"Awww, look at you!" Bai He cooed, picking up the dark brown kitten. The kitten's white paws gently batted at the air, Bai He laughing as she brought it close to her face. "You're getting so big! I can't wait to take you home!"
"You know you can take her now, if you want," Sandy helpfully said. "They're all old enough to go to nice homes."
"I wanna get a few more supplies first, I'll take her home this weekend! Mei, do you want one?"
Mei, sitting on the couch with Mo purring up a storm and kneading her belly, shook her head. "I think this is kind of a bad time for us to bring home a kitten, kiddo."
It was just before sunset, and Sandy had called earlier to ask if anyone wanted to "see the foster kittens before they move out." Bai He and Tang had both jumped on the offer, even though Bai He was taking one of them. When asked, she simply said she wanted to see her kitten's brothers and sisters. Mei didn't mind either way, but Red Son had urged her to go so he could work on his latest project without disturbing her. And MK was coming straight over after training.
"Are you sure?" Bai He asked. She put her kitten back down onto her lap, idly scritching it behind the ears. "It can be the baby's first pet!"
"No, not for a newborn…" Mei shook her head. "I think we'd wanna wait til they were older."
"Aww…"
"On the positive side, when you do decide to get them a pet, you'll know where to go!"
At that moment, Sandy's door opened. MK ran in first, smiling expectantly. "Where're the babies?" he cooed, dropping to his knees in the middle of the floor. The remaining kittens all responded with a chorus of mews, strutting over to him and demanding pets. "There're the babies~" MK smiled, trying to pet every kitten's head at once. His voice returned to normal for a moment as he looked up at Mei. "Oh, speaking of babies, Monkey King wanted–"
"Whoa!"
The monkey in question froze in the doorway, eyes wide as he stared at Mei, who just stared back. After a brief moment, he shut the door behind him and walked further into the room, still looking a bit startled. "Mei, you're–!" Whatever the Monkey King was about to say, he stopped himself from saying it. His mouth clamped shut, eyes darting from Mei's curious face to her stomach, then back. Finally, after a long and awkward pause, he smiled and tried: "You're…. bigger."
"Yeah," Mei agreed, choosing to ignore the faint "phew" in front of her. She looked at her bump for a moment, placing her hand over the top of it. "A few days ago I just sorta… expanded, I guess."
It'd been a surprise to her as well, honestly. One morning, she'd just gotten out of bed, groaning from the pain in her back and sides, shuffled to the bathroom, and nearly jumped at the sight of her reflection. Seemingly overnight her stomach had grown to the size of a soccer ball.
She was suddenly all the more grateful for the delivery of extra maternity clothes.
"It's called 'popping,'" MK offered helpfully. He grinned, almost sheepish. "I've… sorta been looking things up, too, now. Problem is now my internet thinks I'm pregnant, so I keep getting ads for baby products-"
"Turn your ad-blocker on, MK," Tang said, looking up from the yellow tabby curled on his legs.
"I dunno, I feel kinda bad, what if they need my business?"
The Monkey King stepped closer to Mei, staring at her abdomen. His expression was unguarded, eyes wide with what she could only describe as wonder. Seemingly unbidden, he lifted his hands, then stopped. "Can I..?" he asked.
After a short pause, Mei nodded.
His hands went to her bump, carefully as if it were a fragile egg and not flesh and blood. "Wow…" he whispered, daring to rub a hand back and forth. "It's very warm, kid."
"Yeah, I've been noticing that, too." She paused for a moment, looking up from her bump and casting her gaze around the room. "Actually, speaking of which, I wanted to let you guys know…"
"Is it supposed to feel this warm?" Mei muttered, frowning as she put both hands to her belly. "The book says increased temperature is normal, but…"
"Oh, don't worry, dear," Mrs Long's voice came from the laptop. Mei was face-timing her parents, the two checking in on another package they'd sent. They were unable to make trips to see her, their work not allowing it, but Mei was happy for what they could do.
