"Oh, Jeremy!" Leticia burst into tears.
"I know, Leticia, it's OK. I'm so proud of you." Jeremy felt ashamed of himself and a little sick when he thought of his first reaction to the news. Leticia--and their child--needed a stag, a herd leader, not a little boy afraid of his mother. She, not he, was facing the scary condition of giving birth in a new species and gender (Jeremy knew about Leticia's previous gender, it just didn't seem important.) If he couldn't stand up to his own mother, how could he be the source of strength Leticia needed?
Leticia clung to Jeremy. She knew that their relationship had moved to another level. Leticia had always figured that she would go back to being male on the other side of the fence, no problem, but now she knew she had made a far longer-term committment to femaleness. She knew in that in her terrifying new future, she needed Jeremy more than ever.
Hannah pulled back along with the other does, figuring the couple needed some alone time.
**********
"NO" said Naomi. "You're not going to be poking and prodding at that doe right now. Can't you see she's upset?"
The human physician and accompanying Transformation Park official were growing more and more impatient. "It doesn't matter that she's upset, we need to get all the data if she really is pregnant. This is the first anthro pregnancy. We have to know all about it."
"You can wait till she calms down. She doesn't need to see a human now."
"This is above your pay grade, Naomi." insisted the official. "Now let us through the tunnel."
Naomi's lips withdrew from her teeth in a palpable snarl. "This is a park. If you look at my job description, I'm supposed to look after the welfare of the guests. Leticia's welfare doesn't include being strapped to an examination table while she's dealing with the shock of learning she's pregnant."
Harry, Katie and Zack lined up behind their pack leader.
**********
"Thanks for the fresh meat." Jackie said to Keith. "I'm sorry I freaked out."
"It's OK." Keith replied. "All women have first-period stories."
Jackie changed the subject. "You're going to stay here, aren't you? After the month is up?"
"I asked them about going back as a panthermorph, but the park management really doesn't want big, threatening predators like me" Keith flexed his muscles and gave a bitter grin, "particularly male ones, on the other side of the fence. Might scare the humans. So yeah, I guess I will stay here as a feral."
"No medical care, no guaranteed food, no shelter."
"I know, but I've been alive more in the last week as Keith than I was for fifty years as Cathy. I can't go back to that life."
"I know." Jackie gently touched the side of Keith's face with her paw.
"Jackie, I have no right to ask this, but I'm going to anyway. Will you stay here with me as a feral? I love you Jackie, and I think you make a wonderful panthergirl."
"I love you too, pantherboy. Let me think about it."