"Maybe I should shift into one as well just to help there... less likely to drive me off if I'm in my dragon form too, right?", John asked. "Perhaps... remains to be seen though.", Cleo answered.
John nodded, "Fair enough.", and the women left the couple's bedroom chambers, with Emma sitting up carefully with a smile at John, "Care to make a warm bath for me, my love? After all, it will be a while before I can take a warm bath again.".
"That I can do for you, luv, and you can take some sleep until I wake you up for dinner, agreed?", John smiled warmly, and Emma nodded, "That's perfect.".
Much later, after the warm bath and large dinner, Emma is deeply sleeping, using a pillow to support her baby bump, with John wrapped around her protectively when she suddenly felt it.
"Emma?", John asked as she clearly was moving quite suddenly than what she was doing before. "Is it time?".
Emma whispered, "Yes.", before listening to her inner core, and with careful steps off the bed, she shifted into her dragon form, twitching her folded wings and tail furiously as she created a portal to the crystal chamber to inspect the size of the clearing to make sure it's the right size to build the nest.
Emma growled as she swept off any remaining dirt in the clearing, and she looked at John in the open portal with a huff of smoke, 'Come along, my mate, no shifting for you. I need your assistance'.
John nodded, sighing as he realized that it's gonna be a long night, but he's determined to obey her, stepping through the portal, and the portal closed after him, and Emma sniffed, before making another portal that led to one of the serene ponds, and walked through, with John following.
As it closed after them, Emma growled as she then went to a medium-sized boulder, scooping up dirt around it, and looked at John, 'Need rocks like this to line up the nest. Copy me.'
'As you wish.', John responded and did as he was told. Best not to upset her at this point; what with pregnancy and all could drive her mood swings quite a bit if he pushed things the wrong way.
For some hours, Emma was so precise and specific with the rocks that she and John found, positioning them just right around the nest after digging them out, burning or cleaning the dirt off, taking them to the crystal chamber one by one or two by two, from different serene pond spots by portal.
After Emma is finally satisfied with the lining of the rocks, she took rest, curling up in the nest, allowing John to sleep on her tail after she told him one last order, 'Hunt for me once dawn approaches, and then assist me make the nest more perfect upon your return.'
'You got it, Em.' John motioned that response before he closed his eyes to get what rest he could. He knew she was probably going to exhaust him, trying to make everything perfect which he wouldn't complain.
Come dawn, he did just as he was ordered and quickly went out of his way to hunt and bring her what she needed to eat.
After Emma ate upon John's offerings of food, she then created another portal to the marketplace, sniffing and twitching her ears as John followed her out there, and Emma stalked on to one of the stalls, growling softly as she sniffed the furs that's displayed, snorting, 'Nose confused. Ask him of wild deer and goat.'
John blinked in surprise, and then realized that she was looking for sources of warmth and stability so the eggs can be fine without cracking on the stone floor in case if any of them falls over in their sleep or something.
"Excuse me, sir, do you have any wild deer and wild goat furs that you have brought in from the mainland?", asked John politely.
The man gave him a slight look before shrugging. "Don't know where you're getting the idea that we got goat around here; mostly what I've got is said deer. Goat's been pretty rare on my end in terms of selling it.".
"So that's a no, then?", John asked. "Maybe someone else has goat, but not me. Just mostly deer and a few other animals.", the man replied.
John nodded, "I'll take all of the deerskins, then. We're guests of Queen Kida. She knows Emma's situation. I know it's confusing, but it's extremely needed. Just put it on a tab, and I can pay for it this afternoon, along with any other things Emma needs.".
The man sighed before relenting, "You know I'll be sure to ask soon... not like you can be able to run while you're here.".
"Exactly.", John chuckled. "I know you have little reason to trust me to keep to my word, but I assure you, it's the truth and you can feel free to ask now if you wish.".
The man nodded, "Very well. It will be a while to put them in bundles, so search the other stalls. Just tell Emma to mind her space. We appreciate watching her in her dragon form.", and Emma snorted, 'He tells the truth of the deer furs. Come, my mate, there's more to find.'
John smiled, "Of course. We'll be back in several minutes. Coming, luv.", before joining Emma as she stalked off, sniffing some more, her eyes sharp, soon locking them on a stall, and she came closer, seeing that it's full of tapestries.
'Ask her for big ones to cover stone floor, and then furs will layer them up', Emma replied with a little snort.
