While much of the country was wrestling with the massive uptick in Covid 19, not all the hospital calls were related to that. Lyre and Animalia's hospital, Horizon Light was among them, and for Fleur, at the moment that was a good thing as she came in with her husband, Steven.
"You did call Anne and Janice and their husbands?" Fleur asked to Steven while taking a breath as she looked up and back to her husband as he pushed her wheelchair toward the front desk as they entered the hospital while biting back some pain that she was presently trying to hold back.
"Yes, dear," Steven assured her, "And they've promised to be here in due time."
"Due time!" Fleur cringed through a contraction, "they don't know what I'm going through!"
Steven was a bit quiet on that as he watched his wife wrap her arms around her greatly swollen mid-section. The comment had to be some of her present pregnancy related hormones talking, doubled down by the fact that Fleur's litter of kits was at four, the maximum number of children that any Animalian seemed to have per pregnancy. Which was two more than the baby Striped Skunk Animalians that that Janice had given birth to earlier in the year and obviously more than the one child that Anne had given birth to when she had Janice years ago. Thus the other members of Fleur's family DID know what the pains of labor were from experience. The only difference between them and Fleur was in relation to when they had them and what kind of Animalian they were. But Steven had also long known not to argue with a woman in labor, even if that had also lead to the present issues that had complicated things when it came to dealing with his own children that couldn't let go or adapt to things that related to the fact that when he'd become an Animalian, he'd found himself back in the prime of his youth.
"You know that's not true," Steven said to her and nuzzled the side of Fleur's face as they approached the desk, "Just keep breathing, like we practiced."
Steven was glad to have met Fleur, he'd found her fun and rather unique with her coloration. Both of them were Red Fox Animalians, but Steven had the more traditional and well known coloration while Fleur had a more unique color phase that was referred to as "platinum." It was something new, and Steven found her all the more attractive because of it. He also had to privately admit to himself that he was also rather drawn to her rather flirty personality, which wasn't that terribly different from his first wife's personality, not that his Human children would believe that. Thus they rapidly became bond mates, married privately and even started a family of their own, which made Steven happy as Fleur's womb slowly grew larger with each passing month. Now, it was especially gravid and his kits were ready to be born, sending Fleur into labor a little while ago and had them rushing to Horizon Light.
"Hello..." Steven said in a hurried voice to the person at the front desk, "my wife's gone into labor... I can handle all appropriate billing and insurance, but I'd like to get her to the appropriate rooms first."
Fleur let out a pained moan for added emphasis, which got the front desk clerk to acknowledge it. She gave quick directions on where to go for the section of the hospital and even gave a call to those on duty in that area to expect their arrival. Steven, however, didn't stick around for long as he wanted Fleur to get the necessary treatment needed to help her get through labor as easily as possible. In theory she could walk, but give the number of baby Fox Animalians in her womb and how far forward they had swelled Fleur's middle, it was easier for her to remain in a wheelchair at times. It was complicated, but it helped and Steven was more than willing to work with it to keep Fleur comfortable. As he pushed her along, he noted that there was some work going along in other areas of the building and that got him curious... and by the time he made it to the area he'd set out for, he was finding himself overcome by that curiosity.
"Doctor Clark will be here as quick as she can to assist with the delivery, if you can come with me, we'll see to it that your wife is comfortable and we'll see how dilatated she is," the nurse spoke as they entered the area.
"Of course," Steven spoke as he moved to follow the nurse, "say... um... I saw a lot of other work going around... I need to ask..."
"What the "upgrades" are for?" the nurse cut him off, "I'm afraid that's a result of some of the other pressures that have been going on. Given that Lyre and Animalia have not been hit as hard with Covid as other parts of the state are... and even some of the surrounding states, we've actually been contacted by the state government... and we will be having to serve as an extra facility to house and care for Covid patients from outside the general area. As those numbers are starting overwhelm the local clinics and hospitals in those regions. We expect the first transfers here within the next week."
"Would they become Animalians?" Fleur panted, looking to Steven, to her swollen womb, and then to the nurse.
"That would be up to them," the nurse answered, "and what the "power of attorney" would say with regard to medical care. Given that the Animalia Virus, while unvaccinated, could cure Covid, it'd also come with major life changing effects that would go along with the conversion. As such, right now, I can't say... and for the moment, the focus will be on the delivery of four Fox Animalian Kits."
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The report that Horizon Light could well end up being used as an additional hospital to house people who'd contracted Covid and their local clinics could not care for them was worrying, but not something that either Fleur nor Steven could do anything about. They were helped to a room where Fleur was moved to a bed and the nurse checked how much Fleur was dilatated. It was still relatively early in labor and as such, she wasn't ready, yet... but they did manage to get her pain killers that would help her with the pain related to the contractions. And as Fleur was given the opportunity to relax a bit, Steven then handled the appropriate billing and insurance information before settling in to sit and rest in the chair in Fleur's room. This proved to be a bit of a quiet wait as some hours passed. Fleur never really fell asleep but at times she did dose a bit. This went on for awhile until Steven was aroused from his seat by a knock on the door.
"Fleur?" came Anne's voice as she and Janice came in. Both Skunk Animalians were dressed comfortably and had masks on.
"You came!" Fleur answered before Steven could.
