“Dang, Beth. I thought you had looked at those messages earlier?”

  She sat sheepishly in the hammock across from Mark.

  “I know… I just got so busy with you and the new mineral cache found in the southern poles.”

  He sighed. “Well, you can visit them in person with Cal, and then we can have a VR wedding. It’s the best we can-”

  The telltale sign of Cal shimmered into existence before them.

  Beth sat up straighter, “Are you ok, Cal? You just left?”

  The dragon shook and dragged his back against the swollen lumps on the coffee table like a cat.

  : Everything is fine. Just like I said it would be. Got something for Mark so he stops researching me:

  As the creature shimmered away, Beth looked towards the thing Cal had brought back. A thing that Mark had already held up with trembling hands despite its sturdy obsidian and opal composite surface.

  He reverently cradled it against his chest. “Beth, it’s another baby dragon.”

  …

  President Amelia Dunwood leaned back in the leather chair in the Oval Office. It had creaked under the weight of the last five presidents, and while she had it refurbished, the squeak was only from fragrant leather.

  Russia had called. They wanted their dragon egg back. It didn’t matter that an alien (which the U.S. didn’t control) had taken the property, and that Mars was a joint colony between all the major powers. Sure, the U.S. had a lot of bargaining power to throw around, but they had already dealt with the creature once. And it was fully capable of defending itself.

  What did President Isaslov want from her?

  Probably political concessions, lessened tariffs, or lifted embargoes.

  What was worse?

  That sneaky space lizard had no viable leverage. It was a one way power dynamic that couldn't be solved because it didn't want anything.

  And now China was pooling its bid with Russia to force possession of an egg. The implications of a totally independent operator that could transport goods anywhere was the ultimate weapon, drug trafficker, and surveillance measure.

  This also meant that allies and neutral parties like the United Nations, Australia, and India were banding together to force a concession that she couldn’t grant.

  Amelia decided to write another email. Maybe if she worded it right, Beth would let go of the stash of eggs she was clearly hiding.

  …

  “I think it's wings”.

  Mark pointed at the two masses of bones that had been slowly detaching from Cal’s ribcage to pool in a soup of blood and cartilage behind the shoulder blades.

  : Cool. I’ll be a real dragon then:

  Beth translated the statement, then asked, “When do you think- oh, stop that Cal.”

  Calamity rubbed against the scanner, and Mark screeched. “My precious equipment!”

  Cal flicked his tongue out and teleported into a tray of rocks that Beth had been working on. : I’m more valuable than that hunk of wires: Then he rolled onto his back and sent up little puffs of red dirt.

  Beth stepped back and grabbed a mask from the wall.

  Except the dust settled as red liquid turned it to mud.

  : Ahhhhh:

  Beth bit her lip at the contented sigh and the contradictory blood in the tray. “What did you do?”

  The little dragon flipped upright and showed off the black wings emerging through the holes on his sides. Though they looked more like wrinkled laundry forgotten in a dryer.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Mark’s frustration disappeared like dew in the morning. “How fascinating. It seems that, like a butterfly or moth, a secondary stage of life has been gestating in the ribcage only to burst out when fully formed. And also like the Lepidoptera family, the wings seem to need time to dry out and fill with blood. It takes two to four hours before a butterfly or moth is ready to fly. But since you are larger, perhaps the process will be slow due to the size. Or perhaps it will be faster because of the increased size of blood vessels? Either way, mantle your wings and get into the scanner.

  Cal teleported to the spot, but complained that he had given Mark his own egg for just this purpose.

  Just as said egg hatched.

  …

  After his wings popped, Calamity figured out that he could teleport more than himself. It was like an extra sense had opened up. A muscle that had been trained for months, then given to him. The universe had breathed, and settled in his brain just a bit smaller than before. Or perhaps his presence was slightly larger. Like a planet on the proverbial cosmic sheet, resting a bit lower in the gravitational bed.

