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With my eyes filled with nothing but the dull sky above and anguish filling my mind I didn't know who joined in my terrible banshee scream next. But by the time my throat was as raw as my emotions I heard enough to know that every child of the egg here had added their lamentations to my own. Confused and saddened, our minds retreated while buried instinct took over and we all drew closer around the table that Me Two lay upon.

Ignoring the humans watching us, as they scurried to escape our paths towards Me Two and also record us, we craned our heads forward as sounds of sadness and mourning echoed back and forth. One of the other little ones reached his head out to drag the sheet from her body and we each took a turn nudging our heads up next to hers while making loud anxious noises of distress. At times, the sheer amount of grief I felt wrapped my thoughts in a haze once more causing me to throw back my head to scream anew, as did the others whenever that feeling drowned their own thoughts. Nothing however, could prepare us for the explosion of awful wailing that came with the arrival of the twins that had been Me Two's guardians for the months after their transformation.

Both of them were awake again and the feral half of the twins immediately rushed between mine and Tom's tails to force us apart to throw himself to his belly next to Me Two. Screeching incomprehensibly, he pushed and prodded at her to awake in a display that was so pitiful that it caused all of us watching to roar sorrowfully once more. His twin appeared at my side and threw his head back to add his own anguish to the haunting din around us as his waterfall of tears splashed against our forelegs. Sympathetically I felt my tail twitch towards his before coiling along it. A moment later I felt Tom's circle mine and we both extended a wing to reassure the woebegone teenager.

Across from me I could blearily see Haruto and Asuka nose their way in, making several juvenile children of the egg leap into their embraces and peer tearfully over their encircling paws. They did not scream as we had, instead putting their heads alongside each other's with a whining sound that wound on and on. All of us, had our scales lifted and rattling as the cold lifeless smell of our despondency became thick enough that it left a film on everything in the area that we would be able to smell for days afterwards.

I don't know how long we were like that, but eventually the mourning broke up into several groups to deal with the loss in their own ways. None of us went out of sight of the tiny body however, and individuals would at times break away to go nudge at the lifeless body once more and then howl at the darkening sky.

As we broke up our circle we revealed ourselves to the humans, who had had nothing to stare at for the past hours but a circle of thumping tails and haunches covered in bristling scales hiding the wailing dragons that they were attached to, I saw that almost all of them had withdrawn in to my home to watch warily. Not that there wasn't evidence of tears amongst them for the loss of the little female's life, but they certainly had not taken it the way that we had. I dimly noted that the media were besides themselves with excitement while Alex and the Mayor came outside towards us both wringing their hands.

“The governor is dead. In addition to Marissa, three people died today in this attack. The Lt. Governor has activated the entire Idaho National Guard and the Federal Government has released the active duty forces at Mountain Home to assist. Following Governor Little's plan your ranch is soon going to be the home for all dragons in Northern Idaho. And with the cooperation of Governor Inslee from Washington and Governor Bullock from Montana will also house dragons from Eastern Washington and the entirety of Montana respectively."

I blinked slowly trying to make sense of what they were telling me. But nothing wanted to make sense. Me Two… My vision blurred again as a faint moan came from between my jaws before I turned my head away to look back at her again. Alex spoke next and drew my attention again.

“Kim, Tom, this is something that you already knew was coming. But this substantially moves up the timeline. The farmers on both sides of you past the tree line are already being informed that their land is being used in a time of national emergency. I know what happened to Me Two is terrible, but I need you two with me right now. Can you do that? We are in the middle of a conflict and we can't be…"

“I let her go…" I whispered, and Tom bent his neck to look at me before pinning me to his flank with his wing comfortingly.

“Kim." Alex's face clouded as he tried again. “Don't… don't do this to yourself. You couldn't have…"

“I could have saved her!" I roared with a pair of lungs each the size of a horse. “I failed her! She came here with the others to find safety! And because I wasn't there for her, she found death instead!"

“Kim, I know you feel protective of others, but you hardly knew…"

“So fucking what if I didn't know her? She was a child, I am a mother, and children of the egg do not let little ones fucking die!" I backed away from him and started pacing back and forth with my head and eyes fixed on him and the shrinking mayor behind him as I started ranting again. Alex reached back and grabbed her to hold her steady and keep her from running as my snarls reached a peak. He faced me steadily with pain of his own in his eyes for what he could not do. He was willing to accept that he had failed. Just as I had…

“I hardly knew her! Is that your reason for why I shouldn't feel so engaged here? Just another lost orphan looking for more porridge is that what she was? Fuck that! Why should I show less concern for her because she was not of my blood? Is it not enough that she was a child that needed protection? Is this not my fucking house? Are we not trying to make a better world? Is that not the point of what we've become?" I flicked my wing at Tom and then spun to point with my tail at all the other scaled quadrupeds in the clearing before resuming my restless stalking back and forth.

How can I make a better world when children, my, your, our future continue to die? How can I do this? Look at her!" I sat down and pointed with my wing claw at Me Two. “Look at her! It wasn't just me, we all failed her today. If she wanted to go with the Governor, she should have gone accompanied by one of us! Humans!" I snorted and tossed my head agitatedly before resuming my pacing.

“If humans were enough to protect the future of this world, I would not be on four fucking feet with my backbone grown out into a fucking tail! If I must leave this world as a different species than the one I came into it as to make it better for my children then so be it!" Flicking my spine, a tremor ran down the appendage making the tip crack like a whip and burying my parental weapon into the ground. Deep in my belly my eggs shifted with a lurch causing me to grunt for a moment with my stomach heaving. No one else noticed, fixated as they were by the spike buried in the yard, before my tail flexed again, and I continued pacing.

