I've seen this coming for the past month.

Watching.

Waiting.

We waited.

My wife and I kept them warm. Always watching them.

Yet here I sit. In the bathroom brushing my scales as I stare at my reflection. Scales as white as snow that are already clean yet it continues. Nervous green eyes stare back at what will happen very soon. My body is slim and lightly shaking from the nerves.

"You're going to be a dad."

The words left my mouth but they sounded alien. Unfamiliar. I've said them before but they had never hit me as strong as they did now.

Right now my wife is laying in the bedroom with our eggs, waiting for my return as I work up my courage. My claws feel cemented to the tiles under me.

Two eggs. I'm going to be a father of two hatchlings very soon. Any minute now. One of them had moved earlier, signifying a soon hatching. I tried to stay with my wife but my nerves got to me. It feels like my scales are vibrating, never had I felt them do this before. Is that normal?

I turn on the sink and run the brush through the flowing faucet to clean it. The brush isn't even dirty as my scales are already clean, I just feel the need to do it. Turning it off, I return to brushing. The scales on the back of my head and neck are larger and spike out. They tend to be the hardest to brush.

Am I really ready to do this? To be a father? To take care of two hatchlings? That feels alien too.

Should I polish my horns too? Should I look good for when they hatch? I have a tuxedo in the closet I could wear…

My horns are white and antler-like. Still look mostly polished from this morning.

"Come on, Galderus. You've been waiting for this moment for the past 5,400 years. You can't just chicken out on the night of their hatching."

…

More brushing is needed. To work up my courage.

The wooden brush slips from my claws and clatters to the floor.

"Honey? Are you going to hide in there all night and miss our eggs hatching?" My wife calls from the bedroom. Selen is her name. Her voice is rougher than mine, sounding strong.

"I uh… I'll be out in a second." She's right. I can't stay in here forever. Even if my nerves are crawling i can't miss seeing them hatch for the first time.

Picking up the fallen brush I return it to its spot next to the sink.

"Ok. You can do this. Just walk out there and join her." As I walk to the door my mind shifts to the thought of my brother, Kemok. I had called him when the eggs first moved and he said he would get here as soon as possible. Kemok tends to be very busy but I doubt he would miss a moment like this. I just hope he gets here soon. He isn't really needed but his experience as a doctor would be nice to have nearby if needed.

Opening the door I see my wife selen. She is a yellow scaled dragoness with blue eyes and tan stick-like horns. She has well built muscles and has many scars doting her body. Selen is currently laying on the bed with her tail curled around the eggs next to her protectively.

"How are the eggs?" The eggs have a towel under them so when they hatch it would be easier to clean the shell pieces.

"One is still moving here and there but the other hasn't yet." She tells me. "Could you close the window? The night is getting too cold for the eggs."

"Sure." Maybe we really do need Kemok. The fact that only one of the eggs are moving has me worried but maybe its too early to judge. Its still going to worry me.

I look out the open window as a cool gust of wind blows in. It's a dark alley just outside the window and the faint sound of a distant party reaches my ears. Seeing nobody outside I shut the window and close the curtains. "Better?"

Selen nods and I return to her.

Laying down on the bed I settle myself next to the eggs across from her. My tail meets hers and they curl around each other lovingly.

"Still feeling nervous, Galderus?" She nuzzles my neck and I do the same with hers. Rough scales interrupted by a scar that disfigures them here and there. Her beauty might be damaged but she is still the dragoness I fell for.

"Maybe. But I should be here with you and the eggs instead of locking myself in the bathroom." I can't believe how calm she is about this. If I hadn't known her for most of my life I'd say she had done this before. But I knew that wasn't why.

One of the eggs move and our attention turns to them.

Two white oval shaped eggs sitting next to each other on a red towel. The same one moves again, teetering left to right.

"I feel that it will hatch any second now." Selen tells me and she sniffs the egg.

"The other one still hasn't moved?"

"No... Not yet at least." Her tail squeezes mine which I return. We both are worried.

*Ding dong!*

Both of our heads perk up to the sound of our doorbell ringing.

"Kemok got here faster than I expected." I tell her as i get up, our tails untangling.

"Ill stay here with the eggs. Don't be long, honey." She tells me and we nuzzle.

Leaving the bedroom's carpet floor, my claws meet the hardwood hallway. Claws lightly clicking with every step as I make my way to the living room. Coming to the front door I unlock it and open it.

Waiting outside on the steps is a dragon that looks almost identical to myself. White scales, green eyes, thin build. The only difference is his horns are ram-like.

