The kittens in the creche were playing one of their favourite games. It was a variant of What's The Time Mister Wolf except that no one asked what the time was, because no one could tell it. The object of the game was simple. To creep up on an unsuspecting, snoozing Silver Bengcoon and either run away screaming if he woke up (quite often snarling like a disturbed lion) or jump on him en masse! So having very carefully crept to without a few feet, they decided to do the latter and with a cry a cry of, "Let's get him!" They pounced. All twelve of them!

Fed up with constantly having to drag himself up, Munkustrap decided on a different tactic which was as follows: pretend to be asleep and hope they'd get bored eventually, leaving him in peace. No such luck. One kitten started savaging his ears while another decided to go up against his tail in a tug of war contest. A third used his whiskers for swatting practice (tweaking several of them out in the process) and six others discovered that his back made an excellent trampoline. A careless foot in the eye was the final straw and with a
"Raaaar!" He suddenly grabbed the offending miscreant and pretended to maul him to death whilst taking great care to keep his claws retracted, only wishing the kittens would have the same courtesy!

He winced as the little needles raked across his cheek. In fact his whole body was now covered in minute little annoying scratches that were itchy rather than painful. "Mercy!" the kitten cried between fits of giggles as the Munkustrap relentlessly tickled him to within an inch of his life.

This was quickly followed by shouts of, "Tickle me! Tickle me!" as every kitten wanted a go.

"No, tickle me!"

"No, me first!"

"No me!"

"No me!"

A scene of chaos descended as they all started squabbling amongst themselves. "Right you horrible lot, calm it down or Jelly will do her nut! This is a nursery, not a monkey enclosure!" He scolded them (not that it made much difference.)

"Munku! Munku!" cried a little mocha kitten with a white chest.

"What is it now, Willowmist?" Munkustrap groaned.

"Della's crying!" She yelled, her eyes wide with concern. "And so...and so is...um, Elias!"

Sure enough, five tiny kittens, they're eyes only recently having opened, were having a kickabout on their little play gym, gurgling at their reflections in the toy mirror and swatting at the squeaky giraffe, the jingly penguin and the russly rabbit. But two of them had since lost interest in their stimulating surroundings and were bawling their eyes out, angrily flailing and kicking their little limbs against the air as they worked their little lungs into a full scale squall. "Hey, now what's all this fuss about?" Munkustrap asked as he bent to pick them up.

No sooner had he done this then the others started crying as well so that he ended up with five kittens in his arms, all feverishly mewling at once. In an attempt to sooth them, he walked around, bounced them gently and then when this had no effect, began to purr furiously. That seemed to help a bit, but there was only so long they would be content to nuzzle into his fur before they realised there was nothing there for them. Luckily at that moment someone came to his rescue. "Jelly! Thank Frigg! If you don't feed these kits soon they're going to eat me!" Munkustrap exclaimed, only too happy to hand his kittens back to their mother and aunt.

"Thank you for looking after them, pet," said Jellylorum as she took them from him. "They weren't too much trouble were they?"

Munkustrap looked around the nursery and at the young orphans now happily playing. It looked like a scene from War of The Worlds, but apart from that…"No no! No trouble. No trouble at all! Anytime," he lied.

"Oh good!" she said, sounding relieved.

Then she went on to inform him. "Just to let you know, Victoria gave birth this morning."

Munkustrap beamed. "Oh fantastic! What did she have?"

"A little girl. I think they've decided to name her Serran. You can go and see them if you like."

"I wouldn't pass up the chance to see my first Grandchild," Munkustrap laughed.

"I still can't get over it!" Sighed Jellylorum. "You! A grandfather!"

"Tell me about it!" Munkustrap groaned.

"Oh! And that reminds me!" Jellylorum added, clapping a paw to her foehead. "How could I have forgotten? Baby brain, that's what it is! You're about to become a father for the umpteenth time as well! What with Tanti having just gone into labour-"

"What!?" Munkustrap started.

"I said," repeated Jellylorum. "Tantomile has just gone into labour-"

"Oh my gosh! I'd better go!"

He gave her a small peck on the cheek. "Goodbye little ones," he kissed each of their tiny heads and then waved to the rest. "So long rascals!"