We need to do better than this. We will do better than this! Any child of the egg. Any family member. Anyone, no matter what or who they are, deserve to be safe. I make this promise now! If they can make it to our shelter. My home! It will be theirs as well. I will protect them! We will protect them! If anyone wishes to challenge our offer of security. I say to them to meet me. I, we, will correct the problems they have with the change that is occurring because I and the rest of the human fucking race were not good enough! Believe me when I say, if they do not accept logic and reason, they will no longer have to fear the future because I will end their existence in it! Neither my nor anyone else's children will be denied their birthright! They will not be denied the chance to live their lives!"

I stopped with my head raised challengingly and heavy snorts flying rapidly from my flaring nostrils. My stomach lurched again and then, bizarrely, an intense rippling cramp ran from the bottom of my rib cage to the base of my tail making it snap wildly. Stomping my paws, I again distracted everyone of what I was becoming more and more certain was happening. It was not time yet. I could feel it. Seven days. I just knew, seven more day/night cycles. Then, I would begin a new phase of my life. I…I didn't know if I was ready for it.

I had three children born just as they should have been. But the longer that I held the eggs inside me, the longer that I started to think that that was the proper way. I snorted and whipped my head startling numerous others with the unexpected motion. I need, I must, make peace with who I was now, without forgetting the pieces of what I had been. What was important was what I would always be. What defined me. I was a mother. What did anything else matter in comparison to that?

The feeling of my much-maligned tail brushing something behind me brought me back to reality and I spun to bound toward the reporters recording my tirade who paled at my approach but, to their credit, did not flee as I thumped to a stop and slapped tail to ground.

“Children of the egg and their family and friends. If you are watching this, if you are afraid. I want you to know that you are not alone and that there are others willing to help protect you. We are here to help you. You do not have to live in fear because of what was forced upon you. None of us sought out this change, and none of us had any choice in what has been done to us. I will not lie to you and tell you you're the same as what you once were. But do not let anyone ever convince you that your life is any less valuable."

I turned my head to look at Me Two with my eyes staring to mist over again, I couldn't stop myself from wailing once more as my mind burned. After another cry of mourning I lowered my head and twisted it back to the reporters.

“We did not just lose Me Two, we lost a total of four lives today. I want you to notice that I did not say humans, I did not say dragons, I said lives. And I want you to pay attention when I say 'we' because every living creature on this world lost a tiny bit of the future when those lives were ended by violence. We lost three lives today that were guilty of nothing more than trying to solve an impossible problem forced upon us. We lost one more for nothing more than the fact that the poor child chose to be curious at the wrong time!

For those cowering in the darkness contriving excuses for the righteousness of their actions I say this. If you truly think we are puppets of the aliens that have stripped control of this world away from us, if you think our intentions run opposed to the fortunes of mankind, ask yourself this. Which side of history do you want to be on? The one that learns from what happened to us? Or the one that kills and destroys to reclaim something that can no longer be reached? To retreat to a status quo that bought aliens from another universe down on our heads because we were too stupid to manage our own affairs? Is that what you want?"

Snorting, I switched languages and began to address my potential audience in a way that wouldn't have every asshat in the country bearing down on us looking for a place to grind their axe.

We are a 15-minute flight North of the town of Coeur d'Alene. 25 minutes by the wing Northwest from the lake. Roar your name for everyone to hear and we will find you. Do not be afraid. I will not allow one more innocent life to be taken from those who join us. If you have family or friends with you leave them in a place of safety when you come, and we will retrieve them later. Do not land in the area, we cannot guarantee your safety beyond our property. Be alert, be safe.

I had nothing left to say, and so I left the gaping stunned expressions of the media and most of the humans behind me and turned back to my family and friends who all stood watching. I saw that Tom had drawn his brother against his chest. Yet one more spike was driven into my heart at the sight of the hollow look on Alex's face. As easy as it was to forget that he was a physician with all of his training to remain detached, it still hit him were it mattered.

“Kim" Serena's soft voice came from the monitor. She was holding that same tiny scarf wearing child of the egg from earlier in her arms and soothingly rubbing its back between its wings as it whimpered quietly. “That was well said." I could see tears still running down her cheeks.

It was a stark reminder that we weren't the only ones grieving the loss. How much worse could she and Brian feel when they had been directly involved in the surgical efforts to save her? Brian did not seem to be taking it at well as I could see, what I assumed was, him behind Serena curled into a ball with his head shoved beneath his wing and his shoulders twitching in time to a series of despondent moans. I had a better idea of how many children of the egg were there with him now as he was surrounded by a circle of them. Five of them were somewhere between mine and Irma's size and all around them were a number of teary-eyed juveniles ranging from a bit larger than Hayate all the way down to the size of little Sora who was curled morosely around her brother's front legs. Interspersed among them were an even greater number of men, women, and human children who were attempting to soothe the distressed children of the egg.

“Do you have any idea on who she was? Who her parents were?" Serena asked, bouncing the child in her arms as it tightened its hold on her.

“No." Tom answered and swung his head to look at the Mayor questioningly.

She just stared up at Tom's inquisitively cocked head and shuffled her feet. “Um…yes?"

Tom rolled his eyes at her lack of recognition of the body language of an alien and stated the obvious “We knew her name was Marissa, have there been any little girls reported missing with that name?"

