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 Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:41 am
Chikala awoke in the middle of the night, her belly bloated considerably with her pregnancy, and a dull pain wracking her body. She shuddered in the darkness of their cave and tears sprang to her eyes. Something was wrong, something didn't FEEL right. Sure, it was the right time, at least close to it, from what the older leopardess she had met once had told her about lion birthings and such. But it was hurting a lot more than her instinct told her it should. She didn't want to wake Jeraha, should he be sleeping, but she couldn't control the second short cry in pain, quickly followed by the low moan. She needed him there, beside her, her rock to cling to as the world shook around her.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:17 pm
Jeraha didn’t need to hear her moan to be on his feet in a flash- the male never slept on the best of days. The fact that the birthing was going to be soon only made his insomnia all the more persistent. But he didn’t mind. Actually, it had come in handy since he was able to respond the moment she started to fidget. “Chikala?” he asked moving closer to her and giving her cheek a nuzzle, “are you alright? Is there… anything I can do?”
A part of him hoped not. This whole birthing thing completely freaked him out. He just wanted to wait outside the den like a father should and come in once they were out of her and cleaned off. He didn’t want to see them COMING.
It might be enough to make the strong, stubborn male pass out like a little female cub.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:44 pm
"Please," Chikala whispered in a strained voice, leaning against him, her eyes shut as she tried to avoid showing the pain that coursed through her abdomen again. "Just stay here with me, like this."
She didn't want him to move, she wanted his cheek against hers, her rock. She knew he wouldn't want to see, she figured he wouldn't want to be there at all, but she was selfish. She wanted, no, she NEEDED him there. Something in her felt wrong and she was scared. She didn't want to be alone, not then.
The least she could do was more or less order him to keep his eyes forward or on her face alone, so that he wouldn't be able to see anything, if he listened to her.
The pain had subsided for a moment and she lay there on her side, panting as she tried in vain to flick her mane from her eyes. All she succeeded in doing was making it flop more in her face.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:37 pm
Oh. Crap.
“Of course,” he told her without skipping a beat, “of course I’ll stay here.” He already felt light-headed. This was not the kind of thing he had been raised to deal with. Why couldn’t she be under more rocks? Or maybe dealing with a big scary snake he could scare away? The male would be a master at that kind of thing. But, no luck, instead of those heroic deeds he would have to dive into untested waters and be the supportive mate. Something, admittedly, ten times more heroic but equally harder.
It was going to be one hell of a ride.
Using his thankfully dry nose, he moved the mane from her face, licking the bridge of her nose fondly before giving her another rub of the cheek. “I’m right here,” he told her, “Tell me if I can do anything else. You can dig you claws into my arm if it’ll help relieve the stress.”
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:46 pm
"Just keep your cheek he-ah!" Chikala started to reply when pain struck her again. Despite not really wanting to hurt him, she semi-consciously dug her claws into his fur, squeezing her eyes tight...
Despite the pain, the first two cubs came without much difficulty. First a boy, then a girl, almost on top of one another, both as dark as their parents and mewling annoyedly over being expelled from their mother.
The third, though, was bigger than the other two and more pain slashed at her senses as he, a male of mostly green coloring, came into the world.
After him it was interchanging easy and hard.
Another green male, easily birthed.
Yet another male, this one almost completely white, and with him another agonizing trial.
A fifth male, mostly dark like the eldest pair and small enough to come out easily.
And then it was over. The pain had seemed to lessen enough to indicate that she would be having no more cubs that night and she wondered if there had been more if she would have had the strength to birth them. So she lay there, on the ground, physically unable to get up she was so weak. She looked to Jeraha, a wilted yet somehow happy expression on her face when all of a sudden the pain returned with a fervor so hard that she let out a short, cut off cry.
Their final cub was a girl, small and dark like her only sister.
Chikala could barely move to breathe. How she wanted to tell Jeraha how much she loved him, how much she loved their perfect cubs, but she couldn't get her mouth to move. All she could manage was a pitiful little mew, softer even than those her cubs had made.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:59 pm
Jeraha didn’t mind the pain. Hell, it was helping him too. Giving him something else to focus on other than his utter fear that something was wrong with her. Was she supposed to be in so much pain when giving birth? He knew it HURT of course, but this… this seemed like too much for her.
Would she be okay?