"Kemok." I smile which he returns with one of his own.

"Galderus. Am I late? Did they hatch already?" He enters as I open the door for him. Closing the door and locking it I start leading him back to the bedroom.

"No, you are just in time. Selen feels that one will hatch very soon."

"She would know. Only one? What about the other egg?"

"It hasn't moved yet. We're feeling a bit worried."

"Give it more time. Has Selen shown any overprotectiveness? Has she been snappy or bitey?" Dragons today are much different than their ancestors, most primitive instincts were gone but can still show up on very rare occasions. Overly protective mother dragons were rare but the least rare when their eggs were due to hatching.

"She is fine. I'd probably lose a wing if she did."

We make it to the bedroom and see Selen look to them from the eggs.

"It's hatching."

My heart almost stops at those two words. The tingling of my scales that were fading away returned in force. Without thought my legs quickly carried me back to the bed where I then laid back down in my spot.

One of the eggs, the one that had been moving, has a long jagged crack on its surface. The egg teeters again and another crack appears on it.

Kemok sits at the foot of the bed as all three of them watched is silence.

Little muffled squeaks come from the hatching egg as it breaks more and more.

Then a little muzzle breaks through and takes in its first breath. A cute small white scaled muzzle. Gulping in oxygen.

Kemok watches with calculating green eyes for anything wrong.

The hatchling then shifts in its egg before breaking free. The egg breaks into pieces that sticks to it as it falls over onto the towel.

Snow white scales cover its body and it has short stick-like tan horns on its head. It opens its eyes, revealing them to be blue as it sees its parents for the first time.

Feelings flow through me at the sight of our hatchling. Feelings I've never had before mixed with ones that I was familiar with.

"Congratulations, it's a boy. Looks like a healthy hatchling." Kemok tells us with a smile. The hatchling looks to him at the sound of his voice.

"Kaid. His name will be Kaid." Selen tells us as she picks the stuck egg shells off the hatchling.

"Kaid… I like it. I get to name the other one, right?" I had the perfect name for the other one if it turns out to be a male too.

"You can't name it Stratacaster, Galderus." Selen lightly growls at me and I sigh. Kemok just rolls his eyes.

"Fine..."

"Really, Galderus? From that old book our grandpa used to read to us?"

"It's a cool name. How could I not use it?"

The hatchling squeaks and playfully bats at his mothers claw before losing its balance and falling over. Squirming a little it quickly figures out how to stand again, pushing itself back into a standing position. Putting one leg in front of the other it shakily stumbles but is slowly figuring out how to walk.

Taking another step it loses balance and falls against the other egg, making the egg roll onto its side.

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"Careful, Kaid. Your sibling is in there." I tell the hatchling as Selen picks him up with her tail and sets him closer to her.

I turn the egg back up right with a claw, that's when I feel it faintly move. A small bit of life shifting just inside.

"Selen, I felt the egg move." Both Selen and Kemok look at it. Kemok looked worried.

"Did it move like Kaid's egg did or was it barely there?"

"It was faintly moving. Why?"

"At the hospital hatchery I've seen eggs with hatchlings that are too weak to break out by themselves. We would have to break them out ourselves to save them but they would grow up too weak to take care of themselves or have health defects." Kemok looked apologetic at what he is implying, but had to tell us.

My heart jumped into my throat and Selen look equally affected.

"Your saying…" I couldn't bring myself to finish my sentence.

"When a hatchling is ready to hatch it will wake up and break itself out in the span of an hour. But if its body forms with a defect it might wake up too weak to break out itself. May I inspect the egg to make sure that isn't the issue?"

He didn't even really have to ask to hold it as I was already picking it up to hand it to him. He's my brother so of course I trusted him. Selen didn't make any complaints but she did keep a watchful eye as Kemok gently took it from my claws.

My brother sat there with the egg in his claw. Then he brings it to his ear and listens.

Kaid lets out little squeaks which stole Selens attention. She uses her claws to play with the hatchling which Kaid would bite and claw, unable to damage his mothers scales.

Kemok slowly sets the egg back down in its spot on the towel and lets out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Selen. Galderus. But it's not able to break its way out on its own."

Selen grips the bed with her free paw and her claws sink in.

"So what should we do? Break it out? Isn't that important for its development?" Selen asks with an edge to her voice. Neither of us were mad at Kemok but we didn't like the thought of losing a hatchling before it could even hatch or even ruining it for the rest of its life.