Once again, John had to barter with the saleswoman; she was even stiffer in terms of letting her wares go without any sort of payment. John had to quickly find a guard who could relay things back to the palace, and then back to the market that John was all good and that the palace would cover the costs that the two of them wanted.
After all was said and done, Silver carried the bundle of big tapestries while Emma carried the bundles of furs on her back, and out of the marketplace's sight, she created another portal to the nest in the crystal chamber.
They took the whole morning, positioning the bundles of the deerskins and tapestries through layers after they were taken out one by one, staying perfectly solid in place within the rocks around the nest, and after they were finished, Emma took rest once again, asking John to hunt once more.
John took a deep sigh as he went out again for her; he knew it was necessary but part of him wished he could just stay with her for this moment. He headed out before he went on the hunt, just trying to find something large enough to hopefully sate her for a few days perhaps.
John caught some big fish to sate Emma for the afternoon and evening, and upon his return, Emma ate some of the big fish, and after she was done, she then created another portal to the forestry part of Atlantis.
Emma growled lightly as she searched low, using her claws to nitpick before picking up a strong, medium branch, placing it before John, 'Need branches of this size. Make pile here, need a baby gate fence around outside of rocks. You search that side, I search this side.'
John did as he was ordered; it was honestly kinda crazy how a few simple grunts and growls could easily be understood. Then again, there was also his connection to her and all that might have made it more understanding compared to if the others were here.
After the pile was complete, Emma gently scooped it up with her front paw, snorting at John, 'Go back to the marketplace for rope.', and John nodded, "Yes, luv.".
Emma then used her portal to head back to the nest while John left the forestry part of Atlantis, taking one of the paths to the marketplace.
With precision, Emma placed every two branches of a chain following in a circle, cutting the pokey ends of the branches off, and throwing them out through another portal back to the forestry, and then used another portal to one of the serene pools to drink before heading back to eat the remaining fish.
When John returned with a roll of rope, Emma ordered him to go tie the branches, knowing that he's far best at tying ropes than she is, trusting him to make the best baby gate fence ever, and curled inside the nest to sleep deeply.
"Yeah, get some rest luv, you're sure gonna need it. I know I will with five little ones running around.", John groaned at just the thought of how little sleep he might be having for the next few years. He quietly prayed that their children would at least keep to a somewhat reasonable schedule for their parents.
After John did his best with the baby gate fence of the branches, he gently, slowly woke Emma up for her approval, and she chirped happily, nodding as she nuzzled John, 'Good job, my mate. Go sleep. I'm going out for a swim.'
John smiled softly before caressing her snout, "Alright. Come back soon, Emma.", and Emma nodded and took a portal to her preferred serene pool, warming it up with some fire to her liking, and she relaxed, swimming easily for some time while John slept.
When Emma returned back to the nest, she woke up John, with a snort, 'Come along, my mate, I need your strength. Shift just this once.'
John did just that as he got close to her. 'Something wrong, Emma?', he grunted the question to her as he was honestly wondering what she needed him for this time.
Emma growled softly, 'Can feel it coming soon, but first, need source of water to store next to the nest so I don't need to leave by portal for a drink. I ain't leaving them even for a minute, John!', with a growl.
John blinked softly before nodding and snorted, 'For that, we need a horse trough or something similar...'
'Then find one. We don't have much time left before they arrive.', Emma argued with him about that as John was quick to agree. The way she was acting certainly was giving that off.
And so, the couple of dragons stalked through Atlantis as the moon and the Heart Crystal of the Great Kings watched from the sky, searching for a large container that would hold water. They knew that the horse troughs are rare here since there are barely a few horses that was shipped over the mainland as a present to Queen Kida and King Milo..
After a half hour of discarding too small ones or not deep enough ones, the Great Kings decided to help them out, and they sent out a beam to a place where there's plenty of half-wrecked Martags, and went to remove parts and pieces of the Martags, transforming them into a big, deep, lightweight tub.
"Think this shall work for them?", Milo asked his wife. "I would think so... quite large enough to house plenty of water that she requires.", Kida responded.
Emma and John had seen the beam, and stalked all the way to the place, and saw their friends who nodded, walking back as Emma then walked up to inspect the tub, sniffing and checking, and growled to John with a satisfied nod.
