Welcome to Gaia! ::

Balancing the stack of towels in one hand, the dark elven woman opened the door and stepped into the room, closing the door behind herself once again to keep out any drafts.

"Deep under the bed, I see," she smiled, setting the towels on the floor beside herself before kneeling down to get closer. "Animals do tend to choose the most difficult places to give birth."

She leaned over to take a peek. "Ready for cleanup, I dare say," she murmured, her keen eyes penetrating the darkness under the bed. "And what say you, Ai? Shall we get those little ones of yours dried off?"

"Easy enough," Lara smiled. "We'll just move the bed a bit. Nice and careful."

She rose again and pushed carefully against one corner of the bed, slowly moving it away from over the Pokemon. Slowly, the nest that Ai had built was revealed, along with the mess from the birthing process.

"There we are," she murmured softly. "Hello, little ones."

"Babies are usually smaller than you expect them to be," Lara said softly, laying down a towel before kneeling down. "Come, Miyuki, we'll need to dry them off."

Using the corner of a towel, she picked up one of the Eevees and began to rub it down gently.

"There we are, now," Lara murmured soothingly as she gently massaged the Eevee she was holding dry. "Look at you. So nice and clean now. My, but you're tiny. But you'll grow."

She was speaking to the Eevee as if it were a child, and there was a warmth in her eyes that reflected the same sentiment.

"You should make a fresh nest for Ai and the little ones," she suggested to Miyuki. "Clean and dry, so that they won't any of them fall ill. Then I can clean up the rest of this so that it doesn't end up smelling."

Lara also put down the baby Pokemon that she had dried off and began to use the remaining clean towels to set up a new nest for the family.

"Best to let Ai move around on her own," she cautioned Miyuki. "It will help her to get over her pain from the birthing and to get her strength back."

Suddenly, from the other side of the door, they could hear loud footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Lara winced in anticipation of the door bursting open and Andarien shouting excitedly.

But it didn't happen.

Instead, there was a moment of silence, followed by a timid knock at the door.

"Mi?" came Andarien's voice, barely audible through the thick wood. "Is it okay to come in?"

The door opened slowly, and as soon as it was open wide enough, Eon darted into the room and nuzzled Ai before checking on their offspring.

Andarien closed the door behind himself and grinned, his violet eyes sparkling brightly.

"Wow," he murmured softly, as if he was afraid to speak normally. "They're so tiny ..."

Andarien grinned widely and knelt down next to the family of Eeveelutions. "And there's two of them," he beamed. "We can each train one! Like we did with Ai and Eon!"

"Though you'd best keep them with Ai until they're older," Lara cautioned the young man.

Andarien nodded, his eyes never leaving the young Pokemon. "Yeah ... Mi, do you think Eon can maybe stay here too for a while? It's not fair to take him away from his family ..."