Her name was Marissa Tomei, and my brother and I are boy scouts from troop 1917 that were helping to run an adventure camp for young children and their parents two hours Northwest of Missoula. A quiet voice chirred next to me. I looked down in surprise to see that the unnamed twin had sidled up next to me without a sound.

I remember the screams and seeing all the little children falling to the ground and calling for their parents as they changed. I ran to help seven-year old Ashley as her skin turned black like oil and she tore her shirt apart sobbing how much it hurt, but I lost my balance and fell as my legs failed. Laying on the ground I screamed as well when I could feel my legs moving...and shifting like they had come apart. I reached back to check my legs for fractures when I accidentally tore through my pants and my skin. He picked up his left forefoot and turned it palm up to clench the paw while looking down at it. The last thing I remember seeing was my hand turning into this and my own blood on the claws. My blood, which changed color in front of my eyes before everything faded from view. The next thing I knew was that I felt betrayed, that I had failed at something, and looking up I saw you staring back at me with concern. He flicked his nose to point at me before looking away and hanging his head. Me Two is dead, and it is our fault. My brother and I, we promised to take care of these children and I...I...

His explanation broke into sobs as he collapsed to the ground and shoved his head beneath a wing. Tom and I tried to calm him, and when that didn't work, lay next to him just to give him some comfort as he came to grips with what happened. I laid my head across his shoulders and began to hum while Tom translated what we had been told to the Mayor to see if this rang any bells. Judging by the way that she gasped and held her hand to her mouth I guessed that it did. Obviously, Tom and I did not watch the local news enough during the time we were remade into towering dinosaurs alongside our daughter.

“Bridges to the Outdoors."

Beneath me the teenager whimpered, Tom glanced at him and then looked at the Mayor and bobbed his head.

“All of the children at that camp disappeared. State police found two of the camp leaders had hung themselves and three others were dead from blunt force trauma. Two parents were found wandering the woods a few days later. The husband became catatonic upon being found, and the wife has been under sedation in a mental health ward ever since. The only words she's ever spoken were that her children were gone and had been replaced by demons. It was easy to guess what might have happened, but this is the first time anyone has really known."

The poor male beneath me began to cry hysterically as he heard the fate of at least five of people he no doubt knew well. Meanwhile the media behind me were going nuts with this exclusive story and pissing me off by ignoring the effect this had on the kid I was trying to comfort. Maybe some of the parents of these children could be found when they started breaking into all the local programming to report the story.

I bent my head to speak to the teen beneath me. “What's your name sweetie?"

Ira Spring. He muttered between sobs beneath his wing My brother is Robert.

“Can you speak in English Ira? Do you remember how?"

Dragging his head from its cover he forlornly wagged it and then scratched at his throat.

“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……aaaaHHHhhhhmmmmmm sssssssssssssorrrrrriiii" tears began to flow faster and faster from his eyes the more he tried, and failed, to give an apology and reclaim some part of his self that was human. I shushed him and brought his head against my chest to rub his spinal fin and soothe him while telling him that it was okay. Robert, hearing the crying of his brother, reluctantly crept away from his watch over Marissa and nudged me away to take his place at his brother's side.

“Hey Mayor!" I called after her (what was her damn name?)

“It's the Honorable Katherine Horace, not 'hey mayor'" she said grouchily.

“Whatever, Mayor. Listen, there is an old battle axe in your city named Greta who lives at 1475 Oakshield. Me and my hubby here told her a few days ago that we would help find her lost family and intervening events have kind of distracted us from that. Can you contact her and escort her out here? I am not going to risk losing one more life that could be saved."

She blinked owlishly at me for a moment before responding. “Lost… you mean some of her family are like these children here?" She pointed at the depressed forms scattered throughout my yard. “You want to go put yourself and others in harms way to find more of these lost ones?"

Tom answered “we do" and looked at me significantly which I answered by squaring my shoulders and bobbing my head in agreement. Tom wasn't going to like me going after what I had to tell him. That wasn't going to stop me from telling him however, he deserved to know first.

She shrugged “If this is what it takes to keep more people safe then this is what you will do. Now, who is this you've been speaking to?

“His name is Ira Spring, and that's his brother next to him, Robert. He says he and his brother were boy scouts helping lead the camp. Ira, is there anyone that would be looking for you right now? Family, friends? Anyone we can contact for you?"

His eyes widened, and he almost jumped to his paws in agitation.

Our father! Please call him and tell him we are alive! Can we go home? No... no I cannot go home, the children need us. We must look after them until they are in their parent's arms again!

His confused protest broke down once more into a painful whine as he kept looking from Marissa, to us, to the other nearby children. They all came to him rapidly when he made a piercing whistle and held his wings open for them to all gather about him.

Tom translated for the Mayor and she sighed.

“You are all a long way from where that camp was in Montana. I don't think it is safe for you to leave here. Let me call Missoula and we'll get your father on the phone okay? Can you understand me? Blink twice for yes please."

No! Please! Call him now! His number is 406 123 4567!

“I don't know what that cacophony meant, were those numbers at the end? But I do know that that wasn't two blinks. Can he understand me?" This time she addressed the question to Tom who assured her that he did and relayed the phone number that Ira just gave. One of the soldiers standing by to be useful leapt at his chance and ran to retrieve another communications terminal just like the Serena continued to be present on.

