"It's all amazing on how all these things developed, looking back on it," Tiffany commented as she and Riley sat at a cafe with a pair of guests.
It was late afternoon on Christmas day and the two pairs were enjoying seeing some light snow fall outside the windows. Lyre/Animalia didn't see an awful lot of rain fall... more than other parts of Nevada, but not a lot. It was something that showed how irrigation and other water saving tricks had made the Brown family's farm succeed with their apple orchard after the initial outbreak and the uplifted horses and cattle often needing some other form of "work." The fact that there was some snow falling on Christmas just felt right, particularly as she sought to catch up on some gossip with an old friend.
"What... that we both became REAL bitches in the outbreak?" Annie gave a teasing laugh to her old friend.
The pair of them had been good friends in High School and had been on Lyre High's cheer squad. But then the outbreak happened, and the fact that so many students at Lyre High had become Animalians thanks to accidents with pets or in her case a lone wolf that had wandered in, that Lyre High couldn't keep up its sports programs as most of those that liked sports became Animalians and now had an unfair advantage over Human competitors. That put a serious crimp on their plans for their senior year, and at times hurt Tiffany's pride, because at the time, the one that turned her, Princess became her sister. Annie, meanwhile, had found her bond-mate in Nightrunner. Though Annie noted Riley's well-muscled physique, even if it wasn't as nice as Nightrunner's, it was clear that Tiffany had recovered. And judging by the frequent pauses to smile to each other, Annie figured that Tiffany had actually found love with the Rottweiler Animalian.
But from there, the two had different paths. Tiffany chose to go to UNLV and graduated with degrees in business and economics, and already had plans for starting up a business in the town in Arizona where Princess was teaching PE and was on the coaching staff for the school's volleyball team. Riley seemed protective and surprisingly eloquent, it was something that lead Annie to offer that he could do well as a motivational speaker and would likely be able to get plenty of people who want to sponsor him to speak for them, even if it was because of the build Animalians had. Riley mentioned he'd think about it, though he also admitted he did enjoy the wrestling matches he'd had with Trevor in the IAC, and that some of that did appeal to him to a degree... though, he also made it clear that he didn't want to take Tiffany away from her dreams.
Annie understood some of that aspect on athleticism. After becoming a Wolf Animalian, she found a lot of her energy getting her more into athletics and body building in a way that had never been there as a cheerleader in high school. She and Nightrunner trained together and managed a few minor competitions in the sport, getting some tips along the way from Animalia's veterans at the sport. It made for some small prizes as they worked themselves up to the championship they won in the past fall. Tiffany and Riley had even showed up for it in the summer. The prize money from winning in the IAC was enough that Annie felt confident that she and Nightrunner could start their family and now left her with a round belly and with one paw-like hand resting on her womb.
"Ha, ha, ha," Tiffany answered, "you know what I mean... you happily married..."
"We aren't married... at least not as far as a formal recognition," Annie answered, "things between me and Nightrunner are more informal... but the love is just as firm as anything else."
"Hopefully as firm as all your muscle," Tiffany chuckled, "never would have thought you'd get into body building."
"It is," Annie smiled and took a bite on the ham she'd ordered, "of course right now... I feel like a bloated whale."
"You look good and radiant, though," Tiffany spoke, "you must be happy..."
"I am..." Annie answered.
"Of course, the pups may end up getting extra excited about things like Christmas... because of how close the doctors say..." Nightrunner began.
Tiffany listened quietly, but as the male black furred Wolf Animalian gave his comment. To an extent, Tiffany could get that sort of thing. Her parents had deliberately made sure she wasn't born close to Christmas, just to make sure she wasn't too spoiled. Of course, a part of her had to wonder how well all that worked at times. She remembered her time in high school, playing to popularity and everything else, and which had included having sexual dalliances with just about everyone on the Lyre High football team before Animalia changed things. She remembered being somewhat of a "bitchy" person before Animalia that had made her something of an antagonist to Abby Brown and her friends. Becoming a Poodle Animalian and having Princess as a sister was able to help her mellow helped her make amends for her own past that were in error and kept her as a good friend with Annie, which made for this meeting being small adventure for the day and catchup.
However, as Nightrunner spoke, Tiffany noticed Annie's eyes start to twitch and she pulled her lips back, revealing the white tips of her canines.
"Annie?" Tiffany asked.
"I... think... I... neeeeeeeeeaaaaaaAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Annie cut her mate off and bent over clutching at her womb, she then looked up to Tiffany and Riley and said weakly, "I think my water broke."
"The pups!?" Nightrunner jumped, his knees hitting the table and making it bounce as others looking in Annie's direction.
"They're on their way..." Annie gave a weak smile, "Tiffany... can you drive me to the hospital?"
