The revelation that Jacki was pregnant was a great surprise to Molly and I. Now, of course when Leona took her second Animatrix dose to become Leon and Jackson to his dose to become Jacki, Molly and I had made the suggestion that the two of them start a family. Jacki and Leon insisted they were too old, and that was where the surprise came in. Molly and I didn't know exactly how old Leon and Jacki were, but they were easily closer to the area in a human's lifespan that would be termed as "middle aged" then Molly and I were. In humans around that time, women went through their last "cycle" and after that would not be able to conceive children. Men, in theory remained fertile until they died, but their hormone levels dropped as they aged and tended to explain why older gentlemen required the use of drugs like Viagra or Cialis to perform in bed. And as a result, Leon and Jacki felt they were beyond the point where they could conceive children, and they told Molly and I as much. We believed them.
"She's pregnant," Molly spoke in surprise as I hung up the phone.
"With triplets," I nodded.
"How can she be pregnant?" Molly wondered.
"Maybe when switching from male to female... when her ovaries developed they didn't develop to the state a human woman would be at after living that long as a female and was thus "fully loaded"," I managed, "Or maybe its related to the fact that as a lioness the internal cycle has more to do with whether or not she was receptive to stimulation and so forth... remember what we've read. When we get to our mating season it will not be one time and you're pregnant. Mating will need to be fairly frequent just to get you to produce the hormone to... uh..."
"Ovulate," Molly sighed, sensing that I was looking for the right word, "and don't sound so shy. You're looking forward to that part."
I looked down as I was looking forward to that part. I spoke again after a few moments.
"Anyway, I do not know for sure how she became pregnant," I sighed, "Jacki didn't mention it when we called their house and Leon didn't say anything beyond that Jacki smelled good at the time... as for the exact details, I don't know. Shoot, for all we really know, some animal species may not have that concept of becoming sexually barren after some point. Maybe Lions and Tigers have cubs right up until they die of old age."
Molly only sighed and looked down.
"Maybe I'm just jealous," Molly sighed, "She's been female for what six or seven months? I've been female all my life. I want to have cubs. To feel them grow within me. To give birth to them. To love them. To be their mother. Jacki gets to do that before me after being female for only six or seven months."
I sighed and slowly moved to nuzzle her.
"I'd thought that even if it were possible... she'd call us... call me to help her adjust to being female," Molly continued.
"She's probably had Leon's sister or my mother to help her with some of those things," I commented, "Shoot, Leon could probably help Jacki with a lot of that sort of thing... considering that the two switched genders on themselves... and even if not, it's probably clear that she's adapted to being female."
"I want to have cubs," Molly stated.
"And we will," I promised her and nuzzled her again, "We just need to wait a little longer."
Molly nuzzled me back. From there the conversation moved on to the other subjects related to the news of Jacki's pregnancy.
"Triplets, eh...?"
"That's what Leon said," I nodded, "and remember the standard litter size is between two and four. Jacki is apparently in the middle with three."
"Betcha they'll find themselves running all over the place when they start walking... on two legs or four..." Molly gave a bit of a chuckle.
I managed a shrug. Children always did get parents to move about to try and "control" them, though control wasn't really the right word. I couldn't really think of one that would fit better. "Raise" applied more to the overall process going from birth to when they move out. People could say that my parents raised me well. Making sure kids behaved and didn't get into mischief was more short term then that.
"I suppose that'll also confirm how many children we'll have by this time next year..." Molly commented.
"Between two or four," I nodded, "Though, to be honest, I'd had envisioned that we'd have two cubs. They'd be easier to carry that way, easier to watch..."
"Easier to feed," Molly finished.
I shrugged and then nodded. It would be easier to feed them if we only had two cubs, but I believed that Molly would feed a third or fourth one even if we ended up with a large litter. Even if it meant getting me to bottle feed two of them. After a moment, Molly shook her head and began to move away.
"We'd better get started on our other tasks for the day," Molly sighed, "We can check our E-mail for whatever tips Jacki has later..."
I nodded and followed Molly out of our bedroom.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The rest of the day went quietly. Routine cleaning around the house was done, as was the laundry. All of the routine tasks that we were expected to do were done. That evening after dinner though, instead of watching some television, Molly and I headed upstairs and turned on the computer that we had. We had a basic dial-up connection that worked fairly well and given time would even play various media attachments well enough, and so we made do with only having a dail-up connection. Though with Molly's pay raise when going from aide to a certified teacher, we probably would be able to afford a basic cable, high speed Internet, and long distance phone service, though some of that was being put off until Molly and I knew how bad our taxes would be and how much money we would have to take from Frank Rhoer and Molly's cousins just to afford the ranch that Molly and I had received from Michael York's will. That meant we'd have until April 15 at the latest for that.
