The other Skeksis often joked about Chamberlain behind his back or even to his face and it upset him a lot more over the following weeks. They still didn't believe him about the baby.
But what did they know? Nothing of how he was feeling. They didn't know what it was like to have a living being inside them keeping them up at all hours of the night and wanting that sleep so bad that it left you tired and cranky the next day.
Soon enough though, the Emperor grew weary of all the jokes about the baby and he finally put an end to the joking. He summoned Chamberlain before him for the truth.
"Chamberlain, tell me the truth. Are you really having a baby? Your behavior has changed quite a lot." The Emperor demanded to know.
The other Skeksis looked on with serious looks. All of them were in the Council Chamber at this moment.
Chamberlain also had a serious look on his face and he looked up at his Emperor. "Yes, Sire. I am carrying a baby. I know because I can feel it inside me. It won't let me sleep and remember I was sick all that time ago? It had to be the reason for my illness that wouldn't go away for so long. But the part of how this happened to me is hard to explain. I don't know how it happened." He explained.
"I have to believe you on this matter, as in your behavior, you sleep a lot more, you eat a lot more, and you snap out at everyone around you." The Emperor said.
Chamberlain smiled at his leader.
"Just do what you will to take care of this baby then. It's yours and your responsibility." The Emperor said.
"Thank you, my Emperor." SkekSil bowed respectfully to him.
"Is there also further proof of a baby?" SkekEkt asked.
Chamberlain turned to look at the Ornamentalist.
"Yes, SkekEkt, there is. Aside from the moving inside me, my belly has grown too." Chamberlain said.
"Now that you mention it, from what I can see from here, you do look fatter." The Scientist spoke up.
Chamberlain didn't exactly like being called fat, but he knew it was true. But he had always been naturally so skinny. With the way that he hadn't eaten much at the beginning of the pregnancy, he almost feared that the baby might be harmed by not eating enough, and he was determined to keep himself fed now to make sure he and his child were well fed. It relied on him for all its needs right now.
As for the others, as much as they disliked each other, there were some that got along and worked better than others. Some felt like maybe because of the way the Chamberlain had blackmailed them in the past, maybe getting the baby away from Chamberlain when it was born would be better than letting Chamberlain raise it to be another schemer like himself.
Chamberlain was sure the Emperor would want to see the baby when it was born. He would be happy to let him see it, but until then.
"How much longer till you think the baby will be born?" The Emperor asked SkekSil.
Chamberlain looked back to the leader. "I seriously don't know, my Lord. It's been a long time already. It must be a short time now. None of us has ever had a baby before."
"I must be told of when it is coming." The Emperor declared.
"Yes, my Lord." Chamberlain said.
When he was allowed to leave, now that hopefully the others finally believed him, Chamberlain knew he was going to have to watch himself and how he was feeling. He had no idea when the baby could come. And once it did come, he would be watching his clan, in case they ever decided to use his child against him. There were plenty of things they would want to get back at him for for what he had done in the past against them.
Chamberlain had just always wanted to be in the Emperor's favor. He had to find ways to get what he wanted or needed. Though the baby was not a false telling.
...
It took many more weeks of just doing what he did for his job around the Castle.
Chamberlain's belly just got bigger. He would check it every few days. But he felt the babies move every day and night.
But the bigger the babies got, the more uncomfortable SkekSil became. Of course, he still didn't know he had twins.
It became harder to breathe and sleep. He couldn't lay on his back all that much. Much of the moving around felt more like rolling around inside of him, but he could still feel squirming and kicks.
But another thing came along too as he was nearing the birth; practice contractions. Chamberlain felt them right now as only like cramps. They weren't extremely painful, just annoying. He would have them a few times a day and normally came on about nearly the same time every day.
Chamberlain had no idea how long he had been pregnant, but he was within the 32 week range now.
The pregnant Skeksis was also really keeping an eye out for those strange creatures too, in case they ever should come back and try to attack him again. They had been the cause for this pregnancy anyway, but if Chamberlain had knew what they had done to him, he would have tried to tell what happened. He wasn't above letting certain details be told if it was that important. And he didn't want them to get their hands on his baby either even though they had told him they were going to leave him alone.
Often on days when Chamberlain stayed on his feet too long working, he did feel like his feet hurt and they did swell up. His back would start hurting. And his lower region was hurting in his hips too.
His hips were widening up for the birth.
His breasts were right above his belly, and they began to feel strange too the closer he was getting. They were feeling tender and sore, but they were all getting swollen too, as they were recognizing that his body was carrying children and they were to have a job to feed them soon. But they weren't fully ready to feed the babies just yet. The milk production was just getting ready to start.
When Chamberlain's body was just starting to hurt too much, he would retreat to his room and lay down. And with the lack of sleep at night, he would also tend to sleep in the daytime to try to catch up on his sleep.
The others all watched for signs of when he might be having his baby. SkekSil was miserable, there was no doubt about that. Sure, he wanted his baby, but he didn't like what he was having to deal with now with all these aches and pains. He just figured it was part of it, and it was.
Often, he couldn't help but wonder how all those girl creatures out there that carried and gave birth all the time.
He just hoped he would also survive the birth process, because he knew it was going to be painful. And some mothers died in childbirth too. Chamberlain didn't want that to happen to him, or else, how could his little one survive? And he certainly didn't want the others raising it.
