There's an old belief that women who have given birth can never again regain the figure they had before becoming pregnant. That belief was obviously false and that wasn't just because of modern plastic surgery. A strong exercise and diet program should be able to allow women to shed post-pregnancy pounds if they really stick to it. Some may think that they would be too busy looking after their newborns to really dedicate time to exercise, but it wasn't as impossible as they would think.
Considering Animalians, some people would think that Animalians would have an easier time with losing weight. Perhaps so, but they needed to work for it as well. Fortunately, there was a special class being held in the Claw Coliseum's gym to help Animalians lose post-pregnancy weight. To show that it could be done, they had before and after pictures of mothers who have succeeded in trimming down. Noticeable 'alumni' included Clara, Martha, and Julia.
The number of mothers in the class tended to go up and down with the seasons. But there were often a few interesting people in the class. Right now, two such mothers were Goldenrod and Daffodil. The pair had been with this weight-loss class through the summer and there were showing good results even though they still had some ways to go.
"Would you say that being herms is making this easier for us?" asked Goldenrod as they took a water break.
"I don't think it makes any difference," said Daffodil, "Guys can have as much trouble as girls with losing weight. Just because we're both doesn't make things easier."
"Well, at least we're not having weird cravings anymore," said Goldenrod.
"Our cravings weren't so bad," said Daffodil, "At least we weren't wanting a lot of fatty meat."
Goldenrod grimaced and said, "I can't believe you used to eat that stuff."
"What can I say? Humans are omnivores," said Daffodil, "I do miss meat sometimes though."
"I thought you got plenty of meat from Xenophon," said Goldenrod teasingly.
"And you should be getting plenty from Hirshi," retorted Daffodil.
"Oh no, not so soon," said Goldenrod, "I mean, I don't making taking it as much as the next herm horse, but Hirshi's the one who'll be carrying the next foal."
"Though you won't be having another kid anytime soon, right?" asked Daffodil.
"No, not anytime soon," said Goldenrod, "The one I had was an ordeal enough."
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Everyone was more concerned about Goldenrod giving birth than Daffodil. For one thing, Daffodil had an easier time with hirs. Shi went into labor and gave birth about an hour later. Xenophon was now the proud father of a healthy colt, jet black except for white stripes around his wrists like wristbands. Xenophon was a bit surprised that they had a single-sexed son, but shi was happy with their baby boy who'll be named Xavier.
Daffodil's labor was considerably longer, stretching into four hours. There was also concern about who would be the foal's father. Before shi and Hirshi had become officially married, the four herm horses tended to have a lot of sex together. There's an equal chance that any of the other three could be the father. While Hirshi promised to love the foal no matter who was its sire, there was still a bit of tension.
At long last, the foal was finally birthed. The others had to wait a while as Goldenrod was tired after the birthing. But eventually, they came in to see the new mother. Shi was nursing hir new baby. It was quite clear that it took a lot after its mother, having the same golden fur. Though the mane was clearly black.
"Er, I'm sure you'd be a good father anyways," said Xenophon a little awkwardly.
"Why do you think I'm not the father?" asked Hirshi, "Just because I've got brown hair?"
"Well..." started Xenophon.
"I'm Japanese, remember?" said Hirshi pointedly, "In fact, me being brunette was kind of the oddball. So maybe it's just my grandparents' genes showing."
"Well, I also considered I'm Samson's cousin," said Goldenrod, "Really, I think the black mane could have come from any of us."
"Well, I'm not about to judge," said Hirshi, "I'm sure I can be a good father to..." Shi paused and asked, "Is it a boy or girl?"
"Both," said Goldenrod, giving hir mate a tired but proud smile, "Shi's just like us."
"Oh, that's wonderful," said Daffodil, "So what are you going to call hir?"
"I've been thinking about naming hir Indy," said Goldenrod.
"That short for 'Indiana' or something?" asked Xenophon.
"I was mostly thinking 'independent', but that kinda works," said Goldenrod.
"I think Indy is a fine name," said Hirshi before kissing hir mate. Indy may not actually be hir foal, but shi could already feel a bond with hir. What mattered was that they were a family now, blood or not.