A New Beginning

Chapter 2

Tasha's POV:

I was inside the hut again when the doorbell rang. I hissed fiercely as my head swung around to face the entrance of the fake stump. I heard Keegan echo my hiss from a perch on the wall above. Taureen remained sitting on the couch next to the table, although I heard Aeria's footsteps heading down the hallway towards the door.

"Tkael, Soranto, thank you for bringing the new scratching post. I would invite you in, but I doubt you would even get through the doorway at the moment."

"I assume the eggs are hatching?" The deep voice belonged to Tkael.

"We think so," she replied, "or else they are so close that Tasha won't even let Taureen touch them."

Soranto joined the conversation. "Well, if she isn't letting him touch them, then I certainly don't want to see how she would react to my presence. We'll leave the scratching post here. If you need anything else, just let us know."

"Thank you very much. Have a good evening."

"You too. Send some pictures when you get the chance. I can't wait to see how cute they are, and it'll probably be weeks before I will get a chance to see them if Tasha has any say in the matter."

I snorted faintly as the door closed – he wasn't getting near my children. I turned my head to nuzzle the eggs once more, humming deeply to them. In response, they resumed their rocking. They could hear me and had instinctively become motionless when I had hissed.

They had apparently been much closer to hatching than I had realized at lunchtime. Shortly after our evening meal, they had started trying to break free. Even as much as I trusted Taureen, I simply couldn't bear to let him touch the eggs at this moment. He had been perfectly understanding and was content to sit on the couch beside the nest, watching through the entrance.

The hatching process could take several hours, and they had been going at it for at least an hour. I wasn't about to leave the nest anytime soon and simply stood guard over them like a broody hen.

And heaven help any person who tried to stick their hand in the entrance...

The eggs were rocking and rolling to some energetic beat known only to them. The slightly larger egg had a few cracks in it, and I suspected that it wouldn't be much longer before the hatchling inside freed himself.

The other egg was rolling all over the place – even managing to somehow roll up and out of the nest several times, causing me to gently guide the egg back into nest before pushing more sand around the rim of the nest to make it higher.

I seriously hoped that my daughter didn't have that much energy when she finally hatched. Even in the egg, she was trying to get into mischief.

Time passed slowly as I thrummed encouragement to the two eggs. They paused occasionally to rest, but both eggs had several cracks marring their shells.

A crack announced the arrival of my first child; the larger shell finally split open, letting the blue dragonet squirm free, his oversized wings sprawling in all directions. Like any baby, he cried out in distress and confusion. Thrumming louder, I nuzzled him in reassurance while I used my tail to flick the two empty shell pieces out the entrance.

Keegan and I already had several names picked out, with the color of the hatchling's scales being the determining factor.

I mindspoke the three in the room, "Dirk just hatched."

Keegan trilled his happiness from under the heat lamp beside the stump. Joy colored his voice. "Now all that remains to be seen is what our daughter's name will be."