***WARNING: Birth scene. Not too graphic, though.***


"Hello!" Jenny smiled when Tugger and I entered the den. "Have a seat up there." She directed me to the examination table. Tugger stood against the wall, staying out of the way. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Tired and a little hungry."

Jenny nodded. "How is your appetite?"

"Fairly decent. I'm having those weird cravings you told me about. And, um…" I glanced at Tugger, embarrassed about what I was going to say next. "I've been…you know…getting sick every morning."

She nodded once more. "Good. You seem to be doing fine. Now, let's take a look at the kittens." She began feeling around my stomach. I winced at she hit a tender spot.

"Well?" Tugger spoke up from the wall. "How many?"

"Hmm…it seems that you are carrying only one kitten." Tugger perked his ears up and we smiled at each other.

"Hey! Just like Bomba!" I exclaimed.

Jenny smiled. "Well, you and the kitten seem to be doing excellent. Come back if you feel like you're having complications or anything." I nodded.

Tugger and I left and found ourselves surrounded by the kittens. They began jumping up and down to hear how many kittens there would be.

"And?" Electra said.

"We're having one kitten," Tugger announced. The kittens cried in joy and rushed forward to hug us. Etcetera hugged Tugger the longest.

"Do you know when the kittens will arrive?" Jemima asked.

"In two months," I answered. Two months could not come soon enough.


2 months later...

By now, the other two expecting queens and I were due any day. Our stomach's had grown much more and Victoria, because of her smaller body, eventually had to start walking on all fours because it was too hard for her to walk only on two legs. Etcetera had kept wanting us to name the kitten after her if it was a girl, but Tugger only responded with: "a cat cannot share the same name with another unless they have been sent to the Heaviside Layer. You know that, Etcetera." We had been to Jenny's parenting class with the other expecting couples. We were taught how to fed, hold, and basically take care of a kitten. Tugger looked a little unsure when Jenny placed a fake kitten in his lap. I have to say, every day I looked more forward to being a mother.

"Class is dismissed," Jenny said after another one of our classes. With the help of our mates, we got up and left the den. We all decided to go down to the creek for dinner and some quiet time.

"So, what are you guy hoping for?" Victoria asked once we had reached the creek.

"Boy," Jerrie said.

"Girl." Bomba retorted.

Victoria cocked an eyebrow but nodded. "What about you Aliyah?"

"I'm fine with wither gender,"I answered honestly. Tugger nodded in agreement. "What about you?"

"We're hoping for a boy." The guys went off to find dinner, and us queens were left by ourselves. We dipped our feet into the creek, and the coolness felt refreshing. I had my eyes closed when I heard Bomba start panting heavily. I opened my eyes and saw Bomba with her arms around her stomach. She was groaning and hunched over.

"Bomba?" Victoria cried. "Are you ok?"

"I-I think...I think the k-kittens are c-coming!"

We helped Bomba lay down on the grass, and then we began yelling for our mates. I found a dirty paper cup that someone had thrown on the ground, and put water in it from the creek. It would have to do. I came back and Victoria was helping her with breathing exercises. Victoria and I heard the faint voices of the guys coming back and began yelling for our mates again. They rushed to the area and froze when they saw Bomba having contractions.

"Misto!" Victoria said. "We need some sort of bed for when the kitten arrives!" Misto conjured an old abandoned hat and shirt.

"Ahh!" Bomba cried out in pain. The toms stood back since they had no idea what to do.

"Oh! I can see the head!" I squealed.

"Bomba, you need to keep pushing!"

"I-I can't! It hurts!" Tears streamed down her face and Jerrie sat next to her, holding her hand. He tried talking to her about random things to distract Bomba from the pain sh was in. I glanced at Tugger and Misto. Tugger looked like he wanted to be sick and Misto was fixing up the makeshift bed.

"Bomba, remembah the toime-"

"Shut up!" She growled. Jerrie shook his head. She howled in pain as she gave one last push. The kitten slid out and into my arms, and Bomba fell back exhausted.

"It's a tom!" I announced happily. I handed the newborn to Jerrie, and he cut the umbilical cord, licking him clean. The kitten had stripes all over his body like Mungojerrie, but his were brown and black. The kitten began meowing with hunger. Jerrie handed him to Bomba, who quickly got the kitten settled with milk. A few moments later the little tom finished and fell asleep in the makeshift bed. Tugger was helping me clean the blood of my fur while Jerrie comforted Bomba, while Misto and Victoria were cooing over the little tom.

"No offense, but I don't think I want be in the room when our own kitten is born." Tugger shuddered. "Blood freaks me out."

"Why?"

"I had some bad experiences with blood from Macavity." I let the subject drop, not wanting to force the story out of him.

We had gone back to the junkyard a few hours later when Bomba felt ready to move. The cats crowded around us to get a good look of the newest Jellicle. Jelly rushed Bomba, Jerrie, and the kitten to Jenny to look over for any complications. I was pretty exhausted myself, so I told Tugger I was going to lay down. He started to walk with me, but Munkustrap wanted to speak to him first.

"Hmm..." Reed thought to himself as he watched the Jellicles. "New kittens?" He turned to two other cats with him, Lon and Velio. "Boys, I think we're gonna have fun with this. We just have to wait until the rest of them are born."

Lon and Velio snickered. "Sure thing, Boss."

The three cats quietly snuck away before being seen.


***The first kitten born! Now they just have to name him! The Jellicles had better keep a sharp eye out for any suspicious activity...***