Talia Of Animalistic - Chapter 33 One Of Each
Winter has hit hard. Instead of staying with Bass, Hyena and their children at Richy old house, Seal is staying at the estate so she can be of assistance if necessary when Talia gives birth and to be near her adoptive father, Walter, who lives at the estate now. Talia is due to give birth anytime now and Otter will be due in another month and a half. Richy comes home from work. He just beat the snow storm that just started and it’s nasty outside. He finds Cougar in the game room playing pool with Greywolf.
“Hey Richy,” greets Cougar.
“Welcome home, Mist,” greets Wildcat.
“Mist,” Greywolf greets with a simple nod of acknowledgement.
“Guys,” Richy greets all three men at once. “Where’s everybody else?”
“Walter, Seal, Otter and Uncle Bob are in the kitchen with the kids,” answers Cougar, “They’re working on dinner… Talia said she needed to lie down. She took Will upstairs with her and Eli.”
“How long ago was that,” asks Richy.
“About an hour I think,” answers Cougar with a shrug.
“More like an hour and a half,” says Wildcat.
“She looked and smelled uncomfortable,” shares Greywolf. “We should check on her.”
“Eli would come get us if something was wrong,” says Cougar.
“Not if he’s afraid to leave her alone,” points out Greywolf. “He’s hardly left her side since that mob surrounded us in the city a month ago.”
Wildcat agrees with Greywolf, “We should check on her.”
Cougar puts his pool stick up, “Alright, let’s check on our girl. I can finish beating Greywolf later.”
“How are you gonna beat me. I’m winnin’,” states Greywolf putting up his pool stick.
“That’s just part of my plan,” says Cougar grinning. “You just think you’re winning.”
“Sure,” says Richy smiling amused.
“You sound like you don’t believe me, Richard,” says Cougar leading the way.
They get to the bedroom, but there’s no Talia, Eli nor Will.
“Let’s try the garden room,” suggest Cougar. But when they get there it’s empty. They end up searching the whole mansion. It takes them nearly an hour. But Talia, Eli and the baby are not in the mansion.
“Mist, what made you asks where everyone was when you came in,” asks Wildcat.
“I smelled Talia and Eli in the mudroom,” shares Richy.
“The mudroom,” says Greywolf wondering out loud as he heads for the mudroom followed by the rest of the household.
“She was in here,” states Wildcat, “Her and Eli.”
“Their coats and furs are gone,” says Greywolf concerned.
“Maybe she went to visit Roar,” suggest Uncle Bob.
“She always goes out the backdoor through the kitchen when she’s going to visit Roar and her tribe,” states Otter.
“So where was she going,” asks Seal.
“She seemed to be having trouble relaxing,” notes Walter. “She seemed tense.”
“She was uncomfortable,” recalls Greywolf, “restless.”
“She’s due,” reminds Wildcat. “If her labor started that would be why she was uncomfortable, tense and unable to relax.”
“So she went off into a snow storm,” says Uncle Bob trying to understand. “That’s a blizzard out there.”
“A couple of hours ago,” reminds Wildcat, “It wasn’t snowing that badly. We have to remember, just a couple of months ago she went through a traumatic event. If she’s in labor, her instincts have sent her to a place where she feels safe to give birth. Trouble is, none of us has ever spent any time walkin’ about out there with her. I know where a couple of her caches are, but those are just along her frequently traveled routes. It doesn’t tell me where she would go to give birth.”
“Well, you have to go find her,” states Walter.
“How will they find her in that,” asks Uncle Bob motioning out a window at the blizzard.
“We’ll find her,” Richy states determinedly. Then he Cougar, Wildcat and Greywolf get dressed for the weather.
Talia and Eli’s footprints are in the snow at the end of the shoveled walk leading up to the mudroom.
“The snow is quickly covering their prints and scents,” Greywolf shouts at the other three men through the deafening wind of the blizzard. “We have to work quickly.” Then he turns into a wolf to better track Talia and Eli. He wriggles out of his clothes and Wildcat picks his clothes up. Then the other three men follow closely behind Greywolf-wolf as he tracks Talia and Eli.
The blizzard soon becomes white-out condition. Greywolf stands and Wildcat quickly helps him back into his clothes as he admits, “I’ve lost them, too much snow has fallen. It’s completely covered their scents and most of their footprints too.”
