Crouched beside the couch, Pom stared intently at the children. His tail swayed from side to side, shoulders tucked in in a vain attempt to make himself seem smaller. Perses’s tail slowly began to match his, even though the younger dragon kept his head ducked shyly. Pom scooted over to let Lamis and Moros pass, followed closely by Dio leading Icelus and Deimos. 

His claws flexed where they were tucked into his lap, before he held out a careful hand. “Do you want to try some cake as well, uh, Perses, right?”

Perses hesitated at first, but placed his hand in Pom’s, the shade of red on their scales identical. His other hand clutched Mr. Turtle under his chin.

“Mmhm…” 

Pom smiled, rubbing his thumb over the back of the tiny hand. His son was so small. “Do you like fruit? Lammy made a strawberry cake, if you want to try that?”

“I like strawberries,” Perses said shyly. His voice was so small.

“Me too! They’re my favorite color too, since they’re red like us.” Pom winked. 

Perses’ tail swayed side to side and a smile tugged at his mouth. He ducked his head to hide it.

Pomenius’s tail wagged faster, and he smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. “Did Mr. Turtle take good care of you while you were getting fixed up?”

Perses nodded, pushing his nose into the toy. His eyes remained on Pom, curiosity warring with wariness.

“You know, my dad gave Mr. Turtle to me when I was a few years younger than you,” Pom said. “Mr. Turtle gets scared a lot, so you need to make sure to give him lots of hugs when things start to feel scary. I haven’t been able to give him enough hugs, since I’m all grown up now. Do you think you can take care of him for me, and give him lots of hugs so he’s not scared?” 

Perses nodded more vigorously, and tugged Mr. Turtle against his jaw. He pet over the teddy’s shell delicately. 

“I’ll take care of him,” Perses mumbled.

“That’s good. Then I can take care of you.” Delicately Pom pet the back of his claws over Perses’s head.

Perses’ spikes lifted under the strokes, his scales lifting with them. A low rumble rose from him and he leaned into the touch.

Encouraged, Pom scrunched himself enough to lean closer. “Perses, you know I’m your dad, right?”

Perses looked up at him, nodding. “Do… do you want me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Pom held out his other hand. Gosh, he could hold his son so easily. He looked so thin, cheeks hollowed in, making his jaw look sharper. “Do you want me? I know I look a bit big and scary, but I give pretty good hugs, if you want one?”

“You’re not scary…” Perses tucked Mr. Turtle under his chin and timidly climbed into his arms, nestling against the warm part of his chest.

Pom closed his arms around the little dragon, applying the tiniest bit of pressure as he nuzzled the top of his head. A deep rumbling churr vibrated through his chest, making the cake tins on the table rattle. His tail hit the side of the couch, sending the piece of furniture sailing back a foot.

Perses jumped, scales flattening, eyes widening into something nearly entirely yellow as his pupils shrank. The other kids froze, staring over at them. Deimos stepped closer.

Pom immediately loosened his hold. “Ah! Sorry lil man! Did I scare you? My tail has a mind of its own sometimes!”

Perses slowly relaxed against him, offering a small smile. “Mine too.”

In the corner of his eye, Pom saw the other kids relax again, all looking away again, as if to hide they had collectively flinched.

“Yeah? Guess you get that from me.” Pom couldn’t help but grin, carefully folding his son– his son back into his arms. 

He rubbed over Perses’ little back, scratching under the spikes in a way Pom knew felt nice on his own back. Perses melted under the attention, his little rumbling churr bubbling up from his chest, tail flopping limp, only the tip of it twitching. His scales rose, giving him a fluffy appearance. 

Pom nuzzled his head. “So cute!”

Perses’ let out an adorable squeak of surprise. His cheeks turned a darker red color and he quickly hid his face in the crook of Pom’s shoulder, his tail wagging again.

Pom chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to embarrass you, lil man.”

“Nobody’s called me that before,” Perses mumbled.

“Is it okay that I called you cute?” Pom didn’t know what boundaries Perses had. At his age– eleven? – Lamis had started raging against what she called ‘Pom’s coddling’. 

Perses peeked up at him. “Am I?”

Pom grinned wider, booping his muzzle to the end of Perses’s nose. “You are adorable. The most adorable dragon I’ve ever seen.” 

And he was. He was cuter than even Lamis’s baby pictures, and Pom would die on that hill. He would die for this little dragon. His son. His son. 

