Nate Bowman has been waiting for this day for a long time, perhaps longer than he realized. He had grown up assuming he'd inherit his father's dairy farm. It seemed like a good tradition to carry on. He even entered the University of Wisconsin so he could learn about modern agriculture techniques. And yet, the more he learned, the more he wanted more out of life than just farming. Nate had been a martial arts enthusiast, but he never considered making a career out of it. As his father's only son, Nate didn't expect he'd be doing anything else than taking over the farm.
Everything changed when he went to the Summer Animalian Martial Arts Showcase (or SAMAS). That's where he first met Shuixing. The two of them had hit it off pretty quickly and she soon became the love of Nate's life. Although there would have been some difficulty with their relationship if they got serious. Nate didn't want to leave his father alone to go live with Shuixing and he didn't expect her to leave her sisters to live in Wisconsin.
Of course, things changed even more when the four senior cows at the Bowman farm were uplifted. Blueberry, the matriarch of the herd, had the most interest in Nate's father, Ulysses. Ulysses had confided in Blueberry a lot when he milked her, particularly after his first wife left him. He never expected her to remember that after she was uplifted, nor that she would want to give him the comfort that he was long denied. A romance soon blossomed and bloomed, leading to Ulysses converting and marrying Blueberry.
Now Nate was free to live his own future with Shuixing. Not only was his father back in his prime and not needing to hand over the reins anytime soon, but he and his new wife were expecting their first calf, who would take over the farm in due time. As such, Nate was free to finally convert into a water buffalo Animalian like Shuixing. And since he had finally graduated from college, he was planning on marrying her this summer. The one thing that kept him from moving to Heiya Island now was his stepmother getting ready to give birth.
==========
As a simple cow, Blueberry had many calves over the years. There were times when she wondered where they were now. But at the moment, her main concern was the calf she was having right now. She could recall that giving birth as a simple cow was very uncomfortable, though the calves usually slid out without too much problem. But being an Animalian meant having a humanoid form and it would seem human women had it rougher when it was their time.
Blueberry lowed through another contraction. Why couldn't Animalian childbirths be shorter and smoother. Right now, she really envied the egg-laying Animalians. At least Ulysses and Nate were there to hold her hands. "You're doing fine, sweetie," said Ulysses, "It's no harder than having calves in the field."
"In the field, the calves didn't have to go through such a TIGHT hole!" snapped Blueberry. One of the drawbacks of sentience was a deeper understanding of pain, particularly prolonged pain.
"Don't worry, it won't be much longer now," said the doctor, waiting at the end of the hospital bed.
"YOU SAID THAT FIVE MINUTES AGO!" snapped Blueberry.
Nate looked at his father and asked, "Was my mom like this when she was having me?"
"I'm pretty sure you don't want the answer to that," said Ulysses.
"Ok, it's starting to crown!" called the doctor, "One last push!" Blueberry let out a loud bellow as she pushed to her limit. Before long, another mooing was heard, smaller and higher in pitch. The doctor eventually held up a bundle and said, "Congratulations, it's a boy. And what a boy. No wonder he gave you such a hard time."
Blueberry happily took her baby from the doctor. He was quite right. The newborn calf was a bit bigger than she expected. But he was such a cute little thing to her. "We finally have a son," she said, tears in her eyes.
"And he's so cute and sweet," said Ulysses happily.
Just then, they all winced as a particularly grating noise was heard not too far away. Blueberry wasn't the only one giving birth. Her sister-in-law, Meryl, was having her own baby. It is a particular well-known fact that donkeys have very loud brays, which aren't exactly the most melodious of sounds. Of course, Meryl was just half-donkey and it turns out mules have even more grating brays as well as bigger lungs.
"I think I'll go check on Aunt Meryl!" shouted Nate before hurrying out of the room, his ears covered. Meryl didn't have much of a singing voice before she converted and becoming a mule didn't sweetened it. Thankfully, she and Olly rarely brayed outside of making love and they had their own house. On a similar note, Meryl had finally stopped braying, which Nate hoped was a good sign.
Walking into Meryl's room, he found her nursing her baby. There had been some mild concerns about her foal, considering normal mules weren't capable of reproduction. But it seemed the Animalian virus patched up the problems that hybrid animals had. "Hello, Nate," said Meryl, "Come meet your new cousin, Myron."
Nate walked over to them and looked down at the mule foal. The foal briefly pulled away from Meryl's teat to look at Nate. Nate thought there was a spot of milk on his lips until he liked them, revealing his fur was white at the tip of his muzzle. Then he went back to nursing. "He's cute," said Nate, "But why call him Myron?"
"I liked it in a book I've read," said Meryl, "I was hoping for a girl so I could name her Molly."
"Maybe we could try for that some other time," said Olly, "I'm just glad we have our son."
"So how soon will your sister be coming?" asked Nate.
"Well, Nelly says she's going to be knocked up soon if she isn't already," said Olly with a shrug, "But I'm sure they'll be by soon enough."
"She can be pretty competitive, can't she?" asked Meryl, "It's not like we meant to have a colt first."
"Yes, but I'm glad we did," said Olly.
Seeing how his aunt and uncle were doing okay, Nate headed back to his parents' room. Nate walked in to see his new half-brother nursing from Blueberry's tit. A little bit more concerning was that Ulysses was nursing from the other one. "Dad," said Nate reprovingly.
Ulysses stood up and wiped the milk from his lips. "What? Blueberry's producing more milk than Calvin can drink right now. I'm just easing the pressure," he said defensively.
"Calvin?" asked Nate.
"Do you like it?" asked Blueberry, "I remember seeing it on the side of the milk truck when they come to get the milk."
Nate thought it over and said, "That's not a bad idea. Calvin Bowman, sounds perfect."
"I'm glad you feel that way," said Ulysses, "Because he'll be running the farm when he grows up."
Nate shrugged and said, "Good for him. I've got my own life ahead of me."
"Yes, and you better get on with it, haven't you?" asked Ulysses pointedly, "You've got your wedding to get to."
"Right, I'll just give Shuixing a call to let her know I'm coming," said Nate before he walked out of the room. As he walked, he wondered over the idea of having a son of his own. He could almost imagine holding his boy in his hands. But that probably won't be for some time. Shuixing may not yet be ready to be a mother, but she was ready to be his wife. So Nate hurried a little faster to let his bride-to-be know that he'll be coming soon.