But, all that aside, what we presently had worked well enough. And we figured that Jacki and Leon would have had time to Email us whatever tips and advice that they would have with regards to big cat-person pregnancy. We didn't check it immediately after the call to Leon as he likely wouldn't be able to do it all while at work, and even if he had gotten a hold of Jacki to send us that Email... that couldn't have been done quickly. So we gave them the day to put together all that they needed to provide all the advice and tips that they had. Despite the jealousy that Molly felt at Jacki becoming a mother-to-be before her, we could both agree that the experience that Jacki had with this important.
Research I had done had demonstrated that tigers and lions were fairly closely related. Some of that was confusing to me, but I was no geneticist and I wasn't skilled enough on evolutionary science to grasp the differences and how they evolved differently. So because of that, I assumed that Jacki's pregnancy would give Molly and I a clear report on what Molly would experience when she was pregnant. And so we were checking our Email for the tips that Jacki had for us.
Molly and I had separate Email addresses, but neither of us received all that much at them. Of course most people were tweeting nor or going on Facebook, not using a standard Email address anymore. My folks had never saw a lot of that as practical and thus never bought the necessary "hardware" that would allow it. By now, I supposed I was beginning to become a bit of a younger version of my parents, but with fur and greater muscle mass. Molly had some of those things, but from what she'd told me, she'd quiet going to them because her High School and College friends that she'd originally figured would be able to keep up with her through the system had quit communicating with her. At least not in any way that was worthwhile.
"So, who's Email should we try first?" Molly asked.
"Let's use yours," I answered, "We gave Leon and Jacki both of our Email addresses, and I doubt I'm going to need tips on being pregnant."
"Point taken," Molly nodded and went to her Email page.
The list of Emails that were there was fairly small. Some were junk mails and one was from my folks that read: "Christmas Gifts. Don't Show George...". Molly didn't click on that one. Instead she went to an Email from "Jacksroar@yahoo.com", the Email from Jacki. I noticed that when Molly clicked on it, there was also a large attachment on it. That had me somewhat curious.
As the page came up, Molly and I could both see that there was a fair amount of typing in what was the message space of the Email. Molly read it aloud as she scrolled down the message.
"Greetings again, Molly, hopefully this message helps you in your endeavors to become a mother," Molly read, "I'm sure that you are probably surprised to have learned about this and about me, and let me tell you, no one is more surprised then I am! I thought I was too old to have cubs. Leon has his theories, but I'm good enough to explain all that. I could make some joke that you two jinxed us at the wedding with your talk of families, but to be honest... being pregnant has brought a great joy into my life. One I never thought I'd feel."
"Good for her," I commented. Molly nodded to that and continued reading.
"I'm sure it seems odd," Molly read, "I was male. And I know was male before I took the Animatrix Serum. I took it to help Leon and I would bare any difficulty for him. And now, I would not even say what I've gone through is a difficulty. It is strange. I can remember being male, growing up male, being attracted to girls male... yet now not only am I female, I'm attracted to what I was, and I'm pregnant. If the "me" of a few years ago... before the Animatrix Serum was revealed to the world... could see me now, the past "me" would probably be horrified by the sight of the pregnant lioness before him. But he wouldn't know Leon... or even the Leona I fell in love with and became Jacki for. It is all strange, certainly, but I've adapted to it. I am female, I am pregnant, and I am happy."
"Good to see there is no problem," I quipped.
"And pregnancy was brought me a great amount of joy," Molly continued reading, "I can feel my children moving within me. I have felt them grow. I'm not sure if every woman feels this way or not or if this is something related to the fact that was once male, but I have found great joy in my condition. And despite the likely pain, I am looking forward to giving birth and I hope and pray my cubs will be healthy."
I said nothing, but Molly and I did share a short nuzzle before Molly continued reading.
"And so," Molly read, "it has come as a bit of a surprise that you and George have not conceived cubs of your own yet. The two of you mentioned that several times when you were in Peoria, so we all knew that cubs were on your minds... oh well... I'm sure you'll have cubs of your own when your ready. Hopefully, this message will help with all of the advice and tip sort of info the two of you need. I have also attacked a slide-show of pictures of my development, day by day... so it can show you how big you will be, Molly."
"A little humor, there, I see," I commented.
