Chiaki was allowed to the sandpits a couple times over the rest of the day to relieve herself. Langzhu kept her to a liquid diet, broth mixed with medications that mostly had a calming effect. Rosa had not reentered to the room after Langzhu had returned her to her mates side. Though both healers often entered the other room to check on Bart and the female who had still refused to leave the healers home.
Chiaki voiced her desire to properly court Harvey during that time, with her nerves less on edge she still wanted to get to know the leopard healer. She just said it in a less barbaric 'you male, me female, we mate!' kind of way. She actually was able to get a laugh out of Skye and Jiu Ruan from her 'caveman' example.
"I don't get it?" Curtis said. "That's the truth of it."
Chiaki shook her head. "No, it's... implied to be funny because it's like only being different sexes matter"
"And?"
"This kind of humor is lost on you." She said as she shook her head again. "Remember when I agreed to take you as my mate, but only after I knew you enough to see if you were a good person?"
Curtis nodded. "Yes."
"Well, the joke is that-" She stopped. "Ouch, sorry. I guess it was how you viewed things back then... maybe I shouldn't joke about it."
"I see." He said slowly. "No, I think I understand. It is funny because it is the wrong way to do things?"
Chiaki nodded. Curtis nodded back. "Then I take no offense to it being how I was then, I am not that male any-longer."
Chiaki sighed in relief.
After the day she'd agreed to let the wolf males court her, he'd really been trying to be more open to the reality that Chiaki wanted more mates. Not because he wasn't a good enough mate. She just wanted to have more males in the family, to do all the things they did but better- easier and because she was the type of person who seemed to always have more room in her heart to love. She loved him as much now as she had when there had only been two males in her family. He hadn't thought that love was a thing that you simply could have more of without taking it away from others, but his mate proved it.
So Curtis found himself not brashly pushing the male leopard away from Chiaki after she had announced to the whole family that she would like to get to know the healer better and see if they would make good mates.
Harvey himself though was still unsure of the sudden attention. However, he agreed that once Chiaki was healed enough to resume her teaching classes with the villagers, he would join them. This would put him on equal footing as the other males who had joined the class.
As night neared Chiaki drifted in and out of sleep, a sharp pain now and then pulling her from a light doze. Around her her mates dozed too, and her children had been taken home to sleep more comfortably. As much as they tried to keep Copper out of sight, it was difficult. Morning came and with it Chiaki's body began to show signs of birth finally nearing. Langzhu and Harvey busied themselves with the other people in the house as Chiaki's mates became more focused on her.
"Neh~" Chiaki panted as the newest contraction rippled through her body painfully.
Ears around the room perked up at the change and Curtis forced his way to be the one at her feet. "Is the pain becoming worse?" He asked.
"Yeah." Chiaki said a she tried to keep her breathing even. "Feels like- when Kimba-"
Curtis nodded, remembering the sudden change when the lion cub was born. "Next big pain, you should try to push with it." He said as he carefully moved her legs into a position that allowed him to see.
Beside her head, Skye dipped a wet leather bit into cool water to wipe her face. He'd seen his mother give birth several times while he was still a cub himself, but this was the first time he was seeing it up close. This was the same for several of the males present. But the feelings were much higher as they all waited to see what their mates new offspring would be. Who had fathered them?
"Ah~" Chiaki suddenly bore down as the newest pain hit. She relaxed as it passed.
"Good." Curtis said. "I can see the birthing sack." She felt fingers prob slightly and then there was a rush of liquid. He'd broken her water? Had that not happened yet? She panted as another smaller pain washed over her. She tried to push be it was over before she could. "Just breath." He said calmly. Curtis had been the one leading her through her first birth, she noted he was much more put together this time.
The next contraction was back to it's full strength and she pushed as soon as she felt it swell.
"There!" Curtis said as she felt something slide past her thigh. It couldn't be. So soon? So easy? She saw the filmy hand sized newborn passed to the next closest male. Qianhuang tore the secondary film from the cub, the personal sack that held it. Stripes.
"It's a tiger cub!" Qianhuang proclaimed and held the tiny wet cub up to the others to see.
Both Winston and Bai Di moved closer to take possession of the tiny infant. Together they started to clean the newborn, while Chiaki's attention was brought back to her own body as she felt a new pain. Like before it passed to quickly for her to push with it.
"Just rest." Curtis said. "I can't see anything pushing to be born so quickly."
