Disclaimer: All tenipuri charas solely belongs to Konomi Takeshi. Am just having fun with them.


Fatherly Smile



By Moribayashi


Placing a cup of tea on the small table, the man positioned himself leisurely on the couch, absently pushing the buttons of the remote control. It turned out to be that tonight's Discovery Channel was featuring the life of a young female elephant. Seemed like the herd had left her abandoned. Or maybe it was her idea to seek some solitude in the dark of the night. Accompanied only by moonlight and the quiet lull of the jungle, the elephant was fidgeting around a small tree, looking as if she had been in pain. Her body looked unusually large, which later was explained by the narrator that she had been pregnant, and was now about to deliver a baby.

Interest was growing deep within the man, as it always had when it comes to nature. Quiet, observing brown eyes were now directed to the screen as it pictured the young mammal getting more and more restless by the time. There were wet trails coming from her small eyes. He wondered if the elephant was crying. He read about it in the books before, but only then he really saw it happened.

Suddenly, the elephant's eyes grew large and fierce with pain as some liquid poured down from between her thighs. At last, the water was broken. Something stirred within the man's heart upon hearing the narrator say that it was actually her first time, and the fact that being alone in the cold night of a Thai jungle didn't help the poor thing get a better understanding on how to handle the situation. But just as the way it is with animals, there was always instinct. So, the elephant began to move her massive form, sort of wiggling backwards, in order to get the other life out of her.

Then it was time. A glossy white lump that looked like placenta emerged just below the elephant's body, growing bigger and bigger as she painfully kept moving backwards. The man unconsciously touched the bridge of his nose, fixing his glasses. This was the critical moment. The soon-to-be-mom- elephant continued her efforts in rather frantic movements until finally, the placenta was fully detached from her body, falling with a loud thud to the ground followed by a roar and a generous pour of reddish liquid.

A small sigh of relief escaped the man's lips. He had no idea that he had been holding his breath. Now that the giant mammal managed to get through the maternity process, she was using her trunk to help the infant release itself from the remaining placenta that seemed to stick stubbornly on its skin. And soon, a small dark, four-legged figure was seen lying near the young mother's legs, looking limp and tired. Large ears flapping fondly as the baby boy responded to the dearly caress of his mother. Again, emotion ran within the man's heart and his eyes grew soft upon witnessing the sweet, cuddling moment.

The mother elephant patiently nudged the newborn baby, urging him to stand on its four because the sooner he was able to stand and walk to his feet, the safer the situation would grow for them both. Giving birth in a nightly jungle hardly gave out good advantage, for nightly predators like panthers or pythons could appear at any moment and easily rip their happiness apart. It was really hard at first, trying to stand on weak little feet, let alone walk on them. The baby elephant got slipped a couple of times and fell to the ground. And there was little the mother could do since her trunk and legs were still soaked in maternity liquid and thus made it difficult to help balancing her son's body. However, that didn't stop her from encouraging the little one to keep doing and never give up.

And finally, the baby elephant managed to stand up straight and reach out to nurse from his mother. The man's eyes grew even softer at the beautiful sight, and a faint smile graced his lips. I knew you'd make it, he said inwardly.

Then his gaze fell onto his lower body, and the hand that rested there tightened affectionately while his other hand caressing the side of a large, mounting belly, as he whispered to the other life resting safely inside,

"Don't worry, I'll stand by your side for as long as I live."

And this time, even his cold, stoic feature failed in hiding his fatherly smile.

::Owari::


A/N: Er... yes, the idea struck me while I was watching Discovery Channel. Been planning to try on m-preg, but didn't know how start. Btw, anyone knows who the character is? Shouldn't be too hard, neh, with those hints spread all over the place.

Feedbacks are highly welcomed.