Perla hugged him gently, "I'm scared too, Papa, but look at what we did all those months ago. I and Juliet escaped a madman's clutches, we came into a monster whale's stomach, we rescued you and the others, we went almost like half the bay to escape the whale. The act of being scared is fear, but we can face fears together...Enduring pregnancy is practically less terrifying than all those adventures, for god's sake.".
Juliet chuckled, "She's right, Geppetto...", as she stood by the table, watching the serene moment between father and daughter, "I still shudder at the horrible smell in that whale's belly!".
Jiminy, Geppetto, Perla, and Figaro, and Cleo laughed, remembering as Leila herself remembered that she shared a funny moment with her first husband while she was telling him the news of expecting a child, to reassure his worries.
Geppetto chuckled, flicking a tear of laughter off his cheek, "I suppose you're right...Our Perla is stronger than she looks, and with the fact that Leila had given birth to you, successfully, this child would be healthy...", as Perla smiled, pulling back to look at her father, relieved to see him looking a bit better.
Perla then smiled widely, "You're going to be a grandfather, papa!", and Geppetto smiled warmly, "You're right! Oh, I think I have crackers somewhere! Your mother said that it helped settle the nausea down. Are you hungry? We can have an early supper!".
"Yes, please!", Perla chuckled. "After all, I'm going to have to eat for two!". Laughter soon erupted through the home as the worries were now dying down and the mood turned to once more of celebration.
Indeed, there was a good feast, music, and dancing for a few hours, and just as night approached, with the Evening Star appearing once again, the Blue Fairy aka Miss Evangeline came into the home, smiling warmly and serenely, "Congratulations. And yes, Leila, it's a miracle. I can sense that you still have a few questions, dear ones.", looking at Perla and Juliet.
"Like for starters... when were you planning on telling us?", Juliet chuckled as Evangeline smiled, "Well, I thought it was better for you all to work it out yourselves like most people do when they discover the miracle that is life.".
Perla nodded, "I suppose that's very fair as I was obviously having signs that Leila noticed, and I was relieved that it's her to double check on me as I wouldn't trust a stranger, even a village doctor...", stroking her slight baby bump.
Evangeline smiled, "And I don't blame you nor Geppetto's concerns on that particular fact. And Juliet, yes, you were partly a man for a while, but it was the wine that caused that. You see, with virtually the Coachman's curse erased on you, thanks to the escape and the rest of the adventure that involved rest and the fact that you were in water, you were cleansed of lust and such of the curse, and that was the beer and the cigars in particular. But with the wine, it didn't bring lust or painful changes, but rather intimate desire, finding that small masculine portion inside your body as you were still undecided at the time to be a permanent woman, or back to a regular boy, or even a man.".
"So that's why I was able to do all that...", Juliet rubbed her arm. "Wait, you mentioned the curse was also part of the beer and cigars... so I guess if I just got some from the village, that would be alright?", she suggested.
Despite everything, Juliet couldn't deny the beer and tobacco was pretty good on the island, same as the food which was practically heavenly.
Evangeline raised an eyebrow, "Would you rather have desire than lust and to forget Perla, your mama, everything? You were undecided back then, and true, I never had seen any other people who escaped from the island as you two were the first ones to succeed, as the other people I saw unfortunately, they were caught, but if you were a permanent woman that night along with Perla, you would be drunk from the beer or even the wine, yes, but you couldn't have this miracle either...".
"I understand that.", Juliet nodded. "And I'm glad about what had happened; that I was able to perform that miracle and get Perla pregnant.", with a slight sheepish, yet proud and overjoyed smile. "And we're certainly glad to know how that happened.", Perla added.
Evangeline smiled warmly, "Good. And my wand here tells me that the baby's just doing fine. You have almost six months to go, and no, I don't know the exact date, but I can say that it would be in the late spring, on the edge of summer.".
Perla gasped, tears swelling up in joy, "A spring baby...", as Juliet held her hand, kissing her cheek, overjoyed that their baby would be close to her birthday in a way. Leila then replied softly, "So, you know the gender then, with that wand?".
"I certainly do, but it's up to the mothers to want to know...", Evangeline smiled, and the girls looked at each other, and Juliet then replied, "We want to be surprised, Miss Evangeline, and besides, knowing that our baby would be born in the late spring, it's enough for us...".
Perla smiled tearfully, "Yes. We certainly have a limit of surprises.", with a chuckle, and chuckles rang around, as they agreed on that, and Evangeline nodded, "I understand.", before holding her wand up to look at the couple, silently telling them that their activities in the bedroom doesn't hurt the baby, and that the baby thrives on an equal balance of activity and non-activity, along with a well-balanced diet, of course.