Soon enough the soldier came running out of the command tent further into the field attempting to drag the unwieldly thing through the grass towards us. Irma ambled over to loop her tail around it and carried it towards us. Turning, she set it down carefully and the eager beaver green suiter ran connections to it from his CP. After a moment of setting up the video call, he opened the connection for the increasingly excited Ira. The call was answered, and the video feed started. At first showing nothing but the ceiling, moments later the cell phone tilted to show a tired looking and balding man in his late 50s wearing a rumpled polo shirt before the phone was propped up so that he could reach for something. A bottle of vodka appeared, and he poured what was obviously not his first glass of the day before answering without any life in his voice.

“What?"

As he couldn't see much more than the lower thirds of our bodies from where the camera was pointed, he might not have even realized what he was seeing. To keep confusion to a minimum, the soldier, Tom, and the Mayor stepped forward to address him.

“Hello Mr. Spring, my name is Alex Schwarzkopf and with me is Sergeant Marconi of the Idaho Army National Guard and Mrs. Horace the Mayor of Coeur d'Alene. Are you the father of Ira and Robert Spring?"

He picked up the unseen glass and downed it while his son mewled forlornly next to me at the sight of his obviously suffering father. I whispered to him to be patient and that we needed to explain first. Angie's reintroduction and the others we'd seen being the blueprint we were following here.

“My name is Ted and my sons are dead. What do you want?" He responded blandly as he refilled his glass. This proved to be too much for Ira and frankly I couldn't blame him. Launching himself from the ground and leaving his baffled charges behind he knocked his protesting brother aside and filled the entire camera view.

No! No! We are not dead! Father! It is me! It is Ira! Do you not recognize me? Please! Father! Please stop drinking and look at me! Father! Look! Look behind me! It is Robert! We are both here! Father please! Please talk to me! Father!

No one had the heart to tell the alien teenager that not even his own parents would recognize him at this point, let alone understand the new language. Ted drunkenly squinted at his tiny screen but didn't have too much of a reaction through whatever dull alcohol enhanced depressed haze was no doubt draped over his thoughts.

“That is one of those dragons isn't it? Why is it on this phone call squawking at me like a bird? I thought that they could speak whatever language they could before."

This was exactly what we were afraid would happen. There was no way for Ted to recognize his children now, and that lack of recognition did nothing good for Ira. Screaming as if he'd just been stabbed through the heart, I leapt on him to keep him from running blindly away. That outburst thoroughly spooked the other children with us, and they scattered like a bunch of dandelion seeds to the four winds to watch this emotional scene that they did not understand from a distance. The only one who stayed was his twin who could do nothing more than to helplessly keep asking his egg mate why he hurt.

“Your sons are alive Ted. This is Ira." Alex laid his hand on the distraught teenager at his side and then pointed at the wary Robert watching from where he sat next to his brother's tail. Ted leaned back in his chair to wipe his face with his hand and then replied. I could already see the veins distending on the sides of his neck, knew that this wasn't convincing him, and that things were about to go sideways with the drunk and grieving father. I hurriedly brought my head down to ask Ira to give me something that only he and his father would know just as Ted began to explode.

“You fucking son of a bitch. What do you want from me? A fucking credit card number? My city of birth? My social security number? Let me guess you heartless piece of shit, you just need one bit of information from me. Is that it? Are you all in on it too? Fuck you, fuck you all, all of you are beyond God's sight, I curse you all. My sons are dead, and you call me like the vile parasitic worms that you are to…"

“Ira says that the first time you took him camping at six he accidentally set his tent on fire!" I said in a rush that I didn't know if he'd be able to understand. The purple coloring of Ted's face faded until there was nothing left but the pale white of shock. The vodka bottle in his hand, that he'd been about to throw at the cell phone, shattered unseen on the ground as he slumped bonelessly down into his chair.

“He said he was cold and tried to build a fire next to his tent." Ted mumbled to himself with glazed and distant eyes. Eyes that shifted towards Ira's head as he raised it from the ground to bob his head with shimmering hope in his own. Ira began to speak again and I relayed what he said. Making it clear that I was merely translating by looking from Ira to Ted to convey the message.

“You taught them how to fly fish when they were both 10 in the Bitterroot river. When…" I stopped and looked at him to make sure he wanted me to say something so private. He bobbed his head with a high keening whine of pain at the memory of what he wanted me to say. “…when their mother had died in the car accident, that he and his brother never wanted to be apart from you because they…"

He finished for me. “…Because they knew their mommy didn't want any of us to cry alone." He put his hands over his heart and, sitting back on his tail, Ira crossed his fore limbs to place both paws over his own chest to copy the motion. By this time Ted was sobbing and Ira moaned wordlessly as tears cascaded down both of their faces. Ted reached out to pick up the cell phone and held it closer. Cradling it, just as he so wished to do with his actual flesh and blood.

“My sons."

Marconi had left but surprised me with his initiative when he returned bearing a large dry erase board and a marker. Placing the board in front of Ira he tried but failed to wedge the marker between two of his claws. When that didn't work Ira brought his tail forward to wrap around the writing instrument. He wrote one word encased in the outline of a heart on the board and scrambled to hold it up with hope sparkling in his eyes and joy leaking from between his bristling scales while bringing a confused Robert closer with his wing.

Dad

Alex quietly told the Spring family to call us back over when they were finished, and we'd discuss how to safely reunite the family. We left them in peace for their tearful reunion as Ira rubbed the board clear to write something new. Picking up Serena's monitor we returned to Marissa's bedside and the reminder of our failure that day. The Mayor excused herself to go deal with the fact that the governor was just killed in her city and that a number of lost and presumed dead children had suddenly been found and identified. Which was probably more than enough on top of everything else.

