Chapter 593: Telling the family.

Dean wanted Theo to know first.

That decision became complicated the moment he and Arion entered the family sitting room and found their son lying on his stomach across the carpet, the wooden dragon tucked beneath one arm while several books about animals were spread open around him.

Theo’s pheromonal flare from the night before had disappeared completely. His eyes were gold again, his temperature normal, and Victor had left only after extracting promises that nobody would treat the newly confirmed sigma like a medical emergency simply because nobody had enough comparable children to know what normal development looked like.

Theo looked up.

"Did Seven say you’re sick?"

Dean stopped.

Arion’s hand settled against the small of his back.

He had been doing that for nearly an hour.

If Dean crossed a room, Arion crossed it.

If Dean sat, Arion sat close enough for their thighs to touch.

If Dean stood near a window, Arion materialized behind him with a hand at his waist as though pregnancy had transformed Dean overnight into something likely to wander into traffic.

Dean glanced sideways.

"You’re doing it again."

Arion did not remove his hand.

Theo sat up.

"Doing what?"

"Your father has become attached to my hip."

Arion looked entirely unconcerned.

Dean gave up and lowered himself onto the rug beside Theo, immediately discovering that Arion intended to follow. His husband sat behind him instead, one knee raised and an arm settling loosely around Dean’s waist.

Theo watched them.

"You’re weird."

Dean smiled.

"That is hereditary."

Theo accepted this explanation.

Dean picked up one of the books, closed it, and moved it aside.

"Seven came because of me this morning, but I’m not sick."

Theo’s expression became attentive.

Dean had wondered how much explanation a four-year-old required. Theo understood pregnancy. Sylvia had been pregnant openly around him, and he had asked enough questions about babies over the years that nobody needed to introduce the concept carefully.

So Dean simply told him.

"A baby is growing inside Papa."

Theo stared.

His eyes dropped immediately toward Dean’s stomach.

Dean was nowhere near showing.

The child leaned closer anyway.

"A baby?"

"A very tiny one."

Theo placed his palm against Dean’s shirt with extraordinary care.

"Can it hear me?"

"Not yet."

Theo considered that.

"When can it come out?"

"Not for a long time."

"How long?"

"Several months."

That answer was clearly disappointing.

Theo looked back at Dean’s stomach.

"Will it be a sigma?"

Dean glanced toward Arion.

"We don’t know."

"Maybe omega?"

"Maybe."

"Alpha?"

"Also possible."

Theo frowned at the lack of useful information.

Dean brushed his hair back.

"You’ll be an older brother."

That changed everything.

Theo’s shoulders straightened.

"I can teach it."

Dean smiled.

"What?"

"Everything."

Arion’s chest moved against Dean’s back with quiet laughter.

Theo started listing responsibilities almost immediately.

Walking. Reading. Animals. Why Ducky was not allowed to eat socks. Which palace corridors were good for hiding.

Dean interrupted before the curriculum became criminal.

"You are not teaching the baby to hide from security."

Theo looked thoughtful.

"I can teach it when it’s bigger."

Arion kissed the side of Dean’s head.

"Definitely your child."

Dean elbowed him lightly.

After Theo had spent another ten minutes discussing possible sleeping arrangements and whether the baby would be permitted to touch his dragon, Dean finally made the first call.

Trevor answered.

Lucas appeared in the frame several seconds later, apparently summoned by Trevor saying Dean’s name.

Dean settled onto the sofa while Arion sat beside him, one arm stretched along the back behind Dean’s shoulders.

Lucas’s attention immediately moved between them.

"What happened?"

Dean laughed.

"Why does everyone assume something happened?"

"Because you’re calling together in the middle of the afternoon."

"That is unfairly accurate."

Trevor’s expression had already sharpened.

Dean decided not to drag it out.

"I’m pregnant."

Lucas froze.

Trevor’s face changed a fraction later. For one remarkable second, both said absolutely nothing.

Dean smiled.

"That was better than I expected."

Lucas recovered first.

"You’re sure?"

"Seven tested twice because apparently one confirmation was insufficient for this family."

Arion’s thumb moved slowly against Dean’s shoulder.

Trevor smiled, warm and immediate.

"Congratulations."

Lucas’s expression softened completely.

"When did you find out?"

"This morning. Arion smelled it before I knew."

Lucas looked toward Arion.

"Of course he did."

Arion appeared almost smug.

Dean noticed.

"You do not get credit for the pregnancy test."

"I identified the problem."

"The pregnancy is not a problem."

"The change, then."

Dean rolled his eyes.

Lucas laughed.

They talked for several minutes before Theo pushed himself to the edge of the call to announce that he was going to teach the baby everything important.

Trevor told him that sounded dangerous.

Theo disagreed.

Dean ended the call smiling.

Sebastian answered the next one from Saha.

Nero was visible behind him almost immediately, apparently incapable of allowing Sebastian to receive family news without participating.

Dean barely finished, "I have something to tell you," before Sebastian narrowed his eyes.

"You’re pregnant."

Dean stared.

Arion laughed.

"How?"

Sebastian looked pleased with himself.

"You have the face."

"That is not a thing."

"It absolutely is."

Nero appeared over Sebastian’s shoulder.

"Congratulations."

Dean pointed at the screen.

"You knew?"

"No. Sebastian did something irritatingly competent."

Sebastian ignored him.

"How far?"

"Very early."

"Healthy?"

"So far, everything looks normal."

That was enough to soften Sebastian’s expression.

The conversation became louder once Theo arrived again to announce his future educational program.

By the time dinner came, Dean had decided two calls were enough for one day.

Otto and Minerva discovered the news without any ceremony at all.

They were halfway through dinner in the main palace dining room when Minerva noticed Arion refill Dean’s water for the third time, move a serving dish closer before Dean could reach for it, and quietly exchange Dean’s coffee for herbal tea.

She put down her fork.

Dean saw it happen.

"Oh, no."

Otto looked up.

Minerva stared at Arion.

"You’re hovering."

Arion went still.

Dean leaned back in his chair.

Otto’s gaze moved slowly toward him.

Dean sighed.

"I’m pregnant."

Minerva’s hand flew to her mouth.

Otto stared for approximately two seconds before breaking into a smile so broad that Dean immediately regretted telling him before dessert.

Theo raised his glass proudly.

"I already knew."

Of course he did.

And with that, secrecy inside the family lasted less than twelve hours.