The birth of Molly's and my cubs was a very joyous occasion. It had made Molly and I parents, officially and marked another dramatic change that would occur in our lives. It had began with the fateful day we had gone to the state fair, then as only a dating couple in our senior year of college. Their Eugene Changes injected Molly with a syringe filled with the Animatrix Serum and Bengal Tiger DNA, changing her forever. We stayed together, and I did my best to look out for her and protect her. We came to Columbia Falls, Montana in search of an area that would be rural enough that Molly wouldn't have to heavily battle a tiger's instincts among crowds of people. To give her the space where she could go out and roar at something and not bother anyone. And while we ran into some major problems and difficulties, we had succeeded in that.
Then came our marriage. That ended the concept of Molly and I being boyfriend and girlfriend. We were husband and wife and I hoped to stay with her forever. That of course lead to my own transformation and complicated the problems we had run into, but Molly and I had persevered. We worked to show that our instincts did not control us, and in time, that seemed to be done. Mostly through Molly's work at the school. The children all seemed to love her, and it was there that "maternal instinct" kicked in. Molly had come to see the students as if they were her own children and did her best to defend them. First against a mundane Mountain Lion and then against a deranged ex-principal launching his own domestic terrorist attack. And from there, the people of Columbia Falls had begun to accept Molly's and my presence as tiger-people.
And that left one last thing that Molly wanted. One last thing that would bring our relationship to a "full circle", and that was children of her own. Some combination of her and I that we could love and raise and cherish for all of our days. Molly's transformed biology had forced us to wait until the winter of 2012, but waiting for it wasn't a major issue. We had waited through a lot to get to that point, including racist and other bigoted positions... which finally lost in the fall elections when the last of those in power that had supported R.A.M. were voted out. And that of course meant that Molly's and my cubs would get a chance to grow up without fear of being attacked. And now... Molly had given birth. We were parents. And Machli's and Michael's journey in life was beginning.
Following the birth, my parents were let in while Molly cradled Machli and Michael to her. For the moment each cub had only one focus, feeding from their mother. Molly was all too willing to oblige them.
"Molly, they're darling! Simply darling!" Polly Wayne came up as she looked to the twin cubs that were nursing at Molly's breasts.
"Yes," Molly gave a smile, but I could hear a very tired tone in her voice, "Machli Tora and Michael Baldwin."
"Hello little ones," Polly Wayne said with a smile and tears going down her cheeks, "this is your grandma Polly. Your grandpa Jacob is also here too. And I must say the both of you are darling."
I then watched as my mother bent over a bit and kissed the top of Michael's head. If Michael noticed, he didn't let anyone know he did. He merely continued to suckle.
"How are you feeling, Molly?" Jacob Wayne asked her.
"Exhausted," Molly said simply, "but at the same time... I'm overjoyed. I'm a mother!"
My father gave a smile and slowly nodded, "and I'm sure you and George will be wonderful parents to these two."
"I hope so," Molly said with a smile.
I was about to say something when I noticed that Machli and Michael had stopped feeding, yawned, and began to drift off to sleep. With that several nurses came back into the room with various things. One was a large rolling bed, which I guessed was for Molly, but they also included a set of large trays, diapers, and blankets.
"Okay now, let's give the new mother some room here," the head nurse spoke as she came forward, "she has to be tired after everything."
"What's going on?" Molly asked nervously as two nurses took her now sleeping cubs from her. Her voice sounded weak and tired, but there was enough nervousness in her voice that it was clear that if pushed, Molly would fight to keep Machli and Michael with her.
"We have a room ready for you, Mrs. Wayne," the head nurse spoke, "there you will be able to rest and relax after everything."
"My cubs... why are you taking my cubs?" Molly asked.
"Your children will be fine and will be looked after," the head nurse spoke, "they're only going to the ward ALL newborns go to. Mostly to give their mothers the chance to rest after giving birth."
"But what will they eat? Who will keep them warm?" Molly asked, her eyes focused on where her cubs were being taken.
"We have more then enough formula and the ward is well heated," the head nurse said in a soothing voice, "even their blankets are heated. All of it is to give you the chance to rest, Mrs. Wayne. When you're ready to go home, your cubs will be returned to you... it should only be for a little while. And while you're recuperating you can still seem them."
"It's a standard policy, Molly," Polly Wayne said from the door, "they won't let anything harm them."
"You'll protect them?" Molly asked the nurse.
"With my life, Mrs. Wayne," the head nurse answered, "and only until you're recovered from labor."