"Leaving it as it is would kill the hatchling so this leaves two options. You either let it pass on or free it and let it live with what problems it has. Even then it could die shortly after. I cant make this choice for you as it is up to the both of you as the parents.

Neither choice sounded good to me. Wasn't there another option? "Couldn't we take it to the hospital or use magic to fix the egg?"

Kemok shakes his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Galderus. But those are the only choices. The hospital cant fix something like this and there are no magic users powerful enough are almost unheard of. The hatchling could die long before you can find one. Id give it 30 minutes before it passes."

Crushing. That's how the news felt. To hear that there was no right option hurt. I look to my wife. She looks very unhappy and angry. Her lips partially parted and showing some teeth.

"We are not just going to let it die. We will break it out and let it decide if it will live, Kemok." She sounded very sure.

Kemok looks to me and I nod. What she said made sense to me.

"Then you know what to do." Kemok tells us.

I make eye contact with my wife.

"Should you do it, Selen? Your claws are steadier than mine." I then look to my brother. "Cant you? Your claws are way steadier than ours. And you are a doctor."

But Kemok shakes his head again. "As a doctor it is my job to save lives. But we have a rule that forbids me from stepping in to help with this. I'm sorry, I would if I could."

"Take Kaid, honey. Ill do it." She holds out the hatchling with her tail which I took into mine. Setting the little guy down against my chest she picks up the still egg. Kaid's scales feel soft since he is freshly hatched, as his scales dry they will harden.

The room is quiet as Selen lays there with the egg in her claws. She stares hard at it and I wonder what she could be thinking. Thinking of how to best break it without hurting the hatchling inside? Rethinking about doing this?

"Kyn." She says.

"What?"

"His name will be Kyn and he will live a full life."

"How do you know it will be a he?" How could she when it isn't even out of its egg yet?

"A mother just knows." Kemok tells me.

"Kaid and Kyn." I test the names. The image of two white hatchlings play through my mind, both looking identical but with minor differences. Like me and my brother.

Selen and I smile. It seems we were both thinking of the same thing.

*Crack*

Selen gently creates a crack along its surface with a claw, being careful not to pierce or crush it.

*Crick*

*Clck*

She moves her claw away after she makes a hole.

Then a muzzle pokes out of the hole with a color I did not expect.

Black.

"A form of defect?" Kemok mumbles to himself in curiosity as he leans in to get a closer look.

The hatchling inside takes in deep needy breaths of air and little coughs as it struggles to breath.

"Underdeveloped lungs?" Kemok mumbles again.

"Should I break Kyn out completely?" Selen asks as she holds it.

"If it couldn't do it before then it can now. Go ahead, Selen." He tells her.

Carefully she breaks the egg apart piece by piece. Soon she has half of the egg gone, revealing Kyn's Black scaled body. Amongst its black scales were red ones clustered around its body. Black segmented horns that end in a point.

The hatchling looks nothing like either of us.

"Hes another boy, congrats to you two." Kemok tells us as Selen removes the last of the shell. She then lays Kyn down on the towel where he lays there unmoving except for his breathing and little coughs. "I don't see any deformities except that he is too thin and has trouble breathing. Hold him close to your body to share your warmth, it could help his body develop and might help with his breathing troubles. It works with mammals so it might help." Kemok instructs her and she does as he says, holding Kyn softly to her chest and keeping it warm.

Kemok then stands up. "I'll be back. I'm going to go and get something to help with its breathing. I think there's a store with medicine nearby."

"There's a little store two blocks away called Romario's Ailments." I tell him. Kemok is our neighbor but he had moved in just after we moved in to this place 2 months ago. So we were all kinda new to the area.

"Alright ill head there. Be back soon." With that he leaves the room and into the hall at a fast pace.

The room is quiet after he left other than the squeaks of Kain as the hatchling bites my claws.

"Are you okay, Selen?" She is staring down at Kyn held against her chest. Her attention breaks away and shifts to me. Then she does something I hadn't seen her do in over 1,000 years, a tear drips down the side of her face followed by another.

She is holding back most of her feelings but some of it is getting through.

"Its okay, Selen. Kyn will be fine." I wrap my tail around hers and squeeze tightly. She returns the hold.

She opens her mouth to speak but all that comes out is a warbled croak. Closing her mouth she looks away.

For as long as I've known her she didn't like showing weakness. She can be gentle, loving or even rough if she has to but she hated showing this side. So I did what I always did in these rare moments. Spreading a wing out I covered her where she hid her face and silently wept.

We laid there like that in silence for a bit.

Eventually she pulls from under my wing that I then retract back. Her eyes are red but the tears are gone.

