He paced back and forth until his anger subsided, then he walked up to Zuri and her new bodyguard. The male stood to his feet, ready to deck Keta-ki again if it was necessary. Keta-ki tried not to despise the male. He was acting as a good citizen should. Still, the male was getting under his skin.

Keta-ki sidestepped so that he had a better view of Zuri, "I'm sorry. Do you want to continue walking out go home?"

It was a sincere yet pathetic apology, and it was apparently not good enough for the other yautja. The male growled and stepped in front of the girl to hide her from Keta-ki. He would not fight in the street in front of her, so Keta-ki just stood still. The male seemed reluctant to let Zuri go, and Keta-ki realized that if she wasn't pregnant she would be fought over. He would have a lot of competition to have her as a mate.

"I'm ready to go home."

The male turned around to look at her, letting out a soft trill, then asked, "Are you sure you're safe with him?"

She nodded, and went to Keta-ki's side. Keta-ki let out a snort at the male, sort of saying "ha I won". Then, he led Zuri back towards the house. He kept his pace slow for her. As they walked, they were both completely silent fire the longest time.

Finally, he had to ask, "Why did you run away?"

Her voice was soft and sad, "I guess I just thought that Uri would come back for me. I thought maybe that I just needed to get away from you and he would have an opportunity to save me. I know it was stupid. I know he's not here."

The months passed quickly and Zuri's belly was soon full and round. She had a doctor appointment to see when she would be delivering the baby. With an ooman carrying a yautja child, the timing was usually off. And there was no guarantee that she'd be able to deliver it naturally. Some oomans had to have a C section, if complications arose, or if the baby grew too big for a safe delivery. Keta-ki was urging her to get dressed and ready, when she broke down and started crying.

Keta-ki grabbed her hands and started to purr immediately, worried that he'd been rushing her

too much.

However, she babbled, "I'm so fat! My feet are swollen! I can hardly dress myself!"

Her hormones were out of control, and it wasn't her fault. Though he still found her beautiful, he didn't think that she would believe him if he said it. Keta-ki did know of a way to make her feel better though. Chocolate always did the trick. He was glad he had invested in the stuff and now always kept a whole drawer stocked full of the substance.

Keta-ki retrieved her favorite, a chilly pepper infused chocolate, and broke off a corner for her. She pouted for a second, probably still thinking of her weight, but as soon as the dark chocolate melted on her tongue she relaxed. Keta-ki moved her hair out of her face and wiped away her tears with his thumb. Living with her, his patience was always frayed at the ends, yet he had gained more control over his anger. Zuri had come to forgive all of his angry outbursts, and that only made him admire her even more.

He broke of another piece of chocolate for her, then wrapped up the rest. "Come on, or we'll be late." he cooed.

"I have to pee."

They were only a few minutes late. They were asked to enter the room immediately, and the doctor lowered the examination chair and had her sit. Then, he brought down a domed piece of equipment over her belly, which projected an image on a screen in front of her. Zuri gasped and grabbed Keta-ki's hand. It was her baby.

With a flip of a switch, they could all hear it's strong heartbeat. The doctor asked her and Keta-ki a few questions. He ran a few more scans. Zuri sat there, getting over the fact that the baby was indeed male. Finally, the doctor came to a conclusion.

"Based on the rate of growth, it's likely that a C section will be necessary. But don't worry, for oomans and other alien species, we offer extensive drugs and painkillers. You won't feel a thing and the scar will be erased completely."

Everything was going well, and Zuri and the doctor were even discussing boy names. When things were starting to wrap up though, a yautja female walked in. She was best described as amazonian in appearance. She was tall and lithe but not without muscle. She had very long black dreads that reached down the middle of her back, with shiny bronze beads on them. She carried a tiny baby in her arms and had a long dagger strapped to her hips.

"Oh it's so cute!" Zuri jumped up and walked right up to the female, reaching her fingers up towards the infant, "Can I hold it?"

The baby had big grey eyes, and slightly green tinted skin with darker mottling. It was young, lacking any dreads, but still had tusks and sharp teeth. The child was cute, but the momma was nothing to mess with. She let out a deep growl as a warning to back up. Zuri frowned but did not back away.

"It is inappropriate for anyone but the parents to hold a child." Keta-ki informed her.

"That's stupid!" Zuri whined. "It's so adorable!"

The female charged forward and leaned down so she would be in Zuri's face, "Stop calling him an 'it'!"

Zuri was having baby love. Her mothering instincts had kicked in, and she was staring at babies, children, and little animals everywhere she went. It wasn't her fault that she was in cuddle-mode and no one would let an alien near their children. Keta-ki quickly jumped in to steer her away from the over-protective female. He snuggly wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her from the building.

He had planned on taking her back home, but she looked so pouty. She kept her eyes on the ground, and her arms crossed. She kept sighing, and Keta-ki knew that he had to do something. Oomans were social in different ways, and bonded to animals even. She would be having her baby soon, but he had to find her something to love on or her child would be smothered. He quickly came up with an idea.

He paid for a ride across town, and took her inside one of the shops. Zuri jumped as one of the large hunting hounds reared up and put its paws on the bars. It was a huge and muscular animal with hairless, leathery skin, sunken-in black eyes, and a gaping mouth full of teeth. Large bone spikes rose from its back, as well as its head. She stared at it with an ugly grimace.

"What are we doing here?"

"You'll see." He purred.

He pulled her past the cages with the growling and pacing adult hounds, and into the back rooms. When they came to last cage, Keta-ki pulled open the door and pushed Zuri inside. She stood tense, staring at the covered bed in the corner. When little chirping squeaks came from the bed though, Zuri's face lit up with a smile. She walked forward, and puppies started to pour out from the bed.

They clamored over to her and Keta-ki, smelling around and roughhousing with each other. They were only recently separated from their bearer, and didn't have any spines at all yet. They were just little chubby, hairless, wrinkly things. She turned to beam up at Keta-ki, and her smile warmed him more than the sun.

"Go ahead, you're allowed to pick them up."

The first one she grabbed for bit her finger, making Zuri yelp.

"I guess I should have warned you, they are not very well behaved yet."

She reached for another one, wrapping her fingers around its belly as it kicked and tried to nip at her hands. She giggled at it happily. Once it stopped struggling, she brought it to her chest and stroked its head. It seemed to calm down quickly, and Zuri sat down in the cage with it. She was instantly mobbed by the little hunting hounds, all of them biting and pulling on her clothes.

After a mintue of petting and holding them though, they all began to lick her and snuggle up against her. A couple of them would go running off to wrestle each other, but then would quickly run back and jump in Zuri's lap. Keta-ki stood and watched her kiss and play with them. She was smiling broadly the entire time. He'd never seen her happier.

Zuri turned to look up at him, "Can we keep one?"

He was in trouble now, "No, absolutely not."

"Please?"

"No. It will only add to your workload once the child is born. It will pester and distract me from my work. And, we have no use for a hunting hound."

"Please please please!" She begged, holding up one of the chubby puppies.

"It won't be very cute for long." Keta-ki growled.

Her voice got high pitched, "Is that a yes?"

His agitated growl rolled into an exhale at the look she was giving him, and Keta-ki said, "Pick one out."