Evangeline turned to Geppetto as she could clearly see that he still had worries in his eyes, "I take it you're scared of all this? What may happen when the day comes?".
"How can I not?", Geppetto said. "You obviously know what happened. That sort of thing sadly is a bit too common of an occurrence... and I just unluckily had to experience it.".
Evangeline replied, "Yes, it is a common occurrence, unfortunately, but you know that was decades ago when you were young. Things has changed better throughout time, and as you know, Leila is at least a few decades younger than you, and she recently was a mother nearly 10 years ago which is short in an adult's view.".
"She's right, Geppetto...I had two midwifes in the room while my husband was outside the room, and they were much experienced. It was painful and a bit hard and took a long time, but I managed. And besides, you might say that Evangeline is sort of a second mother to Perla as she technically brought her when she was a boy to life and such, and now Perla is a wish come true, and wishes are very durable in situations. Perla won't be alone as she will have me, Juliet, and if it's night, there might be a chance that Miss Evangeline might come to support her as well.", Leila replied.
Evangeline nodded, "Indeed, village doctors and midwifery has become better. You must keep faith for your daughter, and your grandchild. Can you do that?".
Geppetto gave a small nod, "I certainly will try...", with a warm smile. "And I'll certainly be happy to help if I am able... aside from what I've been able to do before.", Evangeline said.
Perla smiled, "Thank you, Papa...And thank you, Miss Evangeline.", and Evangeline smiled warmly, "I'll always be watching over you all.", with a warm nod before disappearing in her usual spiral of blue-white sparkles, heading back to the Evening Star, her home.
And so, weeks and months came and went, with Geppetto and Leila helping out by working on their jobs, with Geppetto getting paid for his commissions, and Leila occasionally being a governess for the ladies of town besides Perla and Juliet, getting paid there as well, getting plenty of food and comforts for Perla as she managed through morning sickness, growing aches and pains, cravings, and of course, swelling up in the middle for the side effects, yet she was ravished by Juliet, occupied with lesson homework by Jiminy or Leila, and distracted by Figaro and Cleo's antics if they wanted to play gently with her, and of course, experiencing the positive effects of having an active baby; feeling their kicks and punches, singing them to sleep with Juliet's lullaby, and laughing at the baby's hiccups and protests.
And before they all knew it, it was late spring on the edge of summer, and Perla is quite healthy, strong, and of course, heavily pregnant. Most of the time, she shared her bed with Juliet, or vice versa, and it's the same this late morning as she slowly woke up, yawning. Nobody in the family is surprised that she is an affectionate woman, and it's even more during the duration of her pregnancy.
Juliet was woken up thanks to her getting up, since she had her arms around her as they slept. "Morning...", Juliet whispered as Perla chuckled. "Sorry... didn't mean to wake you up there...", she apologized.
Juliet smiled, "Nonsense. It's rather relaxing to have you in my arms, feeling the baby move around...Are you okay with the fact that we have significant others somewhere out there?", with a soft sigh, "I mean, I never thought I'd be a cuddler with you being so affectionate, yet I can't get enough of it...I hope she'd be a cuddler too...".
A few months ago, Juliet was getting to wonder about her significant other, and by asking the compass, she found out that she has a significant other who is a woman, and the woman was almost in the same direction as Perla's significant other.
"Juliet... you'll be perfect with whomever it is just like you are with me... and believe me when I say... I would like us to still be this close with one another even after meeting our others.", Perla reassured her with a squeeze of her hand.
Juliet smiled happily as she sat up, nuzzling Perla's neck, "You always find a way to amaze me, Perla...You are wise beyond your years sometimes...", and Perla chuckled softly, "Thank you, Juliet...Now if you excuse me, I got to use the can. This kid is kicking the bladder again...", with a playful glare at her large baby bump.
"I hope you don't mind me saying this... but I'm really not the sort of girl who would be wanting to carry a child.", Juliet admitted. "Maybe that's just part of my old boy-ish side still sticking with me.", she chuckled.
Perla replied back, "Well, that's okay, and besides, I have a feeling that this is our only biological child ourselves as this is a miracle out of many miracles, since you might have a smart woman in your significant other...She might want to carry a child herself, or perhaps you two would always adopt. Me, it's weird, but I want to pop out a few kids with my significant other. Of course, he might not want kids, so that's a big conversation to talk about. But I'll be right back to talk more, okay? I really need to pee!", with a soft grunt as she carefully got out of bed, gingerly heading to the bathroom.
Juliet hummed as Perla was right...After all, women have been allowed to read ever since the start of the 1800s, and perhaps there might have some secret alcoves of women who is able to read out of secrecy before that. She has been around Perla who loved to read, and it was refreshing to read with her, and if her significant other is the same, it would be really nice to have a big conversation about those kinds of things.