The conversation had started with asking if she'd received their care package yet (she had), then moved on to asking about her health, the baby's health, Red Son's health…
And then Mei had commented on how toasty she felt.
"Like, it was already getting warm when I took the test and when I started showing, but lately it's just been really… It feels like the bigger I get, the warmer I get, too."
Mrs Long nodded sympathetically. "It's the dragon in us," she explained. "I certainly felt hot before I had you, and my mother felt the same way with me."
"Oh, so it's normal, then. That's good."
"Hm… though with the Samadhi Fire on top of that, you might feel even hotter than the rest of us had," her mother admitted.
"What should I do?"
"Wear lighter pajamas at night, take lukewarm baths, don't expose yourself to anything that could incite a temper," Mr Long chimed in. "That's what the two of us did for you."
"Oh, and of course I wouldn't say no to ice-cream," added Mrs Long with a wry smile. "Tell your husband if he doesn't want to make 3 am store runs, he'll keep the freezer fully-stocked."
Mei had laughed right along with them at the time, but long after they hung up, she was still thinking about it. Her parents were right about something else, there was the fire to consider…
"Mother said I was a hot baby, too," Red Son admitted that night. He was in his Bull Form again, reclining against the headboard while Mei reclined against him, her eyes closed contentedly as he warmed her back. "She told me at first it was just her belly, but as she grew closer to delivery, the rest of her felt warmer, too."
"So the baby definitely is gonna take after you," Mei said with a grin.
Red's chest expanded a bit in a rush of pride. Then she felt him nuzzle at her ear. "Or you. You're the one with the Samadhi Fire now, remember?"
Mei, who'd been stifling a laugh at the ticklish feeling against her ear and jaw, faltered. She pulled away slightly, turning to look at Red Son. "Do you really think it'll pass to the baby?" she asked. "I mean, it passed down through my family but that was just a piece of it. You think that's how it works?"
"Truthfully… I don't know," Red admitted, his brow furrowing and his eyes darkening with anxiety. His gaze moved over Mei's shoulder to her bump. "It originated in me, and only a piece was able to be passed down, and it's not like we have something to compare this to…"
"...so it could stay with me, or it could go to our baby. We literally have no idea," Mei summed up succinctly. Behind her, Red hummed in agreement. "Jeez, how would a doctor handle it?"
"I couldn't tell you. I was born at home, with midwives helping."
"Yeah?"
"It's not as if there were hospitals at the time," Red pointed out.
Mei bit back a laugh. "Okay, okay…" She went quiet, thinking. "Mom said I was born in a women-baby hospital, and even then she got the best doctors money could buy."
"...were you thinking of going to a hospital? We should decide now."
"Actually…"
"A home delivery?" Tang looked mildly concerned. "Are you sure?"
"What's wrong with that?" Monkey King asked, looking up from Mei's bump to the scholar. He had been quietly chirping at it to try and get a response (and from what Mei could tell, he wasn't getting one), but that had caught his attention. "People've been doing it for centuries."
"But this is the modern day. Most people who do home deliveries are those who live too far away from hospitals or birthing clinics. If something happens–"
"Trust me, we talked about all of it," Mei interrupted. "Red Son and I both agree home delivery will be the safest option. We're not sure what'll happen with the baby, if it'll just burst into flames a few minutes after birth…" From the corner of her eye, she saw the Monkey King wince. "...or what's gonna happen, and we weren't sure if your average doctor… yeah."
"But there's tons of demon doctors," said MK with a frown. "I'm sure they could deliver a fire baby."
"This Fire?"
"...ah."
"And hey, maybe nothing will happen. Maybe we're overthinking it. We don't know, there's not exactly a previous situation we could use as a reference. But, I mean… you know, just to be safe."
Tang nodded slowly, but his expression plainly said he didn't like it.
"Iron Fan knows some really skilled midwives," Mei continued. "She's offered to contact some of them and ask if one would be willing to help us out."
