July 26th: I'm a Mommy
Dear diary,
As I drew nearer to my due date, all of my adopted children came with Bingwen and Cobra. They wanted to keep me company since they knew that Naoko wasn't going to be present at the birth of his child. I waited until the day I was supposed to have them to tell Cobra my answer to his question so long ago. "Mei? Is it the baby?" He asked as he entered my room.
I shook my head and motioned for him to join me on the bed. He slithered up and coiled himself slightly. "What is it then?"
I looked him dead in the eye. "Remember when you asked me if we could one day be together and I told you that I would wait for that day?" He nodded. I took in a deep breath and looked at my paws before looking back up at him. "Naoko is my soulmate and he will always be in my heart. But I can't go on hurting any longer. You and the others helped me so much getting here, that I can't see myself without you by my side." I swallowed as confusion entered Cobra's gaze. "What I'm saying is, will you be the father of my child? I still love you as deeply as I did back then, but.." I trailed off.
Cobra smiled as realization dawned in his yellow eyes. "I would be honored to help you raise yours and Naoko's baby. I know that we may never have the same relationship as we once did, but I'm willing to mend that."
My eyes filled with tears. Stupid hormones. Cobra used his tail tip to wipe some of them away. "Thank you.'" I mumbled through the tears. We talked for a while and decided to tell everyone during dinner. As I was standing up from my bed, I felt a sharp pain and looked down to see water gushing to the floor. I trembling moved my eyes to meet Cobra's. "Get my mother." I mewed as I struggled to maintain my composure. He left in a hurry and before long Tigress rushed in.
She grabbed me by the arms and looked at the mess. I was trying hard to control myself as the pain from the contractions began coming faster. I had felt them all day, it was just slow and far in between, so I didn't think nothing of it. "Ma." I murmured trembling.
She hugged me, "It's going to be alright. Now let's get you into bed and in something more comfortable. I looked down at the hanfu I was wearing and nodded. Tigress helped me change clothes into a simple night gown. I curled up on the bed as she left to get what she needed. Naomi and Owlet followed her in. I heard murmuring and tried to sit up to see. Owlet shook her head at me and I laid back down. Both girls turned and opened the door wide enough to poke their heads through. I heard them tell whoever was outside to please go somewhere else as I was getting nervous. I listened paitently as they told me what was going to happen and what I needed to do. When the first pain hit, it was so unbearable that I wanted to scream, but I could only think of Naoko and how he should be here too. I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I felt Cobra gently shaking me.
I woke to Naomi and Owlet smiling with tears brimming in their eyes. "Girls, what's up?" I mumbled blearily. Both of them tried to say something but were too choked up. I glanced down and noticed that someone had changed my clothes into something else. My bedding was changed also. I heard the door open and turned my head tiredly to look. Mama came back in and I could see Zinnia, Flicka, Wren, and Minzhe in the hallway with Mr. Ping, Li shan, Baba, Shifu, Mantis, Crane, Monkey, Viper, and my adopted family waiting patiently. "Well done sweetie. You have given birth to two daughters and a son." She gently hoisted them up in her arms and laid them tenderly against my chest. I looked lovingly at their scrunched up faces. Only two resembled their parents almost spot on. The third had spots mixed with stripes. I named her Zhilan. My son which looked exactly like his father except for a spot here and there that were snow white, I named Jun. My other daughter was an almost perfect copy of me except for the blood red-brown fur splashed on her muzzle. Her name was Xiao Zhi. I cuddled them all and thought to Naoko. Here are our beautiful children, my hero. Meet Jun, Xiao Zhi, and Zhilan. Cobra turned to me and smiled. "He would have been so proud." He whispered as he touched each cub on the cheek. I nodded, too tired to feel grief. "Cobra, do you think Master Croc will let you stay up here?"
He nodded. "Everyone came. Even our adopted family. Wohop came too. He felt that he even though Chun Hua died, he can at least be here for her."
I smiled softly. "Their names are, Jun, Xiao Zhi, and Zhilan." I mewed quietly as I moved my gaze from one to the next.
Cobra gave me a big smile and before long everyone that was waiting filtered in to see them and to give us congragulations. I felt that they were saying congragulation to Naoko too.