  His weight had increased, and he could take anything with him that didn’t outweigh his metaphorical weight.

  Like a two person shuttle.

  And just like that, the wedding was planned, and Cal became the chauffeur.

  Not that he cared much for the event.

  Cal was interested in the new dragon, which Mark had named after a famous scientist.

  He watched as Darwyn toddled about.

  Ate things.

  Tore up junk.

  And ask questions.

  :What is this?:

  :A fire hydrant:

  :Why?:

  :Because it makes fire wet:

  :Why?:

  :Because- wait don’t..:

  Cal teleported away to avoid the initial burst of water that Darwyn had caused by taking an experimental bite. By the time he had swooped in to grab her, he was too late.

  Baby sitting suuuucked.

  But he had grown up fast.

  So he watched.

  It was like watching paint dry, but he didn’t want to miss the day Wyn could hold a proper conversation.

  …

  “What does she expect us to do?” Beth crumbled an expensive cream envelope and threw it onto the Cal snack pile. “Just because I’m on Earth to accept mail doesn’t mean the electronic answer has changed.”

  Mark walked closer to hug her. “I know. It sucks. But once we’re married, we can go back to Mars. Your mother's chemo has gone just as well as can be expected. and we can visit at any time. The powers that be will just have to accept that there are no more eggs. Cal already looked.”

  She leaned into him. “Yeah. I know. I’ll be glad to be home. And speaking of mother, have you thought about it?”

  “A mother in law house on Mars? The commander gave us enough land to build on. And we can get Earth materials easily through Cal. But are you sure you want your parents that close?”

  “Yes. I pushed them away for long enough. I want to hold them close for a change. Especially since mom…”

  “We’re lucky that the cancer is in remission so soon. I’m sorry she has it in the first place. As for the house, I have no problem with it, though I'm not above sending them back to Earth if it gets to be too much. "

  Beth laughed softly and took his hand. “Life has always been an enigma to me. It’s one of the reasons that you are so wonderful. You are a window into the world that I have never understood until long after it has passed away. Despite all the heart ache in the middle, it was worth it to get here.”

  …

  “I, Bethany Kane, do swear to love and cherish, in sickness and in health, in the field and in the lab, to withhold nothing and accept in return.”

  “And I, Markus Weisel, do swear to love and cherish, in sickness and in health, in the field and in the lab, to withhold nothing and accept in return.”

  “You may kiss the bride.”

  Cal watched Mark and Beth exchange saliva. It was something that had happened many times before. Yet, for some reason, this one was special.

  Perhaps it was the presence of more people?

  They always shooed him and anyone else out when they performed mouth to mouth before.

  Humans were odd.

  He grabbed Darwyn’s tail as she stretched to eat the lilac and lily flowers at the end of the church pew.

  : Not now. You can eat them later:

  She sat back down with a huff. : Fine. But after this, I want to get more snow:

  : Fiiiine:

  So, after the wedding came to an end, and pictures were taken, Calamity took Darwyn to the North Pole.

  …

  Beth cried as Mark took a turn around the dance floor with her mom.

  The woman had become a shadow of her former self, and yet more intense. As if she was more concentrated.

  But both of them were absolutely glowing with happiness.

  Beth slipped out to the bathroom to fix her makeup.

  She took out the emergency makeup kit from a small pocket inside her skirts. As Beth worked, she was glad that no one else was in the bathroom. Even though they had wanted a small wedding, the guest list just got bigger and bigger. Her family only had about ten people, but Mark was the youngest of five and the last to marry. That had added thirty people. Then, some friends from the Mars base, and a couple of dignitaries, and later, there were over one hundred people. Far more than she had ever thought would want to come. A lot more than she wanted to deal with. Yet, it was nice that all of these people cared enough to come.

  The door opened, and Beth turned to see if she knew her, then stopped short.

  She didn’t know him.

  But the gun barrel pointed at her face seemed to say that he knew exactly who she was.