"Why can't you get Mr Sandy to help?" Bai He piped up.
"Awww, kid, that's real sweet, but I'm not qualified for that."
"Why not? You're like, uhm, the medic, right?"
"It's a completely different area of practice, kiddo. I know how to stitch a wound and set a bone, and I can help you through a fever, but I'm not qualified to deliver a baby." The river demon paused for a moment. "Actually, I'd probably start tearing up the second I had the little guy in my hands." Another pause. "And at the man yue. I'm invited, right?"
Mei laughed. "'course you're invited, no question! Everyone in this room is!"
Bai He perked up. "Can I bring Mr Macaque?"
Monkey King, finally pulling away from Mei's belly, snickered. "I'd be careful, he might curse the baby to prick his finger on a spinning wheel or something."
(Further in town, a dark-furred monkey sneezed.)
Bai He frowned. "That's mean, he wouldn't do that."
(The same monkey suddenly sneezed twice in a row.)
The moon was high by the time MK dropped her off, waving goodbye before driving off.
"Red? I'm back!" Mei called out as she walked down the hall. "You done yet?"
"In here!"
Ah, one of the guest rooms.
Mei entered the room in time to see Red stand back from his project. He'd started it the night before, drawing up a plan and doing the mathwork as Mei slept beside him, and devoted the entire rest of the day to the actual construction. And it seemed that she'd come home just as he'd finished.
"Behold!" Red dramatically declared, flinging his arm out proudly. "The very best in fire-resistant technology, completely durable and able to withstand temperatures in the thousands! Reinforced to hold up to two tons of weight, can be hit with a truck and not suffer so much of a scratch! Sturdy and solid enough to withstand a 7.0 earthquake and not move an inch! And comfortable!"
"Red Son," Mei said with a wry smile. "It's a bed. I don't think it needs that much."
There was a heavy pause, followed by an awkward cough from the fire demon. "Well. You can't be too careful!"
"I know." Mei approached him and leaned up to press a kiss to his jaw. "I appreciate it, though."
The project was, indeed, a bed. A hospital bed now sat in the nursery, up against the center of one of the walls, with chairs and a nightstand on either side of it. The idea of giving birth in their own bed had come up, as that was how it was usually done, but after a few minutes' discussion, they'd decided against it. Just to be sure.
"I'm real impressed, though," Mei added, slowly walking around the bed and admiring it. "It looks exactly like one you'd see in a hospital. You sure you didn't just take and modify one?"
"This was all me, Dragon Girl."
"And in a single day!"
Red's chest puffed out as he put his hands on his hips. A cocky smile appeared on his face as he said, "Of course! Compared to everything I've made before, a bed is child's play. Honestly, the most difficult part was making it actually worthy of–"
Mei suddenly stiffened, breath catching in her throat.
"Mei?" Red Son's bravado immediately dropped. He took three steps towards her and was at her side in an instant, worry etched on his features. "What is it? What happened?"
She didn't answer yet. Instead, she slowly looked down, and put both hands on her belly. Her eyes had gone wider when Red Son had asked what was wrong, and that made him feel more anxious. "Mei–"
"I just felt it kick," Mei whispered.
The floor may as well have dropped from under him. "You what?"
"When you spoke… it started moving. A lot. Here." Mei grabbed his wrists and pressed his hands to her bump. "Here, say something."
"Like what?"
"I dunno, anything! Try singing!"
Red gulped, heart pounding in his ears. He lowered himself a bit, drawing closer. "The moon is bright, the wind is quiet. The tree leaves hang over the wind - oh!"
There.
Right there, under his left palm. There was a strong, solid fluttering sensation.
He felt his throat dry up and his heart skip a beat. Above his head, he heard Mei draw in a shaky breath. "Did you feel that?"
"Yeah," he said. The flutter returned, as if in response to him.
"They recognize your voice, Red," Mei whispered.
He didn't know what to say. But his heart felt full.