George and Helen joined us as we saw Angie retreat back into the black shadows behind the curtain and out of sight of the dead child before us. Bending over to pick up the sheet that had been thrown to the ground Alex hid our failure from sight once more before placing his fists on the table and sighing with his head drooping.

“What do we do with Marissa? Do we know if her parents are alive?"

No one had an answer for that.

“I have a suggestion if they cannot be found." Serena said hesitantly. “But it will not be easy for any of you to hear." She looked behind herself to make sure that Brian was still distracted and that no other children of the egg were in a state fit to overhear.

I already knew what she was going to suggest and judging by everyone else's look and smell I wasn't the only one. No one looked like they were keen on the idea.

Choking on my words I spoke for everyone. “Not… Not now Serena… I can't… We can't… She's still just a little child… For you to learn… What you will have to do her… There will be nothing left…" I shuddered as a loud keening noise tore its way free of my throat at the thought of Me Two's dissected body in pieces on a stainless-steel slab.

The child she was holding unexpectedly began to squirm, as if it knew what was being discussed. Serena knelt down to let the infant scamper away with sadness hanging over her as she watched the little red sash wearing child flee.

“I understand your feelings, and I already know that this is something I cannot possibly ask Brian to participate in. But the biological systems of you are still almost entirely unknown. It could save others… It will save others…" She sighed and wiped her eyes again. “You're right, it is too soon, and emotions are still too high to make such a decision. If you can't get her to a morgue soon, you must think about placing her somewhere else. Do you have a deep freezer?"

It took three people to wrestle Marissa into a body bag and then into my garage where our freezer was. Not to mention the number of us it took to block this operation from Robert's sight. The police wanted to take her for an autopsy, but I wasn't having any of that. As a compromise Alex gave them the shrapnel that he'd taken from her body and all the recordings and details he could gather. But even once that was over all of us that had more than two legs still sat around morosely casting pained looks at the garage. It was an uneasy feeling and I didn't quite know how to describe it to Helen when she asked. It was Angie who finally solved it for us.

“She'll never be able to see the sky again! Mommy, don't hide her from the sky!" She tried to dart past us toward the garage and made our grief amplify by orders of magnitude when she started to wail.

If she cannot see the sky she will not be free father, mother! Please do not hide the sky from her! Her wings, her wings should be open! Her stricken parents, even if they could not understand her lamentation, coaxed her into their embrace once more and led her away as everyone who had a heart in their breast moaned in agony at her words. Those that had been feral, even if but for a moment, loudest of all of us as they gave full throated hellish screams for what Me Two had been denied.

Which of course made all our wings twitch open as we cast looks up at that black sky. I was the first one to jump aloft, but I wasn't the last, and before I knew it all but two of us were in the air. Our stricken calls continued until we returned to Earth and settled, although our mourning would continue later, and I of course did not forgive myself for letting Marissa ride off to die that day until decades later. Poor Ira and Robert never could move on and carried that burden for the rest of their long lives.

After our depressing flight we returned to the ground to finish with the Spring family. Ted was quick to ask for the two that found his sons. Out of our indistinguishable mass Irma and Jesse trotted forth and crouched low in front of the screen to address the father.

“You have given me back something that can't ever by repaid. Whatever I have that you want it is yours. Anything, anything I have, it is yours. Thank you, thank you so much. You have given me back my entire world. Bless you, bless you both."

And then he stopped, overcome by his emotions once more he could no longer speak. Tom and I looked on with pride as Irma humbly told him that they were both so happy that they could help a family come together again, and long after all hope had been lost. Ira hugged each of them in turn by hooking his neck around theirs, his confused brother repeated with his own hug even if he did smell like he had no idea what was going on. Which was likely the case. Ted collected himself long enough to bid his two sons goodbye for the time it would take him to make the three-hour drive to our home. Alex told him to report to the police station here when he arrived instead of coming to the ranch and we'd escort him to safety. Tearfully he held his hand up to the camera and then disconnected to make what I had no doubt would be a frantic drive to hold his lost family in his arms once again.

Mayor Horace came back to harangue the over the moon teenager as he bounced around everyone, dragging his twin along, in serpentine bounds of his slinky body. His elation at the prospect of rejoining his father only lasted a few minutes however. Bouncing past the blood covered patio table his scent changed in an instant to one of regret and he slowed to a stop to give another agonized cry. He then crept back, the very picture and scent of misery, and began to write the names of every child that was at that camp. He was even able to match each of them to a dragon at the clearing by calling out to each in turn in a pidgin mishmash of human and non-human (Who the fuck calls a child 'Water Stalker'?) names.

I, and every other adult there, did what we could to tell them just what an amazing feat that he and his brother had accomplished. Between the two of them, they had kept nearly every one of their charges safe and sound for nine months in the wilderness. But try as we might, the scent of Me Two's blood, and our own despair, hung cloyingly in the air and our spirits remained earthbound. Helen noticed, and entered my house to retrieve a bucket of bleach and a sponge. Horace claimed the list of the children and left with her security escort to start making phone calls. It was hard not to notice that they were not taking the same chances that the Governor's convoy had. With siren wailing they sped from my home like they were entering a combat zone.

Which at this point it was safer to assume that they were. The only thing preventing violence here being a number of intelligent beings covered in plate armor, taller than most houses, weighing thousands of kilograms, and strong enough to fling automobiles like toys. Not to mention the primeval fear response that snouts filled with razor sharp teeth and four paws with scythe like claws can instill in humans that have forgotten how dark the night was before fire was harnessed as a tool.