She suddenly got startled out of her thoughts when she heard a pained shout, "Juliet!", and Juliet all but bolted to the bathroom door, finding Perla holding on to the counter of the washbasin, taking deep breaths, with a visible water stain on her nightgown, with a water splash on the floor.
"Perla, I'm right here!", Juliet sprinted over to Perla who gave a small smile, "Looks like the kid's eager to prove me wrong...", as she breathed through her first contractions.
Juliet held her hand as she helped her walk, "Easy, Perla, you got this...", as they slowly, carefully went out of the bathroom, seeing Leila look at them with a warm smile, with Geppetto behind them, almost out of breath from the stairs.
Leila replied, "About time. Today is such a beautiful day of spring showers, and buzzing bees, I figured that it'd happen sooner or later this week. Let's get you settled in, Perla. And mister, stay outside, in the hallway or if I order you to bring water or food, is that clear?", looking at Geppetto sternly.
Geppetto nodded, "Yes, ma'am, but can I hug and kiss my daughter, please, just one time?", and Leila nodded, knowing why he asked.
"Don't worry, Father... I'll... I'll be alright this time...", Perla tried to assure him, but she couldn't be that confident. Anything could happen after all, but they had to be strong and face the future without fear. Geppetto wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, though not too hard since she was going into labor.
Geppetto whispered, "I will pray all day if I must. You can do this, my daughter...My beautiful woodenhead...I love you, Perla.", kissing her on the forehead warmly, stroking her cheeks, and Perla smiled at him, "I love you too, Papa. I won't be alone. Just listen to Leila when she wants something, okay?".
"I will.", Geppetto nodded softly as Perla gently hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek before hissing in pain from another contraction, and Leila nodded, "Right, Juliet, get Perla in. Geppetto, use the stove downstairs to have warm water!", and Geppetto immediately went to obey her.
Leila then headed into the bedroom, with Perla being assisted to lay back down in Juliet's bed as it was faced by the back of the door, out of Geppetto's view in case, and Leila closed the door, not locking it, but making sure it's tightly closed.
"Alright, let's see how far you are, my dear one.", Leila replied as Juliet helped moved the hem of the nightgown back up, as Perla breathed deeply, feeling aches and pains flaring through her, with Leila checking, "Looks like you're just on the edge of 1/4 dilated. Looks like it's gonna be a long labor. We were going to wake you two up for lunch as you two slept in again...".
"Yeah... we... we kinda had some fun last night again.", Juliet admitted as Leila chuckled, "Thank goodness for the compass suppressing the noises... I take it that you two were very loud then.".
Perla blushed wildly, "I couldn't help it...", and Leila smiled, "It's alright. Being horny is one half positive, one half negative thing as you would have situations in public that you had to hide until you got home, considering that you two are technically forbidden out there...".
Juliet nodded, "That happened a few times. The only little time we were bold to do so was the forest when nobody was around, or in one of the alcoves in the outskirts of the village...", and Leila reassured them, "One day, the law will be changed somehow...".
The girls smiled at her, hoping the same thing, as Perla relaxed against the pillows, breathing deeply through the mild convulsions of her baby bump, and a while later, there was a knock with Geppetto barely passing over a pitcher, a bowl, towels, and a tray of snacks through the little slit in the door when Leila opened it.
5 hours later, after walking around the room, breathing deeply at contractions, crying out in pain occasionally at a contraction when she walked around, eating an occasional snack and drinking a bit of water, Perla gasped, crying out in pain as she felt pressure against her upper vagina, "Something's happening!".
Leila checked, "Yes, you're all dilated, Perla, but first, let's check something.", as her hands pressed against Perla's baby bump at the bottom, "Good, the baby's headfirst. Now, when there's a contraction, push. It will be painful, hard, and maybe slow, but it will help the baby along.".
"Perla... you alright?", Juliet had to ask as she held her friend/lover's hand tightly, making sure to stay with her and give her all the support that she would need through this whole thing. She would be damned if she was going to let Perla share the same fate as her 'mother' and 'sibling', not without a fight.
Perla replied, "Yes, a little tired, but alright.", before taking a deep breath, gasping out in pain as she breathed though a contraction, and cried out in pain steadily as she pushed. Leila called out, "Good, keep doing that, Perla!".
It went on for almost an hour before Perla then cried out louder in pain, tears falling down her cheeks as Leila announced, "I see it! It's coming! It's crowning!". Juliet cleaned Perla's forehead with a warm rag, "Hear that? We're almost there, Perla!".
Perla panted deeply, smiling tiredly, as Leila replied, "You okay?", and Perla asked, "Can I have a bit of water?". Leila handed her a cup of water, and Perla sipped it, taking deep breaths before Juliet took it, and Perla looked at her with a small smile.