Gregor placed sleeping Wyatt in her arms. She smiled at the lad before meeting Gregor's gaze again. "He's so well-behaved. He must get that from Sid."
Gregor grunted, but Sid snorted and said, "I think you and I need to become better friends, Layla."
Gregor growled, "I'm not sure I like that idea."
As the three of them laughed and talked a wee while about everything and nothing, Layla realized how much she missed not only her old boss and his humor, but it was also nice to have several someones to discuss medicine and her work with.
Her dragon huffed. Then make sure to call them more often.
Aye, I will, dragon. Once I'm out of this bed, I have a whole slew of changes to make.
Some would take time, maybe years, but she was done pretending she didn't need help, let alone hiding everything about herself except for the doctor side. Layla wanted more time with her mate, her sister, and even talking with Sid and Gregor.
And in order to do that, it meant relying on more people and setting up the surgery to run smoothly, even if she wasn't there every single day.
Chapter Twenty
Chase drove the final mile down the dirt road before parking the car he'd borrowed from the Protectors. He glanced at Layla. "We're here."
She wasted no time in getting out of the car, and Chase did the same.
After three long weeks, Dr. Sid had finally cleared Layla to go on the outing. However, until the bairn was born, Layla wasn't allowed to fly. It was too risky. Hence, him having to make the drive.
His dragon huffed. All I want to do is fly with our mate. First, we waited to have her, and now this.
Aye, and much like waiting to have her, it'll be worth the wait. There's no way I'll put the bairn's life at risk, let alone Layla's.
And since they both wanted to try their hardest to keep their child, Layla had agreed to the conditions, even if she didn't particularly like them.
Once Chase reached Layla, he put an arm around her waist and drew her against his side. "Are you sure you don't want to wear a blindfold and make the reveal overly dramatic?"
She glanced up at him. "So I can trip, crash into some tree, and then have to rush back to Lochguard?"
He kissed her nose. "I know, I know, we want to avoid any extra work for you."
Leaning her head on his shoulder, she replied, "It's more than that, though. I just want to enjoy the day off with my male. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm dying to see this garden of yours. It saved my life, after all."
The basis of her medication was made from a flower he grew. "And I hope to expand it, so it can save other lives. I may not be able to perform a surgery or diagnose a disease, but I know how to grow plants. After today, you can tell me what else it needs, and I'll do my best to provide it."
She squeezed his side. "Then let's hurry up. The sooner we arrive, the sooner you can take your shirt off and start digging, or weeding, or some other sort of manual labor that'll allow me to ogle your sweaty chest and back."
He snorted as he guided her down the somewhat hidden pathway to his garden. "It's bloody cold outside, Layla. As much as I wouldn't mind my female taking care of me when I'm sick, I'd prefer to wait a wee while." He lowered his mouth to her ear. "After all, today is the first time I can have you in weeks."
She glanced up at him, heat in her eyes. "Maybe you should've taken care of that before dragging me into the middle of nowhere, in the dead of winter."
He grinned. "I said I have a few surprises, didn't I? Now, come on, so I can start revealing them to my curious lass."
As they continued to walk slowly—he wasn't going to push Layla too hard, even if she had been deemed healthy again—he stroked Layla's side, reveling in her heat and scent at his side. Merely having her to himself, without doctors and nurses—let alone family—looking on was pure bliss. Aye, they had a lifetime ahead of them, but Chase would never get enough of his female.
It didn't take more than a few beats before Layla asked, "How did you find this place?"
"As I mentioned before, I needed something to distract me from a beautiful lass destined to be mine, but who didn't give me a second glance. And as I grew tired of flying here and there, with no destination in mind, I asked Finn if I could use one of the abandoned game hunting forests for a special project. Since I had quite the reputation for trouble back then, I had to tell him it was for nothing more troublesome than a garden. He granted the request and promised to keep it secret. And every week, I tried to do a bit more, always adding or clearing a new section. However, it's no longer an escape merely for me. I want it to be our secret place, away from everything else, where we're nothing but two mates in love."
And maybe one day, he could teach his son or daughter to help him. If he and Layla were lucky enough to have one.
If not, he'd be fine with Layla reading a book as he worked, content that his mate was nearby.
Layla sighed. "That sounds lovely." She glanced up. "Although I hope you don't expect me to start stripping my shirt off and digging with a shovel, too. It's not vain to say these hands are worth too much to risk damaging or maiming by mistake."