Mark didn't appear to have changed at first. But as Jim watched, Mark picked up the eggs at his feet and began to coo over them sweetly.
"I can't wait until the two of you hatch," he whispered to the eggs. "But even more than that, I cannot wait to produce even more siblings for you." Mark looked up at Jim, beaming. "Thank you. I now know that I would only be truly happy if I loved my children."
"Uh, you're welcome," Jim said, surprised. Mark walked away, still gushing over his eggs. Jim shook his head and began the walk back to his own home. No doubt the kids were running Conluscious ragged.
A couple months later, Jim gave birth to his twins. It would normally have happened earlier, but apparently nursing tended to drag out pregnancies. Conluscious cried from happiness when he held his newborn son and daughter. He insisted Jim name them. Jim named the daughter Julia and the son Julius.
As the twins suckled from his breasts, Jim spoke to his mate.
"No more offspring until all three babies are weaned," he said firmly. Conluscious sighed.
"All right. But I can't wait until we make more." Secretly, Jim couldn't wait, either. He still didn't know if he loved Conluscious, but he certainly loved all six children. He loved being their mother.
After the babies were down for their naps and Jim had gotten cleaned up and slipped on a light pink, frilly dress, there was a knock on the door. Conluscious got it.
To Jim's surprise, Mark walked in. He hadn't seen Mark since he made the man love his eggs. Two gillbabies clung to him, and he carried a bag with three eggs in it. His clothes were still strange and swampy, but now he went about topless, exposing his massive breasts. Jim quickly cleared a spot at a table for them to sit and chat.
Mark immediately gushed about how the first two eggs had hatched, and he'd already laid more. Last month, he'd laid two at once.
"And I felt bloated before I laid them," Mark said cheerfully. "I feel even more bloated now, so hopefully the next are even more than two! Maybe three or four!"
"I didn't think gillpeople nursed," Jim remarked, watching the gillbabies suckle from their mother's breasts.
"No, they don't. But my children are half human, so they do." Mark sighed wistfully. "Amphibo is such an active parent, teaching them everything they need to know. Apparently, they will reach a child level of development within the next couple weeks, then slow to a human's development pace. That will certainly make it easier on me. I want as many babies as possible, but not all at once!"
"I agree," Jim chuckled.
The two continued to chat for a while, sharing news of the others. Everyone in their group had now given birth, David three times already. But Andy's mate was apparently unhappy with him birthing a daughter, and was planning to trade him for a dryad wife. A minotaur was to take Andy in exchange.
"Good thing Andy has those melons," Mark said. Andy had the biggest breasts of any of them, and they were constantly producing milk. He'd gone so far as to earn some money by becoming a wet nurse. "I've heard minotaur calves are hungry."
After a few hours, Mark got up to leave, with promises to visit next month.
When Mark came by the next month...