"I think, after visiting, Penelope is going to need her rest," Cato said.
Winnifred had brought Penelope a piece of cake that she'd missed from dinner, and Penelope gratefully took it and nibbled while Cato rocked Effie in his arms in the rocking chair. After everyone gave their congratulations and Aria sang once more to help Penelope heal, all the visitors except Cato and Flora left the hospital room. They slept on cots in the hospital room, taking turns helping with the baby throughout the night.
In the morning, the doctor cleared them to leave, and the new family wheeled Penelope out to the curb and helped her into the car while Flora buckled the baby into the new car seat.
When they arrived at home, Penelope and Cato retired to their bedroom, and Flora lay down in her bed to recover from the long and mostly sleepless night. The birth of her niece was monumental. It was a point of change and transition into a new life, even more than Penelope's mating with Cato.
Although most of the dragons were legally married to their mates through the court system, Cato and Penelope had never really had a wedding. Because the claiming was such an important and private moment and because they'd spent so much time together as a group, no one really saw the point in having a big celebration.
Aside from that, Flora and Penelope were each other's only family. Penelope had invited her friends from the library to the small courthouse ceremony that she and Cato had arranged when they found out they were expecting. Then they took them out to a big meal at a local steakhouse.
The courthouse was enough for most of them. Aiden and Winnifred hadn't even bothered to get married. Dax had wanted to marry Aria right away. Kian and Everly had been legally married very soon after their mating.
JoJo and Hanish of the House of Storms were married as well, but that was mostly because JoJo needed a visa to stay in the country. Krista had no plans for marrying any of her three mates, and Flora understood why she wouldn't want to show favoritism to any of them.
But the presence of her niece was a bigger change for Flora than her sister's coupling with her dragon mate. It was the first real step into adulthood and responsibility with no going back. Flora and Penelope had always tried to outdo each other. When Penelope had left school with her master's degree in computer science to take a position at the public library, Flora had given her no end of teasing. But Penelope had been happy with her work, and it was paying most of their bills back then, whereas Flora was still taking out student loans.
Now that Penelope was not only married but had a baby as well, Flora got the sense that she was falling behind her sister. She had thought that none of that mattered anymore. But after seeing the beautiful child and her striking resemblance to their mother Gabriella, Flora felt she was missing something, and the feeling wasn't just based on competition.
She missed the foundation of a family and a sense of connection—things that her job couldn't give her. She loved her work, and she still wanted to do something great, but maybe, just maybe there was time in her life to find somebody to love.
Chapter 4
Everyone at the Storm house gathered around the computer screen, staring at the picture of the baby, Penelope, Flora, and Cato. Everyone was oohing and aahing over the newborn, but Raiden couldn't take his eyes off her aunt Flora with her flowing brown hair and big hazel eyes. Her twin had looked just like that before her pregnancy. Raiden couldn't help but imagine what Flora would be like as a mother. He blinked at the absurd thought, his inner dragon still completely silent on the issue.
He growled at himself and walked away, feeling ridiculous for having such thoughts about this woman without any reason to back them up. Before the cataclysm on Dragonia, there had been no women left. And he had a feeling that being around any woman at all, especially a beautiful, talented Dragon Soul like Flora, was beginning to take its toll.
He and Zephyr were the last of the awakened dragons to be without mates, and he was beginning to wonder if he would ever find one. Just because the others had found someone didn't guarantee that he would. Azure, their ship's AI, had awakened the group because so many of the crew's mates were alive on the planet. Raiden, Akash, and Yuki had all been mated to Krista. Then Hanish had found JoJo, and it was a match made in bossy, demanding heaven.
Raiden sighed at the two of them as they gushed over the baby, and Hanish rubbed JoJo's stomach. Raiden rolled his eyes and left the room. He had of battle with his guild in fifteen minutes and would catch hell if he was late. He sat down at the couch in his usual spot, which was beginning to wear a hole in the cushion, and turned on the game.
"Took you long enough," said Ispy47.
"My cousin just had a baby. It was Bionerd's sister."
"Just watch. She'll be wanting one now too, Dragonheart. And she knows where to get the seed she'll need to do it."
Raiden heard snickering through his headset and rolled his eyes. "Bionerd is a scientist. She likes academic types, not crusty old military types like me."
"You never know. I heard good girls like bad boys."
"What was that about bad boys?" said Bionerd as she logged into the game.
"Nice of you to join us, Bionerd. You're the least reliable member of our guild," said Tangofoxtrot99.
"Stop giving her crap. I told you, she's not a core member of the guild. She's a casual member. Give her a break—she's trying to save the world."
"Since when is trying to save the world an excuse?" said Tangofoxtrot99. "When I was deployed, I still made it to raid times on time."
"Bullshit," said Ispy47.
"It's true," said Tangofoxtrot99.
"Pick your weapons, gentlemen. Five minutes. Are you playing, Bionerd? Starboy isn’t here. We have a spot."
"No. I just dropped in to say hi. Are you coming over tomorrow?"
"We're all coming, so I'll be there."
"See you then."