"Of course, we are family," Anne answered, "and we look forward to meeting the new arrivals."
"All four of them," Janice added with an understanding smile.
Steven gave a relieved smile at that as well as Fleur did not respond with the same irritation that she'd had when they first came into the hospital. He'd noticed that there was an at times odd dynamic that went on between Fleur and Janice, but it was tolerable and seemed to actually get better when he and Fleur started dating. He wondered if this was a result of Fleur being bisexual or just one of the oddities that came out of a rather sibling-like relationship that existed between Fleur and Janice. Happiness and good behavior, though, was something to be welcomed and he was glad that Fleur was able to have that with her own family.
It was something that at times frustrated him with his own family. He loved them very much, and he could understand that they could be fearful over him getting his youth back when he was double dosed, but he'd done well enough that their inheritance was never really in danger and at the same time, they didn't have the right to dictate how he should be happy. It was also something he wished could be better, but so far there had been no real luck in that regard. He hoped that his four kits with Fleur wouldn't end up the way his Human children had, especially when he thought he raised them better than they'd behaved.
"Well they seem to be taking their time," Fleur complained, "Steven and I have been here for hours now... I'm still not ready to push and the four of them want to kick or punch at my bladder but don't want to come out."
"Labor is never easy," Janice and Anne said together and Janice then continued, "I was in labor for just over twenty hours before my twins were born..."
"And I was in labor for twenty hours exactly before Janice was born," Anne added, "you must be patient... for while it takes time, there will be nothing quite like motherhood."
Fleur managed to nod, a little. She'd never seen herself as a mother and getting pregnant was a bit of an accident, but Steven had always been there for her and that was enough. As much as labor hurt and as long as it was taking, Fleur was looking forward to being a mother now. Her biggest wonder, was what would her children look like. Would they have the Red Fox's traditional color phase, red orange with black socks, ears, and a white tail tip, or would they have her platinum color phase, with bluish silver fur, bluish black arms, legs, and tail, with the hands, feet, and tail tip being white. And that only built on some of her impatience as she wished to find out what color phase her kits were.
"I still wish they'd hurry," Fleur answered, earning a chuckle from both Janice and Anne.
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In time, eventually Fleur did get to the point where she was ready to push and was moved from the room she was waiting in and to the main delivery room with Doctor Melody Clark being there to run the delivery. Steven came along as well, and held Fleur's hand while Anne and Janice waited in the room that Fleur had been waiting in. Of course by now, the contractions were coming fast and despite the drugs, Fleur could feel the pain and discomfort.
"We're almost ready, dear," Steven said to her as he held her hand and stroked it with the the other hand, "You'll be fine... Just keep breathing."
Fleur puffed her breaths as she went through the Lamaze class instructed breathing exercises and relying on some lessons from Steven who went on his past experiences with his first wife. She knew that Steven still missed his first wife, who had died before Steven even became an Animalian, but also felt Steven's love for her as well, and as everything was readied for her to give birth, she also had her own plans to reward him for that. If one of their kits was a girl, she intended name her after Steven's first wife in honor of all that. She hadn't been able to voice that as it was intended to be a surprise and right now with the pain related to her contractions, she was a bit distracted even if she didn't want to surprise him.
"We are ready now," Doctor Clark spoke up from where she stood, and looked over Steven, "would you like to be the one to deliver your children?"
"Don't leave me!" Fleur insisted as another contraction hit and squeezing Steven's hand.
"I won't," Steven said to Fleur and then looked back to Doctor Clark, "I am afraid I wasn't able to "deliver" the children from my first marriage... I don't think I've gotten any better in that regard. I can coach Fleur through this and we will trust you and your nurses to handle the delivery."
Doctor Clark nodded and then move to the food of the bed and readied herself and then looked up to Fleur, "Okay... Fleur, we're ready. Push!"
"Huuuunnnnnnnggggggghhhhh!" Fleur grunted as she pushed, and feeling one of her kits start to move down the birth canal. She repeated this a few more times before Fleur's ears picked up the soft cries as Doctor Clark delivered the first of the four. "What is it? Is it a boy a girl?"
Doctor Clark went through the work to clean the kit and deal with the afterbirth and gave a small smile, "It's a girl... and an image of her mother." She then presented a small Fox kit with the platinum color phase that Fleur had, and Doctor Clark watched as Fleur smiled. Steven also smiled, but then got a surprise when Fleur said his wife's name and addressed it to the infant that she'd just given birth to as Doctor Clark laid in a soft and padded bed nearby. From there Doctor Clark moved to prepare for the next kit to be born.
"Fleur?" Steven asked.
"You said you loved her... and were saddened when she died," Fleur answered, "I thought... I thought this might be a way to honor her for you."
"Oh, Fleur," Steven said slowly. He wanted to say more, but Fleur was then hit with another contraction as their next kit was ready to be born. They then went through all of as their kits were born, and ended with two boys and two girls. Their first born daughter and youngest son matched Fleur's platinum color phase while the oldest son and youngest daughter matched Steven's normal red color phase. And as they were born and then handed to Fleur and Steven, giving them time to cuddle the four kits who soon gave their small yips while waiting for a turn to suckle. But as they had their first moments as parents, Steven and Fleur both felt some presence of joy and hope for a happy future.