A New Beginning: Passing The Torch

Chapter 3

"Considering that no one else has children who are still young enough to remain in the nest, I wish them luck with that search."

Taureen chuckled in amusement as he turned his attention back to the Kymari version of a laptop, letting me sleep. Aeria had left the house to visit her family and buy some more fruit.

Taureen wouldn't leave the house while I was here, and I certainly wasn't leaving the immediate vicinity until my children could fly. He was willingly remaining in and around the house because I wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Sometimes his dedication simply boggled my mind.

Impatient and demanding creeling woke me up yet again, even though I had just barely fallen asleep. I now saw why most parents welcomed help after the first day or so.

The hatchlings weren't quite twenty-four hours old, but they had certainly kept me awake most of that time, and I had been awake during the daylight hours before that as well. The lack of sleep affected my dragonet body far more than it had affected me as a human.

Taureen quietly asked, "Do you want me to feed them? I can keep an eye on them if you two want to get some decent sleep for the next couple of hours."

Originally, he had said that he was more than willing to help, and we just had ask. We hadn't asked yet, nor had we accepted any assistance, simply due to how protective we were. This was his first direct offer, but considering that I hadn't let him even move the stump yet to get a good look at the hatchlings, his inquiry was tentative.

This was also about the time that most dragonet parents finally gave into their exhaustion and accepted help with the hatchlings; their desire for rest overcoming their refusal to let anyone else near the nest.

Keegan whispered tiredly into my mind, "I'm not sure about you, but I'm ready for a solid hour of uninterrupted sleep. We can see how he does and decide if we want to take a nap on his pillow."

With a big sigh of resignation, I finally accepted the inevitable. I tiredly told Taureen, "Alright."

I sat up to supervise with watchful eyes as Taureen carefully lifted the stump and moved it to the side. The sudden open air and change in light made the hatchlings fall silent and huddle down, instinctively trying to become less noticeable in case of danger.

I crooned a reassurance from where I sat under the main heat lamp, and with that encouragement, they immediately lifted their heads with open mouths as they resumed begging.

Taureen picked up the dish of sliced fruit as he teased me, "Are you sure you were feeding them? They sound like they haven't eaten in days."

I snorted loudly, and Keegan coughed a laugh at the unexpected comment.

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Right. Your fruit is faulty; it isn't keeping them full."

He started feeding the hatchlings the tiny pieces of fruit. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who picked out the fruit."

Flicking my wings, I dismissed his comment without a reply. It was the truth, though; I had spent quite a bit of time examining the large selection of fruit that Taureen had in the kitchen. Fruit that was really sweet, sour, or acidic was out of the question for the tiny babies. Once they had grown big enough to fly, we could slowly expand their diet.

The appearance of a large green hand caught the hatchlings off guard at first, but they almost immediately realized that it held food, and that was good enough for them. Even watching Taureen closely, I couldn't find anything to criticize. He fed a single small piece to one hatchling before feeding the other one. The type of fruit was also changed and distributed evenly between the two.

I really wasn't that surprised by his tender care. As my bond animal handler, Taureen probably spent far more time observing me and studying my behaviors than I wanted to contemplate. If someone were to ask how I would react to a certain situation, chances were that Taureen's response would probably be more accurate than my own.

Apparently, Keegan also came to this conclusion, and stood up with a huge yawn before flying down the hallway as he headed to Taureen's bedroom for some sleep. As tired as I was, I kept watching, not quite ready to give up my guard post just yet.

I remained, observing, as Taureen fed the two tiny creatures and cleaned up their presents. The stump was placed back over them so the heat lamp would keep them warm.

I sighed tiredly. "Thanks."

He smiled sympathetically at me. "Anytime. Go get some sleep. I'll watch over them until you wake up."

I knew I could trust Taureen, and sleep beckoned to me like an undeniable siren's song. With one last glance back, I took flight to go find Keegan as well as some peace and quiet. I landed lightly on Taureen's pillow, where Keegan was already curled up. I wasted no time in curling up beside him and falling asleep.

I felt much better when I woke up, and judging from the darkness outside the window, it was the middle of the night. To my surprise, Aeria was on her side of the bed - I hadn't even noticed her come in. Keegan was still sleeping soundly, so I quietly flew out of the room. The lights had been turned down some, but Taureen was still in his seat, currently feeding the bottomless pits again.

I landed on one of the shoulder pads that he always wore as I watched him continue to feed the hatchlings.

Taureen murmured, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. How long was I asleep?"

"Most of the night. Are they supposed to wake up this often at night? With birds, the chicks sleep through the night."

I scratched at an ear tuft. "It will be a few weeks before they stop wanting to eat constantly, but they will be able to feed themselves within a few days."

"That makes sense. I did notice that they are moving a bit more than they did before, and I'm pretty certain that they have grown while I have been sitting here." The slight disbelief in his voice made me chuckle.

"All that food has to go somewhere, and they will grow quickly. Within just a few days, it will be nearly impossible to confine them in that nest."

The blue and scarlet hatchlings finally quieted and fell asleep once more.

Taureen said, "I'm getting a lot of request for updates, particularly pictures. I did release an update that you finally let me see them, and apparently, everyone wants to see pictures of cute babies. Feel like posing with them?"

The pictures would be inevitable, so I decided to accept it as gracefully as I could. It didn't bother me if he took pictures of me, but the hatchlings were still a touchy subject. I jumped down to the end table and curled up around them as I partially mantled one wing over the intertwined ball of blue and red scales. As best as I could tell, the tight ball had three wings, one head, two legs, and a tail...

The camera was soon pointed in my direction, and I gazed towards the window at the side of the room, trying for a relaxed, yet watchful, pose. Taureen took a few pictures before scrolling through them.

"So, how bad do I look?"

"Like you aren't exactly impressed that I removed the stump, which was to be expected. If the babies weren't two different colors, then I would have to reassure people that there were still two of them. They look particularly tiny in the picture."

I went over to my food bowl and had a midnight snack while Taureen replaced the hut over the sleeping duo and posted the picture on the Kymari version of the internet. Curling up under the main heat lamp, I decided to try for another nap since it was nighttime and I wasn't exactly too sure how much sleep I would get over the next few days.