"I love you, Selen."

"I love you too, Galderus."

10 minutes later Kemok returns. A paper bag hangs from his mouth as he walks in. Selen's eyes aren't red anymore.

Sitting back in his spot at the foot of the bed he sets the bag down.

"Okay. I got some incense and other stuff that might help with his breathing. It might not help much but its better than nothing."

"Thank you kemok for helping." Selen tells him and slides the bag closer to her so she could dig through it.

"No problem. It's the best I can do for my nephew in need. I can't wait to watch them grow up."

Selen pulls out a small tube of a gel ment to clear airways for breathing. Opening it she applies it and rubs it around Kyns nostrils. The hatchling doesn't make any movement to stop her. It's to give off a smell that opens your airways.

Within seconds Kyn's breathing smoothes out just a little. He's still coughing a bit but it's something. Anything is better than nothing.

"That's the best I can do for now. So I think I should give you two alone time and turn in for the night."

"Take the guest room. I know you live right next door but it would make us feel better if you were closer." I asked him. It really would make us feel better…

"Then i'll grab a few things from my house and sleep here." With that Kemok gets up and heads back to the door. "Goodnight." He leaves and the bedroom door clicks closed.

I fold up the towel with the eggshells in it and set it on the floor off the bed. Grabbing Kain, I move closer to Selen till our sides are touching. The lively little hatchling let out chirps, wanting to play and squirming and biting. Kain will learn how to speak soon, in about a month he will know the basics.

Selen and i watch as i release the little demon who then jumps out of my claws. He mostly stumbles over his own legs as he runs around the mattress in front of us. Biting anything he can sink his teeth in which is just the bed and blankets, shredding the material.

"Were going to have to teach him not to do that…" Selen tells me with a smile at her son's antics.

"As long as he doesnt get into the closet. I need my suits for work."

We watch him for a bit longer in silence.

I feel better than I did before they hatched, it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. My scales no longer tingled and I feel more sure about this.

I'm a dad now.

And Selen, my beautiful wife, is now a mother.

Being a dad of two. I can definitely do that, taking care of two hatchlings for the next 300 years sounds exciting. Would they take after me? Or would they be more like their mother? Maybe a mix of both of us?

"They are going to be hungry in the morning."

I hadn't picked up any meat from the store today and all the meat we have is cooked. New hatchlings are to be fed raw meat as their first meal by cultural standards. Our ancestors used to be fully carnivorous. Raw meat tastes fine but doesn't taste anywhere as cooked and seasoned. I liked mine well done.

"Ill pick up some meat in the morning before they wake up. The stores are probably already closed." I lay on my side and a sigh escapes my lips. I felt tired already even though I left work early to be here. I wonder if Kemok feels the same.

Selen watches me and bumps my shoulder with her muzzle.

"We should sleep early. Even Kain is getting tired."

Kain was indead running out of steam already. Once hyper and biting everything, now he is sitting close to Selen with his eyes trying to stay open. Pieces of our blanket sticking out of his mouth, Selen starts taking them out. Kain moves his mouth away but a light growl from her gets him to stay still.

I get up and turn off the light, drenching the room in darkness. Layne back down with Selen we blanketed a wing over each others backs.

"Do you have Kyn?" I ask her as I grab Kain, pulling him close and he cuddles against my warm scales.

"I have him." She lays her head down with Kyn in both of her claws against her chest.

"Goodnight, Selen."

"Goodnight, Honey."

It wasn't long till I heard her fall asleep, her breathing turning gentle and slow. Kain had fallen asleep too.

The only other sound was Kyn's coughs.

My heart clenches with worry. It didn't sound good but there is nothing else we can do.

I didnt expect for his scales to turn out black. It common just as any other scale color is but when was the last time that color showed up in either of our families? It couldn't be from my side as all of my families colors are white. It couldn't be from Selen's side either. Kyn has my scale pattern…

Kemok mentioned it was a defect. Two light scaled dragons don't make a black dragon so it could just be that something went wrong with him in the egg while he was still forming.

The idea of cheating wasn't on the table. We know of no dragon that is black and she doesn't like getting hit on by other males. Honestly, when I first met her I thought she was into females.

Defect.

What if he doesnt ma-

I shake my head free of the thought.

No. They were both going to grow up together.

They were going to learn together and watch each other's backs as they grow up.

I cant wait to take care of them tomorrow with Selen. I had cleared my schedule for it.

Slowly my mind fades into the lull of sleep…

It wasn't until the middle of the night that Kyn stopped breathing and passed away.