Noticing that no children of the egg were patrolling I was annoyed. But I saw my opportunity to get Tom alone and I nosed him on to his feet and set out for the edge of our ranch. On the way, we stopped by a squad car that had an officer manning the radio to ask him if anything of importance had happened. Not well, was his answer. Thirteen more deaths since the convoy attack. I asked if anyone new was headed our way for safety. The fat-ass sergeant told us that there would be two dozen people joining us in the morning. I told him I was going to steal his doughnuts to feed them and his belly laugh made it jiggle beneath his uniform before he slapped his hand to it and told me it takes decades to accumulate that kind of experience. I asked him where they'd found him, and I was told he'd retired seven years ago. Jerry had moved beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel. He was digging into the ground beneath it.

Our eggs our moving. I felt it earlier. I told Tom as we moved on and stalked the perimeter, taking turns to lower our heads and sniff along the ground to see if we smelled a human that we didn't already know.

Moving? He grunted, while glaring at me with one eye. You mean you are getting ready to give birth. After going through two other deliveries alongside me his reaction reflected his jaded nonchalance. I am guessing that you already knew that before you volunteered once again to go to Boise. I do not suppose there is any reassurance that you can offer me that you will not squat and leave our children on the ground half a state away from our home is there?

Reassurance? I know my own body!

Oh? What makes you think that? A video special on dragons? What makes you think you know what is going to happen next with the body you have had for only ten months scale head? I do not seem to recall that you knew exactly when you were going to give birth to any of our other children. Two of them after you already knew what it felt like in the days leading up to labor!

Look, dick for brains. I feel that I have a week before they might come out. Maybe even longer if I have any say in the matter. Until I am the one shooting hot loads into your uterus, and you know what it feels like for four fucking dinosaur eggs to grow inside yourself, you are just going to have to take my word on this one. Maybe it is as voluntary as you having control over your boners?

You never complained about that before. He grumbled and stopped to draw my attention to him. Kim this is not about making myself hard on command, these are our children! Please tell me you are sure about this! We do not know what will happen on the way there, in Boise, or on the way back!

You are right, I do not know. But what I do know is that I will not let another child die when I could save them. What I do know is that a mother is down there, alone with her child, and completely unaware of what danger may fall on her head like a fucking meteor at any moment. What I do know is that you and I were asked to help bring a family back together.

I am not letting you go down there alone. I am going with you, and I want at the very least one more to come with us.

I wanted to protest that I didn't need coddled. But failing to recognize the dangers confronting us was just about the height of dumbassery. I resolved to not let any more children die. But, first and foremost, that meant my own.

We cannot risk taking more than one other with us. Perhaps, we should take someone else with us as well. Look how many little ones there are here! We do not know if they can take the same hit from a bullet that we can, and I sure as shit am not going to let anyone find out!

A human? Just one human? Just three children of the egg? If I could Kim, I would bring a fucking army with us.

Yes... just one human. Aside from Greta, I should add. I confirmed, still incredibly uncomfortable with thinking of humans as a group apart from my own. I do not think that I will ever get used to referring to them like they are different than us.

Well... when is the last time you have seen a human jump eight meters into the air and unfurl a pair of limbs growing from their back to fly?

But we cannot let a divide form between us! You know how we are...were, all we see are differences! Just because we can do something that they...

His head bobbed knowingly when I trailed off. I know Kim, I know. he sighed, smelling pained. Yet here we are. Not one bone in our bodies, not one organ, could ever be confused with that of the species we were. The only thing left of our human selves are our minds and, after the way we behaved today, I am not certain how much of that is left either. Did you not think it odd how we acted today? What human would grieve for the loss of a child, a child that they had only known for hours, the way we had today? Fuck, Kim... while we have been doing our perimeter check we have been taking turns sniffing the trees and the bushes for human scents! When did we start doing that? I am willing to bet anything that you cannot tell me.

I hadn't, and couldn't, which made me freeze in absolute horror as my scales involuntarily lifted to signal that same emotion. How did I not realize what we were doing? How strange it was? I do not want this to be true! I pleaded. I do not want to admit that I am no longer human!

Giving over all pretense of watching the trees we stood next to, he turned and embraced me with his wing. His fucking wing! Like I needed another reminder I thought, as he placed his head against mine.

We are who we are. For the rest of our long lives we will be stuck half-way like this. Born as one, to die as another, we will never be whole again. I do not know about you, but I am willing to set my confusion about that aside for the task we have been set upon. His head turned to look back at our distant home before turning towards me again. For the children that know us. His tail swept forwards and upwards, causing me to shiver as my body jumped with the feeling of it caressing my maternal swelling. And for the children that do not.

Thought chased after thought in my head until I ultimately drew the only conclusion that I could. Tom was right. It did not matter what we were. What mattered were the children. What mattered was the future. Not what we looked like. Not what we were. It was just like I had said, if it meant being twisted into something that this world had never seen, if it meant not ever knowing what I was, what I had become, it would all be worth it to guarantee the future.

Tension dissipated as I melted against Tom. His tail intertwining with mine and my neck wrapping around his. With my tongue flashing outwards to kiss his throat, doing what my lips could not, I sighed as his taste filled me. I love you Tommy, the warmth that I feel when I am with you, when you help me see what I could not, is like I swallowed the sun. What would I do without you?

He uncoiled his neck and led us on our way before he answered, before I felt his warmth match the one within myself.

Probably get indigestion from that star you ate.

