All of the Jellicles had survived the battle. However, most of the toms that had fought in it were wounded. But none of them had received life-threatening injuries.
Bustopher Jones was one of the few that was not wounded. He had personally enjoyed himself, but he was exhausted. However, being as "remarkably fat" and out of shape as he was, that was expected for someone like him.
Mistoffelees was just satisfied with knowing that he had driven his father away. He must have actually intimidated his father, otherwise Macavity would not have let him off so easily.
Regardless of all of that, the aura around the tribe was blissful once again, and the Jellicle Tribe celebrated their victory against Macavity and his henchcats.
One week later, the big day finally arrived.
Mistoffelees woke up on Sunday morning to the feel of Victoria lightly shaking him. He drowsily asked her "What is it, Vickie?"
She spoke softly "Quaxo, it's time."
Misto had been half-asleep at that time. But he immediately became wide-awake.
"You stay here, I'll get Jellylorum." he stood up, ran out of the den, and scurried on over to Jelly's den. After a very brief explanation, Jelly went back to Quaxo's den with him. Together, they helped Victoria make her way back to Jellylorum's den.
Jelly told Misto to bring Jennyanydots over. He ran as fast as his four legs could carry him to Jenny's den and returned to Jelly's place with both Jenny and Skimbleshanks.
They had Victoria lie on the spare bed in Jellylorum's room. Jenny gestured for silence, and then she ran her hands over her daughter's nine-week pregnant belly. After a moment of feeling around, she announced "There's no doubt about it; this is it."
Misto placed his front paw on Jenny's shoulder and said "So she's going into labor?"
Jenny smiled and told him "She's been in labor for hours, Quaxo. She just did not realize it."
Misto nodded. He turned to the bed and leaned over to Victoria, who was still lying on the bed. He whispered into her ear "I'll be just outside the den if you need me."
She nodded, smiled up at him, and murmured "I love you."
He kissed her and said "I love you, too."
Then he and Skimble left the den, leaving Victoria alone with Jelly and Jenny.
Misto made a vow that he would not move more than five feet away from the entrance to Jelly's den until she or Jenny came out to let him in. He would not even move from that spot to get himself food, so Skimble went to get breakfast for both of them.
Word spread quickly through the junkyard that Victoria was in labor. Many of the cats came up to Misto to wish him "Good luck." After a while, Misto muttered to himself "They should be telling Vickie 'good luck.' After all, she's the one who'll need it."
Skimble returned a few minutes later with their breakfast. At first they ate quietly, but further into the meal, Skimble started a conversation.
"How does this make you feel, Quaxo?" he asked.
"Well, I'm a little nervous." Misto answered. He was actually very, very nervous, but he wasn't ready to admit it. "I hope that Victoria will be able to handle the birthing process."
"I'm sure she will." Skimble grinned, taking a sip of his famous Tea-With-A-Drop-Of-Scotch concoction.
"Though I must say, I find myself envying human males." Misto admitted. "I envy them for how they are allowed to be present with their mates when they gave birth."
"That's their norm, not ours." Skimble pointed out.
"Well, there's no arguing with that." Misto agreed. "But I still wish I could be with Victoria right now."
The two of them resumed eating.
About an hour of almost uninterrupted silence went by. Then, they started hearing Victoria's screams from inside Jellylorum's den. Skimble looked at Misto and told him "It's started."
After an agonizing three-hour wait, Jenny opened the door to the den. Quaxo immediately stood up and turned to her. She smiled at him and said "Come on in and see them, Quaxo. Oh, they're so beautiful!"
Mistoffelees hurried through the entrance to Jelly's den and approached the spare bed. He saw Victoria lying on it. Her abdomen had returned to its former size. There were four small kittens lying at her sides. Each of them was meowing softly. Victoria looked up at her mate and smiled at him.
