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  Copyright 2018 by Selene Griffin - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  The Forbidden Dragon Baby

  Dragon In My Heart Series Book 3

  By: Selene Griffin

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  The Afterward

  The End

  About The Author

  P.S. Readers

  Chapter One

  It was something she had never expected, to be honest. Of course, it wasn’t something she had ruled out completely, and given a bit more time she was sure that they would have tried at it purposefully. Nevertheless, all three tests sitting there on the marble counter were telling her the same exact thing: she was pregnant again.

  Gabriella stood there on the cold marble floor of her and her husband’s personal bathroom, staring at the three pregnancy tests resting on the counter with a slightly dumbfounded look across her otherwise beautiful face. All three of them blared those two bright blue lines that seared away any hint of doubt she might have had about it. Pregnant. For the fourth time, no less… and so soon after their youngest, Mateo, had celebrated his very first birthday. How was she going to tell her husband, Santiago?

  There was no real worry over telling her husband. She had a feeling his first reaction was going to be pure shock with, perhaps, a faint hint of exhaustion at the edges. Once that had passed, though, she was sure he would be just as excited about it as he had been when he had been told about their previous four children. No, for Gabriella it was more of how exactly she should pop this surprise to him. Did she go for the subtle route, leaving hints all about the place until he guessed it for himself? Did she go the bold and blunt direction and just hit him with the information unexpectedly over breakfast? Or should she ease him into it…being obvious yet gentle at the same time?

  It was a tough call, but she finally settled upon the third option with a light drizzle of the second. Gathering herself and her wits, she tossed out two of the three pregnancy tests, made sure the one she kept was clean, and then opened the bathroom door to face the day and tell her husband they would be welcoming a fourth child into their home sooner rather than later.

  She could already hear the sounds of Rafael and Ignacio playing about the house, even at this early hour of the morning. Those two boys had been nearly inseparable since the day Rafael had been introduced to his baby brother. Now, at the ages of 8 and 3, the two were the cutest little pair Gabriella had ever seen in her life. It warmed her heart and melted her into a puddle to watch Ignacio trailing after his big brother, trying to do everything that Rafael did….and all the while Rafael being the smartest and kindest of big brothers. She couldn’t have asked for better children and she only hoped that Mateo, their youngest, and this new baby in her belly were as close as the older two.

  She got herself dressed for the day to the sounds of her children playing just on the other side of the bedroom door. She chose to go with a long, flowing dress made of a soft cotton blend and dyed a lush purple color. She always loved to wear purple. It made her feel mysterious, and she needed that little boost of mysterious confidence considering the news she was about to drop on her husband.

  Three steps out of her bedroom were about all she managed before she heard the sounds of chaotic giggles coming down the hall from her left at high speeds. By the time she turned her head, she felt two small but powerful forces slam against her left leg and latch on like little bulldogs. She tilted but managed to hold her balance as a bright smile bloomed across her face.

  “Momma, Momma, Momma!” her oldest two children cried out in unison as they hugged her.

  “My little munchkins!” she swooned, leaning down to hug them both. “How are you this morning? Has Lucia given you breakfast already?”

  “Yes, Momma!” answered Rafael in his ever-happy little voice. “We had toast and melon and eggs!”

  All the while, little Ignacio was nodding like a madman, looking up at her with his father’s amber eyes and tugging at his mother’s dress to get her attention. She gave him a smile, gently cupping one of his chubby little cheeks in one hand as she looked at him. She could never find the words to explain the love she felt for her children…and the thought of it caused a well of emotion to bubble up inside of her. Soon, she would have four little ones to love and she almost couldn’t handle the excitement of it.

  “Did you enjoy your breakfast, Ignacio?” she asked him.

  “Yes, Momma,” he answered with a smile that was nearly as big as his entire little face. “I like it when Lucia gives me honey with my melon!”

  “Oooh!” she exclaimed with a bright smile. “That is one of Momma’s favorite breakfasts. You’re lucky I was not with you or I might have eaten it all right up.”

  She leaned down and tickled his tummy, sending him into a fit of giggles that was contagious enough that it spread to his older brother within about two seconds flat. Laughing, Gabriella ruffled the tops of their heads and stood straight once more.

  “Go on and play, little ones. Momma has to find Poppa,” she said to them, her smile never wavering.

  “I saw Poppa in his office!” shouted Ignacio, beaming with pride.

  “Oh! Well thank you for telling me, sweetheart!” Gabriella said. “I’ll head there right now!”

  Ignacio kept smiling, proud of himself for helping his Momma. Rafael then took his little brother’s hand and the two of them wandered off to find their fun. Gabriella stood there for a moment, watching them walk away before letting out a heavy sigh of happiness. Even on their wedding day over 13 years ago, she never would have expected so much love to fill her life. She had hoped for it, of course, but what she had received was so far beyond what she had expected. She felt blessed, and for that she was thankful.

