best."
She kissed his cheek. "Right, then let's see if Daisy has managed to sweet talk herself into extra cake or if Sasha was able to resist her."
They approached the door, and he noticed the little metal plaque that said, "The Chadwick-Whitbys." Dawn had wanted to keep both names because of her daughter, and he'd hadn't minded.
However, seeing the plaque really made everything real. His new path would start as soon as he stepped inside their home. "Sa
sha must've brought that," he stated.
Dawn bobbed her head. "She did say she had a few surprises for us. It's lovely, isn't it? Now, let's see what else she put together."
They entered the cottage and were instantly greeted with laughter and chatter from the kitchen. Like most homes on Stonefire, they had some soundproofing to keep neighbors and passersby from hearing everything that went on since dragon-shifters had supersensitive hearing.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Blake smiled at Daisy dancing around the room, performing one of the routines she'd done in the play. When she noticed them, she stopped and grinned. "Mum, there's so much more room here. I can even dance in the kitchen, unlike our place back in Manchester."
He shot Dawn a questioning look, and she shrugged one shoulder. "We've always rented a flat. You'll see when we move everything in a few days."
He'd agreed to visit a city for the very first time to help his new mate and daughter pack and move.
Before meeting Dawn, he would've cringed at the idea. But his mate was human, and his offspring would be half-human, and so he needed to learn more about her world no matter how loud or smelly a big place like Manchester might be for a dragon-shifter.
Daisy jumped in again. "Hey, Mum, can we go see my room now? Mrs. Atherton said we had to wait for you to get here before I could go upstairs. She even hinted that she left a surprise or two inside my room. So can we go now, Mum? Please?"
Dawn smiled. "The three of us will go check it out. If that's okay, Sasha?"
Sasha bobbed her head. "I need Freddie to help me with the sandwiches anyway." She winked. "I'll listen for the squeals."
His dragon spoke up. Okay, now I'm curious, too. Let's hurry. I hope Sasha didn't outdo the gifts we bought for Daisy.
To say an inner dragon was competitive was an understatement. I don't think she'd do that. Regardless, she only bought things out of love for Daisy. And she needs all the allies on Stonefire she can muster.
His dragon harrumphed. But she's not going to be Daisy's parent from now on. We should get the extra points for it.
Blake did his best not to laugh at his beast's surly tone.
Thankfully Dawn motioned for them to head upstairs. She took the lead with Daisy right behind her, and Blake brought up the rear. They soon stopped in front of the bedroom door the farthest away from his and Dawn's, which was Daisy's room.
His female put her hand on the doorknob but didn't turn it. "Hey, how about a game, Daisy? You can try to guess what's inside. If, after ten guesses, you still don't figure it out, we'll go in."
Daisy sighed. "Mum, don't make me wait. That could take ages. And I've been waiting forever to come back here. You've already seen it, so it's only fair I can see my new room, too."
Dawn smiled. "But I thought you liked games? You always go on about wanting to play more of them."
"But not right now. Freddie hinted at some surprises days and days ago. I've been so patient, but I'm about to burst if I don't find out what's in there, Mum."
As Daisy slumped forward, Dawn laughed, and even Blake smiled. Daisy did indeed have a flair for the dramatic.
His female turned the knob. "We can't have that happen, now, can we? Let's see what's in here…"
As soon as Dawn cleared the door, Daisy ran inside and screamed. "Look! There are dragons painted on the walls." Blake was glad she liked the mural a colleague of his had painted and watched as Daisy raced to the small bookshelf next to the desk they'd picked for her. "And there are loads of stories with dragon in the title. Some I haven't read yet." Then she went to the bed, and Blake finally noticed what Sasha had brought.
Daisy lifted one and then another stuffed dragon. The larger one was white with a black spot, and the smaller stuffed dragon was blue. She held up the white one. "This is you, right, Blake? I know I haven't seen your dragon, but I've heard about him. And now you'll help guard my room, right?" She hugged both of them to her chest. "And the other must be Freddie. They're perfect."
He spoke to his beast. See? She likes them a lot. You can't be mad about Sasha's surprise.
Maybe.
Daisy then raced up to him and Dawn. "I love my room! Did you decorate it together? Can we have dragons painted on the walls downstairs, too? And are there more books to get? There's so much to learn to catch up to everyone else."
Blake smiled. "I'm sure you'll catch up. Although I can always help tutor, if you like."
She beamed up at him. "Oh, I'll need your help, for sure. Maybe not today because there's more to see and there's a big party tonight, right? So you guys can get married. No, I mean mated. That's right. I need to use the right words."
