Aida looked calmly into the cradle that was set up in one of the Burrows underground apartments. In it lay two infant American Badger infants, one was a leucistic female and a more traditionally colored male. They both looked back at Aida and Tomi with some degree of curiosity, but didn't make much in the way of noise, outside of maybe a few soft grunts or coos here and there. There were now growls of irritation that were in theory possible if a badger felt threatened.
"They look adorable," Aida said as she turned to look to the parents of the two infants, one being a male named Orlando and the female actually preferring to be called "Quarry." It was an odd nickname and Tomi had already gotten her barb in about it being an odd nickname, but so far that hadn't lead to any fight between the two pairs of adult mustelids. "Though... how did the female end up with the pale coat... I wasn't aware that Badgers had that condition..."
"We weren't either," Orlando answered, "the doctors ran some tests on Quarry after Digger and Darla were born as a result... and they found nothing necessarily wrong... but they did find something that would come off as a recessive gene."
"I'm not the biggest science expert... but wouldn't both of you need to have the same recessive gene in order for that trait to carry over?" Aida wondered as she glanced over to Tomi, who was for the moment quiet. Aida took that silence, for the moment as acceptable. She had gotten a bit more confident in going forward after becoming a Honey Badger Animalian, and it had lead her and Tomi more openly "arguing" over things, but the most surprising thing was Tomi seemed to enjoy the trading of verbal barbs back and forth. Aida wasn't going to physically challenge Tomi, as the other female was physically more impressive than her, but she wasn't about to reject the tolerance that Tomi displayed when Aida had more directly stood up for herself.
"Yes," Orlando nodded, "though the odd thing is that when they tested me... while they technically did find a recessive gene in the same sequence in my DNA it wasn't necessarily the exact same gene..."
"The doctors at Horizon Light and Horizon think it's a result of the fact that like you two, I'm a converted Human, and that my gene was a recessive Human gene that was then converted with me," Quarry added, "while Orlando's was a standard recessive gene for an American Badger... thus that odd combination is what lead to Darla's leucism."
"Well they do look adorable," Aida commented and gave a bit of a smile as she looked down to them. A part of her wondered what it might be like to be a mother and look after cubs of her own, though for the moment that was something that would have to wait since the only other Honey Badger Animalian was Tomi, and Aida wasn't a lesbian... not to mention that even if she was, two females could not have children together unless they adopted. Though, both her and Tomi were in a bit of a program in which training for that was being treated as part of it, though Aida also figured it was something to help her continue to work to assert herself while making sure Tomi learned to appropriately restrain herself.
"They won't be any trouble, would they?" Tomi asked as she turned her eyes to Orlando and Quarry, "the people that enrolled us with this job said you'd had difficulties..."
"More that they didn't take well to their previous sitter," Quarry answered, "which might make sense, since it was a Prairie Dog Animalian that had been part of Lyre's zoo... that likely triggered some instinctive memory that is there... even though Orlando is a perfect gentleman."
"And that's what let him knock you up?" Tomi asked pointedly.
Quarry stared back, though Aida saw the female American Badger's upper lip pull back for a bit before regaining some composure, "no. It was already the American Badger's mating season when I converted... and while I'd been on birth control pills... they were Human birth control pills... and once I became an Animalian, my hormonal patterns changed to suit being an Animalian and thus I would have needed Animalian birth control pills to handle them... but Orlando and I had gotten started and bonded a bit before getting to business, and having a family isn't bad. So we kept at it, I got pregnant, and fell in love and married during the course of the pregnancy..."
"The real excitement came when these two were born," Orlando put an arm around Quarry's shoulders and thought back to the birth of Digger and Darla...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The apartment that Orlando and Quarry moved into after Quarry's conversion was comfortable, even if Orlando may have playfully complained about "moving." Some of the biggest surprises had been more the response of Quarry's friends that she would take to Orlando as strongly as she did, though a lot of that was something that seemed rather normal for Animalians. While many did date for lengthy periods before either marrying or taking their relationships to a physical level, there also large lists of couples that had next to no contact with each other and yet forging bonds that were surprisingly firm in rapid succession. Quarry happily accepted that, as Orlando had proven to be attentive and caring, which she especially noted as her womb grew bigger over the space of her pregnancy.