"BYE MUNKUSTRAP!" they chorused.

"Congratulations!" Jellylorum called after him.

"Thank you!" He called back.

"Alright Tanti, you're doing just fine!" Jennyanydots was saying as Tantomile lay groaning on the birthing table. "You are now fully dilated. Babies are going to be here very soon!"

Between puffs on the gas and air, Tantomile gasped, "Munkus-strap?"

Her twin brother grasped her paw, looking deeply concerned and in great discomfort. It was almost as though he could feel every painful contraction, like he himself was going through labour. He tried to comfort her as best he could but it was a drop in the ocean, for the only thing that Tantomile could really focus upon through the fug of pain was the rhythmic sound of the electrocardiogram and the hiss of the gas and air. "Don't worry," he reasurred her. "He'll be here. Jelly has just gone to fetch him. Say, you don't suppose I could have some of that stuff, you do...?"

He took her angry hiss as a, "NO!"

"Wow Tanti! You must be in pain. I've never known you to hiss at your brother before!"

Coricopat looked up to see a silver Bengcoon striding over to them. "Munkus you made it!" he cried excitedly.

"Have I ever let you down?" Replied the Bengcoon. "So what did I miss?"

At that moment, Tantomile let out a loud groan, angrily threw down the gas mask and grabbed Munkustrap's paw, holding it in a vice like grip while Lucitana fumbled to jam the mask back onto her face. "Alright Tanti," she said. "Breathe through it. Good girl! That's it! You're being ever so brave!"

"Are you getting the urge to push yet Tanti?" asked Jennyanydots, looking up from where she was busying herself at the 'other end'.

Tantomile nodded weakly.

"Right!" Jennyanydots instructed. "On the next contraction, I want you to push. Ok? Feeling one coming? Ready? PUSH!"

Munkustrap and Coricopat felt their paws being steadily crushed as Tantomile screwed up her face and strained, moaning and crying as she felt a great force rudely shove her pelvic bones aside. Then she lay back, panting with exhaustion. "The first head is crowned!" said Jennyanydots. "One more push and the kitten will be out! Wait for it. Try panting, Tanti. That's it. Now one more big push..."

Tantomile moaned again, pushing with all her might until at last a slimy, soggy mass fell into the towel that Jennyanydots was holding out to catch it. She immediately handed the kitten to Lucitana who cut the umbilical cord and gently rubbed away the mucous membrane which surrounded it, wiping its nose and mouth so that it could breathe. No sooner had she done this, then it let out its first, "Mew!"

"Congratulations," said Lucitana. "You have a healthy little boy! Now I'm just going to weigh him..."

Meanwhile, Jennyanydots was dealing with the placenta, carefully pulling it out and then placing it on a tray which Norstara removed. "Right then, here comes kitten number two!" she announced.

On the next contraction, Tantomile screamed with agony and writhed. "Hold her still!" Jennyanydots told Munkustrap and Coricopat. "Seems like this one has decided to come out bottom first! Her legs are getting caught that's all…I'm just going to have to...ease her out...there we are..."

"That's ALL?" Munkustrap shuddered.

After a few more claw biting minutes of crying and squirming, Jennyanydots finally righted the kitten.

"Alright Tantomile, the tails out," she told her. "I know you're tired my sweet. But I want you to gather all your strength and give me one last big push. Can you do that?"

"Nooohoooo!" Tantomile moaned. "I don't want to do this anymore!"

So Munkustrap knelt beside her and whispered into her ear, "Come on Tanti. You can do this!"

"No I caaan't!" she sobbed.

He gently stroked her head. "Yes you can," he said firmly. "On three, with me. One, two, three, PUSH TANTI! PUSH!"

"Grrrrrrryaaaaaaaaaaaa ahhhhhhh ahhhhhhh ahhhhhahaaaaa!"

"Sush Tanti!" Coricopat complained through gritted teeth. "You'll wake the dead if you're not careful!"

"And the little beastie is out!" cried Jennyanydots. "It's a girl!"

"Ow! That hurt!" groaned Tantomile.