  She was also thankful for her husband, Santiago. Though he was the first generation of his family to be born and raised here in Mexico, he had still managed to guide his father’s once-small business into a rather powerful and profitable entity. On top of all that, he had provided her with a beautiful life, marriage, and of course their children… all while managing to keep the romance and love alive in their relationship. How could she not be thankful for a man like that?

  Of course, she would have been lying had she claimed not to be thankful for her husband’s good looks as well. He was tall, standing just past 6 feet in height, and he had a near-perfect mixture of his parents’ genetics. He had the strong Romanian facial structure from his father but the beautifully dark complexion from his mother, what with his soft caramel skin and near pitch-black hair. He was one of the most handsome men Gabriella had ever met...and it seemed their three young sons would take after their father to the bone.

  The thought ran through Gabriella’s mind as she walked the halls towards Santiago’s office to share the news. She had never really
thought about which one of them the children took after more, though as she realized that all three of their sons were little clones of their father, she began to feel a pain of sadness that her sons did not share many of her features. Perhaps they would as they grew older, as they say children tend to mirror their fathers in their younger days. Or, perhaps their newest addition to come would be the one to be like her.

  Her pace slowed as the daydream filled her mind. Images of laughing and playing with a little child who sported a head of long, milk-chocolate curls and dark eyes like hers. A child who wouldn’t be born with a lifelong secret they would have no choice but to bear. A child who was not a Dragon like their father and brothers before them.

  The thought caught her by surprise and a hand went to rest against her still-normal tummy. Never with her first three children had such a thought come to her. From the moment Santiago first told her the truth about himself, she had come to realize the possibility of their children all sharing that same nature…and yet she had never found herself thinking, hoping, that one of their children did not. A pang of guilt ran through her for a brief moment until she realized that she was not being selfish in her wishes and hopes. Yes, some of it came from a selfish place…. but not all of it. No, much of her desire was for her fourth child to be given the opportunity at a normal, human, life.

  Shaking off the daydream and her guilt, Gabriella squared her shoulders and finished off the last short leg of her journey to Santiago’s office. Once there, she paused and gave a light knock at the door to announce her presence before gently pushing the door open.

  “Santiago?” she called. As always, she enjoyed the feel of his name on her lips.

  “Hmm?” he responded, looking up from the papers on his desk as she walked in.

  The deep baritone of his voice sent a chill down her spine as it always did, prompting a smile to cross her face and her shoulders to rise a bit before settling as goosebumps washed down across her body. Even sitting there with his tie loose, collar undone, and his reading glasses on, he was one of the sharpest looking men she knew.

  He sat back in his chair, taking off his glasses with a smile, as Gabriella crossed the room towards his desk. By the smile on his face, she knew without a doubt that he still felt the same about her. She settled herself on the edge of his desk with one hip, reaching up to tuck a strand of her brown hair behind her ear as she did.

  “It’s awfully early for you to be looking so disheveled. Is everything alright?” she asked, not wanting to toss out a grenade like “we’re pregnant” if he was having business woes this early in the morning.

  “Everything is fine,” he answered with a smile as he tossed his glasses on the desk. “Just trying to make sense of some numbers my assistant sent me last night.”

  “Ah,” she mused, giving him a bit of a look and a smirk. “Well it’s far too early for you to be worrying about things like that. Come and have breakfast with me.”

  Standing up, she offered her hand to her husband and let her smirk turn back into a smile. The fact that he did not hesitate or attempt to push back on it at all and instead stood right up and took her hand told her she had married the right man. Of course, she already knew that, but little reminders like that were always nice to see.

  Together they walked, hand in hand, downstairs to the kitchen where they put in their breakfast request to their maid and cook, Lucia Mejia. Lucia was a lovely young woman who had only started working for the family shortly after Ignacio had been born. She had no family of her own, and in the four short years she had worked for them, she had shown a fierce sense of loyalty. Of course, they tried not to treat her as a servant, but instead as a friend whom they happened to pay, room and feed in exchange for her services. Not to mention, the boys absolutely adored her. She was short, somewhat stout, and full of nothing but kindness. They all adored her, really.

  Once Lucia had gotten started on their breakfast, the couple went and got themselves settled in their less formal dining room beside the large bay window. Midway through November in Ensenada was far from cold, but at this hour in the morning there was still a bit of a chill in the air. Otherwise, they might have chosen to eat outside.

  “Can I get you any coffee, my love?” Santiago asked as she settled down into her chair.