Bionerd111 logged off, and Raiden's crew started saying "Awww" and making kissing noises. Raiden chose not to say anything. Reacting just made it worse. When he was dropped into the game, he took out his frustration on the enemy. They won the round, breaking the record for the quickest time and the most kills. He grinned as the scores floated across the screen and his name was at the top of the leaderboard.
"New all-time high, Dragonheart127," said Tangofoxtrot99.
"You know it," Raiden said.
Later that evening, long after everyone had gone to bed, Raiden retired to his room with leftovers from dinner—fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and some decaf iced tea. He sat on his couch and flipped on a movie. Zephyr and Cato were always bugging them all to learn about human mating rituals. Raiden hadn't given it much thought, since his mate hadn't shown up. But he figured he might as well brush up on what it was that humans found romantic.
He started watching a romantic comedy about a woman who was always a bridesmaid. She was pretty and tall, and it made him wonder why she hadn't been able to find a man. But he watched it and saw her mated with someone who wasn't nearly as handsome or as accomplished as he was. Maybe he would have a chance with Flora after all.
What was he thinking? He couldn't be with Flora. She wasn't his mate, and she never would be. Running a mating analysis would just be a big disappointment, and he didn't want to have to go through that. After the movie, he collapsed onto his bed, crumbs from the fried chicken on his shirt.
When he woke up the next day, he grumbled and wiped his face. There was a paper plate in the bed with him, and he'd spilled tea on his shirt. Sitting up, he thought that maybe it was time to start getting his act together.
He trudged to the bathroom, scratching his butt. After a long hot shower, during which he forced himself not to think about Flora, he dressed in a pair of trendy stretch jeans, sneakers, and a hooded sweatshirt. JoJo said he looked like a hipster, and he was pretty sure it wasn't meant as a compliment. But he didn't really care. JoJo, although she was nice and nurturing and helped keep Hanish from giving him trouble all the time, was kind of a
tight-ass who hadn't loosened up until meeting Hanish. The two of them could focus their BS on each other. It wasn't his problem.
He made it downstairs, and everyone else was ready to go. Even Krista and her harem had arrived for the trip to the House of Flames to see baby Effie. Krista herself was due any day, and that would be two new dragonkin in the world to rejuvenate their race.
It was the responsibility of every dragon to bring new children into the world. That was the reason they had seeded the planet in the first place: to save themselves from extinction. If the task of keeping the race going had been left up to the elders of Dragonia, they would all be dead and there would be no one to protect the humans from vampires.
Flora might be trying with every ounce of her intelligence to find a vaccine, but Raiden was preparing himself for the battle he knew was coming. It had been far too quiet since the last raid on the compound, during which they had burned down the vampires' mansion and killed most of the coven. There would be repercussions. He could feel it deep in his bones.
But that day, they were going to see the baby. Raiden had ordered a gift for the kid off the Internet, and it had arrived the day before. He'd even had it gift-wrapped. It was a little dragon stuffed animal. This baby would get used to dragons in her life, considering her father was one and she was too. That was one of the beauties of Dragon Souls mating with dragons: their children would all be full-blooded dragons. Everything had worked out so well after the seeding of the planet. Evolution had taken care of everything while they’d slept.
The Dragonian scientists had taken a chance by going with that plan, but it had all worked out in the end—for everyone except Raiden and Zephyr, anyway. With Zephyr's luck, he would find a mate long before Raiden did, and Raiden would be alone for the rest of his life, pining over a woman he could never have.
He grabbed his gift, shoved it in his backpack along with his gaming laptop and headset, and made his way out to the garage with the others. He chose to drive the Maserati himself rather than riding with everyone else. He wasn't in the mood to listen to all of them gushing about their children or their work or teasing him about his pastimes.
He drove fast along the rural route and took the highway then pulled off onto the road leading to the House of Flames. He loved driving fast. It was one of the few things that gave him any peace in his increasingly narrow world.
He pulled up in front of the House of Flames and parked his car in the driveway. After grabbing his backpack, he hurried to the front door. Everly greeted him with a big smile and ushered him inside. Everyone from the House of Flames was gathered in the living room.
He sat on the couch across from Flora and set his backpack on the ground beside him. Her eyes shifted from the baby, and the grin plastered on her face turned into something else. Her changing expression gave the slightest hint of what Raiden had come to know as desire.
He blinked several times, not sure how to take it. Flora had never shown any interest in him. If she had, he didn't know how he would feel about it. She was Penelope's sister, and if they had a sexual relationship, it could pose some problems in the houses. It would be super awkward when it ended. What would the barbecues be like then? Would he and Flora still be friends?
Their friendship was probably the biggest issue. He liked Flora. It wasn't just that she was smart and beautiful and nice and funny. He depended on their friendship. It might be strange that, as a man surrounded by a crew of brothers-in-arms who had fought together in wars for hundreds of years, he would find the most comfort and camaraderie with a human woman.
But she never judged him, and she helped him relax. She made him feel like his life had meaning. She told him about her work on the vaccine, not in any technical way but in a philosophical way that he understood. She had the same drive as he did to end the war with the vampires that he had been fighting since he was a child.