"All over now, Tanti," Munkustrap said happily, while taking a moment to shake out his aching paw.

"Well done sis!" said Coricopat, wincing as he too shook out his own partly crushed paw.

"Right then, while I sort Tanti out, who wants first hold?" asked the unsinkable Jennyanydots.

Coricopat looked over at Munkustrap and nodded. "You should Munk, seeing as they're yours," he suggested.

"Yes but you'll be looking after them, which makes you more entitled," Munkustrap reasoned. "Tell you what, you take the girl and I'll take the boy, then we'll do a swap. How does that sound?"

So they were handed a kitten each and both besotted males gazed unashamedly down at their tiny bundles of fluff. "This is what it's all about, isn't Munk?" sighed Cori. "I just can't believe it...I mean me and Tanti wanted kittens for so long...and now here they are...more perfect than I could ever have imagined…"

"This is why I always attend the births whenever I can," Munkustrap replied. "Nothing beats being the first to hold your own flesh and blood...and you're right. They're not bad looking are they? Bast, I've seen some gremlins in my time!"

Body shape wise they were the spitting images of Coricopat and Tantomile, appearing to be nothing more than skin and bone. However, this belied how strong and well muscled they really were. Their bat like ears were folded up and their huge eyes were sealed shut, but the thing that struck Munkustrap most about them was their beautifully angular Oriental faces with their long noses, narrow jawlines and pronounced cheekbones. It was something he had always admired in the twins, particularly Tantomile, whose face when in feline form created an almost perfect equilateral triangle. He'd already fallen in love with the little tom nestled in his arms. He was a dark blue silver with a faint marbling of tabby markings just peeking through. He was going to be a good looking tom when he grew up, that was for certain. Sniffing a little, he discreetly wiped a small tear from his eye with the back of his paw. "D-dont think I've ever seen anything more b-beautiful!" blubbed Coricopat as he stroked the little female's silky head.

She was as light as her brother was dark, creamy white with the faint beginnings of apricot coloured marbling which would become more pronounced as she grew. After she was transferred to Munkustrap's arms, her pink nose twitched and she began nuzzling into his fur while the little male pawed at Coricopat's chest as though searching for something. Their plaintive mewing tugged at Munkustrap's heartstrings. He felt an instinctive urge to do everything in his power to stop them from making that noise and knew that the only one who could do that was their exhausted mother. "Ready when you are, fellas," said Jennyanydots. "I think it's time for babies to have their first feed."

"My kittens!" Tantomile begged.

She had been cleaned up and transferred to a little nest in the birth recovery area. Although she looked tired and drained, she gratefully reached out to take her babies from the loving arms of her brother and mate. Coricopat sniffed and grinned at Munkustrap through his somewhat watery eyes. "Never thought I'd see the day when the mighty Protector cried!" He chuckled.

"I'm not crying!" Munkustrap protested. "Just got something in my eye, that's all…"

All of a sudden Tantomile burst into uncontrollable fits of nitrous oxide fuelled giggles which tumbled out of her like a landslide at the sight of the two strapping males being so sentimental. "Look at the state of you two!" she laughed when she was able to find her voice. "You look worse than I do!"

"Nonsense!" Munkustrap retorted. "You look radiant as always, my dear!"

The toms lay themselves protectively on either side of her and watched with morbid fascination as she held the kittens against her body and as they began to feed, their first little purrs could just be heard over the rumble of the adults'. Her eyelids fluttered and she smiled with sleepy contentment. Then she grimaced and shifted uncomfortably, eventually crying out from the tearing, needle like pain in her pelvis, as did her twin. "What's happening?" She gasped.

The cramps were so intense that they took her breath away and she didn't know what to do with herself to get away from them. Why had no one warned her about this?!

"It's alright dear, nothing to worry about," Jennyanydots said gently. "It's just your womb contracting back to its normal size. Will happen the first few times you feed them. Sometimes I think this bit is worse than the giving birth itself! Here take this, it'll help."

She handed her a small white pill and a glass of water which Munkustrap helped her to drink and after a while, he was finally relieved to see her pain subside and she was at last content again. "Jenny's right, this pain will pass," he told her, looking over at a trembling Coricopat. "You look like you feel it too."

