"You still haven’t answered my question. What game do you want us to play?" Tatiana asked.

"It’s called skipping stones." Austin explained before demonstrating it with a flick of his wrist.

The stone he flicked sailed forward and bounced twice across the water before sinking.

"Two skips, huh. It doesn’t really look impressive, but it’s a good try, I guess." Rowena muttered as she joined to watch what type of game Austin and Tatiana wanted to play.

"You barely even know about the game and you’re already criticising me."

"I just have a feeling you didn’t do that well." Rowena shrugged with a smile.

"Alright then. Let’s see you do better than what I did." Austin suggested, and Rowena picked up a stone before mimicking his motion as best she could.

But the stone plunked straight into the water without a single skip.

"...Oh, it’s actually a lot harder than it looks."

"Oh, you don’t say."

"Don’t mock me." Rowena squinted.

"Already did. Besides, that’s what you get for mocking your friend first."

"I wasn’t...."

"It sure looked like mocking to me."

"Anyways, I’m sorry, and I won’t do it again."

"Good, now come here and let me teach you how it’s done."

Rowena walked closer, and Austin explained how it was done. "It’s all in the wrist, actually." Austin explained, but Tatiana stepped up next, grabbing a stone of her own and flinging it with far more force than was necessary.

However, luckily for her, the stone skipped not once, but twice, thrice, and then a few more times until it disappeared entirely from view. Everyone could still hear the sound of it skimming through the water, echoing faintly even after it was gone.

Noticing this, silence settled over the group for a moment, until Austin finally frowned in petty annoyance. "You’re too good to be playing this game."

"As expected of me. I am a dragon, after all." Tatiana replied with a shrug, looking entirely pleased with herself.

"Yeah, yeah. You’ve mentioned it already. Good for you." Austin muttered in a slightly annoyed tone, though his lips were still smiling.

Nora, on the other hand, simply walked to the water’s edge before gently lowering herself onto a flat rock nearby.

Then she held Luna up slightly so the baby’s face could catch the glittering reflection of sunlight on the water.

But since Luna’s eyes were still closed, the cute little pupcake couldn’t see anything yet.

That didn’t stop her mother from showing Luna the lake anyway. "Look, sweetheart. Isn’t it pretty?" Nora muttered softly as she pointed at the water, smiling at how beautiful it was.

She could only hope her daughter’s eyes opened soon, because once they did, she was definitely going to bring Luna back here to see it properly.

Meanwhile, Rowena was watching this, and her expression softened without her even realising it.

She didn’t even notice when she had drifted closer, until she was kneeling beside Nora.

"May I?" Rowena asked quietly, glancing between Nora and the baby.

"Of course." Nora replied softly as she carefully transferred Luna into Rowena’s arms.

The beautiful Countess held the baby carefully, with a slight stiffness to her movements.

It was easy to see that the stunning elf wasn’t used to this, but the moment Luna let out a soft, cute sound as she nestled into the warmth of her hold, something in Rowena’s expression shifted into a feeling she couldn’t quite explain.

It was strange, but she didn’t dislike it. Right there and then, Rowena felt like she could do anything for the little baby, and would be willing to do whatever it took to keep her happy.

Maybe this was why her aunt had wanted her to have a baby so badly.

She pondered this, and couldn’t help but agree with her aunt’s wishes.

It certainly would be nice to have a little one of her own.

To have a cute little bundle of joy would certainly fill her with happiness, and she would definitely do anything to make her own child happy too.

"She’s so small." Rowena whispered as she watched Luna nestle into her further.

"Yes, she is, but she won’t stay that way for long." Austin replied as he watched the two of them together, smiling.

Meanwhile, Tatiana wandered closer as well, peering down at the baby. "She really is so small. I wonder if I could hold her?"

Tatiana asked, fearing something might happen if she held Luna too tightly.

"It’s fine, just try holding her." Rowena offered the little pupcake to Tatiana, and to her own surprise, Tatiana held the baby with unexpected tenderness.

Her eyes softened even more, and a wave of warmth surged through her as she watched Luna’s tiny hand reach up for hers, then curl weakly around one of her fingers, holding on tightly.

"Oh my. She’s stronger than she looks." Tatiana said jokingly, and Nora nodded with a smile.

"Yes, she is. Just like her dad."

"Indeed I am. In fact, I am the strongest man in this kingdom." Austin proudly announced, placing his hands on his waist and puffing his chest out.

"Yes, of course you are, hubby." Nora added softly, though anyone could easily sense the teasing tone that made it clear she didn’t entirely mean it.

Of course, Austin noticed this too, so he leapt on his wife and showered a hundred kisses all over her face, until she admitted to taking back what she had said earlier.

Nora’s cheeks reddened and her laughter filled the surroundings, but Tatiana simply smiled at the little bundle of joy in her arms.

Strangely enough, she couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have her own little one someday.

It certainly wouldn’t be bad to have a cute little baby she could train and teach everything her mother had taught her.

However, finding a mate, or a male dragon, would be extremely difficult, given how rare dragons were.

Even her mother hadn’t had a mate before conceiving her.

Her mother had used a rare and ancient spell that cost her more than half her lifespan to work, but Tatiana didn’t intend to do the same.

Yes, she would love to have a baby of her own, but she would rather have a mate by her side too, so the two of them could properly nurture and raise their children together.

But finding a compatible mate to do that would be extremely difficult... unless.

Tatiana mulled over the idea before glancing toward Austin.

The human male was still raining kisses on his wolfkin wife, and Tatiana couldn’t help but ponder one very important thing.

If Austin was able to impregnate a demihuman like a wolfkin, didn’t that mean he should be able to do the same to her, a dragon, as well?

’Could he really do it?’ Tatiana wondered before shaking her head to clear such thoughts from her mind.

For now, the two of them were symbiotic contract partners, so seeing Austin as a potential husband wasn’t something Tatiana wanted to dwell on right now.

And so, she swiftly redirected her gaze back to the cute little wolfkin.

For a while, everyone simply remained there by the water’s edge.

They continued conversing with one another while passing the baby between loving arms beneath the shade of the afternoon sun.

But since Austin didn’t want the picnic to end so soon, he decided to suggest one more game.

"Alright, since throwing things apparently isn’t a fair contest anymore, I think we should try something I doubt everyone will be good at."

"Another game?" Tatiana asked, and Austin replied with a nod.

"Yes, another game."

"What will this game be about?" Rowena asked, and Austin waved his hand, summoning his item box.

Then he pulled out a small bow and a handful of arrows, along with a wooden target he’d fashioned the night before.

He propped it against a tree a fair distance away from them.

"You brought bows and arrows to a picnic?" Rowena was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, I brought it as a backup plan, since I had limited options for what could be considered fun for our first picnic together."

"It’s fine. I would like to participate as well." Tatiana added as she spun her arms, already preparing herself mentally for what this new game would be all about.

"I knew you would. Well, sorry to say this, but this game will show you just how amazing I am at archery, unlike the rest of you." Austin grinned as he nocked the first arrow, drew it back, and aimed carefully before letting it fly toward the target.

But he missed entirely, and everyone watched as the arrow buried itself in the dirt.

And just like that, a huge silence fell over the lake, until Tatiana burst into laughter, with everyone else joining her soon after.

====

A/N: Thank you so much guys for the support. We’ve finally approached 76,000 words.

We’re getting ever so close to 100,000 words, so I’ll try my best to increase the pace starting from now along with the release schedule. Thank you so much for the support as always.