Many thanks to user roftlheory for their assistance with editing!
***
Benat paced nervously as the midwife sat on the bed where Valeria was propped up, gently palpating her large belly. She was taking longer than usual, and it was filling him with worry.
The older woman made an approving noise and nodded, then turned to look at his restless form. "Come sit," she instructed him, and he climbed onto the bed next to his mate, taking her hand in his.
Valeria smiled at him tiredly. She was even more beautiful now that she carried his offspring, plump and rosy-cheeked. Her brown hair was braided back and her blue eyes shone with love as she stroked her swelling stomach.
"Your patience is appreciated," the midwife said, and Valeria rolled her lovely eyes at him, for he hadn't been patient at all. "But I haven't seen this in a long time." She had been an apprentice midwife when she was chosen as a bride, decades ago, and had resumed her role after giving birth to a dragonlet. Now an old woman, her body no longer gave off the tantalizing scent of a fertile human female, and as such she was free to meet with any dragon as she pleased.
Still, Benat's stomach lurched. What had she discovered that even her long experience had so rarely encountered?
"You're expecting twins," the midwife said plainly.
Benat clung to his mate, dumbfounded. No dragon's bride had ever carried twins before! And thank the stars, for the energy required to nurture not one but two dragonlets would be almost too much for a human body to bear.
"Are you certain?" he asked her, hoping it was only a suspicion.
"Quite," she replied simply. "They're both facing down, in a good position to come out."
Benat nodded; this at least was normal. Unlike human babies, who sometimes came out breech, or caused their mothers to retch until they could barely keep down water, or a dozen other difficulties he could only imagine, dragonlets were easy to carry and bear -- so long as they absorbed the draconic energy of their fathers.
This was what worried him the most. "And how is Valeria?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulders. She seemed hale and hearty in his arms, but he needed to be sure.
"She's the healthiest as I have ever seen a woman to be, while carrying a dragon's child," the midwife assured him.
"I told you," Valeria murmured, "I feel perfectly alright. Better than alright. I feel wonderful."
He eyed her dubiously. She had bloomed after he planted his seed in her, growing ever more lusty and lustful. His father had told him most brides withdrew after being bred, so painful an act it was for them. But she had opened up to him, and while he thanked the mountains daily for that, it still puzzled him.
"How often do you lie together?" the midwife asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Twice a day," Valeria answered, cheeks pink with embarrassment. "Should we... do it... more often, because they're twins?"
"If you feel up to it," the midwife answered. "But whatever you're doing is more than enough to satisfy the dragonlets inside you. They're growing big and strong, just like you."
Benat stared at his wife in wonder, caressing her face. How amazing she was, not only for responding to their mating as she did, but now carrying his young with the ease of a she-dragon as well.
"I will report my findings to the elders," the midwife continued. "And you must keep me updated of any changes. They're most interested in your unusual compatibility."
Benat nodded, only half listening. Were there more women out there in the human world like her? Could there be some special way of selecting brides they had yet to discover?
The midwife left and he wrapped his arms around Valeria, nuzzling into her hair. "You are magnificent," he murmured. "I will roar long into the night when our dragonlets are born."
She giggled. "Is that what that means? Whenever we heard that sound, we thought the dragons must be angry, so the village leaders would always meet and wring their hands. But to think, it's just the sound of a proud father announcing his child to the world."
"It's a song to honor the mother more than anything," he explained. Even now, he had an urge to fly to a mountaintop and call out the joy and gratitude he felt.
He reached down to her large belly, tenderly caressing her. Already he was imagining holding the little ones in his arms, teaching them to fly. What kind of dragons would they be, he wondered? Fire dragons like him and his father, or would their birth bring more surprises?
"What are you thinking?" Valeria asked him.
He kissed her cheek. "I can't wait to watch them grow up. I wish we could do it together."
"Can't we?" she asked, her face pulled into a lovely, confused frown.
"Well..." he began, unsure of how to explain things without dampening the mood.
"Oh," she said softly. "It's because all the others want to live separately, isn't it?"
