The Arena novel Chapter 62

I love having Tana here. It feels right having her here, on our pack lands.

When I take her upstairs, I show her our room, letting her know that she can change it any way she wants to make it more comfortable for her. Personally, I don’t care what our room looks like. It’ll feel like home if she’s here.

I can see her looking it over, but she’s not saying anything. I’m not sure how to take that, so I bring her to the next room in the hallway.

“I was thinking this could be a nursery for our baby. I haven’t done anything to it yet, but I thought it would be nice if we could decide together how to set it up.”

I had cleared out the room, purposefully leaving it empty. I want to make sure that I am just as involved as she is with this pregnancy, but I know this will be a new space for her and our child.

Again, she looks around the room, not saying anything. I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and laying my chin on her shoulder. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Red?”

“I didn’t really know what to expect during my last pregnancy. My parents were obviously both dragons, and the birth and expectations for raising a dragon baby are considerably different than raising a hybrid. This time, I feel much more prepared, but it’s still overwhelming. There’s so much happening at once.”

“Let’s take it one step at a time,” I say, rocking her gently from side to side. “Maybe this weekend, you can meet some pack members and get more comfortable with the pack lands. If you want, you can think about our room and let me know if there is anything that you want changed right away. I want this to be a space where you are comfortable and happy.”

“It’s just a lot of change all at once. Leaving my job, moving, getting pregnant unexpectedly, getting claimed. It’s a lot.”

“What can I do to make this easier for you?”

She shrugs in my arms. “I don’t know.”

“Well, how about we go see Kenna’s bedroom? She has no such angst about moving here. She’s practically taken over and given me a list of what she wants for her room,” I say, chuckling and sliding my hand to Tana’s, guiding her back into the hallway.

We go down another couple of doorways, and I lift my hand to knock, but the door flies open. “I thought you’d never get to my room!” Kenna says excitedly, pulling Tana into her room.

She had already told me what she wanted for a mural on her wall. I had gotten a couple of my more artistic wolves to help her, and it didn’t take long before one wall was painted to look like a giant tree with glowing lantern lights. She had asked me to get her furniture that was matching and would add to the look and feel of being in a forest. I didn’t think it would look good, but now, seeing it partially completed, it is starting to come together nicely.

This time, when Tana looks around the room, she has a smile on her face. Hmmm, so apparently, the feel of the forest is what is missing from our room. I can fix that.

“Kenna, where did you come up with this idea?” she asks.

“Papa said I could do what I wanted, so I decided to create a forest in my room since we’re so low to the ground.”

“Is that the problem? We’re not high enough up in the air?” I ask.

“Well, dragons do prefer being up high. We’re sky animals, after all,” Tana says distractedly as she looks around the room.

“I can build up on this side of the castle if that would help.”

Tana turns and looks at me. “You’re not building extra floors for me, Cedric.”

“If that’s what it takes, then I am,” I say, going to her. “I’m serious about you feeling like this is your home. I want you to want to be here, to want to raise our children here.”

“Let me think about it. Like I said, it’s all just overwhelming right now.”

“Okay. Do you want to go eat downstairs with the pack or alone in our room?”

She looks at Kenna. “The pack’s great, Momma! I got to hear about how Papa came in after you escaped the arena and saved them all from Troy and the terrible abuse they were suffering.”

Tana turns and looks at me. “You didn’t tell me about that.”