A Dragon's Mermaid

Chapter Thirty 🐉

Avalon yawns as she rests her head on my chest. "We will deal with that tomorrow".

My arms wrap around her waist, and I lower my chin on her head. Avalon's eyes flutter closed, and I listen to her breathing. She is asleep once her breathing becomes softer and even. The sound relaxes me, and I find myself drifting to sleep. My sleep is peaceful and dreamless. I do not know for how long I have slept. All I know is that I suddenly wake up. The soothing weight of Avalon's body leaves mine. I hear footsteps rushing, and then a loud splash. My eyes open and quickly adjust to the dark room. Our bedroom in the cave has no natural lighting. However, there are dim lights that are activated by sensors.

When I get out of bed I notice the lights are on. I follow Avalon's scent, which leads me to the large pool. While it may appear to be a modern pool the water comes from the mountains natural hot spring. These caves were remodeled with care when my brothers and I were hatchlings. Apparently, father convinced the elders it was not to modernize. During the same year the den also began renovations. 

I stop walking once I am at the edge of the pool. My eyes scan the calm water, waiting for my mate to surface. I do not have to wait long before she comes up from the water. Her naturally wavy ombré blue hair is wet, and sticks to her skin. Beautiful shades of blue scales cover head body in patchwork. The scales shimmer softly due to the light. Avalon hums as she floats on her back, and then rests a hand on her stomach.

"Are you well my treasure?" I ask as I sit down near the edge of the pool. My feet dip into the warm water.

She turns her attention toward me, and gives me a small smile. "Yes I am fine and sorry for waking you. I had a sudden strong need to be in the water," she says.

I raise an eyebrow since this need to be in the water may mean she is with a hatchling. I have always wanted to have a family with my mate. Some individuals may assume otherwise due to my persona. As a clan leader and CEO I tend to put on a colder appearance outside of the den. Of course I would never do that in the presence of my mate. I would not deny Avalon who I am in any environment or situation.

"Do not apologize for waking me up. Are you feeling well otherwise?"

Avalon turns over and swims over to my side with ease. When she reaches me Avalon rests her chin on my lap. My fingers run through her cold wet hair. She leans into my touch and hums softly. We stare into each others eyes and enjoy a pleasant silence.

Suddenly, Avalon's scales begin to glow against my touch. She grips onto my leg, and looks at me. She whimpers softly, and I gently rub her upper back.

"Well it seems like we have our answer," says Avalon.

Before I can question what she means, Avalon swims backwards. When there is enough distance I can see a light golden glow near her stomach. Avalon has a big smile on her face as she looks at her stomach.

"There is probably more than one guppy, but I would like the healers to confirm that," says Avalon.

"How are you able to tell if there are multiple hatchlings?"

My eyes focus on her stomach, and I am somewhat able to detect new life. There is the sound of a faint additional heartbeat. The only reason I can sense the hatchling is because I am the father, and a clan leader. At this early stage I am not able to identify how many hatchlings we are having.

"The glow is slightly brighter and the pain I felt should have been more mild. That could mean multiple guppies or one very powerful child," explains Avalon.

I smile at the thought because either option would make me proud. Well, I will be proud of my children regardless. If father was still alive he would no doubt be bragging about our superior genes to his friends.