His tail made the couch jump another few inches, but Perses didn’t flinch this time. Instead he gave a shy smile and his scales ruffled again.

“Then I’m okay with that…” Perses tucked his face back into hiding.

“Then I’ll call you cute as much as you want. You’re my lil’ cutie pie.”

Perses smiled against Pom’s arm.

The smile on Pom’s face was starting to make his cheeks hurt, but he couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to. 

“Do you want to try some dessert? Lamis made a strawberry and cream pie that I saved a few pieces of.”

Perses’ tail swayed faster. “I wanna try that, yeah.”

This is mine. This is my son. “Can I pick you up?”

Perses blinked at him. “Um… I’m too heavy.” He looked doubtful even as he said it.

“Not for your old man you’re not!” Gently, Pom scooped Perses up, tucking him into the crook of one arm. Perses let out a little chirp of surprise. “See? I can lift you up easy! Light as a feather.” 

Too light for his height.

Perses giggled, a soft, smothered little sound that he quickly tried to hide. “Dee can’t even pick me up like this anymore.”

“That’s cuz Dee’s your big brother, and I’m your Pops.” He rocked Perses gently. “That means I’m always the right size for cuddles.”

Perses looked down at how far they were from the ground and smiled brighter. His tail wagged faster, patting against Pom’s stomach. “Can you do this all the time?”

Pom pressed his beak to the side of Perses’s little head, trying not to cry. “Of course I can, cutie pie. As much as you want. I got a lot of time to make up for, don’t I? So I’ll carry you as much as you want to be carried.”

“A lot…” Perses nuzzled into his collarbone, giving a soft sigh. Pom could feel the little dragon’s body relax, muscles unwinding for the first time in who knew how long. “You’re warm…”

“So’re you.” Pom squeezed him gently. “Lil warm wyrm. Cutest lil dragon in the world.”

Perses curled up like he could make himself smaller, smiling shyly and chuffing more happy sounds into Pom’s shoulder. “Um. What- What can I call you? Chi called you Pom…”

Pom’s tail flicked nervously. “Well, uh. You can call me Pops or Papa, if– if you want. Or Pom, if you don’t.” 

“Pops,” Perses said decisively, the most sure he’d sounded since Pom started talking to him. He pushed his head up under Pomenius’s chin. “You’re my Pops.”

Pom felt like he could throw a bus. He felt like he could smash a building. He felt like if his son– his son, his son, his son!– asked him anything, he wouldn’t be able to say no. 

“Yeah.” He sucked in a watery breath, rubbing his chin on Perses’s head. “Yeah, I’m your pops.”

Perses’ tail curled around Pom’s arm, another churr rising out of him like water boiling over a fire. Pom took a deep breath to keep a fresh wave of tears back, forcing a smile onto his craggy face.

“Let’s go get you some dessert!” Pom carefully carried Perses over to the table of sweets, picking up a slice out of the pie tin with one hand to offer to the little dragon. The bright red fruit glistened with sugar and gelatine below a mountain of whipped cream. “Here!”

Perses sniffed towards it, then carefully lifted it up with his hand, chomping down with sharp fangs. His tail loosened from Pom’s arm to wag hard again, and he finished the slice off with another bite.

“You like it?” Pom’s tail wagged in time with Perses’s.

Perses nodded rapidly, licking over his lips.

Pom grinned. “You want some more? Or, I think there’s a strawberry cake somewhere in there too…” 

He looked over the maze of baked goods. On the other side of the table, Lamis had Moros in her lap, piling a plate with bits of cookies and lemon bars and brownies. The pizzas sat half eaten on the table, the little dragon more interested in the sweets.

“Can I have more of this?” Perses asked hopefully.

Pom gave him a kiss on his head. “Of course you can cutie pie! Tonight we’re eating whatever you want!”

“Can I try your favorites?” Perses’ tail squeezed around

“Yeah! Let’s see…” Pom waded through the cakes and cookies, before finding a strawberry and whip cream cake. “Here we go! Oh, and there’s bacon pizza too!” 

He picked up bits of food off the platters, overfilling a plate for Pom to eat. He offered it to the little dragon in his arms. “Here!”

Perses ate eagerly, trying hard not to seem like he was starving, 

Pom kept his plate full, cooing and petting over his soft little spokes. He would never let his child feel hungry again.

…