Daryn opened the door of the cabin and he had a tray of food laden with roasted chicken, peaches, cheese, bread and pastries. After keeping it in front of her, he bent down and kissed the tip of her nose. "It is chilly tonight. Do you want me to start fire?" He picked up a plate, loaded it with food and passed it to her.

"That would be nice," Dawn said, glancing at the fireplace.

​​

Daryn got up at once and placed a few logs to start the fire. Dawn glanced at him while digging her teeth in succulent chicken bone. It didn't take long enough for the fire to start. Daryn spread a fur right in front of the hearth and said, "Come here." He patted the place beside him. "It is warmer."

Dawn clutched her shawl with hand and plate with the other and went to sit down beside him. After taking her plate from her hand, he held her hand and helped her to sit on the fur. It was two days since Caleb had left and Bainsburgh seemed to be such a luxury to them. Daryn looked so much better. The dark shadows beneath his eyes were gone and his face filled with a warmer glow. Before he came back from Ixoviya he had given its reins to his former team of Lykaes who were handling it earlier. And according to the reports, they were doing pretty well. The royal wing had been sealed completely.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Dawn smiled. "These twins keep me up all night. Why can't they just sleep and let me rest?" She bit into the chicken. "They keep kicking my tummy a lot!"

"That's because they are my kids!" Daryn said with wide eyes as if even thinking that they are going to stay quiet was absolute stupidity.

Dawn chuckled. "I should have known." She placed the chicken leg back on the plate to pick up cheese. She was really hungry. In fact she was always hungry. She ate the rest of the food in comfortable silence, gobbling and cherishing every bite.

"Cole told me that the Starfish Refineries bid is to be announced within a day or two," said Daryn as he picked up a peach from the food tray. He bit into his peach and its sweet juices rushed out only to run down his chin and neck.

Dawn's gaze followed the line as Daryn chewed and swallowed the piece in his mouth. Before he reached his hand to wipe the juice, Dawn growled and bent to catch the sliding juice with her tongue from his chin and neck. She didn't stop there. She licked all the way up the trail, right from his neck to his chin and his lips before she gave him a hard kiss.

He growled as she plundered his lips. "Sweet woman," he murmured in her mouth and watched her with heavy-lidded eyes as he grasped her hips to draw her forward with care.

When she removed herself, she realized that she was sitting in his lap with her legs straddled across his thighs. "Did you get the peach on purpose?" she asked.

He picked another one, put it in his mouth and offered her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bit into it. Daryn chuckled and teased, "Yes, my dear. How did you know?"

She slapped his shoulder and rested her head in the crook of his neck. As she lazily drew circles on his chest, she said, "Daryn, I am scared…"

"Of what baby?"

"Of labor pain. I have heard it is excruciating."

"Don't worry darling. I will be beside you when you are giving birth to my babies," he declared with pride.

She sighed. "You better be. I have also asked Cole and Neal and Brenda and Caleb to be there."

Daryn let out a small laughter. "You wouldn't need any of them when I am there. I am a one man army." He raised his hand to show the bulging muscles of his biceps.

She smiled against the skin of his neck. "My strong, strong Lykae."

"Mhmm," he said and wrapped his arms around her. "We are going to be parents in less than two weeks!" he squealed.

"Yes," she hummed.

"Man, it is so difficult to be pregnant," Daryn declared as if he was bearing the children in his belly.

Dawn thumped his chest. "You just said you are strong!"

"I am, but—" he flopped his head up. "Gaaah!"

"Well, have you thought of the names for the babies?" she interrupted.

"I have," he smiled.

Dawn sat back on the fur and spread her legs in front. "Tell me."

"Dawn junior and Daryn junior." Daryn grinned and rubbed his chest at the warmth that filled his heart. He couldn't believe that in a few days he was going to have his own pups. Life had come a long way for him.

She stared at him with disbelief in her eyes. Exasperated she rubbed her neck and said, "I shouldn't have asked you. I would rather choose them myself."

"What is there in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"What if I name them Rose 1 and Rose 2?" asked Dawn with a raised eyebrow.

He scowled. Then he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he snapped his finger and said, "Oh! I got a brilliant idea! I will name my daughter Silence. She would be the loudest girl in her class and so people would say that Silence is deafening!"

Dawn gaped at him.

"I will name my baby boy, Loud. So when he would speak softly, people would say, see Loud whispering."

"And if my daughter goes around thrashing bullies, people would say, silence also kills!"

Dawn collected her mouth as her mind froze. Her husband was terrible at giving names.

He continued. "If my son would kiss a girl, people would say, "Loud kisses!"

"Okay!" Dawn raised her hand up in the air. "I get you Daryn. I have already a list of names with me, so you can give your brain a rest!"

"But I have just started, woman!" Daryn protested.

"And you can stop. I would certainly not name my kids Silence and Loud!" She rolled her eyes.

"I have better names. Hear me out," he whined.

"Oh no! A while back I heard something about Rose is a rose blah blah."

Daryn twisted his lips. "But now I do have the name in my mind and I am exploding with ideas."

"Do me a favor. Give yourself a rest, else I will explode."

"Fine," he drawled. "Let's hear your list."

She smiled. "Bianca, Desiree, Axia, Lyra, Vanessa, Alyshia and Claire."

"Those are seven beautiful girl names, Dawn," said Daryn with a dazed smile. "They are now registered in my brain. Just choose one from these and we can name the rest of the girls later when they are born. What about boy names?" There was a silly smile on his lips. Six more babies—his heart leapt miles high. He imagined them all climbing over him.

Dawn snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "Snap out!" He narrowed her eyes. "We aren't having any more after these two, okay?"

Daryn didn't nod, nor did he shake his neck; he grinned. "As you say baby." In his mind he knew that it was as he says. He was ready to puncture all the condoms.

The door of the cabin opened and Cole and Neal walked in with a two-feet long salmon hanging in their fishhook.