A tiny bit of the colossal weight that had fallen on me that day slipped from my shoulders. With a thought my wing flicked upwards, forcing his to collapse, to drape across his broad back and draw him snuggly against my side as we both chuffed nearly silent laughter on the way back to our home. For just a few minutes I was able to push thoughts of Me Two from my head as Tom led us to the lights of our home and I buried my long nose under his chin and into his familiar scent. Our voices overlapped as we drew strength from our shared promise.

I love you, and together we are one. Your fight is my fight.

On our way back we reported to Sgt Mcdoughnut that we sensed no unfamiliar scents on our return. When he incredulously asked how we could possibly know that I lowered my head to sniff his breath and told him everything that he had eaten that day. Which seemed to satisfy him, as he brushed the crumbs of his dinner off his ill-fitting uniform.

Alex waved us over to where he sat conversing with Serena. We told him one moment and went to see our children cleaned and then off to bed. We were far from ready to settle down with them, but happily Angie was there. In the corner she lay, with her teddy bear clutched closely against her neck with a paw. George lay his hand on her head to gently wake her and she opened an eye long enough to welcome our twins into her embrace before settling in with them for the night. We George and Helen to give us a moment alone with Alex and Serena and they went inside to tidy up our home and kill time.

“So…" Serena began, before struggling with how to continue. Which I could sympathize with.

“Serena, how many children of the egg are there? Are any of them pregnant females by any chance?"

Serena was pretty smart, obviously, and she caught on right away and perked up a little bit. “What has happened? Have the eggs moved?"

Alex leaned forward to hear my answer. As their Uncle he did have a horse in the race after all.

“Yes, I have felt movement. You all know what happened today. You know me. Every time I was being…me…they did move backwards. In the morning Greta will be here and will finally go get her family and bring them together. Is it possible that I will lay sooner than a week's time? That is how long I feel that I have before my children leave the safety of my body."

“Well…" She said thoughtfully. “We do have a woman… a child of the egg… here who is pregnant. But whenever I ask her, she just kinda does that thing dragons do when they don't understand. You know…" She tilted her head, mimicked dilated pupils by opening her eyes wide, and tried to lick her own nose as she flared her nostrils. I gave a quick snort of amusement at her pantomime but that was the only reaction I could muster to what I'd normally find side-splitting. From what I'd seen of the others she'd made a pretty accurate copy. “So, knowing how far along she may be is a pure guessing game. However, given just how large you are, and how far your uterus is from your uh… taco (haha)… it may take some time for contractions to move the very, very large eggs that you carry any meaningful distance. And given that you described the movements being related to your emotional state, I would say that a week is a very reasonable guess. Unless, knowing you Kim, you get angry about something and advance that schedule."

Outraged, I flared my ears as my spinal membrane and neck spike rose to bristle menacingly. Me getting angry? Who the fuck does this bitch think she… I grunted as my stomach lurched and I felt my precious cargo shift.

Oh, right…

My trembling fins and spike collapsed as three pairs of eyes stared at me worriedly. Worriedly, but without an ounce of surprise. Breathe Kim, remember to breathe. You can prove all these naysaying cum guzzling motherfuckers wro… I stopped with a yelp as my belly heaved once more. A new sensation flowed into my mind as Tom's tail embraced mine and he turned his head to look me in the eyes with concern. Not able to hold his gaze I lowered my head in shame at the smell of his disappointment. After a moment to make sure I understood he nosed my head up and kissed me tenderly. I sighed into the side of his snout when my agitation began to dispel like smoke as the fire of my anger was doused by his love and solicitude.

“Before you go in the morning though, and I know after today that I am in no state to do this tonight as I'm sure neither are you, I beg you to let me watch as Alex scans you once more. I would be even happier if you could be scanned at least once every day until you actually deposit the fertilized ovum (good job making something as intimate and life changing as giving birth akin to dropping a chicken egg into a basket Serena) into the suitable substrate. I suppose that is hoping for too much however."

I grunted noncommittally after sharing a look with Alex and Tom. “We'll see." Serena yawned, and told me she understood and would be with us again in the morning. As she signed off the red scarf wearing dragon leapt into her open arms once again before the connection ended.

Tom called over the remaining aides that the Mayor had unceremoniously left behind to ask them what was going to be done to house these people that were supposedly coming in the morning.

“We don't know how many are going to be showing up at the staging area unfortunately. All that I know at this point is that it could be as few as five, and as many as two dozen."

“How about you keep us more involved in this process since this is our fucking home?" I muttered, straining to control myself. Tom bobbed his head several times in sincere agreement while humming deep in his chest to help me relax.

“For the logistics, I am afraid they will be roughing it for the first three or four days. The only thing we can provide right away are surplus army tents and cots. But I have been told that a packed C-130 will be arriving soon after along with the first National Guard units. You'd be surprised what kind of rapid deployment is possible when federal money starts to flow!"

Which was an answer we had to satisfy ourselves with for the time being. Tom and the others worked to occupy the jittery Ira and Robert while Alex and I worked with all the new temporary additions to our home to find somewhere for them to sleep for the night. In the end, most of them had to make use of my family's camping gear and settle in the garage. Some of the bureaucrats crashed immediately, but the media reemerged to mill around ready to video tape whatever inevitably happened next. Alex kept his place in our master bedroom, while six of the still unknown lost children had made a mess of my twin's bedroom in the house. Pulling all the linen and mattresses into the middle of the floor they had soon made a nest that they all plopped into on top of each other in a warm comfortable pile that made me somewhat jealous, and very sleepy, as I held my eye to the window to observe. I wished them sweet dreams and some much-needed warmth bloomed in my chest at the sound of their pleased trills. Helen poked her head in, threw another blanket over their drowsy huddle with a gentle smile on her face, and turned the lights off while leaving the door open for them.

