Book IV: Avi Dragon

Family History

"And to do that, you need to eat," his mother interjected. "Come on, you two. Lunch is getting cold."
   Having Shifted twice in the span of one morning, they were both ravenous. He took a step toward the house, and his foot dropped down to plantigrade. They'd forgotten about his feet, but it seemed that when he wasn't thinking, his body did what it needed, automatically.
   Angel apologized, holding him steady until his other foot followed suit. :I've just had a thought.:
   :Hmm?:
   They walked into the house, sniffing appreciatively.
   :What if the reason you have so much trouble is because you're too far removed from dragon stock? I guess I'm saying you're too human. Your brain gets in the way. It's when you stop thinking so much that it comes naturally.:
   He was glad there was a chair waiting for him.
   :I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but your siblings would probably have just as much trouble as you do. The kids won't, but they've got a fresh injection of dragon blood...: She trailed off awkwardly and dug into the piles of food, heaped on platters in front of them.
   He didn't know if her words helped, but the food definitely did. He'd never been so hungry in his entire life! He remembered what his mother said, the day she Shifted, but it was an entirely different thing to experience firsthand. It felt like his stomach had no bottom, no matter how much he ate.
   As many times as he filled his plate, Angel filled hers twice more. She felt guilty every time, but Shelly never said a cross word. Finally, she asked if it was always this bad.
   "We'd go broke at the grocery store!"
   Shelly laughed. "You're young yet. It'll even out as your body gets used to it."
   Angel snorted. "I'm not that young, but I guess that's only if you're counting human years."
   Her mother-in-law nodded. "A dragon isn't even considered an adult until they reach their first century. You're just a baby, in dragon years."
   Angel shook her head. "By that metric, I'd be in elementary school." She elbowed her husband. "You'd be in dragon kindergarten."
   Even Mike was startled into a chuckle.
   Avi kissed his wife's cheek. "I'll remind you of that, next time you say you're old."
   Angel wrinkled her nose at him, her mouth too full to argue.
   Mike had finished eating a while ago, as had his wife. He worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been itching at the back of his mind for months.
   "So, how long does a dragon live?"
   Avi's fork froze midair. Shelly's cup hovered above the table for a beat. As for Angel, she'd forgotten that Mike was married to a dragoness.
   "Hundreds of years, or so the lore goes. Some live to be a couple thousand years old." She shrugged. "You'd think I'd know, but..." She looked at Shelly, and the realization of what she'd just said struck her dumb.
   "Oh... I forgot. I'm sorry, I..." Her face crumpled with mortification.
   Avi put a hand on her arm, but it was Mike who broke the tension. He laughed. "Oh, I've known for a while that I'm the younger man." He puffed out his chest for comedic effect. "Some guys marry a cougar, but I married a dragon!"
   Angel choked back a laugh, until she saw the others laughing.
   "Seriously! What can I ask you about? How much history have you seen? You've been holding out on me!" The teacher in him came out, and they half expected him to grab a notebook and pen. Shelly finally, fully, relaxed. Years melted off her face, and into a brilliant, radiant grin.
   "Oh, you." She patted his arm, love in her eyes. "If you really want to know, we can talk history later. I'll warn you, though, the books don't get as much right as you think."
   He slapped the table. "That's why I'm asking! You've got to tell me what Ben Franklin was like. Was he really a dirty old man?"
   Her eyelashes batted like a coy maid. "Who says I knew old Ben?"
   He grabbed her around the waist, growled into her hair. She flapped a hand and giggled something that sounded like "Oughwidgye!"
   Avi looked at Angel, his face as unburdened and free as his mother's. "Thank you."
   She wiped their daughter's face with one hand, a slice of cornbread halfway to her own mouth. "For what?"
   He angled his head toward his parents. Their parents. "For that. I haven't seen them this happy in a while."
   She bit into the cornbread, her brows curled into uncertain question marks. She nodded awkwardly and patted his shoulder.
   They let the elder Kaplans enjoy each other's company, while they cleared the table and washed the dishes. Shelly was busy dishing juicy details. She had them all laughing at her colorful descriptions of historical figures. They'd never know if she was telling the truth, or taking advantage of their ignorance, and none of them actually cared.
   The baby gurgled and swatted the table happily, until her mother picked her up to save the varnish. She went right back to putting dishes away, her daughter comfortably situated on her hip with very little effort.
   Avi dried another plate for her to put away, smiling like the besotted man that he was. When she took the plate from him, confusion flitted across her features. She still found it hard to believe that he loved her, even when it was stamped on his face so clearly that she could see it without the Bond.
   "How do you do that?" He asked, a bowl swaddled in the towel.
   She leaned against the counter, and their daughter barely budged. "Do what?"
   "That." He gestured with the bowl within the towel. "How do you get her to stay put so well? She just slides right off of me."
   Angel chuckled; that low, throaty laugh that sent heat to places he didn't want to think about around his daughter, or his parents.
   "Biological advantage. I can't take credit for these hips." She waggled them in a figure eight that did nothing to lessen his discomfort. Their daughter enjoyed the ride, while he was trying to think neutral thoughts.
   He had to clear his throat before asking her to take the bowl. Her brows raised a notch when she realized what she'd done, but she didn't draw attention to his predicament. She put the bowl away, consciously trying not to poke the dragon this time. Why do I get the feeling we're going to have more children than we can cope with?
   She'd forgotten to keep that thought in her inside voice. She might not have known that he heard it, except she had to catch the spoon he dropped. Their eyes briefly met, then darted away, their color high.
   They hadn't quite recovered when the Kaplans suggested they get back to wedding planning.