Cougar does his best to look at their surroundings in the white-out conditions of the blizzard. He tells the other men, “I think I know where she went… Summer camp is usually that way,” he points with his fur lined leather mittened hand, “And in the direction they seem to be headed, there’s a cave by the falls.” Cougar takes the lead running the best they can in there snowshoe clad feet.
“Here,” Cougar finally says, “Through here. You have to edge through these rocks sideways… And duck so you don’t hit your heads.”
“They find themselves in a low ceilinged cave that’s being kept cozy by a small fire. There’s a damp spot on the floor just as the cave opens up. Talia is sitting on the other side of the cave with Eli holding her hand as she labors. Will is next to them sleeping on a bed of furs. It’s been years since Cougar has set foot in this cave. Yet it’s obvious to him that Talia has continued to use the cave regularly. There are candles providing light along with the fire in the shallow pit providing warmth. She has a nice stack of firewood against one wall and a cache of supplies by it. A pot with hot water hangs over the fire pit. He can almost stand upright in the cave, but not quite. Of course, the low ceiling is no problem for Talia. She has blankets and extra clothes stored here. At some point, she dragged in a twin-size foam mattress typically used for camping. The stool and small table, she must have brought in pieces and reassembled.
The four men move in close to Talia, Eli and the sleeping baby. Cougar crouches down between Talia’s knees. Her fur lined leggings are still damp from her water breaking. Richy picks up Will and holds him so he can sit next to Talia.
“Hey, babe, how are ya doing,” Cougar asks Talia.
“Fine,” answers Talia with her voice tight and controlled.
“Looks like I got here just in time,” Cougar tells her, “You’re crowning.”
Talia nods her head as she squeaks out, “It’s coming.”
“Talia, what are you doing way out here,” asks Richy.
Talia looks at Richy sideways and states the obvious, “Having our baby.”
“Dearest, I’ve been in these woods my whole life,” says Wildcat, “and I didn’t know this cave was here.”
“Cougar showed it to me when we were teenagers…” Talia informs Wildcat, “This is our cave… Mmm… This is where we would go… after daddy gave him permission to do anything but touch my woman’s channel…” She whimpers softly.
“It’s okay baby,” Cougar massaging around the emerging head so she doesn’t tear. “You’re doing fine.”
“What happened Eli,” asks Wildcat. “I thought you were gonna lie down with her.”
Eli sighs, “She laid down for less than a minute. Then said she needed some fresh air. She packed Will’s diaper bag and that duffle bag. She strapped Will to the front of her and handed me the duffle bag. I asked if we should let y’all know we were going out and she asked me if I was her consort or all of yours. She was agitated. So I just stayed with her.”
“What were her exact words, Eli,” asks Greywolf smiling amused.
Eli answers straight faced, “‘Who the hell’s consort are you? Mine? Or theirs?’ I said, ‘Yours of course. I’ll always be yours.’” Then Eli kisses her fingers.
“It’s alright Eli,” Wildcat pats his shoulder companionably, “You did right. If you had left her for a moment, she would of took off on her own. She would have been here alone until we found her.”
“I’m glad you found us,” admits Talia, “because I’m scared.”
“It’s alright,” Cougar assures her, “Don’t cry. We’re here and everything’s fine.”
“No it’s not,” insist Talia with a sob. “I’ve lost control of my whole life. I don’t know what I’m doing… Oh, ow… And I do things without knowing what I’m doing or why I’m doing it.”
She pinches Richy hard and he hollers, “Ouch!”
“You,” Talia accuses Richy, “Ever since I met you, my life’s been a crazy mess…”
She pinches him hard again and he hollers, “Ow!!”
“What are you owing about,” Talia ask Richy. “I’m the one being split in two by your child…” Then she whimpers helplessly.
“Hush,” Eli tells her softly as he continues to hold her hand and stroke her hair back from her face and forehead, “Just concentrate on breathing slowly and steadily like you’ve been doing. You’re doing a wonderful job.”
“It doesn’t feel wonderful,” but Talia still does as Eli said. “Maybe… Maybe I’m too old to have a first baby.”
“Nonsense,” says Wildcat, “Cougar’s mother was a good ten years older than you when she had him.”
Talia doesn’t respond as she pushes with a contraction.
“I’ve got the head,” Cougar announces with a smile, “and here comes the rest.” Cougar looks the newborn over quickly and carefully. Wildcat hands him a towel and he wipes the newborn off with it, carefully swiping the mucus plugs from the newborn’s nose.
“My baby,” Talia trying to get a good look at her newborn, “Let me see my baby.”