John used his cyborg paw to pick it up, holding it up tight to his chest as Emma snorted with a nod at Kida and Milo, and created a portal from there to the nest, with John stepping through first, and Emma behind him.
With a snort and a gesture of her paw, John carefully and slowly placed the tub close enough near the nest, but not enough to cause the fence to fall down by itself, and Emma took rest once again, telling John to shift back and use the rock elevator to go up and receive the water from the pools of the throne room via vases and such to fill the tub.
John took a deep breath as he headed up to get the water. He was a bit miffed at the fact that he would constantly have to take multiple trips with the vases instead of like a continuous source, but he put it aside in his mind. Emma needed water, and that's what he was going to get to help her and their future children.
Seeing that the elevator only moves with the sensation of people on it, John then decided to put the first bunch of filled vases, pails, and bowls on the elevator along with him, and so with two more trips back and forth to the tub which was less than he thought, and finally filled the tub.
Emma purred, waking up to have a drink as John took all the empty ones back up, and placing them back in their original spots when he then felt and heard a roar, causing him to realize that it's finally happening.
He ran back to the elevator to go down, and his heart thumped faster as he saw Emma pacing in the nest, her belly twitching visibly.
"Oh, jeez... now!?", John questioned as he got close to her... but not too close in case she instinctually lashed out at anyone getting too close to her and her children. Being her mate be damned, she'd kill him on instinct if not careful.
Emma looked at him with a sniff, and then growled as she continued pacing around, the contractions shooting through her every five minutes, and often looking down underneath, sniffing at her cloaca where the eggs will emerge through.
"Okay, Emma... just... do what feels normal... or most comfortable to you. I'm right here... or more specifically, over here.", John pointed to where he was a good enough distance away from her; at least letting her know that her mate still was with her, just not too close to her when she would be eventually birthing their children.
Emma looked at him and snorted with a slow nod, and John breathed in relief that Emma is allowing him to watch. Emma continued with some more pacing, the contractions increasing, and frantic checks on her cloaca, sniffing and licking, before she felt the first egg drop and breach the inner walls, and Emma stopped, immediately laying down, and with growls, she pushed and pushed, her wings unconsciously folding and unfolding as huffs of smoke came from the nostrils.
"Just take it easy, Emma.", John said mostly under his own breath as he watched her strain and try to push their children in whatever form they were in out.
Emma growled lightly as her ears caught it. Dragon ears are far more sensitive in hearing things than humans. She slowed down a tad bit, but made her pushes a bit harder, and sure enough, it helped as she finally felt the egg coming through as she growled louder, the width of the egg stretching her out.
John laughed softly, "That's it, lass, I see it! That's a peculiar color.", seeing that the first egg is plum purple with silver-ish blue spots all over it. Emma heard him, and pushed hard, a roar leaving her as the egg finally left, landing perfectly as the furs cushioned it very well.
Emma panted softly, cooing and purring as she got up, nuzzling the egg, pushing the furs gently to cushion around the egg before resuming her pacing, knowing that she still got four more eggs to go.
Emma took into some air; just trying to fill her lungs with as much before she would start quite a bit in pushing out the next ones as soon as she could. Obviously, they were all coming and so far, she'd been doing alright, but pushing the first one out and the fifth one would be two different stories.
As it turns out, the first one took 20 minutes total, and now the second one has been waiting for the next 20 minutes during the contractions of Emma's pacing and checks of her cloaca, and finally, dropped into place of the birth canal at the 20-minute mark.
Emma laid down instantly, and went to push with growls and snorts, waiting for John to call out any peek of the egg.
"Just breath, Emma, breath, you're doing great.", John said to her as he tried to get as best a look as he could see. He was just making out what looked to be a dark red egg with some thin black lines on it, but he couldn't be too sure of it at the moment as Emma kept panting and trying to push the egg out.
Emma growled deeply as she huffed out some smoke as she can feel the second egg stretching her out once more, and pushed a bit harder, hearing John's call, "Okay, I see it! Almost there, lass.".
Emma heard him, and tensed as she pushed hard, giving out a roar, finally feeling the egg leave her, landing perfectly, a few feet away from its other sibling. She panted a bit more heavily as she got up, purring as she nuzzled the second egg, pushing it back gently to sit side by side with its sibling, cushioned up in the furs.
She went back to pacing, to wait for the third egg to come, with John checking the time, realizing that the second egg took 30 minutes total, so that means the remaining eggs would take longer.