"But you're mate...?" Tiffany asked, not sure on what to do as while she was friends with Annie and happy for her to be happy, she didn't think it was her place to be there when Annie gave birth.
"Nightrunner can't drive," Annie winced.
"Never had the interest," Nightrunner answered, "most everything in Lyre/Animalia is within easy walking distance."
"Okay, I'll drive," Tiffany spoke and took a more leadership role, "Riley, help Nightrunner get Annie to my car. I'll let the staff here know what's going on and see that things are paid for. I should be out shortly."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Annie wasn't the only one to find herself in labor on Christmas day. At the Dankly home in Lyre, Fred was woken up by Rox giving a pained scream and literally kicking him out of the bed. He had tumbled onto the floor, pulling their blankets with him and was only left giving a puzzled whine until he was able to get the blankets off his head and found that Rox was upright and clutching at her womb while trying to maintain some of the steady breaths that the Lamaze instructor had given them while going through Rox's pregnancy. This naturally brought Fred to a full panic, as while Rox had had puppies before, they were all mundane dogs that were born in the Bronx, and some may have even passed on from old age by now, given that Rox had set records for a Great Dane before her uplifting. This time though, the puppies would be his children... and children that he and Rox would raise and love together, which of course brought Fred to full on panic mode.
Thankfully, just as was the case while Rox was handling the application to teach at the Animalian School of Modelling, Rox was able to remain calm and keep Fred from panicking into a major mistake, which included him trying to put her in his pants before heading out and then forgetting to put them on and nearly driving Rox to Horizon Light in his underwear. Fred thanked her for all that and told her to hold on as they drove along through Lyre's roads until they came up to the hospital, which despite the fact that it was Christmas, was open and had at least some of the staff on duty. It thus made for a quick entry through the emergency entrance and then to the enlarged section of the hospital where those that would be coming in the delivery of newborns was handled.
From there, it turned into a "hurry up and wait" situation. For while female Animalians had hips that were easily wide enough to give birth safely, that didn't mean that the process of went as quickly as it might go for mundane animals. This in turn meant that while Rox rested between contractions and gladly accepted the pain killing medication, both were then left waiting and waiting. At some point, Fred lost track of how long he'd been waiting for the doctors to say Rox was ready to be moved to the delivery room. It still left Fred a bit nervous, but he did his best to hold himself together, though after one trip to the bathroom, he then came across something he didn't expect. There was a white furred Poodle Animalian, that did have her fur cut and shaved in some of the specialized styles that were favored for the French Poodle, though the full cutting and clipping wasn't seen under her shirt and pants. The surprising thing was that she was seated with a Rottweiler Animalian and didn't look to be pregnant. Both looked about as nervous as he did.
"Are you two... okay?" Fred asked as he approached them.
"Yeah... I suppose so," the Poodle Animalian answered, "just had some surprises today..."
"Found out you were a mother to be?" Fred wondered and then watched as the Rottweiler's eyes bulged in surprise and shock.
"No... I'm not pregnant," the Poodle answered, "but my friend is... she's a Wolf Animalian... her name is Annie. We were just catching up on how our Christmas went and she went into labor. Her mate can't drive, so Riley and I brought them here."
"I see..." Fred said slowly.
"And when Riley graduates from UNLV and we get married... I would love to get pregnant and have his puppies," the Poodle Animalian continued, "Imagine... a Poodle with a Rottweiler's coloring. It'd be so cute... My name's Tiffany, by the way."
"A pleasure to meet you," Fred said politely, "my mate is having her pups... though we're waiting until the doctors say she's ready to "push." Though... before I get back to her, may I offer a word of advice?"
Tiffany looked to Riley, who shrugged, and then nodded, "go ahead."
"Don't worry too much on how your future pups will look," Fred commented, "partially as because you and your mate are different breeds... there are all sorts of ways that things could mix. It's where things can be hard to predict. The pups could look like you or your Riley... they could look like a mix in all sorts of combinations. It's one of the things that makes the creation of new breeds all the more interesting... and at times complicated."
"You sound like you know a lot," Riley commented.
"With regard to dog shows and the nature of how the breeding of the animal for its pedigree... yes, Rox was a champion Great Dane in her youth and as a mundane dog..." Fed said, his voice becoming wistful, "now... she's the most beautiful woman I've ever known."
"Congratulations, you should get back to her," Tiffany said to him.
Fred nodded and was soon back on his way to Rox. He found her half dozing in the hospital bed. She blinked as he came in and smiled.
"The drugs are working," Rox smiled, "what's going on?"
"Just went to the bathroom," Fred answered, "though, I ran into someone in the waiting room... it would appear that new arrivals seem popular this Christmas. A young woman's friend went into labor and is having Wolf pups..."
"They won't be as cute as ours," Rox answered.
