Kittens

Disclaimer: Don't own Cats. If I did, there'd be more slash. And possibly a sequel.

A/N: Huh, no reviews for chapter 9… I put a lot of work into that!

Anyway, for those still reading this story, I apologize for the delay. This has been the longest break between chapters since I started this story, but I've had absolutely no ideas for this chapter. So here goes nothing.

Demeter bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain. She knew there had to be a reason her mother stopped after two kittens, despite how much she loved raising them. Munkustrap was at her side, letting her squeeze every ounce of life from one of his paws as he gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with his other. At the golden queen's feet stood Jellylorum, holding a towel that had been stolen from a human by one of the other Jellicles. Jelly would never stoop so low, but she had no problem taking advantage of what was available. Jennyanydots would be helping too, but she was out with Skimbleshanks for his birthday, and no one would allow her to cancel their date. Jelly could manage on her own just fine.

Despite Jelly's- and Munk's- constant reminder to breathe through her mouth, Demi continued to take struggled breaths through her nose, afraid that if she opened her mouth she could do nothing to suppress the scream of agony bubbling up in her throat. She grinded her teeth together as the baby took his own sweet time being born. She clutched her mate's hand with terrifying force, making him wince. Just as Jelly exclaimed, "I can see his head!"(1) Demi gave up her plan and opened her mouth, letting out a blood-piercing scream that could put a banshee to shame. Munk suppressed a sigh, unable to decide which was more painful- the ringing in his ears or the lack of circulation in his paw- and gave his mate a loving smile. Demeter finally accepted Jelly's advice and began breathing through her mouth- well, it was more like panting, but still. Jelly herself was smiling in awe at the newborn in her arms, waiting for Demi to calm down enough to be able to hold the child. Munk managed to slip his dying paw from the golden queen's bone-crushing grasp and began trying to nurse it back to life. Once some of the purpleness had faded, the older queen held out her arms, handing the baby boy to his father. Munk grinned ear to ear at the kitten. He was mostly silver with gold splotches from his neck to his feet, and he had black stripes from his ears to the tip of his tail.(2)

"My, my, my," Jellylorum cooed, "isn't he handsome?"

"That he is." Munk agreed. He turned to the no-longer-panting Demi. "Would you like to hold our son?"

Demi gave a tired nod, numbly holding out her arms. The gold, silver, and black kitten was placed there, and he instantly began nuzzling just above Demi's elbow. The golden queen smiled and nuzzled the top of his head with her nose.

"He's beautiful, Munkus." she whispered.

"Does he have a name yet?" Jelly asked quietly.

"We have some ideas," Munk replied, watching the kitten, "but we haven't officially decided."

"The perfect name will come in time." Jelly said happily. "I'll leave you three alone now."

With that, the older queen made her way out of the den.

"What would you like to call him?" Munk asked his mate as he settled down beside her. He slid an arm under her head as a pillow and draped the other across her stomach, occasionally rubbing the black and white fur there or caressing the multicolored fur of the sleeping kitten.

"Right now, I would really like to sleep." Demi stated. "We can name him tomorrow."

"Whatever you wish. Goodnight, my love." Munk replied, pressing a kiss to the queen's temple. He repeated the action on the newborn, whispering, "Goodnight, son."

(1) I wanted to put a comma there but the only way to do that would be to replace the exclamation point with it and it just didn't look right no matter what I did to it. I hate grammar. .

(2) "He's quiet, he's small, he is black. From his ears to the tip of his tail." Haha, I thought of that when I wrote it.

Goddamn, that took forever! Anyway, time for you to name yet another kitten!