The shock of a cold cloth on her head brought Chiaki around. her eyes fluttered open. "Wuwuww-?" She tried to push the cold object away.

"It's okay." It was Curtis' voice. "Just rest."

Chaiki opened her eyes. seeing Curtis dipping a soft rabbit fur into a bowl of water. He was wiping down her body, removing blood and sweat. "What-?" She tried again.

"You went into labour." He said softly.

"Egg."

"Yes, you gave me- an egg." He said with a look to the side.

Chiaki turned her head to look where Curtis had looked. Beside him was one of the clay pots Qianhuang made, filled with tan sand and a single white oval shaped egg.

"Just one?"

"I- yes... just the one." Curtis said with an nod. He wasn't even sure the egg was fertilized. Snakes had clutched of eggs, ten or more! It was obvious that Chaiki had lost the rest of them because of his mistakes in letting her suffer through the flood weeks ago. He didn't even deserve his mate giving him one offspring. "The labour is over, you went through everything perfectly." He brushed her hair from her face with a hand. "You can rest. I will take care of it."

"Don't hurt it." She said pleadingly.

"I wont!" Curtis said quickly. "I just don't want you hurting more!"

Chiaki turned her face again, this time to place her cheek in the palm of his hand. "He's your son, any pain is worth it."

Tears threatened at her mates eyes, he rubbed them away. He refused to let the other males see him weak. "You are more important to me. You left the tiger in a mess." He chuckled.

"Is Bai Di alright?"

"He was sure we were going to kill him when we returned home."

"Poor Dee." She said. "Where are he and Key?"

"The lion is using the cub as a distraction on him. He also said he would make him work on the grains to work out his nerves."

"I see." Chiaki sighed. "I- I didn't even know I was still pregnant."

"Eggs normally take several weeks before they are lain. It will be well into the cold-season when the egg hatches." If it hatches he thought sadly.

"Okay. What- do we do? You know with it?"

"I'll keep it in warm sand."

Chiaki sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything wrong."

"I feel like I didn't rest enough and maybe there would be more if I had acted differently this last month."

Curtis leaned down to hug her to him. "Don't ever blame yourself!"

Chiaki wrapped her arms around him too. Curtis kissed her face, her cheeks, her nose. Kissed away the tears in the corners of her eyes. He curled around her, transforming into his half-snake form so he could coil his tail around her like a bright red shield. "Just rest, I'll stay right here."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

When Chiaki woke again it was the dark middle of the night, the open end of the room rustled in a low wind. Kimba had snuggled into her arms. Curtis was still wrapped around the whole sleeping spot, dozing lightly. Qianhuang was spooned up against her back. Bai Di was against her, Kimba's paws kicking his face. She couldn't see the clay pot without moving. She wanted to see the egg, see it was still there and okay. But she'd wake up everyone if she tried to sit up and see over Curtis. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep again.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Chiaki sat up in the furs, cradling the sand filled pot. The little white egg was no longer too soft to the touch. Curtis was going to take it back to the kitchen, she'd laughed at the place he'd wanted to keep it. However, with the fireplace in that room it was the best area to keep the egg and the sand it was in, warm.

After a few minutes she handed the pot up to Curtis, who slithered out of the room and down into the rest of the house.

"Do I need to rest any more?" She called after him.

Instead of Curtis, it was Qianhuang who appeared at the top of the steps. "I don't want you doing any work."

"It's been two days." She said as she looked over to the window. "I know I'm still spotting blood, but I did the same thing when I had Kimba."

Qianhuang came up the remaining steps. "I guess the sun will do you good."

"Thank you!" Chaiki said with a sigh.