"Of course," Fred answered.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The hours seemed to go by forever slowly as Tiffany sat with Riley in the waiting room. They'd made it to Horizon Light fairly well, and the cafe was quite understanding of what had happened. To a degree, Tiffany wondered if Annie wasn't the first Animalian to go into labor there, but that wasn't really the point. They made it to the hospital and got Annie admitted in, and while she and Riley were allowed to accompany them to the wing where Horizon Light handled pregnancies and the delivery of new babies, be they Human or Animalian, only Nightrunner was allowed into the room that Annie was taken into. That left her and Riley in the waiting room.
And there wasn't that much they could do. She sent a text home that Annie went into labor and that she and Riley would be providing what support they could give Nightrunner, though she'd yet to get a reply on that. It was something that Tiffany figured probably meant that her mother was "busy" with her father. That was something where she wondered how her mother gained an Animalian's libido without ever becoming an Animalian, though it wasn't something she wanted to dwell on. But there wasn't much she could do in the waiting room. The run in with Fred Dankly had been interesting and, in a way, rewarded her bond to Riley, but that had been relatively short, and he soon went back to be with his mate. That then left her looking over the magazines in the waiting room and looking around, hopping to see Nightrunner come out to say that she and Riley could make sure Annie was okay.
"You want pups... in the future?" Riley asked.
"Of course," Tiffany answered, "to a degree... my dad bought Princess for me because I liked puppies and put on my best pout to get her... and even before she was uplifted, she became my best friend. We did lots of things together and I learned some things on training dogs, which made being with Princess all the more fun... Then Princess became an Animalian and I accidently got a drink of her milk... we became sisters. And while at that time, I was uneasy with being an Animalian over the fear of losing my popularity or acceptance... I was never uneasy around Princess. Being around her always felt right. Like having a sister that would be with me. Not busy at work like my dad or off to some society luncheon like my mom..."
"Wanting sex at odd times?" Riley wondered.
"That too... though, it may explain why I had such a high libido even before I became an Animalian," Tiffany answered, "but still... Princess became my sister, and I was happy to have her as a sister. It was a sort of family thing that I really didn't get before, and until we started dating... I thought that was about all that I'd ever get. But then we started dating... and I learned about a lot of the things that make you, you. And I'm not just talking about you muscles or your... equipment... but your loyalty, your kindness, the willingness to put yourself on the line to protect those you cared for... which was how you were uplifted."
Riley nodded.
"And in a way... that's also something that would make you a great father," Tiffany answered, "we'd have pups... and we'd raise them together and wouldn't have any issues of absenteeism or anything like that... we'd be a family, and a happy one."
"And you want that?" Riley asked, thinking over some things that Tiffany's father had said to him over what he expected of Riley.
"Yes..." Tiffany answered, "and seeing Annie so round and happy... before her water broke... I suppose that just had me being a bit jealous and has had my mind on it right now."
"So... you're not going to go off your birth control pill," Riley stated.
Tiffany gave a small laugh and took Riley's hand, glancing out of the corner of her eye to see Fred pushing a wheelchair with a female Great Dane Animalian in it. The female had two pups cuddled up to her chest while a third was cradled against the corner of her arm. There were some hospital orderlies with them. Tiffany guessed that Fred's mate had had her puppies, and they were moving her to a ward where she could rest, and they'd ultimately place the infants in a specialized incubating room while the mother rested.
"Not until after we're married and have our home set up," Tiffany answered, "besides, Princess and I have it all set up. I'll be her maid of honor and she'll be mine."
"That golfer still treating her well?" Riley asked.
Tiffany nodded, "and that's a good thing."
Riley was about to say something when Nightrunner came into view, and that got both of them up. The male Wolf Animalian gave a small smile and waved them to follow him. They did follow and were lead to one small room where Annie was resting and with two black furred Wolf Animalian pups in her arms. One just had fur, like Nightrunner, the other had some added peach-fuzz of black hair like Annie’s. Annie looked stressed, but she had a small smile.
"They look adorable," Tiffany said to her friend.
"Yes," Annie managed, "just like their dad."
Nightrunner wagged his tail. To a great degree, he felt a bit uneasy over how Annie became a Wolf Animalian, for as he was uplifted, there was some awareness that acting as a mundane wolf would around a female that might be receptive wasn't what would be expected among Humans, which Annie had been before their encounter. But Annie did forgive him for that, and things were ultimately chalked up to an accident coming as a result of his uplifting.
"Are you okay?" Riley asked.
"I'm fine... it hurt... but with little Sasha and Thaddeus, it was worth it," Annie answered, "what about my folks?"
"They said something about finding gifts for the pups," Tiffany said slowly.
Annie gave a sigh, "they don't have to do that... these two are the best Christmas gift of the year." She paused as the male pup, Thaddeus, nuzzled his black furred muzzle to Annie's breast, "and for the moment, milk from me is about all they'll really want."