A Mop's Doula

Author's note: Back in 2022 I got to know a fellow, younger artist who also happened to like cartoon (and mop monster) bellies as much as I do. Her fanarts inspired me to come up with several short drabbles. This one's the first of the three fics I wrote to her.

This artist's dream, among all, was at least touching Red Guy's shoulder... In this story, she becomes his doula and cares for him.

Circle after circle after circle: until baby oil gets fully absorbed by his already slick, loose skin with a pink tint underneath short red fur.

Your hands and his paws cling to it like drawn with a magnet: feels like some kind of a wonderful honey pooled in this living orb, pulling it slightly down, to his lap. Shapes of the eggs are yet to start showing — what with how soft their shells still are and how much more of his magic they're yet to absorb — and the fold of his pocket just a couple inches below the chest is barely noticeable.

And how unexpectedly feline it looks when a red mop-headed monster playfully bats a soft paw at your hands, catches one... to immediately lick it, and then your face, with his long moist tongue. It smells of mint, and a little bit of him — almost like when you bury your face in a favorite knitted sweater after the rain.

Rub after rub after rub his tired back had been aching for so long, right where he couldn't reach himself, between the shoulders, and shoulders themselves — broad, open to you and seemingly defenseless with his mane now flipped front. The way something in his muscles and bones clicks into place thanks to your massage somehow echoes with you, bringing just the same relief. Sure, his now-fuller belly will pull the skin forward once he gets up and stretches; sure, you will likely gasp at a sight of his ribs and shoulder blades once again clearly showing up under his pelt, but this won't frighten you as much as it did at first.

The eggs crave warmth. You wrap a blanket around his plump middle. His feet are aching for coolness. He watches with relief how bath salt fizzes around them in a small tub, dried flower petals floating up and unfurling.

At some moment he gently takes your hand with his paw and puts onto one of three slight red bumps.
Even his own pelt and magic no longer can hide how firm it is — and the faint beat of a tiny heart inside.

Circle after circle after circle you rub into his trembling shoulders: the poor monster had never laid eggs before and is worrying whether it hurts, so this may at least distract him a bit.

What in the world you wouldn't give to help him get rid of worries and possible pain... but with what appears to be his first cramp and the belly pocket slightly opening, looks like he's barely even feeling any. Only an immense... surprise. His eyes, already bulgy, seem to grow twice in size as the first red egg with dark red polka dots shows up.

Remains of transparent gooey magic quickly evaporate off its shell, and it slips off the monster's chest to his side.

That's when you notice he's no longer trembling.
He leans into you as two more eggs leave the pocket one by one, staining his chest fur with gooey magic, which soon disappears anyway... along with the pocket itself.
You barely believe your fingers, reaching out to quickly touch below his chest: naught but smooth skin.

And hard to say what surprises you more: this, or how he managed to reach your chin with his tongue to gratefully lick before curling around his newborn clutch and almost dragging you into the safe harbor of his body.

June 2022