More from Raiden and Dayo! By the way, ya'll, sorry I missed all of last weeks posts. Between Courtney getting ready to move to Texas, a whirlwind trip to Hot Springs, AR, *two* sets of edits that came in a day apart, and trying to get this book finished by the end of the month... it's just been total chaos around here.
And it's not going to get better until she leaves around the first of August. So exhausted, lol.
“You okay?”
Dayo started the reduplicator and faced his dad. “I’m
fine. Just listening to all those stories… I guess I got a little overwhelmed.”
“It’s understandable. Bringing a young into this world
is an important decision, especially since you and Raiden still have your whole
career in front of you.”
“It’s not so much that. We know it’s a risk, but….
That’s not it. Were you scared?” Dayo remembered then how his dad’s
circumstances where different than his own. “Sorry, sorry. That was a stupid
question. Of course you were scared. Your DNA was mutated against your wishes,
so how could you not have been
scared?”
“Hon, it was a different time then.” Chad leaned
against the counter. “Yes, I was harvested and mated to Gibor. Was I thrilled
about that in the beginning? You bet your ass I wasn’t.”
Dayo snorted. He’d give anything to have been able to
have seen his dad back then. The champagne materialized. Dayo removed it from
the reduplicator and sat it on the counter.
“But no more so than Dale. Or John. Or Colt. Or any
other male who was harvested against their will. But I got to know Gibor, and the
more I got to know him, the more I fell in love with him.”
“But—”
“And that past has nothing to do with the here and
now. To answer your question: yes. I was terrified when I had you. I came from
a world where men did not have babies. You are able to, but you know what? It
still okay to be scared. Honestly? I think it’s normal.”
“Was it bad?”
“Well, it wasn’t the funnest thing I ever did. But as
soon as Doc let me hold you, none of that mattered.”
“I heard you threatened to have dabba neutered.”
“I swear, Dale and his big mouth. Look, the pain
medicine took some time to kick in. When it did, I decided I’d let your dad
keep his—”
Dayo waved his hands frantically, trying to keep his
dad from finishing that sentence. “No, no, I don’t need to know the rest of
that.”
“Anyway, it’s scary, wonderful, emotional, and
something I simply can’t explain. All I can tell you is this—you and your dabba are the best thing that ever
happened to me. You can and will get through a pregnancy and birth. Raiden will
be with you every step of the way.”
Dato hugged his dad. “Thanks, Dad. That helps.”
“Good. Find something to open that champagne with and let’s
get back in there before they send Dale looking for us. Hopefully he hasn’t eaten
the cake. By the way, if you get a craving for icing while you’re pregnant—you
didn’t get that from me.”