She nodded. "My baby?" She asked. The cub was placed on her chest, still damp but no longer a wet mass of fuzz. She gently placed her hand on the cub. She felt so different looking at the newborn than when she'd given birth to Kimba. She'd known she would give birth to a lion shaped baby back then, but it hadn't been real. Now she looked at her little tiger and could only see her baby, not an animal.
"Are you really going to name them right away?" Skye asked.
"Yeah~ah-" She squeezed her eyes closed as a new pain hit.
"The next one has moved into the birthing position." Curtis said. "Take the cub." The next few minutes turned into ten before the next pain had Chiaki bearing down with it. "I see the top of the head. Just one more push and this one will be born."
When the pain came, Chiaki pushed and felt the pain spike and then her body relax. Curtis held up another hand sized cub to Qianhuang who again cleaned it of it's broken birthing sack. Chiaki wasn't sure she remembered that from Kimba being born. Before the second cub could be handed off, she felt another pain rising and she bore down instinctively.
"Another." Curtis said, though it was obvious. The third cub came quickly after his older brother, not giving Chiaki time to rest between the two. Now both tiger males were carefully taking care of a newborn each, so Qianhuang handed the cub to Jiu Ruan. Curtis was carefully removing the mess left from the birth. "Three healthy tiger cubs." He placed a hand on Chiaki's abdomen and rubbed it. He knew by now that there would be more tissue that would have to be pushed from the body before she could truly rest. He paused. Her belly still felt... A movement under his hand had him pull away quickly.
Without a word, he pushed her legs back up into the position they had just gotten to rest from. The other males noticed the sudden change in the snake.
"What's wrong?" Echoed from them all.
"There is..." Curtis placed a hand on Chiaki's belly again. " The birth isn't over." He motioned for Skye to place another fur behind Chiaki's back, sitting her up a bit more and placing a bit more pressure on her abdomine.
"What?" She asked. He'd already helped clean up much of the mess caused by the birth of the three cubs.
"There's another-" Hi words were cut off when Chiaki suddenly curlled forward in pain.
"AH~" She gritted her teeth hard at the sudden return of pain.
"How?" The healers both counted only three extra heart beats.
Curtis shook his head. He wasn't a healer, he didn't know anything about counting offspring before they were even born. He did know though that Chiaki's was still in labor. And that meant, more needed to be born. And now! She was getting too tired, he could see it on her face, hear it in her voice.
"Just push." He commanded.
Chiaki pushed, but there wasn't any pressure, nothing in place to be pushed out.
"Again."
She felt a contraction and pushed with it. She felt something change, a pressure starting.
"Again!"
Pain rippled through her as a full strength contraction started, Chiaki pushed. She held her breath, then gasped for air as the pain continued even though she couldn't hold it.
"There's the other sack!" Curtis said as he grabbed Chiaki by the hand and helped her lean more into the next push. She felt her body give, the mess fresh as new liquid coated her body and the leathers she was sat on. "Here." Curtis pulled the cub from her, unsure if she had it in her to push the last bit. He passed the cub to Qianhuang. Chaiki fell back onto the waiting furs. She couldn't push again, she was at her limit.
"Four." He chuckled.
"Five." Curtis said as he held up another tiny hand sized cub.
"Wha?" Chiaki slurred her words, half way to passing out from the sudden lack of energy.
"They are a little smaller than the other three, and when the first one left you the other was right there." Curtis said as he put the other cub in the hands of the lion male. "I let you think it was just the one."
"You needed her to keep pushing."
"I was afraid she might pass out." Curtis admitted, his red eyes filled with worry. "And she still needs to get the last of the birthing delivered."
"Need rest." She said with a shake of her head.
"Just a little longer, then you can rest." Curtis said as his voice softened. He rose up enough to run a cool hand over her face. "You did wonderful."
"Are you sure that it's finished now?" Jiu Ruan asked.
Curtis nodded. Hands going over the much differently shaped belly of their mate. Nothing felt... off. He wasn't even sure why it had been off the first time, was it a movement, or a shape he'd noticed? He'd just known. He helped Chiaki push the last of the birthing sack from her body, some odd double sack that had held the individual ones the cubs had around them during birth.
Exhaustion finally took her to slumber. Qianhuang had handed one of the cubs off to Skye who was taking care of it. Five cubs, five tiger cubs. All of them white with black stripes. As their mate rested, they were able to piece together a little of it. Three cubs, the ones born first had ear marking that looked like Bai Di's ears. The other two cubs had ears that looked like Winston's ears.
The two tiger males nodded. The scent of birth was too strong on the cubs right now, but in a few days they would likely be able to scent the difference between the cubs and see if their guesses were correct.
