Children of London
Prologue - Birth
Author's Note: The following fanfiction is the sequel to Family of 102 and will be the third and final arc in the series of Cody's life with the Dalmatians. If you haven't yet, it's strongly advised that you read 'Family of 102' first before this.
Cody's POV
I didn't care how tired I was becoming. If the bones in my legs went brittle and ultimately collapsed from how much I had rushed, I would still keep going. Staying by Dixie's side was more important now than anything in the world. My anthro Dalmatian wife in question was on a stretcher, trying her best to keep a calm and rhythmic breathing pattern as I and several doctors rushed along the hallway bordered with white paint and doors that seemed to go on forever until at last, we reached the delivery room.
Even though I knew nine months had passed, Dixie and I had only returned from our honeymoon two days ago and I just hadn't expected Dixie to go into labour so soon afterwards. To think our children were going to be born just a year after Dolly and Hansel had their wedding and Dolly herself revealed to be pregnant. Their daughter, an obvious Dalmatian and Husky hybrid named Damsel was now three months old at best and whilst she was a bit of a handful for the two, Dolly was more than happy to have a kid, especially since she once said to me that it was like raising a Dorothy of her own, just like when she often helped mum care for Dorothy alongside Dylan way back when she was still a baby.
Needless to say, we were both left astonished when we found out after my siblings and I had noticed Dixie acting a little strangely, most notably having to often vomit. Though at first, most of us just thought she had come down with a stomach bug but it was when she sometimes had mood swings and her stomach had started to extend a little that we knew that it wasn't a stomach bug. With the help of Dawkins however, we soon knew what the real situation was.
Flashback – Seven Months Ago
I sat by Dixie's side as we both waited for Dawkins to come back with the results he had gathered from the recent tests he had taken on Dixie. Due to mum being a nurse, she helped out of course, seeing as it was a medical situation so she would have a better knowledge of the situation. I alongside Dizzy and Dee Dee were keeping Dixie company when Dawkins finally came back in with Diesel following behind, a look on the former's face that looked like he wanted to tell us something but was unsure on how to say it.
"Any results, Dawkins? Is Dixie going to be okay?" I asked Dawkins as he scratched the back of his head before responding.
"Well… Health-wise, yes. But the mood swings and sickness will be persisting for several more months. And there's… a reason for that." Dixie, Dizzy, Dee Dee and I all looked at each other before looking back to Dawkins as I nodded at him, signalling him to continue.
"Well, mother and I had a hunch what it was with the mood swings and the sickness, but we only did these tests just to make sure and… Honestly, I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to whisper it into Diesel's ear and he'll blurt it out in astonishment." After saying this, Dawkins proceeded to do just that, whispering into the dirt covered Dalmatian's ear as less than five seconds later, Diesel did exactly what Dawkins predicted, essentially yelling out what Dawkins had just told him in a nutshell.
"DIXIE IS PREGNANT?!"
Back to Present Time...
Needless to say, it was a hell of a rush when Dixie's water finally broke. Dylan of course panicked as usual with Deepak doing his best to calm him down while the rest of my family made haste for the hospital. Fortunately, we made it just in time for Dixie to get the medical attention she required as she now laid in a hospital bed and I stood beside her, firmly holding her hand as we prepared the process.
"Alright, Mrs. Dalmatian, I'm going to need you to keep your breathing in check and start pushing as best you can. Give it all your best effort." The midwife encouraged as Dixie did as she was instructed. I could tell the pain was already becoming unbearable for her as she started to let out a mix between screams and howls. It hurt me to see her like this, but I knew she had to do this.
...For our children.
"Come on, Dixie, you can do it! F-Fight through the pain and think about how happy we'll both be when we have our first children!" I pleaded, trying my best to keep my composure as I watched Dixie continue the painful process.
"TELL DALLAS TO STOP WITH THE MAKE UP, IT MAKES HER LOOK LIKE A SLUT!" Dixie screamed out of agony as she pushed again, trying to control her breathing, the midwife and doctors doing everything they can to ease the situation. God remind me to ask mum how she was even able to deliver more than ten pups let alone possibly ninety-seven after having Dolly and Dylan if anthros giving birth is just as insane as it is for humans.
It would've probably been maybe an hour now when I looked at the front and I couldn't help but smile at what I saw.
"I-I see the head! Oh my god, I see the head!" Clear as day, I could see the head of one of our children making it's way out. It would only take a few more pushes before they would finally be out.
"You're almost there, Mrs. Dalmatian, one of your children is almost here!" After the midwife announced this, Dixie gave her biggest push which was followed by the loudest howl of pain to come from her.
Seconds later, the ambience was filled with the sound of crying. But not just from one baby. It came from both of our children. Dixie had managed to push out both of them at the same time and I was just grinning like an idiot as the midwife revealed our newborn children to us wrapped in a towel.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Dalmatian! You have a healthy baby human boy and a Dalmatian girl!"
True to the midwife's word, our two children were both a boy and a girl, a human and a Dalmatian respectively as he passed them over to Dixie whom gently held them in her arms, tears of joy in her eyes as she looked down at the forms she held.
Thanks to a few books I had read that Dawkins owned that focused on human and anthro relationships, I learned that the species of the resulting offspring of the couple often depended on the father of the two. For example, if the father was the anthro and the mother a human, then the child would most definitely be what ever species the father is and vice versa.
However, there is a very rare chance that the child will instead be of the same species of the mother possibly due to genetics, so imagine our surprise when we both found out Dixie was pregnant with a human and a Dalmatian.
"They're so beautiful, Cody..." Dixie cooed as I looked down at our babies, tears still running from my eyes as I couldn't help but smile in agreement.
"Yes… Our little boy and girl..." I replied as I gently caressed my Dalmatian daughter's head. Just like how other Dalmatians are born, her fur was pure white with a complete lack of spots. Nurses will often tell you that Dalmatians get their spots roughly ten days after birth, yet for whatever reason as Dorothy continued to grow, not a single spot appeared on her. She didn't seem to mind however as Dawkins had once told her that it made her unique among the family.
"Something keeps telling me we should name the girl 'Duchess'." Dixie suggested as I lit up at the possible name.
"Duchess… That's a beautiful name!" I agreed as Dixie smiled at me in response before looking down at the human infant in her other arm.
"And the boy?" She asked me, giving me the decision to name him. I thought deeply about a good name for our son and after a good minute or so, it came to me.
"Christopher. Just like my biological grandad." I replied, Dixie smiling and nuzzling my cheek which told me that she loved that name.
"Our little Christopher and Duchess Dalmatian..."