Though he had promised himself not to look, he couldn’t help it. It was like a human watching a train wreck- horrible to behold but something you just couldn’t turn your eyes from no matter what happened. Seeing the two cubs made him smile. His babies. His and hers together. “You’re doing great,” he told her fondly, giving her another set of licks for kisses to let her know how proud of her he was. It was the most affection he had ever shown her in one sitting, but he didn’t care.
Watching her, he frowned. The cubs were wonderful and he was so happy to see them, but Chikala was prominent in his concerns. She seemed so weak. “Love?” he asked faintly, nudging her cheek, “are you alright? I can find you something to help with the pain. If you need it, I will get it for you. You did great! The cubs are beautiful. I’m so proud of you. But you’re worrying me now. Stay strong,” he urged her, not at all enjoying seeing her in such a weakened condition.
It hurt even more that there was very little he could do to help her other than finding medicine and bringing food.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:19 am
There were just so many of them. Chikala turned her head a bit, looking over the cubs that had been cleaned and directed to her side. Jeraha was right, they were so very beautiful. And looking at them all together let her understand why some had hurt her so much and taken so much out of her. Three of the seven were slightly larger than their siblings, and it was clear that her body wasn't made for cubs like that. She had never wished to be different in her life, but in that single moment she wished she hadn't been so small.
She slowly returned her head to where it had been resting before and turned exhausted eyes on her mate, her love.
"It's fine. The pain's gone now," she lied, doing a much better job at twisting the truth than she normally would have. Well, it was partly true, the mind bending pain she had experienced in the process of bringing their cubs into the world was gone, replaced by a dull throb. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest.
"I'm just tired... so tired," she whispered, licking his paw a bit where she had clawed at him.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:08 am
Jeraha felt responsible for what had happened to her. The male was so large, and it was his seed that had helped form those babies. They were large because of him. Sighing softly, he gave her another nuzzle, closing his eyes for a moment as the guilt flooded through his body. If only he were smaller. Then she wouldn’t be so exhausted, nor would the birth had been so horrible for her.
Still… seven cubs… that had to be a lot of pain no matter how small they happened to be.
He didn’t know what to do with them now. Five minutes after being brought into the world and he was already wondering what he was supposed to be to them. Should he help clean them off? Find his lover some food? Move back and leave her to work? He just didn’t know. It was all so different for him. So frightening.
Never had he been so horrified in his adult life.
“It’s not,” he lied, “it’s not instantaneous relief once you push those suckers out. There has to be something I can do to help you.” He didn’t believe her, despite her ease with lying. Of course, he knew she wasn’t in as much pain, but he doubted it was entirely “gone”.
He was conflicted, unsure if he was supposed to let her rest or not. Letting her lick the small wounds on his leg, Jeraha got himself down against the ground, resting his body right next to hers. No sleep was going to happen for him, but he could allow her to rest. “I’ll watch over you,” he said softly, “you rest.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:19 am
Chikala smiled softly as he saw through her lie.
"I'll never be, able to deceive you, will I?" she asked softly as he laid down beside her. She pressed against him as best she could, snuggling their cubs between them, some sleeping, some suckling, and one very vocal little female mewing a few times before crawling on top of her elder brother to fall asleep. Chikala looked to her mate again, her smile plastered on her maw, before lying it back down and closing her eyes.
"You're so warm, Jeraha. I need that... We need that..." she said sleepily, fixing her statement to include the newborns between them before drifting off into a thankful slumber.
"I love you," she whispered before sleep claimed her.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:29 am
“No, never,” Jeraha replied, “I’m too stubborn to be lied to.” He smiled at that, letting her get comfortable against him. His eyes turned to the cubs, who he was now very close to, and he felt his spine tingle. So this was what it meant to be a father. It only made him hate his old man all the more. How was that b*****d able to shun him when all Jeraha could feel –beneath the ocean of fear and concern- was affection? Maybe things would change as they got older, but at that moment he only felt love for them.
Even if the idea of raising them made him want to vomit.
“I love you too,” he told Chikala, something he felt he didn’t do enough of, and let her fall to sleep against him. He didn’t move from his spot, eyes moving back to the small blobs wiggling in front of their mother. They were cute little, squishy things. To himself was made a vow; never would he let them come to harm, no matter how horrible they grew up to be or how his outward appearance might suggest that he didn’t care about them.
He would still protect them no matter what.
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