"Uh-oh what?" Leticia asked, totally clueless, "Can someone fill me in?"
"Leticia, dear." Bad pun, but so be it, "You HAVE been taking the berry before having sex with Jeremy right?" Lateisha had to make sure.
"Of course I have! You don't think I want to get pregnant do you? Now what's this all about?"
The other does all slapped themselves.
"Hold on, what did I say? Enough with the suspense what's the uh-oh? And what's with the question about the berries? It's not like-" Thunder clapped in Leticia's head. "Oh no. Oh no. But, but, but, but, that's, that's just, that's just not, that's just not possible!!! The berries take care of that! They always have! It's just crazy!!"
Su Yin managed to keep her normal tone, "What part of 'only 95% effective is hard to grasp?"
"How... how would you even KNOW that? I don't remember ever hearing about a pregnancy in the park before!"
"One of the huskies told me." Jenny said, "When they saw how much fun I was having."
"And in turn told me." Su Yin said.
"Okay, okay, this just has to be a mistake! It can't really happen to me! I mean! I not really female! So I can't really get pregnant right?!"
"You have two X chromosomes," Su Yin said dryly, "That remains the standing definition of a female. The park welcoming message DID warn that pregnancies between guests was totally possible remember?"
"Yes I remember it's just, just, just! I THOUGHT IT DIDN'T APPLY TO ME!"
"Welcome to reality." Lateisha said with no cruelty in her voice.
"Wait!" Leticia said, her voice full of panic and desperation, "I don't need to worry about anything! I just need to find one of the huskies! And they can ERASE my problem no trouble at all!"
"You can't do that Leticia."
"My body! My choice!"
Su Yin's voice, was so cold, it was ice. "You have the choice, to kill one who had no choice in this matter what so ever?"
At Su Yin's words, Leticia feel to the ground like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. "I'm scared. This shouldn't be happening."
"Technically we're also supposed to be monkeys right now and not deer." Jenny said, realized she wasn't helping, and covered her mouth.
"So whose going to tell Jeremy?" Lateisha asked the dread question.
"What makes you think he doesn't already know?" Su Yin said.
"Oh come on, you know how it is with bucks, they're oblivious to this sort of thing." Lateisha pointed out.
"I'm just pointing out that with Leticia being the pick of the lead stag, Jeremy has had members of the heard systematically keeping an eye on her when he's not been able to deal with her personally, save the salt like at our request. For instance, Robbie, who had been ordered to keep an eye on her, just ran off."
The does all started. Leticia looked sick.
++++++
Robbie found his stag leaser and explained the situation as delicately as possible, "You're girl's got bun in her oven!"
Jeremy almost tore his horns out, "She's pregnant?" Jeremy screamed, and ran around in circles in a minute or two.
Robbie was glade the rest of the herd wasn't here to see their stag like this. Jeremy had proven to be a lot less sadistic at the job than Lance.
"Wasn't she taking the berries?!"
"Ya know that 95% effective part? That kinda means, that it's 5% non-effective."
Jeremy ran in circles around, "Oh man, oh man, mom's gonna strangle me when she finds out!"
"Don't you mean 'if?'"
"My mother was the Dark Lord Sauron in another life! Nothing escape her gaze! Her sight pierces armor, mind, and flesh! She'll know the way birds know when to migrate!"
"Well, look on the bright side, at least she's your doe and not someone else's." Robbie pointed out to his leader.
Truth was, now that Robbie had seen Jeremy had proven his potency, he felt like this made Jeremy even more model for the job. Robbie managed to piece together this was just instinct, but that didn't make it go away.
"So... where is she now?" Jeremy asked.
"You're not going to run for the hills?"
"Where to? Though an electric fence?" Truth was, Jeremy felt like he was now surrounded by an electric fence not two feet away from him on all sides.
++++++
Harry declared barging into the other monitor room, "Hey! Katie! You hear the news!"
Katie crossed her arms across her fur covered chest. "Let me guess, you 'accidently' burned my dress after someone 'accidently' picked the lock after someone 'accidently' found where I hid it so you couldn't 'accidently' make it vanish?"
"Naw. You're too good at hiding it. And this is WAY bigger! We got one!"
"Got what?" What was he going on about now?
"And I thought guys were supposed to be the dense ones about this sort of thing-. One of the does is expecting!"
"Expecting what? They can't order outside the park." Every motor muscle in Katie's body locked up. "Oh no."
"Oh yes! We all knew it was gonna happen eventually and now it's happened!"
"Terrific." Katie groaned. "So who is it? And whose the father?"
"One of the TG Does. What was it? Lucy? No! Leticia! And it's a safe bet that our Master Stag Jeremy is the lucky buck!"
Katie rubbed where her eyebrows WOULD have been if she had them. "The Management is going to love this. I think they've been waiting for something like this to happen! The Scientists will be eager to see if their genetic mismashing holds up after one generation... "
"Ya know I was willing to have us help them along with that."
"I AM NOT HAVING A LITTER!!! Sorry Harry! Even if I was interested, I wouldn't have kids who'd basically have DNA that never even evolved naturally! It's asking for trouble!"
Harry took a step back, knew better than to go down that road with Katie, and said, "Well, time to open up, 'The Box.' "
"The box?"