"Acutely," Coricopat winced. "But we must embrace it, not fight it. The pain is not there to harm, but to help. Pain is our friend."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Munkustrap replied, wholey unconvinced.

"If we accept only good sensations, then we create attachment to pleasure. So we must also accept discomfort in equal measure, so that we may practice non attachment," Tantomile finished. "Maybe if I say it enough, then perhaps I shall start to believe it."

At that moment, Jennyanydots purposefully bustled over to them. "Here we are, eat this dear," she said. "It'll help get your milk going."

She handed the Oriental calico tabby a small bottle of probiotic yoghurt. "And there's one for you dear. This stuff is also good for counteracting the effects of the antibiotics."

She handed one to Munkustrap, who happily drank his. Tantomile on the other paw, took one sniff and made a face. "Oh no! I cannot abide yoghurt!" she cried, when Jennyanydots was out of earshot.

"Don't look at me!" huffed Coricopat when she tried offering it to him. "You know I hate dairy products as much as you do!"

"Don't worry, I'll drink yours!" Munkustrap whispered. "So have you given any thought to names at all?"

"Oh yes," Tantomile replied excitedly, looking at Coricopat. "They chose their names when they were still in my tummy. This one is called Cosmica."

She pointed to the little cream female. "And this handsome chap shall be called Lorian. Do you approve?"

"I do," Munkustrap agreed that they were fine, fitting names.

"They are a dream come true, aren't they Tanti?" sighed Coricopat. "Words cannot express my sincere gratitude, Protector. My sister and I will be forever thankful to you for helping us out and delivering this gift to us."

"Now less of the 'Protector!' Just a friend helping a friend. Trust me, the pleasure was all mine," Munkustrap replied, smiling down at Tantomile. "And if you ever want more, please just ask! It will be no trouble."

"You'll be the first to know, friend!" smiled Coricopat.

"Though probably no time soon!" Tantomile finished for him.

"I'll just fetch your placenta soup, now," Jennyanydots informed Tantomile from the other side of the ward. "It should be ready now."

Munkustrap and Coricopat exchanged glances. "Mmmm, yummy!" they both said sarcastically.

"Oh!" groaned Tantomile as Jennyanydots walked over and handed her a bowl of steaming hot broth with something brownish floating in it!

Munkustrap took one look at it and grimaced, "Hmm, appetizing! It makes one glad to be male, doesn't it really!"

"Come on sis, drink up!" Coricopat insisted.

"Oh!" Tantomile groaned again and, with Coricopat's help took a sip, gulped and tried to smile.

"Not bad! Want some?" she offered, hopefully.

"Eeeeer...noooo. No I'm good thanks…" Coricopat politely declined.

"Tell you what might taste good with that. Hey Jenny!" called Munkustrap. "Could we maybe have…?"

"If you're asking what I think you're asking for, Munkustrap, then the answer is no!" came the rather sharp reply.

"Oh! But why?"

"Because you scoffed them!"

"D'Oh! How did she know it was me?" he groaned.

They were suddenly joined by new parents Victoria and her mate Plato. "We just thought we'd come over and congratulate you," Plato explained.

Tantomile nodded sleepily. "Thanks guys. Our congratulations are echoed back to you on your new addition," Coricopat replied for her.

Plato smiled at Victoria, who smiled back and nodded, then went back to doting on something she that was cradling in her arms. That something stirred and Munkustrap was immediately on his feet. "May I?" He asked her, holding out his paws.

"Of course. That's the other reason why we came over. Grandad!" laughed Plato.

Munkustrap flashed him a brief look of disapproval before shrugging off the dig. "I'm still getting used to being called that," he admitted as Victoria passed him her own newborn kitten.

Bearing a striking resemblance to a powder puff, Serran was small enough to sit in the palm of his paw. As light and delicate as any feather, she stayed fast asleep as he brought her to his chest and gently rocked her to and fro. "She's beautiful, darling," he said, speaking very clearly to Victoria. "You should be very proud."

Victoria beamed and clapped her paws together. She didn't think she had ever been happier and in that moment, neither did Munkustrap.