Back on his home planet, Dragonia, he'd barely been out of the shell before he held his first laser sword. He'd trained for years in hand-to-hand combat. He was one of the most skilled stealth fighters in the entire Dragonian military. Fighting in wars was in his blood. But now that he was on Earth, there was nothing to do but wait.
Flora was the only one who understood that he was still training. She was the only one who didn't consider him a loser for the way he chose to spend his time. She was a scientist and probably smarter than Raiden was, even though he was an “advanced species,” according to her. They got along and gave each other support, comfort, and the ability to just be. That was something he treasured. No matter how beautiful and sexy Flora was, he needed her to be his friend more than he needed to make love to her.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Penelope asked, rocking baby Effie in her arms.
"She looks just like our mother," Flora said to Raiden.
"We've named her Effie Gabriella Flame," Penelope said.
"It's pretty,” Raiden said.
"I know," Penelope said, not taking her eyes off her daughter.
Raiden looked from Flora to Penelope and back to Flora, who was gazing at her twin sister and her niece. There was so much love in the room it was almost palpable, and it made Raiden feel uncomfortable. He couldn't help but notice how lovely Flora looked sitting beside her sister.
She was wearing a baggy green cardigan with leather patches on the elbows. Under that, she had on a pair of tights and a tank top with some science pun on it that he didn't understand. Her hair was in a messy braid that hung down over her breast, and she wore a locket around her neck that he knew contained a picture of her and Penelope when they were children.
Raiden handed his gift to Cato. "Thank you, Raiden. You shouldn't have," Penelope said as the rest of the House of Storms arrived.
Cato put the gift down on the table and went to greet everyone.
"Can you open it, Flora?" Penelope asked.
Flora picked up the gift-wrapped package and began to open it for her sister. When she slipped the lid off the box and found the cute little dragon that was made for an infant, Penelope's eyes grew wide, and she cooed.
"It's so cute," Penelope said.
"Its wings are for teething," Raiden said.
"This is one of the best gifts we’ve received so far."
"We got you a year of diaper service," Yuki said, walking into the room.
"And we got you unlimited babysitting with the best nanny in the country," JoJo said.
"Way to show me up," Raiden said, looking at his captain and JoJo.
"Your dragon toy is cute too," Hanish said, holding Tor on his hip.
"I love it, Raiden. Don't let them show you up," Penelope said with a gracious smile.
Raiden nodded and patted Penelope on the shoulder, congratulating her in a soft voice before leaving the room. The rest of the Storms were piling in, and he was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
Usually, Raiden had an easy, unencumbered personality. But in the last few months, he had become increasingly morose. He wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was because of the constant teasing and taunting from his crew. Maybe it was because when he'd brought Flora into the guild as a casual, his teammates had picked up the teasing where his crew had left off. Or maybe it was because he was seriously falling for his best friend, a woman who was not his mate. It all culminated in making the usually happy, carefree Raiden intensely grumpy.
He escaped to a private den and opened his gaming computer. As he turned on the machine, Flora slipped through the door and sat across from him. He closed the lid and accepted the beer bottle she offered him.
"I've never been much for baby showers," Flora said.
"Everyone is getting on my nerves lately," Raiden admitted.
"I know what you mean. I love my sister and Cato and my niece more than I can even comprehend. But with everyone mating and having babies, it's just mate this and baby that, and it starts to get old, you know?"
"I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes, I just want to play a game or watch a movie and not wo
rry about finding my fated mate. Besides, the vampires are not going to rest. It's not like we got rid of them permanently. The first time we burned down their compound, they just established a new one. But this time, we killed most of them, including an elder. There will be repercussions.”
"I wouldn't doubt it," Flora said.
"We need to be prepared. We can't just rest on our laurels and decorate nurseries. We need to be ready for the next attack."
Chapter 5
For the next two weeks after the baby shower, Flora worked in the basement on the vaccine project in between her runs to support her sister and niece. Penelope had someone by her side twenty-four hours a day. But the pace was starting to wear on Flora, and she still hadn't had any breakthroughs on the vaccine project. Flora was starting to feel a bit worn out and disappointed.
She sat in front of the TV in her bedroom at night when she couldn't sleep and played with Raiden and his guild. They were always happy to let her drop in for a casual battle and sometimes even when they were working on their rankings. She appreciated them making a spot for her whenever she had the time.
"That's it for me tonight, guys," she said as they left a battleground. She had gotten in fifteen kills, a new personal best. And she had almost tied with Raiden for the top spot in the battleground.
"Good night, Bionerd," Raiden said.
"Good night, Dragonheart," she said wistfully as she turned off her headset and logged out of the game.
Hearing Raiden's voice gave Flora a sense of safety and belonging. And the more time she spent with Penelope and Cato, the more she wished that there was something more than friendship between them.
At first, she would have thought the idea was crazy, but she was beginning to think differently about everything. At the baby shower, they’d both agreed that all the talk about babies and mating was getting old. But as she’d gazed into Raiden's eyes that day, at the back of her mind, she’d wished they talked about those things just a little bit.
Raiden: House of Storms: Dragon Guardians Book 7 Page 3
