Misunderstood Love

Chapter 6 - Let the motherhood begin

"The baskets full! What do I do now?" Spittlebug heard a voice from the other side of the blueberry bush. she craned her neck over to see a small red and orange SkyWing dragonet standing there, his woven basket indeed full.

"Just put it beside the house, Kinglet," She answered him. He rushed off to do what she said.

The HiveWing's farm was doing great. She mostly grew grains, but she had planted some blueberry and strawberry plants, two of her favourites. A small row of apple trees also grew in the back. The seeds she got just said "Apple" on them, so she wasn't sure which type of apples the little sprouts would produce.

But because her farm was doing so well, she ended up needing help. And that help came from the local schools, whos dragonets were just let out for the summer. She paid the small helpers well, and the ones who had summer jobs before said this was their best job so far. She had also employed the NightWing who had ended up fathering Mildew's eggs, Soulcrusher. He ended up being a pretty nice dragon to hang out with. And even though he didn't want any part in raising the eggs once they hatched, as he had practically no money, he was pretty good with them when her and Meltwater brought the eggs out to show him. He said he would be excited to see them during work once they hatched. And that would be really soon. It had already been a year since Mildew laid the eggs, believe it or not.

"Uh, hey Spittlebug," She suddenly heard Meltwater from the open door. Her voice had a hint of panic, which made the tiny HiveWing stop what she was doing immediately. "I think one of the eggs is hatching."

Spittlebug was there in an instant, along with Soulcrusher and a few of the dragonets helping. One asked if they could watch, and when Spittlebug responded with a definite yes, she called the others over. They all walked inside.

The eggs were just inside, soaking in the sunlight that was filtering in through the large kitchen window. One egg had significantly more cracks then the other. The group sat for a while, waiting for something to happen.

"I never got to see a hatching before," One SeaWing said to the other in the room. He responded with a "me too."

Spittlebug had also never witnessed a hatching before. She was a little nervous, as she didn't quite know what to do, but one of the MudWings in the group was telling her and Meltwater how a MudWing hatching happened.

Finally, the egg cracked a little more, and a talon shot out. It was SO TINY! Spittlebug knew dragonets were small, but that small? She wasn't quite sure if it was the normal size of a newly hatched dragonet, or of it had something to do with Mildew's lifestyle. The dragonet looked around, before pouncing on the next egg. Spittlebug reached over to stop him, but the MudWing helper beside her told her he was just helping his siblings hatch.

The next dragonet was limp and not moving. Meltwater picked her up and quickly examined her, before declaring she was dead. The next dragonet needed no examination. It was clearly dead. As soon as the tiny hybrid cracked its shell open, a slight foul sent wafted though the air, and a half formed dragonet flopped out. There was faint tapping from the next egg, and the dragonet helped another, this time alive, dragonet out of it's shell. The last dragonet was also dead. Two dragonets, brothers, stood on the table before the group.

"That one has my tail," Soulcrusher said suddenly, breaking the silence. He picked up the dragonet in question and looked at the tiny, nervous creature. Spittlebug picked up the other one. This one was a lot squirmier. He tried to wriggle out of her hands, but Spittlebug held on tight.

I'll give you a good home. She thought to herself. You and your brother. You have a wonderful future ahead of you.