With Mother's Day fast approaching, there were many people thinking about motherhood. Especially the ones were going to be mothers. There were plenty of Animalian couples who had made procreation a goal and some results were just around the corner. And there were a few females who were rather anxious about having their babies soon.
Julia Wesley definitely fell into that category. Her pregnancy with Sarah almost 16 years ago was exhausting enough for her then. But now she had a pair of twins growing in her womb. If it wasn't for the fact that the Animalian virus increased her muscles, she would have been confined to a wheelchair long before now. At least Julia didn't have it as bad as Clara. Her unborn twins were bloating out Julia's body, but Clara had double the load inside of her. If Clara hadn't had experience with delivering litters before she was uplifted, Julia would have had concerns for her health with having to deliver quadruplets.
The two of them met pretty frequently for games of cards. Considering their state, one would expect them to spend their time knitting, but Julia didn't really have the patience for it and Clara found it a little too difficult to do. At least the card games helped kept their minds off the excessive kicking inside their rounded bellies.
Today, Julia and Clara were joined by two other expecting mothers. Delilah and Marlysa were also pretty anxious about their arriving children.
"So, you're sure it's a girl?" asked Julia as she picked up another card.
"Yes, the ultrasound showed she's developing just fine," said Delilah, rubbing her round stomach, "I'm going to raise her properly. And I won't have her branding her hips like that pony show everyone is talking about."
"Shame you can't participate in the Animalia Games though," said Marlysa.
"I'm fine with that," said Delilah, "I'm actually relived that I only have to carry her for 9 months instead of nearly an entire year like my other foals."
"Have you heard much from your foals since you uplifted?" asked Clara.
"No, but I'm certain they're happy even if they aren't uplifted," said Delilah, "You ever find out if any of your cubs became uplifted?"
Clara shrugged and said, "Once you leave the den, you're on your own. Cougars are not close-knit outside of mating season."
"At least you girls know what to expect," said Marlysa, "This is my first clutch ever."
"But you don't need to carry them inside you the whole time," said Julia dryly.
"The advantage of being an egg-laying reptile," said Marlysa.
Clara winced as she felt her offspring squirm. "I cannot tell you how much I envy you for that," said Clara.
"Well, you'll be having your kids soon, right?" asked Marlysa.
"We conceived them back in December. So they might not be here until next month," said Clara.
"Well, I feel like I'm going to pop any day now," said Julia, rubbing her inflated stomach.
"It would be nice for you to celebrate Mother's Day with brand-new children," said Delilah.
"I just pray the epidural will be strong enough to work on me," said Julia.
"If anyone should be needing that, it'll be me," said Clara, looking down at her swollen body, "How am I ever going to get back into shape?"
"I can help with that," said Marlysa, "You won't be the only new mother who will want to lose the baby weight. I've got plenty who are wanting me to help them slim back down."
"I'll probably be needing that myself," said Julia, "Getting the baby weight from Sarah's pregnancy off was bad enough." But for all Julia's complaining, she could wait to hold her newborn puppies in her arms.