The Dragon King’s Baby

“Don’t let it, sweetheart. I’m leaving in an hour, so I’ll be there in just a few,” Claire said. “Seathan knows to send me updates regularly. I love you.”

“I love you, Mom. Please hurry,” Addie replied, tears in her eyes. She handed the phone to Seathan, who sat it down and returned to her side immediately.

“Baby, everything is going we—” Addie interrupted him with a scream, clutching her belly as a gush of blood rushed out of her body. Seathan’s eyes widened, and he jerked around and yelled, “Doctors! Help her!”

They rushed over. Jeanne and Poppy hurried to stand by Addie’s head as another scream ripped through her. After a brief exam, the doctors began tossing out orders at the nurses.

The head nurse said to the trio, “Seathan, ladies, we’re going to need the three of you to leave the room. Addie is going to need a C-section now.”

“A C-section? Why?” Seathan asked as Addie’s grip on his hand tightened. “Are they in danger?”

“Seathan,” Addie whispered. “Please don’t leave.”

The nurse looked at Addie. “Addie, we have to put you under. You’re losing too much blood.”

Jeanne and Poppy kissed her cheeks and left the room. Seathan bent and kissed her lips. “I’ll be just outside the room, baby. Everything is going to be fine.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m so scared, Seathan.”

“I’ll hold your hand until you fall asleep.” He watched as the nurse put medicine of some sort into an IV attached to Addie’s hand. She became lethargic almost immediately. He kissed her again just as her eyes drifted shut.

The nurse bustled him out the door with promises that she’d call as soon as there was news. Seathan let the door shut in his face, then pressed his face into the wood. He’d never been so scared in all his life. She can’t die, Seathan thought to himself. I love her too much.

Seathan believed in the gods worshiped by the dragon shifters, and he begged them now to save his little family behind this closed door. Getting Addie pregnant had been dangerous; if it killed her and their child, he’d never forgive himself.

He dropped to his knees, a sob escaping his lips. Jeanne and Poppy surrounded him, their arms around him as he cried. They cried and prayed with him as Addie remained behind the closed door, lost in the medically-induced world of sleep.

*****

Two hours later, both doctors stepped into the hallway, where Seathan, Poppy, Jeanne, Conall, and Seathan’s parents waited anxiously. Seathan jumped up and moved so swiftly towards them that Dr. Sawlen stepped back. Malik put his hand on his son’s arm to, hopefully, calm him.

“Seathan,” Malik said quietly, but Seathan pulled his arm free.

“What happened? How’s Addie? What about the baby?” His rapid-fire questions in the tone he reserved for criminals frightened both doctors.

Dr. Multon touched Seathan’s arm. “Seathan, both your wife and your baby are fine. Addie had to have a blood transfusion because she lost so much blood. She’ll be weak for a few days, but she’s fine.”

“What about our baby?”

The head nurse stepped out with a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. She handed the bundle to Seathan, who smiled so widely his cheeks hurt. “It’s a girl. She’s perfectly healthy.”

“A girl. Does Addie know yet?” Seathan asked as his parents and Jeanne and Poppy surrounded him, making cooing noises at the baby.

“She isn’t awake yet. Should be just a little bit longer before she comes out of the anesthesia,” Dr. Sawlen promised. She touched the little girl’s cheek. “Nothing like a were baby or a human baby, I’ll tell you that.”

“Can I go in and sit with Addie until she wakes?”

“Of course,” Dr. Multon said.

Seathan smiled at his parents and Addie’s friends. “Isn’t she perfect?”

“She is Seathan, she is,” Vada answered. “Have the two of you picked a name for her?”

“We have. This is Kalea,” Seathan answered to the oohs and ahs of his audience.

“That’s lovely,” Poppy commented.

Vada said, “It means filled with joy.”

“And she always will be,” Seathan swore. He smiled at the group around them and walked into the room to wait for Addie to wake up, cradling his precious daughter against his chest.

*****

Addie woke thirty minutes later and felt as if she’d been hit by a dragon. Everything hurt, but her mind immediately screamed for her child. In a panic, she whipped her head from side to side until she saw Seathan sitting in a rocking chair holding a tiny bundle.

“Seathan,” she murmured quietly. His face lit up when he saw her awake. Gingerly, he rose and walked to her with their baby in his arms, smiling so brightly Addie felt as if the sun were looking at her. She returned the smile. “Boy or girl?”

“Meet your daughter, Kalea,” Seathan whispered. He leaned over so Addie could see her. She gasped in shock, and Seathan straightened. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s all over her face?” Addie asked, appalled. She had expected a human baby to be looking at her, but this child had scales, beautiful, green scales, yes, but scales nonetheless. “Are all dragon babies born like this?”

Seathan chuckled as he carefully sat on the edge of the bed. “Yes, Addie. We’re all born with scales. Just an indication that she is a dragon shifter. Actually she’s different.”

“How so?”

“She only has scales on her face and neck. The rest of her is just human skin. Quite plain, actually.” He grinned at her as he handed the baby to her.

The minute she held her, Kalea’s eyes opened and focused on her. Addie’s eyes widened in surprise. “She can already focus?”

“Oh yes. Dragon shifter babies are born able to do a little more than human babies,” Seathan explained. He’d been studying.

“Is she hungry?” Addie wondered, but her daughter’s eyes drifted closed again. She’d made sure who was holding her and was content in her mother’s arms. Addie looked up at Seathan. “She’s absolutely perfect, Seathan. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my whole life.”

“She is perfect, just as you are,” Seathan said, kissing her forehead. He looked into his wife’s eyes and said, “Addie, I was so scared when they kicked us out of this room. You were bleeding so much. My fear showed me the truth.”

“The truth?”

“I love you, Addie. So much,” Seathan whispered, brushing a lock of her hair back. “I can’t live without you. I promise I’ll protect you and our daughter with every last breath in my body.”

A tear slipped down Addie’s cheek as she closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, Seathan could see the love shining in her eyes. “Seathan, I love you too.”

Addie began singing a lullaby to her daughter, gently rocking from side to side, with Seathan next to her. She carefully scooted over on the bed so he could lay down next to them. He stretched out on his side and listened to Addie’s lovely voice and the sweet breaths of his daughter.

*****

Three days later, Addie was propped up in the bed she shared with Seathan, gently rocking a bassinet next to her. She cooed lovingly to her baby, the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen. She shook her head as she thought of all the ways this baby was different than other babies she’d known.

For one, she was more beautiful, obviously, having inherited the best physical attributes of both parents. Another difference was the green scales. The scales were lovely, emerald-like, and Addie liked to run her fingertips over them when she caressed her child. At first, Addie had been frightened by them, but her love for her daughter overwhelmed the frightening aspect. And the scales had already begun to fade into her skin.

The last difference had surprised Addie. Human babies, witch babies, and were babies all nursed, drinking from their mothers’ bre*st the nourishment they needed. But dragon shifters did not nurse; rather, they craved the milk of goats and cows, preferably goats. Vada had explained that dragon shifter babies also began eating regular food much earlier than babies of other species. As early as three months, in fact.

Addie loved learning about her baby, and she smiled down at her as Kalea sighed in her sleep, making silly, adorable baby noises. Claire walked into the room quietly, a bottle in one hand and a tall glass of iced tea in the other.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Claire said her daughter. Her plan was to stay for three more days so Addie’s stitches could heal. She handed Addie the tea and placed the bottle gently into the bassinet. From her pocket, she retrieved the potion concocted by her friend, a witch, that would heal Addie’s wound quickly. “It’s time to put more medicine on your stitches.”