Precious paced back and forth across the porch, his heart beating at a frantic pace. He knew his parents sometimes had trouble getting along, but he never thought it would come to this… this – whatever it was.

A pained howl made its way through the door, causing the teen's fur to stand on end. Sitting down, Precious covered his ears with his paws, and squeezed his eyes shut as he attempted to block out the horrific sound. A stray thought crossed the calico's mind. ~I called HIM over half an hour ago. Where is HE?~

"You're doing fine, dear boy. Take a deep breath," Katz encouraged, pleased that his mate was finally following his instructions.

The kitten in his hands, a little queen with a dusting of fine blue fur, mewled. Katz laid the newly-washed child to the side, wincing as Courage's whine became an ear-piercing wail. Ears twitching painfully on his head, the businessman was thankful that kittens were born both deaf and blind. Birth is a miraculous thing, but it's also rather traumatic.

Precious wasn't sure how long he'd sat there, attempting to block out the pained screams. A touch on his shoulder drew him out of his turbulent thoughts. At the sight of the familiar orange fox kneeling next to him, the teen gave in to his panic and threw his arms around him.

"Uncle Caj! You're finally here!"

"Where's the fire, kitten?" the Cajun Fox asked, his voice heavy with concern. "It can't be that-"

A mind-numbing wail echoed from the house, prompting Precious to bury his face into the Cajun's chest.

"Oh, that did not sound pleasant. Perhapz the pussycat really is killing the pup in there," Le Quack mused aloud, stroking his mustache.

"Noooooo!" Precious sobbed, clinging even closer to his uncle.

The Cajun Fox softly ran a paw down the calico's multi-colored back, before lifting his free hand to his glasses. Tilting the black lenses down, he glared at the bird with all his anger. "Any more of that talk, and I'll be dining on roast duck tonight."

Turning his attention back to the feline, the fox tapped him under the chin. "Chin up, kitten. I'll go check on them." Knowing that Le Quack wouldn't dare harm the boy, at least not while Katz and the Cajun were in the area, he left the pair on the porch to check out the situation.

Katz was just setting the second kitten, a tomcat with amethyst-purple fur, next to his sister when the basement light snapped on, half-blinding him.

"Turn that bloody thing off!" the crimson feline shouted. Immediately, the light faded back to darkness, leaving Katz to blink away spots from his vision.

"Well, at least Precious will be happy to hear you're not killing each other," the Cajun commented, after he'd crossed the room and crawled into the strangely-constructed burrow. Peering over the feline's shoulder, the fox eyed the little kittens suckling away at their mama's teats. And speaking of their ma…

"That's quite the fancy form, pup. Never seen a giant foxdog with two tails before."

Courage simply grunted in response, his attention on the last baby emerging from his new form. At the sight of the tiny fox cub, the Cajun gave a loud whoop, and threw his arms around the foxdog's neck.

Katz glared at the fox who was alternating between hugging and petting Courage's massive head. Huffing in annoyance, the businessman picked up the fox kit and proceeded to clean her as he had the two kittens before. Once he was finished, he eyed the child's small body. She would turn heads someday with her mama's cotton-candy fur. He only hoped, for her sake, that she hadn't inherited the Cajun's –unique- eyes.

Setting the child next to her siblings, Katz glanced up to find the Cajun staring at him in shock. The orange villain was the first to break the silence. "That was adorable, pussycat."

Crimson ears flatted against Katz's head as the other villain chuckled loudly, still clinging to Courage's pink fur. With the little ones clean and feeding quietly, now was as good a time as any to take his leave. Getting to his feet, Katz turned to leave the nest of blankets. He shouldn't have been surprised by his mate's immediate whine.

"You're still leaving?"

"I'm only going upstairs, dear boy. Business can wait a few days." A sudden thought popped into his mind, causing Katz to swiftly turn back to the pouting pup. Leaning closer, the feline pressed a soft kiss to the top of the creature's long muzzle. "I will send Precious down – if you are up to it."

"That would be – YIPE!"

All eyes turned to the fox kit who was chewing, rather than suckling, on one of Courage's newly formed teats. Tender moment ruined, Katz hid a smile as he left the other two adults to deal with the situation.

The shock didn't catch up to him until the feline was halfway up the basement staircase. ~I'm a father.~ That single thought froze the villain in his tracks. It simply wasn't a situation he'd ever contemplated being in, especially given his attraction to his own gender. Then again, Courage continued to surprise him.

Le Quack managed to convince the calico kitten to re-enter the house once the shouts seemed to come to an end. The calico kitten was hunched over in his seat at the kitchen table when Katz finally made an appearance. The businessman's white shirt was disheveled and stained, though not with blood. His fur had seen better days, and he was in desperate need of a long wash and grooming session. Topping it off was the shell-shocked expression on his face.

"Precious, you can go down now," the elder feline announced, barely sparing the kitten a second glance as he began rummaging through the cupboards.

"Is… is mom dead?" Precious asked cautiously, twiddling his paws and avoiding his father's stern gaze.

"Of course not," Katz stated firmly.

"Oh… okay," the teenager didn't seem convinced, but he did make his way down the dark staircase.

Le Quack got up from his seat as well, only to be stopped before he took a single step.

"Not you, Le Quack. Help me find where the old man stashed his whiskey."

Note: One more part left to go for this 3-part set of chapters.