Are you blind when you are born?
4. The Birth
Three weeks after the ball, Alonzo was with Cassandra and their kittens. Munkustrap, Demeter and Bomba were visiting Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks at their den by the railway. The visit was pleasant enough until they all heard the Rum Tug Tugger playing his bag pipes nearby. Munkustrap thought Demeter was just very hormonal when she panted at him to get Tugger away. He duly obliged his mate and went to get his brother to clear off.
Jennyanydots, however, recognised that her daughter's panting was not because of the pain of listen to Tugger playing the bagpipes, but the pain of contractions. Demeter had gone into labour. Skimbleshanks quickly left to go and guard the entrance of the den from any unwanted visitors while his mate and Bomba moved Demeter to the sanctuary of the bedroom to give birth.
Demeter's first born was tom, he was mostly black but he had white parts and was blind and deaf. Jennyanydots held her grandson and watched over as Bombalurina tried to help her sister give birth to her second child. The second born was an albino queen, like her grandmother on her father's side. The final kitten was another queen. She was quite small and had calico coat, but she was beautiful. As was her brother and her sister. Demeter wept tears of joy at seeing how beautiful and how perfect her children were.
She couldn't help but be terrified of the thought that Macavity might find her blind and nearly helpless kittens so she vowed that she would never leave them. Demeter was prepared to die in defence of them. It's not that she didn't believe Munkustrap when he said that Macavity was dead. It was just that his body hadn't been found and Demeter's gut just told her that it would take quite a lot to kill Macavity and she would have to see his body with her own eyes to accept that he was finally dead and gone for good. She started to cry at how much so loved her kittens and how beautiful they all were. And with the fear of the prospect of Macavity finding her blind kittens.
Tugger required more time and effort convince that he really needed to take his pipes and play them somewhere else than Munkustrap had thought. It was quite late when he returned to the den. The first thing he noticed was the smell of Demeter's blood in the air. Then he saw Skimbleshanks on guard at the entrance of the den. Munkustrap bolt to Skimbleshanks demanded to know what had happened when he left. After Skimbleshanks told him the Demeter had gone into labour, Munkustrap tried to jump through the door. Skimbleshanks caught him said that he was likely to be more of a hindrance than a help and he should wait outside until Jenny or Bomba came out to get him. Munkustrap was just about to accept Skimbleshanks' advice when he heard Demeter starting to cry. Fearing the worst, he ran into the bedroom where he found Demeter on the bed with three blind new born kittens, their new born kittens, in her arms and tears of joy running down her face. With Munkustrap now in the room with her, Demeter could actually believe that she didn't have to worry about Macavity. Munkustrap, Guardian of the Jellicle Cats, would protect their kittens and her from the Hidden Paw. And as he sat on the bed and kissed each one of his kittens before kissing her, Demeter had never felt safer. Three days after the birth Demeter and Munkustrap named their kittens. Their first kitten and son was named Quaxo, their second kitten and first daughter was named Victoria, after her grandmother, and their third kitten and second daughter was named Jemima.