The gestation period for satyrs was significantly shorter than that of humans. This meant Marcia spent less time pregnant, but also meant her pregnancy progressed quickly. It didn't take long for her to start showing, and then continue to grow bigger and bigger.
Marcia at least had a roof over her head and food provided to her. The elder council had decided that she should stay in the unwed mothers' home. The village was small, so there were rarely people there, but by law they needed one. Every day, a woman from the community came to check on Marcia. Most frequently, Marcia was visited by a dryad named Jewelweed, who seemed familiar to her. She was also often visited by a satyress named Willa, who again was eerily familiar.
It was during one of Willa's visits that Marcia went into labor. Willa, a professional surrogate, knew what to do. She had Marcia lay down, then sent the helper that had come with her to fetch the midwife. By the time the midwife came, Marcia had already agonizingly birthed three baby satyrs.
The midwife used her knowledge of herbs to give Marcia a potion that would lessen her pain. It helped, but not as much as Marcia would like. Willa stood by her side, holding her hand, talking her through the process.
After four hours of the worst pain possible, Marcia finally pushed out her last child. In total, she had given birth to nine infants. Three were human males, and the remaining six were satyr females. The six satyresses were actually three sets of identical twins. Willa, ever the expert with babies and birth, helped the midwife clean the babies up, then assisted Marcia in breastfeeding them for the first time.
"Satyresses are very rare," Willa remarked. "If you wanted to give them up for adoption, they would find homes very quickly." Marcia looked down at the two babies suckling from her, one of the pairs of twins. That was an option she hadn't considered. She could give up all nine children, so she wasn't tied down by them. But that ran the risk of them being adopted by someone horrible. And she shuddered at the idea of her children growing to be like their fathers.