"The Box. Something management gave Naomi in case we ever actually go one on our hands." Harry reached underneath the console, grabbed something, and pulled out a box thick with dust. He didn't dare blow it, the dust would have their sensitive noses sneezing their brains out. He carefully undid the latch and opened it. The metal container only held an unsealed envelope. Harry took out the folded note and read it out loud,
"Should a pregnancy occur within the park. The stay of the female and male (if confirmable), will be extended until female comes to term at no additional costs or penalties. For safety of the mother, no genetic altering to female or unborn offspring may occur during pregnancy. Huskies or other park staff, shall only directly interfere should any complications occur that threaten the life of the mother or unborn offspring. All details of pregnancy shall be recorded from earliest possible stage to birth. Life of mother and unborn offspring are to be protected at all costs. The existence of the pregnancy and all details there of, shall be alerted to The Management at once."
"Geez. Isn't that nice and simple." Katie rolled her eyes.
"Looks like you and me are on guardian angel watch."
"Why me?"
"First come first serve. And I know you don't like the guests being treated as animals in a zoo."
Katie hated it when Harry was right.
+++++++++++
On the brighter side, Jackie now knew she was not pregnant. It was very weird. She had a... mixed feeling about it. Relief mixed with disappointment. She was scared of the possibility to have kittens, but at the same time something about the idea excited her. On the other hand now she suspected she knew why women could be so easy to irritate sometimes.
How was she even supposed to handle this?! This park really did press the 'isolated from civilization' motif! Hannah had been sure to tell her that regardless of where she was in her cycle, she could still get pregnant, so if she was to continue her relationship with Keith to keep taking the berries.
Before being pregnant had only been a ghostly possibility, but this newest reminded of what being female ACTUALLY meant, it had become actually something more solid in Jackie's mind.
Keith, wanting to either pacify or cheer her up, brought her a solo kill for her alone. Jackie -still- hadn't been able to bring herself to take down a deer. She wondered if her exclusion list would grow with each friend she made. Jackie knew she might ultimately have to bite the bullet on that one, but her mind was on more important matters.
++++++++++++
Hannah had made it a point to hang out with her friends over the last couple days, on top of her regular watch for new TG guests. There hadn't been any since the tournament. But if Jackie proved anything, there were some vital details that Hannah needed to remember to talk about with the next set of ladies.
Right now she was with the Laurie, talking about the latest gossip or latest outside news the hounds had been able to squeeze out of guests. It felt good to be doing something simple, something without any strings connected after the sheer pressure the tournament had created. Everything had been so calm after the tournament. Calm after the storm she guessed.
"Hannah!!" Jenny?
"Jen'?" Hannah blinked at the breathless doe, wondering what had happened. A million dark possibilities entering her mind at once.
"Leticia's pregnant." But not that one.
Laurie and Hannah were stunned off their tails.
"What? Didn't she take the berries?"
"Guess they really aren't perfect after all." Jenny said, "And well, you're our designated TG anthro guest consoler, and well, she really really really needs you right now."
Hannah only wished she had already taken those psychology classes.
+++++++++++++
The tree had fallen during a thunder storm. And still was in relatively good condition. After cleaning off the moss and bark, it was perfectly usable. And since it was over soft sand, and not jagged rocks, it made it ideal for their purposes.
"Okay, now you go." Jasmine said to Mike.
Human creativity was the one thing the transformation had decidedly left in tact.
"Okay." Mike said, only a little unsure. Teenage confidence override most fears.
With his arms point outwards, Mike put one foot in front of the other as he walked across the log, testing his agility and coordination.
Mike had found the log, and Jasmine had come up with the idea. They had effective turned the log spot into their own personal gymnastics court.
Mike personally loved the idea, testing the limits of his new body in creative ways like this. He reached the end without trouble.
Jasmine then did a cartwheel across it.
"You've got to catch up with me sage." Jasmine smiled.
"Oh vixen, I very, VERY much intend to." Mike grinned.
+++++++++++
While Monty's information network had more holes than swiss cheese, the newshounds didn't have nearly as many weak spots. This was due in great part to their 'spy.' After all, not many worried about talking about important things in front of a child, something the younger lynx took great advantage of.
Thus, it was only a matter of time before the found out about the single greatest event in the park's history. And their normal 'subscribers' who showed up each morning to hear them found out too, and told all their friends, who told all their friends.
Jeremy and Leticia's secret was going to last about as long as ice under the summer sun.
++++++++++
Jeremy reached Leticia before Hannah, he was a buck after all. And in spite of his fear he was the faster runner even with his antlers acting as wind catchers.
Jeremy was almost scared out of his wits. But his dad had taught him to take the responsibilities of his actions like a man, and so he had no intentions of running away to some imaginary escapie place.
Leticia was also scared out of her mind. Her relaxing vacation had, in spite of all the drama from before, had suddenly become deadly serious. But she had nowhere to run, she carried the seriousness of things with her.
Jeremy and Leticia looked at each other in total uncertainty.
The alpha stag and the chosen doe look into each others eyes. Alpha stag saw His doe now carrying His seed. The chosen doe saw her stag, who had given His seed to her.
Hannah arrived with Jenny seeing Leticia and Jeremy looking at each other with a hypnotized look in each of their eyes.