Jenny and Skimble helped their daughter sit up on the bed. Mistoffelees approached her, picked up two of the kittens and held them in his arms. One of them was a black tom with white blotches all over his body. The other was a queen who was white on half of her body and black on the other half.
He looked back at the bed and saw Victoria cradling the other two kittens in her arms. One of them was a tom with a mostly-black upper body and a mostly-white lower body. The last one was a queen that was almost completely white, like her mother. But her face and muzzle were black.
Mistoffelees gazed sweetly at his mate and asked her "What have you named them?"
Quaxo had decided a long time to let Victoria come up with names for all the kittens.
"Do you remember the night we were stargazing six weeks ago?" she asked him.
"You mean the night when I told you my history regarding my father?" asked Mistoffelees.
"Yes, that is the night." she nodded. "I remember three of the constellations we spotted in the sky that night. I thought they suit our three eldest kittens best."
She patted the half-black, half-white tom on the head and told Mistoffelees "This tom is the eldest of the four. I noticed how strongly-built he seems to be, sort of like a Greek warrior. I decided to name him Orion."
Next, she pointed out the half-white, half-black queen that Misto held in his arms. Victoria explained "The queen you're holding is the second eldest. Shortly after she came out, she was cuddling close to me, as if she never wanted to let go. She was so adorable and innocent, like a unicorn. So I named her Monoceros."
Victoria gestured to the black tom with the white blotches and informed her mate "The tom you have in your arms is the second youngest. We discovered that he was the one I felt moving inside of me all those weeks ago. Almost right after he came out, he was trying to jump around, like a rabbit. I gave him the name Lepus."
Mistoffelees nodded in approval at his mate's decisions. He looked over at the white queen with the black face and muzzle in Victoria's arms. After that, he asked her "What about her? What is her name?"
Victoria looked at their youngest kitten and then she looked back up at her mate, and answered his question "Elizabeth."
"What does her name signify?" inquired Quaxo.
"Well, as you know, I share the same name as one of England's most famous rulers: Queen Victoria." Victoria enlightened him. "I figured that it would be appropriate to name her after another of England's memorable rulers."
"That sounds reasonable." Misto gave another nod of agreement. He sat down next to his mate on the spare bed and gazed at her and the newborn kittens.
"So, what do you think of them?" Victoria asked in interest.
"I love them." Mistoffelees finally broke down, but answered with honesty. "I love all of them. And I love you, too. I love all of you with all my heart."
Victoria just grinned and told her mate "We all love you, too."
Skimble, Jenny, and Jelly smiled at the new parents as they embraced each other. When they came apart, Jelly told Misto "Now would probably be a good time for you to let Victoria and the kittens get some rest, Quaxo."
Misto reluctantly agreed. He wanted to spend every moment with Victoria and the kittens, but he knew that they needed their rest. Victoria soon realized how tired she was. She cuddled the four kittens closely against herself and all five of them quickly drifted off to sleep.
Misto just smiled and walked out of the den, requesting that Jelly inform him when Victoria and the kittens woke up.
For the rest of the day, Mistoffelees encountered other members of the tribe who wanted to tell him congratulations on his fatherhood. As it turned out, nobody had won the poll that Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, and Electra had started near the beginning of Victoria's pregnancy. But the person who had guessed the closest outcome was Exotica. She had predicted that Victoria would have four kittens, but she had guessed that three of them would be queens and only one would be a tom.
But regardless of what the poll had led people to believe, Mistoffelees was incredibly proud to be a father. He planned to be a protective, caring, loving, and encouraging father. He planned to be a father who always looked out for his kittens. Macavity no longer posed any significant threat to him, Victoria, or the kittens.
By the end of the day, Victoria and Mistoffelees fell asleep in their den with the four kittens already fast asleep on two other beds that had been recently brought in. That was merely the first of the many nights Mistoffelees, Victoria, Orion, Monoceros, Lepus, and Elizabeth would be spending together as a family.
Well, what do you think? Review, please! I must have your opinion on this!