and my father must've shown up at some point because his play-by-play could solely mean one thing—my mother was recording the birth. I couldn't give them enough attention to verify because I would have to take my eyes off either Gil or our kitten. And that wasn't happening.
This was my own little family and mine to protect. Now I only needed to wait for the second twin, and we'd be set. When another head pushed through the thick fur, I got excited. So excited, in fact, it took me several seconds to realize Gil was shooting kittens out rapid-fire like BB pellets.
Plop, plop, plop.
Three more kittens popped free and dropped into the nest like gumballs. I looked at the babies, then at Gil's twitching butt, then back at the babies again. One. Two. Three. Four. Holy shit. Did he really give birth to four kittens? Kittens who would shift into four very human babies?
I got lightheaded, and the room swayed. The single thing stopping me from blacking out was a fifth tiny head poking through the fur and stopping cold. Holding my breath, I waited for the kitten to drop, but nothing happened.
Gil looked over his shoulder, his tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth, and gave his butt a firm wriggle. When his tactic didn't work, he bounced his cottontail up and down as if twerking. The head popped out barely enough to show the face of a puma kitten with a set of pointy, triangular cat ears.
This kitten wasn't hairless, instead covered in a tawny beige fur—at least the head was. The rest of the body remained to be seen. The tiny eyes opened a fraction, enough to reveal a hint of blue, and the kitten began to mewl as if asking for help. Gil swung his hips toward me, and I didn't hesitate to reach for this kitten. Not because the baby resembled me; it wasn’t that at all.
No. My child was stuck and needed my help.
Digging my fingers into the surrounding fur, I followed my gut, feeling for the shoulders. Gil's body trembled from the strain of trying to push. Working my fingers into the hole where the baby was wedged like Winnie the Pooh in a honey trap took a few tense seconds. Cradling the tiny head in the palm of my hand, finagling my fingers to an inner depth of about two knuckles took a lot of perseverance from me and patience from Gil.
And it didn’t take anything else. Slowly and carefully, I plucked the kitten free and held the little one up for Gil to inspect. He nuzzled our kitten and wrapped an ear around my hand. I looked into his red eyes, and at that moment, I finally knew we had a future. Gil lifted his ear and brushed its velvety fur across my cheek, before nodding toward the nest.
As I lowered the little one into the pile of clothes, Gil carefully dropped on the couch and curled up beside our kittens. I counted them again. Even though I knew my math was right the first time.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Five. Five babies.
A fresh wave of dizziness hit me, and I started to black out. This time I definitely I would have, except my puma decided it was time to join the party. Surging forward, he shoved me into an instant shift. I relaxed, unable to care about trivial facts like diapers and cribs when I had a mate and five kittens to protect. I curled up across from Gil, our two bodies forming a protective barrier between our kittens and the world.
As we guarded and snuggled our kittens together, I had everything I needed. Life was good. I purred as Gil licked the coating off the kitten closest to him. Without stopping to think about it, I lowered my head and did the same. Aside from being salty and way too slimy, it wasn't the worst thing I'd ever put in my mouth. Especially in this form.
By the time we got through cleaning our kittens, I heard a buzzing I slowly realized had been in the background the whole time. Alert now, I lifted my head and turned to find the source.
It was nothing to fear. Pure love filled the room. Every shifter was now in fur form. And the buzzing? My extended family's rumbling purrs as they supported my brand-new little family by showing they were here to both snuggle and protect the new kittens. Slowly turning my