The Dragon in Our Midst

9. money problems

I worked for he rest of the day then got paid. I got paid $300. I can buy the necklace back. I walk to the jewellery store and buy it back. I immediately fly home. I break down at sunset when I hit my floor. the pain, the fatigue, the brokenness of my body. I passed out.

I woke up with a start, the memory's worming their way into my dreams. and found Max, standing, shadows over his eyes. he looks angry. upset. betrayed.

"Why? why did U do it? I smell them on you! U cheated on me! Ur fated mate! have I no shame?!" h yells. I start crying. I'm balling. his eyes soften in realisation "Oh s**t I'm so sorry! I had no idea! please forgive me!" he says.

I cry for hours. the police call me up. "we couldn't find them. I'm so sorry" Max heard it. he got angry again. I gave him the necklace not being able to look at it anymore. he puts it on to keep it safe. and then it happened again. his dragon showed. as beautiful as ever. "th-thats not supposed to happen" he says with a shocked look on his scaly face. he gets details of what these guys look like from me and leaves the mountain. he's gone for an hour then he comes back, smelling of smoke and smoked meat. he hands me back the necklace and we decide to share the necklace. so we both get to stretch our wings. I fell asleep. I slept through til morning. for once without any dreams. I wake up refreshed ready to face the day. but then I see it.a bump. a small bump on my lower stomach. Max wakes up and looks happy to see the bump. I'm pregnant. the only question is... who's the father? is it Max, who's sweet and kind and who loves me? or was it one of the 3 men who allaulted me in the alleyway? the thought made me sick. or was that the baby?we get ready for the day. "U won't be able to change once U hit 2nd trimester. it will become stressful for the baby" he said matter-of-fact. I'm panicking thinking of what will we need when I remember I have 9months. "I can't wait to meet my child in 3 months!" he said. what. the. hell?that's 3x less than a typical pregnancy. omg I'll have to quit my job. no-one will believe I'm pregnant in 3 months! "I will pick up a second job. we will need alot of money." Max piped up. its like he reads my mind. but that's not possible. with only $50 left from purchasing the necklace back, that is not enough to get everything we need. all we could get is a small fridge that runs on batteries. and I had work tomorrow. I have 1 month then I have to quit work and stay at home coz I can't fly so I can't leave. "I'll rent a place. a house for your later months of pregnancy. so U don't need to stay homebound." he offered. and all at once my stomach hurt. not badly, but Enough I needed to gasp. Max asked what happened. but I don't know what it was. there is some ideas but it's too early to feel some of the babies kicking. so it wasn't that. there wasn't a dragon doctor. so we couldn't even check. we painted and decorated in peace until sunset hit. apparently, Max was spotted torching 3 men. with his fire breath. now they want us to leave. but then they saw 2 humans decorating a cave. the look of confusion on these townfolks faces when they realised we couldn't be dragons was astounding. bt we realised we couldn't stay here any longer anyway. we took all the stuff I collected between the two of us and searched for a bigger better home. it took 3 days it was very high up. but it was home. the paint was half empty after decorating the old cave, we would need to buy more. but it was 4x the size as the old one. big enough to make some bedrooms. I chose the room on the left we made, Max would stay on the right. we had nothing to make walls yet, but it was a start. mattress on the floor, dresser for my clothes, shiny things everywhere and we used the rest of the paint. best thing is, there wasn't a town nearby. Max started looking for a job and trying to get a human rental for the next few months.things were finally starting to look up.but that just couldn't last could it. Max went missing. I thought he was going for a trip. but a day turned into 2, and then it became a week. and my bump was growing. he had the necklace. I couldn't leave. it was too high to try to jump down. but then. I saw it. a line scale. bright and colourful on my arm. it was dragon all right. then another popped up. after a full day I was full dragon. equipped with a second voice in my head. "Hello! I'm Opal!" it said. I saw it in my mind. my dragon. I'm officially a shifter. I flew off the mountain with some cloths and a bag packed. I flew to the town nearby leaving a note in case Max came back. I found a rental. nothing fancy. this is where I live now. until I have my child.already with a large bumping made the decision no more flying I slept on a real bed that night. and it felt heavenly.