Molly only shrugged before she continued reading.
"First off, eat more then what you're eating now," Molly read, "you will need it. Lots of protein makes healthy cubs and if you don't eat enough, your body could consume itself to feed them, though there will be no pickle cravings. Much of the rest of the things you will encounter while pregnant will not be to different from things your mother probably told you about her own pregnancy with you. Also, for word of warning, it would appear that just as how we would reproduce has changed because of the Animatrix Serum, our gestation periods are likely different. Some of our human past does have some effect, but it isn't total. I am presently five months along, but by what my doctors have been able to measure and monitor and view with everything, they believe I will give birth sometime next month... after six weeks. They are slightly worried, as human pregnancies are not considered safe at six months and they have spoke on having my cubs stay in the hospital for an additional three months just to be sure... largely as I am the first lion-woman I know to become a mother. Most of what they have are guesses and comparison between what they've seen and what is normal for a human. But do not worry, part of me is entirely confident that my cubs will be fine. I do not know if this is an instinctual thing or being hopeful... but I am confident everything will be fine, even if I give birth after a six month pregnancy. Hopefully this helps and provides you and George with all you need to know, and I apologize if it is not enough. Enjoy the pictures."
"Six month pregnancy," I spoke.
"Yeah," Molly nodded, "Six months... our cubs, when they're born... her cubs... will be born blind..."
"That's typical for all big cats," I commented, "they're born blind helpless, but soon they're wrestling bundles of soft fur and bright open and functioning eyes."
Molly nodded and gave me a soft nuzzle.
"Well... let's take a look at these pictures," Molly commented, "hopefully they're tasteful..."
"I'm sure they are," I commented.
Molly then clicked on the icon for the attachment. To our surprise it would actually be broadcast in a movie style of format. Not impossible to do if you have the time and technical knowhow to do it, but I didn't think Jacki had had enough time to do such a project.
"I wonder who put this together," I commented, "I doubt Jacki could have had time to put this altogether today."
"Maybe it was done over time," Molly answered as the "page loading" window came up, "You know, they take one photo a day and then upload it onto a program each day."
"Maybe," I shrugged, "that would make sense, though I don't think I'd be able to do that."
Molly nodded and then looked to the window displayed. The attachment's memory space wasn't big enough to overload our computer, but because we were using a dial-up connection, it would take a while for the file to load. At present, it read that we had thirty five minutes before the page would be loaded. Molly gave a slight sigh at that.
"I got a timer we can use downstairs," Molly then stood up, "we can watch a little television while waiting for this to load."
"You're sure?"
Molly nodded. We did watch a little television while we waited for the attachment to load. We ended up coming into a show in the middle of it and didn't quite get the episode's plot, but that was mostly because we didn't see the beginning of the episode. Though it wasn't quite like we were focused on the television. For the most part, it was on to save time while we waited for attachment to load on our computer. Molly kept a small kitchen timer running as we watched. As it began its final countdown, Molly and I turned off the television and returned upstairs. As we returned to the computer and got the screen-saver to turn off, the download finished.
The photos played like a movie on one of the various "media players" and didn't last very long. The base image was that of Jacki standing in a black dress from a largely profile type view, though she was clearly looking toward the camera. She had her paws resting on where her womb was. As it progressed, by being at movie speeds rather then a basic slide-show, Molly and watched as Jacki's abdomen pushed forward, growing larger, showing the life growing inside her. Her womb pushed out, and her paw-like hands were soon resting on a womb bigger then what a human woman would be at at six months. Shortly after that, the screen went black indicating that it was over.
"She's huge," Molly spoke after a moment.
I nodded.
"I mean huge," Molly spoke again, "My mom had photos of her when she was six months along with me. Jacki is easily bigger then that, and I'm not just talking about her being a lioness..."
"She's proportionally bigger," I nodded.
"Yes," Molly nodded back as she began shutting the computer down by closing out of the windows.
"Maybe that means they will be fully developed," I commented, "proportionally speaking she looks like she's closer to being eight months along..."
"But she said she's likely to only have a six month pregnancy," Molly said.
"That'd be my point," I told her, "If she's in her fifth month now, but is as big as a human woman would be at eight months, she has to be close to coming to "term" as it were..."
"But she's also carrying three cubs," Molly reminded me, "Some of that size may simply be that she's carrying a litter..."
"Maybe," I shrugged, "but based off of what I could see, I think everything will be fine with her, and thus, when it comes time for us... everything will be fine."
"Hopefully," Molly answered and gave me another nuzzle.