Tasha’s POV:

Hungry creeling disturbed my sleep yet again. I wasn’t sure which one started first, but the second hatchling swiftly joined the clamor for more food. It was the most demanding alarm clock I’d ever had.

I muttered to Keegan, “Your turn. I fed them the last two times…”

The hatchlings had woken up at least twice an hour to demand food, and like the puppy I had once had, as soon as they had been fed, they left something to be cleaned up. Between the feeding and the cleaning, I had barely gotten any sleep all night. Keegan hadn’t fared much better even though we’d been taking turns.

Taureen had originally left his bedroom door open in case we needed something, but had closed it around midnight, telling us to mindspeak him if we wanted anything. The sound-proof door was probably a blessing; it shouldn’t have been possible for the two tiny creatures to make so much noise.

Even as tired as I was, it was hard to fall asleep since my ear tufts perked up at any sound. My instincts were making me a light sleeper since I might need to defend the nest from predators. The timer on the main heat lamp had switched the light off when the sun set, but it kept producing heat. The room lighting had been turned down to provide dim illumination, just enough for us to see without disturbing our attempts to sleep.

Keegan sluggishly went inside to drop more food into the ravenous maws of our children. A faint odor made me wrinkle my nose. Well, what goes in, has to come out, but one of those two has some seriously nasty gas. I’m glad I’m not inside that small hut at the moment.

I also knew what the gas was heralding, and it wasn’t long before Keegan came out to fetch the leather gloves. The creels died down now that the nestlings were sated and relieved. Keegan exited the hut with a small disposable baggie that he promptly took to the airtight garbage can by the backdoor.

He came back and curled up beside me. I rested my head against his shoulder as I fell back to sleep.

***

Yawning sleepily, I dropped more slivers of fruit into two pink mouths that were apparently attached to black holes. If nothing else, the insatiable babies were visibly bigger, even though it was only just after lunch.

Eventually, they were full once more and curled around one another to sleep. I nuzzled them affectionately as I mindlinked my love to them. They were far too young for speech—or even coherent thoughts—but I did get back a faint sense of full stomachs and pleasantly warm sand.

Their ability to use mindspeech would develop as they grew. As their parents, Keegan and I would be the only ones they would be able to “speak” to for about three weeks. After that point, things could get fun. Thankfully, by the time they would be old enough to use true mindspeech, they would also be old enough to understand that they should only speak to other dragonets or certain Kymari.

I left the stump and flopped onto the sand where Keegan was attempting to nap. Attempting being the key word. It really wasn’t possible to sleep anywhere in the vicinity while the hatchlings were creeling.

Taureen commented from his seat, “After listening to the amount of noise those two make, I’m simply baffled about why no Kymari has ever managed to locate a wild dragonet’s nest.”

Regarding him out of one sleepy eye, I replied, “If a Kymari gets too close to a wild nest, the parents give a quiet warning hiss, and they will remain silent for some time.”

The noisy hatchlings in the nest seemed to amuse Taureen. “Most assumed that hatchlings were very quiet. Just before lunch, I released an audio recording of them to satisfy the numerous requests for an update. I suspect several Kymari will search the park for the next few days to try and be the first to locate a wild nest. They’d be interested in see if there are any differences between how the wild ones raise their young and what my notes and records show.”

“Considering no one else has children 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 more fruit, but 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 of me. Sometimes his dedication simply boggled my mind.

***

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

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Dirk and Tessa weren’t quite twenty-four hours old, but they had certainly kept me awake most of that time. I had been awake during the daylight hours before their hatching as well and 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 a couple hours of decent sleep.”

Originally, he had said he was more than willing to help, and we just had to ask. We hadn’t asked simply due to how protective we were. This was his first direct offer, but considering that I hadn’t let him remove the stump to get a good look at the hatchlings yet, 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. “Alright.”

I sat up to supervise 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 and 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 in the kitchen. Fruit that was really sweet, sour, or acidic was out of the question for the tiny babies. Once they were big enough to fly, we could gradually expand their diet.

The appearance of a large green hand caught the hatchlings off guard at first, but once they realized it held food, 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.

Apparently, Keegan also came to this conclusion. He stood up with a huge yawn before flying down the hallway 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 by the nest, observing Taureen as he 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.”

His smile was sympathetic. “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 and some peace and quiet. I landed on Taureen’s pillow where Keegan had curled up and snuggled beside him.

***

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, feeding the bottomless pits again.

I landed on one of the shoulder pads that he always wore and 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? With birds, the chicks sleep at night.”

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

“That makes sense. I noticed they’re moving more than they did before, and I’m pretty certain they have grown while I’ve been sitting here.” The slight disbelief in his voice made me chuckle.

“All that food has to go somewhere, and they will grow quickly. In 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 requests for updates, mostly for pictures. I did tell them that you finally let me see them, and apparently, they want to see 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 around them as I partially mantled a 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 toward the side window, 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, I’d 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 placed 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 I wasn’t exactly too sure how much sleep I might get over the next few days.