"You're sure you're okay?" Orlando asked as he helped Quarry to the bed they shared, his focused on his bond-mate's swollen middle, "I mean... you've been grunting at something for most of the day... or at least most of the day when I was here to see..."
"I'm fine, dear," Quarry assured him as she leaned over to lift up the sheets to let her climb into bed, "the twins are fine. You don't need to worry."
"I can't help it," Orlando answered as he nuzzled his muzzle to her cheek, "I love you. I don't want to see you hurt... or the twins hurt."
Quarry nuzzled her husband back and managed to climb into bed, and could feel his hands placed to be ready to make sure that she didn't fall. It was something that let her know that he did care and that was something that she had grown to love about him. It showed that he paid attention to her and in a way that was very touching and something that was greater than any boyfriend she'd had before her conversion. But there were some times when it was almost like he worried too much about some things. She'd had a few mild stomach cramps through the course of the day, but she was pretty sure that was all food related as her stomach seemed to feel better after eating. Being hungry wasn't something to worry over, and she smiled to him as he walked around their bed and picked out a book from the bookshelf that was on his side of the bedroom.
"Would you like me to read to you?" Orlando asked as he picked out one of the books, "I can pick up where I left off last night."
"Yes that would be fine," Quarry began, though something began to hit as she sat back against the pillows in front of the bed's headboard. It didn't really hurt at first, but it grew painful and quickly so, and that effected the end of her answer, "I love... lis..sening… to... you.. rrreeeeeeeAAAADDUAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!"
"Quarry!" Orlando jumped up, dropping the book and with his dark eyes looking very wide. He'd noticed her arms moving to her womb and that was what alarmed him the most.
"I... I think my water just broke," Quarry said slowly.
"The twins..." Orlando began.
"They're on their way," Quarry answered and was about to get up when Orlando rushed around the bed, scooped her up into his arms and carried her bridal style out of the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"And from there, Orlando carried me to Horizon Light's emergency room where I then spent the next twenty hours in labor," Quarry then finished the tale for Aida and Tomi.
"Wait... you carried her... on foot?" Tomi asked with some degree of surprise, "But Horizon Light is in Lyre... and is practically a mile from here."
"A little more than a mile, actually," Orlando gave a weak grin, "but while Badgers may not be the biggest mustelid... that honor goes to the Wolverine... I'm still plenty strong and deeply in love..."
"Don't you have a car?" Tomi demanded, "There seems to be a bunch of them in the parking lot above the Burrows, here."
"I have a car," Quarry answered, "and it'll do good when we need to run grocery errands and so on... but given that the mine is at the bottom of the Burrows and branches away as needed. As such, anyone working there doesn't need a car to get there. As such... Orlando doesn't really have a driver's license... and being in labor, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea for me to drive."
"And I was a bit excited that even if I had a driver's license... I might not have thought of it," Orlando admitted, "but it all worked out Darla and Digger were born and are completely adorable."
"And they do seem friendly," Aida commented, suppressing an urge to chuckle the story of Orlando panicking at his wife going into labor and carrying her to the hospital on foot, and then ran one finger along Darla's cheek. The baby Badger Animalian gave a small happy sounding noise and nuzzled the side of her head against Aida's finger.
"Well... we're all badgers, here, so it makes sense," Tomi commented.
"I think I read somewhere that the Honey Badger is built more like a very large Weasel than an actual Badger," Orlando commented.
"But..." Tomi began to protest.
"It's not worth fighting over," Aida answered, "besides we have work to do... and little ones to look after."
Tomi pouted at that, remembering the assignment to look after the two infant American Badger Animalians and then the description on where Quarry and Orlando kept the diapers for their twins and the bottles of Quarry's milk that was stored for them. It wasn't the most exciting job, and the fact that Quarry and Orlando had monitors that were tied to Quarry's cellphone meant that Tomi wouldn't get away with much if things sounded bad. She eventually sighed and nodded before letting things get sorted out.