Dawn brushed back some hair from her daughter's face. "Since we don't have a lot of time before Blake and I have to get ready, let's head downstairs and spend some time with Sasha and Freddie, okay? And make sure to thank her for your dragons."
"Oh, I will! My new dragons should come eat with us."
Dawn shook her head. "No, they stay up here. Otherwise, they'll be covered in icing within thirty seconds."
"I'm not that messy, Mum." Dawn raised her brows, and Daisy sighed as she trudged back to her bed. "Fine, I'll leave them up here."
Blake hesitated a second, afraid he might be bumping in, but decided to speak up. "I have something more interesting for you downstairs, anyway, Daisy. It's a special dragon-shifter drink that also has some interesting science behind it."
A lot of kids would groan or paste fake smiles, but Daisy stood tall again, curiosity in her gaze.
Yes, this young human female would be trouble when she got older, if they weren't careful.
Daisy raced up to him and took his hand. "Then let's go, Blake. I need to know everything I can about dragon-shifters. So start teaching me."
Dawn chuckled, and he shared an amused glance with his female.
And as Daisy led him down the stairs, he thought that maybe things would be okay in the end.
His dragon snorted. Until you run out of interesting dragon facts for her.
Shut it, dragon. I'll never run out of things to teach her.
If you say so.
Ignoring his dragon, Blake merely enjoyed teaching Freddie and Daisy the special drink that doubled in size when adding the right ingredients.
While usually he was a long-term planner—his research required that type of mindset—Blake was going to just enjoy the moment and try his hardest to make more of them until it seemed natural that they were a family.
Chapter Thirteen
A couple of hours later, as the front door clicked closed behind Dawn, Blake took a deep breath and headed back toward the kitchen. Daisy was singing some song he didn't know and thumbing through one of her new books.
He stopped in the doorway and tried not to breathe too hard lest he disturb her.
His dragon sighed. We only have to watch her for an hour or so. It's not the end of the world.
While Blake knew that, this would be the first time he was alone with Daisy and entirely responsible for her care. Still, Dawn wanted Sasha to help her get ready for the mating ceremony, and this was his first duty to prove how much he wanted Dawn—and Daisy—in his life.
Taking a deep breath, he walked up to Daisy, and she glanced up. "Is this book true? Did dragon-shifters used to fight humans a long time ago, back when they used horses and swords and stuff?"
Blake nodded and sat across from her at the table. "You've learned a little about wars in school, right?"
She scrunched up her nose in thought. "A little. Some lasted a really long time, I think."
"Well, it's the same for dragon-shifters—we've been in wars, too. Sometimes with other dragons, sometimes with humans, and sometimes with both humans and dragons who teamed up together."
Daisy tilted her head. "But not now, right? I mean, I see dragon-shifters on TV sometimes being interviewed by human reporters. And you wouldn't be mating my mum, either, if we were at war."
He debated on how honest he should
be but decided Daisy was old enough to learn a little. "Well, there's not a full-scale war, no. But dragon hunters want to kill us and drain us of our blood. So it's like a small war, I suppose."
"Why don't you just share your blood for free with people who need it? Then maybe they wouldn't try to hunt dragons for it."
While simple on the surface, Blake took a second to think about how to explain that dragon-shifters needed some advantages to avoid becoming permanent second-class citizens to humans.
He finally settled on saying, "Well, people might then get greedy. And then dragons could end up being weak all the time from giving so much blood. And if we didn't have enough? People would get mad at us anyway."
"Well, maybe there's a way to use science to help everyone. You always say it can do a lot of good things. Many times it almost seems like magic, but there's really some special recipe involved, right?"
He smiled. "So you were paying attention during the special dragon camp sessions then."
She sat up tall and bobbed her head. "Of course. I try to listen to everything the dragons say. I'm not sure what I want to do when I grow up yet, but it'll probably be something related to dragon-shifters. And so I need to learn it all."
He chuckled. "We can never learn everything."
"Well, I'm going to try."
As they smiled at one another, Blake's nervousness faded away. If nothing else, he could always use learning as a way to bond with his soon-to-be-stepdaughter.
Then Daisy frowned and blurted, "Are you going to leave like my dad did?"
He blinked at the sudden change of subject. He hadn't expected that question, or at least this soon.
She continued before he could say anything. "It's just that I like you, and my mum really likes you, and I don't want her to be sad anymore. And somehow I think she'll be sad if you leave. She's such a great mum and should be happy instead."
His dragon said softly, We won't leave. Make sure she knows that.
Daisy spoke again. "So your dragon just talked, right, since your eyes flashed? What did he say?"
Treasured by the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons Book 13) Page 9