“Alright, alright,” Cougar lifting the newborn, “Here’s your new daughter.”
Talia holds her newborn daughter close. The newborn baby girl blinks at her confused.
“She’s beautiful,” declares Talia softly. Then she kisses her daughter’s forehead.
Cougar ties off the cord and asks Richy, “You want to cut the cord?”
Richy nods, “Yeah, I do.” He hands Will to Greywolf and accepts a sharp knife from Cougar. He takes a deep breath. Then with his hands shaking only slightly, he carefully cuts the cord.
Talia looks up from her new daughter’s face and smiles at Richy. Then she tenses up as she say, “Oh…” Then more birth water gushes forth from her womb.
“Well,” says Cougar feeling Talia’s womb expertly, “seems we’re not finished yet.”
“What,” asks Richy concerned as he takes his newborn daughter from Talia.
“We’ve got us a second little person on the way,” shares Cougar. “We’ve got fraternal twins.”
“Talia’s sonogram only showed one baby,” shares Richy. “I was there.”
for visiting.
Cougar explains, “Sometimes one baby is directly behind the other and can’t be seen. But twins explains why Talia’s stomach go so huge.”
An hour later, Cougar lifts the second newborn and announces, “This one’s a boy.”
Talia smiles weakly at her new son. She’s exhausted. Richy diapered and swaddled up their newborn daughter while Talia delivered their son. Now he hands his newborn daughter to Wildcat so he can do the same with his newborn son.
“Time to get you cleaned up,” Cougar tells Talia, “so you can rest… Don’t know how much rest you’ll get before the babies start demanding to be fed.”
Talia just nods sleepily and starts to doze off as Cougar cleans her up. She’s nearly completely asleep when Cougar moves her onto the fur covered twin mattress.
“My babies,” Talia says distressed as she attempts to sit up.
“They’re all here,” Cougar motioning the men to him. And one by one he places all three babies on the mattress with Talia. Then all five men cuddle around Talia and the babies on the mattress. They can hear the winter wind howling outside the cave.
“As soon as the storm passes,” says Wildcat, “We can tote Talia and the babies back to the estate.”
“How long does it typically take women to be healed up enough for mating,” Greywolf asks Cougar, “Six weeks, right?”
“Each woman’s different,” answers Cougar, “But yeah, it’s standard to wait at least six to eight weeks.”
“Talia’s a guardian,” Eli says softly, “She’ll heal faster.”
“We should still give her six weeks,” Cougar says firmly. “We need to give her time to get used to taking care of three babies. We only prepared for one newborn. Luckily, being newborns, they’ll both fit in the bassinette for now. But at least six weeks,” states Cougar. “After that, we should let her come to us. It may take a while for her sex drive to get back on track. We don’t want her overwhelmed by our desire for her while she’s getting used to nursing full-time. So at least six weeks.”
The other four men nod their agreement. Wildcat tosses another log on the fire. The men sleep huddled around Talia and the babies. The baby girl cries first to be fed, then the boy and then Will, and despite her exhaustion, Talia gives each baby the attention it needs. Wildcat gives her a warm broth to drink. Cougar changes out her bloody towel. Richy changes diapers and finds a spot near the opening of the cave to call Uncle Bob at the estate and let everyone know they’re alright, they found Talia, and he now has a daughter and a son.
They spend the night in the cave. Eli straps Will to the front of him tucked under his coat. Richy tucks his daughter under his coat. Wildcat tucks the newborn boy under his coat. Greywolf carries the bags and Cougar carries Talia. Talia and the babies sleep the whole way back to the estate. Uncle Bob, Walter, Seal, Otter, Clam and Shell rush to them quietly as they enter the mansion.
“Poor thing’s exhausted,” says Seal of Talia.
“Pushing out one baby’s hard enough,” comments Otter, “but two… No wonder her belly got so huge so fast. I can’t even image how uncomfortable this last month of pregnancy has been for her.”
Walter gets a newborn in each arm. A little misty eyed, very proud and extremely happy he says, “I’m a great-grey-pa.” Then he kisses each baby, “They’re beautiful.”
“Come on Grey-pa,” calls Cougar. “Let’s get Talia and the babies upstairs. I want to weigh and measure the babies for their birth certificates.”
“What are their names,” asks Uncle Bob peeking at the babies as Walter holds them.
“We haven’t picked names yet,” answers Richy. “We’ll let Talia get rested. Then we’ll pick names.”
