Tasha’s POV:

  I hid behind the side of the end table and waited patiently in ambush. Tilting my head, I listened for the quiet sounds of dragonet footsteps approaching. There! I darted out, ricocheting off the chair as I darted past Dirk.

  As I ran past him, I called out, “You missed me!”

  He clumsily chased after me, still not used to how his claws occasionally caught on the short carpet. Tessa shot out in front of me, more coordinated than her brother. I grinned as I bounded over to her. She gaped after me before also giving chase.

  I glanced around while trotting across the carpet, trying to figure out where Keegan had gotten to. When it came to hiding, that shy, silver dragonet held a gold medal shinier than my scales. If there was any possible hiding place, he would have discovered it almost instantly. It made him a serious foe when it came to games of ambush.

  As a precaution, I halfway unfolded my wings, ready to dart away at a moment’s notice. Taureen and Aeria were both sitting on the floor as the two whirling balls of blue and red scales had a blast on the carpet. I trotted past Taureen, and instinctively threw myself into the air as a silver streak rocketed out of hiding.

  I pushed for speed as Keegan gave chase. This race was a foregone conclusion; I was a bit larger than him, but Keegan was faster and more agile. A quick rollover and a shallow dive allowed me to gain some distance, but it was only moments before he was hot on my tail again.

  There wasn’t much room in here when flying at such speeds. When I spread my wings wider to turn, he darted above me and gently rapped his knuckles on my back—a motion to prove he had won this match. I warbled in amusement and glided back down to the floor.

  Both nestlings were staring with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what they had just seen. They were at least a year away from such high speed and agile aerial stunts, but it wasn’t going to be too many more days before Taureen and Aeria were going to have to watch out for clumsy fledglings testing their wings.

  ***

  Aeria regarded the two sleeping nestlings. “The difference in their energy levels between yesterday and today is quite noticeable.”

  I was now fully convinced that seeing the sun had a profound effect on nestlings. Dirk had seen the sun this morning and had been far more energetic today. It had taken almost two solid hours of play on the floor to exhaust the youngsters.

  “They grow extremely fast the first few weeks,” I told her and Taureen. “The first couple of days, they just focus on food and growth, but once they start moving, they’re nearly impossible to slow down.”

  Taureen commented, “You barely managed to contain Tessa in the nest last night when Tkael and Soranto visited. You won’t be able to manage that tonight if either of them have as much energy as they just did.”

  I pinned my ear tufts back at the memory. For some reason, Tessa was obsessed with the couch Taureen was sitting on and kept trying to sneak over while the two visitors were present. Dirk had been far more mellow and simply slept once he had a snack and bathroom break.

  But Tessa… She hadn’t been tired, and despite my best efforts, I knew that Tkael and Soranto had caught quite a few glimpses of her scarlet scales. If she had even half of the energy tonight that she had shown just hours ago, I wasn’t going to stand a chance of hiding her from their eyes. I was going to be lucky if I could keep the two nestlings on the end table.

  I muttered, “They had best keep their hands to themselves, or they could regret it…”

  Taureen didn’t respond, possibly because he already knew that neither of them would attempt to touch the youngsters—mostly due to my presence. Tonight was going to be hard for me. Other Kymari were finally going to get a good look at my children.

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  It wasn’t going to get any easier for me either. Within mere days, the children wouldn’t have any problems getting down from the end tables and furniture. I was pretty sure I was going to have a hard time keeping Tessa off the floor tonight.

  I was fretting over the inevitable—and I knew it. That didn’t make it any easier though.

  ***

  Tessa’s POV:

  I jumped off Taureen’s leg to land on the couch cushion beside him again. The cloth was different from the rug; the fuzzies were shorter and the cushion was much bouncier. What I really wanted to do was climb onto the back of the couch and jump down, but Taureen kept picking me up before I got to the top.

  Dad was lying under the heat lamp, spreading his wings under the warm light. He didn’t rest his chin on his hands like he normally did, which seemed kind of strange to me. Although that might have been because Dirk kept trying to catch the tip of his tail.

  Mom didn’t seem to like the two new green ones on the other side of the room. She kept glaring at them—and sometimes even hissing. The first time she had hissed, it had startled me, but she had done it so many times tonight that I barely batted an ear tuft now.

  I walked over to the front of the couch and peered down at the floor. I shifted forward, remembering how I’d seen Mom drop down earlier and how she had just spread her wings to slow her descent. I squawked as Taureen picked me up and deposited me on his lap once more.

  One of the big green ones across the room spoke in an amused voice, “You seem to have your hands full there, Taureen. I think someone got into the sugar.”

  Taureen replied, “I’m beginning to think so. Food seems to give them energy now, as opposed to making them want to sleep.”

  The other green one—my hidden knowledge reminded me again that they were called Kymari—said, “Their growth rate is quite interesting. They were much smaller in that first picture with Tasha. They have almost doubled in size since then.”

  I tilted my head as I examined the two Kymari. The first one was a bit more slender and apparently found my actions funny. The other one didn’t speak as much, and his voice was deeper. I struggled to remember if I had heard their names before, but came up blank.

  I shook myself as I dismissed the problem. Walking forward, I looked down at the floor once more. With what seemed like endless patience, Taureen picked me up and set me down further away from the edge. For probably the hundredth time tonight…

  He pulled something out of a pocket, and I sat up with a trill of happiness when I saw the small vial that held the massage oil. I spread my wings pleadingly, hoping that since I was already on his lap, he would oil me first.

  He put a drop of oil on his finger before starting to massage my shoulders. I sighed happily as I lay down to enjoy the massage.

  ***

  Tasha’s POV:

  I murmured to Taureen, “Okay, that was a smart move.”

  He gave no indication that he heard the compliment since our two guests were still present. Tessa was full of energy, and Taureen had a full-time job just keeping her on the couch and out of mischief. The little vial of massage oil finally had her motionless on his lap.

  Soranto had found her energy humorous, while Tkael was quietly intrigued by the bouncing nestling.

  “Since they are going through quite a growth spurt, I assume the oil keeps their skin from itching?” Tkael asked.

  Taureen nodded absently. “I’m oiling them several times a day, and it has eliminated most of the scratching.”

  Tkael watched for some time before speaking. “I wonder how the wild ones manage. They certainly don’t have access to thrice distilled hydrating oils.”

  Taureen shrugged lightly. “I’m not sure. No one has ever documented any behavior that might explain it. Their behavior is mostly unknown since the wild ones are so elusive.”

  It had been five years since Taureen had found me, and my friends in the park still painstakingly avoided those who tried to observe them. They had become somewhat more visible over the last few years, but none of them wanted the Kymari to get too close or see too much.

  The majority of the dragonet population had once been kidnapped and turned into the miniature dragons that they were now. Those days in the lab weren’t remembered fondly, and many were scared they’d end up in another cage.

  Some had taken the chance and were now bond animals who helped track sicora and crawlers. Technically, my “cage” was the entire house and backyard. Before I had children, off-leash visits to the park were an almost daily occurrence. I was kind of looking forward to taking my kids to the park once they could fly decently, although that time was still several weeks away.

  I took a deep breath and relaxed slightly. Our two guests were still on the far side of the room, thoroughly enjoying the chance to see the nestlings. The children were being successfully contained on the end table and couch for the moment.

  I was quite sure that tomorrow would be another challenge for my sanity...