  “Oh…no, thank you, dear,” she answered, trying to hide her smirk. “Just a bit of juice, if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course I mind,” he teased her, giving a playful grin before stepping back out of the room.

  While he was gone, she contemplated how exactly she planned to tell him. She had already decided to try and be obvious but gentle about it… but how was she supposed to go about that, exactly? An old, nervous habit came up as she thought and her bottom lip was chewed on relentlessly. At least up until she heard the sounds of Santiago coming back from the kitchen. She knocked herself out of it, cleared her throat, sat up straight and hoped her bottom lip hadn’t already turned red. When he came back in carrying a mug of coffee and a glass of orange juice, she turned to him and smiled.

  “You are more than I could ever hope for,” she said, only half-teasing, as she took the juice from him with a smile.

  “Only for you and our shareholders, dearest,” he said with a wink and a smile.

  She gave him another little look and took a sip of her juice. She had always loved his wit and humor. It kept her laughing and it kept her on her toes. She decided to drag things out a bit and wait until they had their breakfast before she told him. She didn’t want Lucia to stumble in while she was sharing the news, nor did she want her husband to lose his appetite before he even had a chance to taste it. Lucia’s cooking was heavenly, after all.

  They fell into idle conversation about this and that for a few minutes until their food was ready. Gabriella asked about the business and how things were going, Santiago asked about her paintings and what she was working on next. They discussed the children and what they had planned for the holiday season coming up. When Lucia came in with their plates, they smiled, thanked her profusely and started to eat. Four or five bites in, Gabriella decided to roll out the bomb she was holding onto.

  “I know this might be a silly question, but humor me?” she asked, popping a slice of melon into her mouth, one eyebrow raised at her husband.

  “Alright,” he said with a smirk, pausing with a forkful of egg. “I’m ready to humor.”

  She rolled her eyes at her court jester of a husband and chewed the rest of her melon with a shake of her head.

  “What if we had a fourth child? You know, round things out to a nice and even number,” she asked as casually as she could possibly manage, popping another piece of melon into her mouth.

  “Well, numbers that end in five or zero tend to look better on paper,” he teased again, taking a bite of his bagel.

  “Answer the question,” she demanded with a smile, reaching out to swat at his arm gently. “What if we had another baby?”

  This time he took a moment to chew his food and think before he answered. Gabriella could tell by the way his eyebrows shifted that he was actually thinking about it. She gave him a moment, knowing better than to push him when he was thinking.

  “Honestly?” he mused. “I’m not sure. I’m quite fond of our three musketeers. I’m not sure what would happen if we disrupted the numbers.”

  “Well…” She paused, scooping up a spoonful of her oatmeal with blueberries. “I suppose we’ll find out for sure by this time next year.”

  Santiago sat there for a moment and just stared at her as she ate her oatmeal. The look on his face was blank as stone, as if he was playing a game of poker. She waited for it to sink in, watching both his amber eyes as well as his lie-detector eyebrows.

  “What?” he finally asked.

  She shrugged, ate another spoonful and gave a little tip-lipped smile. She watched the bomb explode in his head, his eyes going wide as he sat back with a dull thud in his chair. Her heart skipped a
beat, wondering if he would be upset for a brief moment before she noticed a hint of a smile on his lips.

  “Santiago?” she spoke his name softly, reaching a hand across the table towards him slowly. “Are you alright?”

  “Four children…” he said, his eyes still a bit wide even though his smile was coming back. “My father would be damn proud.”

  Gabriella smiled as Santiago reached out and took the hand she had offered out to him. They sat there for a long while, just holding hands and staring at one another. She figured he would need a moment or two to wrap his head around it completely, so she gave him that before speaking again.

  “I want to be surprised again, just like with the boys…” she said, though she was sure Santiago felt the same way.

  “Of course. It’s far more fun that way,” he agreed. “We’ll need to designate a new nursery…unless you would like Mateo and the new baby to share a room for some time.”

  “Let’s not worry about the finer details just yet. We still have plenty of time for that,” she said, giving a squeeze to his hand.

  “When did you find out?” he asked her, taking another bite of eggs as he did.

  “Just this morning,” she said with a soft laugh, watching him. “I had a feeling, so I took a few tests and they all said the same thing. Pregnant.”

  “Should I send word for a midwife from my family in Romania? I am sure the same woman who aided with Mateo will be available,” Santiago offered.

  “Not just yet. Lucia was quite a big help with Mateo…and to be honest, I was not too fond of that midwife,” Gabriella said. “She was rather…rough…and you know my Romanian is not that impressive.”

  “Very well,” he said with a slight laugh before he finished off his eggs. “You set the pace, my love. Just tell me when and where and I will take care of it.”