Four hours later all of those still awake had started a fire in my fire pit around which we circled telling Ira stories about our adventures since zero day while he made a variety of noises and body movements that I had only vague ideas on how to interpret. Making a lengthy hissing noise whenever I mentioned something that was unpleasant or flaring his wings wide open when a surprise occurred where two examples. When I mentioned Sparrow, and some of the things he had done, he used one of his claws to dig a hole into the ground and then stomped on it with that same hind paw in what I guess was some kind of immense disapproval. Descriptions of affection made him sit up to cup his front feet together and touch his nose to them before bringing them against his chest. Stories where we described our fear caused him to briefly cover his eyes with his tail tip. All in all, we learned more about what our behaviors could be like than at any point so far just by watching his reactions.

This all of course an effort, while playing the waiting game, of keeping any of us from dwelling on the small body tucked lifelessly into the freezer in our garage.

Tom had just finished a story about discovering just how ticklish our wings and fins could be. Leaving out what I had done to him when he had used that knowledge on me. If I hadn't been pregnant already, I would have been after that night! What a fucking ride! Tom fell asleep tangled upside down in the trees with his head laying on the ground and the dizziest, goofiest expression I'd ever seen on it while I had to sleep on my back with my tail and hind legs in a pond to cool off. God, that was hot! You should've seen the steam coming off the water when I sat in it! When a patrolman sitting with us got a phone call. After ending it, he told us the news that we had been waiting to hear. Ira and Robert's father had arrived at the police station. Apparently, he had been quick to find a sober neighbor to drive him here with all the haste in the world.

I started to push myself up, but Tom would not let me go, and to stop me he remained as well, all but binding me in place with his own body. Ira was visibly torn, wanting nothing more than to rush to reunite with his father. However, he was forced to remain due to the palpable confusion of his brother and his overwhelming sense of duty to the young ones that he had shepherded for so long. Instead, Helen would go in the claws of Irma alongside Jesse and Asuka.

The explosion of tearful joy that erupted when Jesse touched down and released his wind whipped passenger did an immeasurable amount of good for everyone after what had happened earlier. While it by no means could wipe away the death that we still mourned, that sadness no longer had uncontested hold over our hearts. I had worried that Ted would not know which of us were his sons. But Ira had thought of that and written a new message for his father before launching himself clear across my back yard with his wings boosting him to snatch the sobbing man up into his embrace. Curling his body around his father his nosed him, he kissed him, he clung to him with all the feverish emotion that I would have expected. Ira withdrew his head for just a moment and then plucked the dry erase board from the ground where it had fallen and pushed it into his father's hands.

Dad! I am so sorry! I am so sorry! I am so sorry! After you lost mom, what this must have done to you. Please tell me you are alright! I am so sorry!

Ted read this and dropped the board to grab his son's head and draw it against him. In seconds he was soaked all the way through by the heated tears of his child. But he did not care, he could not care. He had only one question.

“Robert… Ira, where is Robert? I thought you were both here. Please tell me that was no lie, tell me that this is real."

Lifting his head, Ira called to his wary twin, who crept forward sniffing suspiciously and remained tense because of his twin's emotions. Drawing closer, Robert thrust his head forward and sniffed at his father while a dramatic shift occurred in his eyes. The sulfur yellow irises contracted as the pupils grew and recognition entered them. Leaning against Tom with our bodies held against each other we respectfully observed from a distance with the others as we heard a noise begin to slowly grow while those alien yellow eyes began to rain tears of relief upon the ground.

“dddddd" Robert drew closer still to be sure of what he smelled. Of what he remembered. “dddddaaaa?" He pushed his snout against his father's jacket and cried desperately once more as his tongue flashed out to touch his father's face. “Dad? I rember… I reber… Ireee… I remember you… It waadrrrk… It was drk… It was dark… Frsssslong… Forslong… For so long… Dad… I remember you… Dad? It was so dark… I was…I am…I…tried…Dad…"

Using words like joy, or relief, were not enough to encapsulate the raw emotions of the reunion that continued before us. “My boys… You're alive… Ira, Robert… You're… You're…alive…God, please let this be real. Don't…don't…if this is a dream…God…" Ted's feeble voice dissolved into tears and sniffles as he rubbed a cross dangling from his neck before doing his best to wrap both of his sons, his family, in his diminutive embrace. Overcome, he fell to his knees and his sons wrapped around him as all three disappeared behind the expanse of four sheltering wings.

Tiny children of the egg, watching from the roof of our shelter, began to sing. A happy, uplifting song of warm scales, warm minds, and warm hearts began to flow in a rising, swelling melody. With each new voice that joined this carol the cheerful chorus grew louder until even the older among us added our deeper tones to the heartfelt serenade. Our friends approached each of us as we sang to reach out to our broad chests and feel what we had to give voice to, what could not stay locked within us. They did not have to understand the feelings being sung to understand what was happening. Earlier, our voices had joined in grief and loss, now they joined in felicific and radiant bliss. All those asleep, awoke, and joined their voices, their smiles with ours. Together, for as long as we could, we turned our backs on sorrow to appreciate what was before us. For as long as we could, we showed our tails to the fact that Me Two would never hear something so beautiful ever again. Together, we sang for a future that she would have enjoyed. A future that she would have deserved.

...