"Okay, then," Molly said slowly and carefully moved toward the wheeled bed that they had brought in.
The bed thankfully did support her weight and Molly was soon been wheeled out to wherever they would be sending her to recover. The head nurse then turned to the specialized newborn beds that were holding the sleeping bodies of Molly's and my cubs. I was tempted to follow Molly, but at this point, I knew I had to give the nurse some advice, as the diapers they'd brought in were all disposable, not cloth.
"George..." Molly called from the door.
"I'll be with you in a moment," I said to her and then approached the nurse, "ma'am... would you mind a word for a moment."
The head nurse then turned to me and gave a sigh.
"Best be quick," she spoke, "I assure you, sir, that no harm will come to your children. We are going put their diapers on and take them to postnatal ward. Nothing in this threatening. And by normal procedure, your wife and cubs can go home in one or two days. Dr. Wainwright would like them to stay a week to monitor things, but a lot of that will be voluntary."
"I understand that," I said, "I'm just wanting to point out to you that you'll need to shave portions of their sides before you put the diapers on... and shaved smooth. And you'll need to keep that area smooth while you're looking after them."
"They're newborns!" the nurse spoke, "you don't shave newborns!"
"Newborn humans, maybe, but these are newborn tigers," I answered.
"What's the difference?" the nurse demanded, "I have a brother in Nevada who's become an Animal Person. You're just the same as people..."
"In terms of personality, largely yes," I nodded, "we aren't dominated by our instincts... but we are physically different from humans. Machli and Michael there are covered in fur. Fur naturally designed to keep them warm in cool weather and keep the sun off of their skin. And the diapers you've brought are disposable..."
"Of course they're disposable," the nurse answered, "they're cheaper then cloth diapers and they save on the cost of running laundry machines every couple hours that have been specially built and designed to cope with waste matter. You just undo the straps and toss the soiled diaper in a disposal bin. Nothing to it."
"Yes... but the straps work like tapes and adhesives," I pointed out, "what do you suppose that will do to their fur when you remove the diaper?"
"It..." the nurse began and then cursed herself, "man I hadn't thought of that."
"It's okay," I told her, "it's just a head's up to be aware of. I'm sure you have scissors and the appropriate things to painlessly shave the fur away from the area the diaper will be placed."
"We're probably also going to need to cut holes for their tails," another nurse spoke up.
The head nurse sighed and nodded, and then said to me, "thank you for your assistance. We'll handle things from here."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Following all of that was a flurry of phone calls to friends in Columbia Falls that announced the birth of Machli Tora Wayne and her younger brother Michael Baldwin Wayne. I called Officer Jenkins at the station to let her know. I was sure that through her, Officer Barnes, Officer Howard, and the rest of the officers at the station would know. I called the school and spoke with the secretary with the implication that Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Patten were informed on the birth of our cubs. I called Frank Rhoer to let him know that he was now a great uncle. He would probably tell Nessie and Meredeth that their cousin had given birth. The last call that I made went to Dave and Tabby Choir.
They had come in from whatever work they were doing with their vineyard, likely making sure that things were in order there after the mundane Black Bear had raided the grape vines the previous fall.
"Hello, Choir residence, Dave speaking," Dave spoke on his end of the phone.
"Hey, Dave, it's me, George," I said in a fairly friendly matter, though I did catch on that I sounded almost as tired as Molly was, "I'm just calling to deliver some good news to you."
"Good news?" Dave asked.
"Yeah," I nodded, "an update on things..."
"An update? Has Molly given birth yet?" Dave asked.
"Yes," I answered, "Machli and Michael were just born. Molly and I are now officially parents."
"Congratulations," Dave replied, "How long will you be staying in the hospital? Tabby and I will come down to visit and see them... Veronica will want to see them too."
"That I do not know for sure," I replied, "it could only last a day or two... but the doctors would like to be able to monitor our cubs for a week because differences between humans and Animal People... but that is voluntary and Molly and I haven't discussed that yet."
"Ah... we'll try to make a short visit tomorrow afternoon," Dave then spoke, "and again, congratulations."
"Thanks," I smiled.
From there, I went to the room where they had taken Molly to rest up after giving birth. I found her in the room fast asleep. The bed she was in was down flat, and her legs hung over the edge of the bed. She was still in the hospital's dressing gown, and was peacefully asleep.
"She fell asleep almost as soon as they arrived here," Polly Wayne spoke and peacefully rubbed Molly's shoulder, "all tuckered out from giving birth."
"I'd hoped to talk with her about a couple of things," I said slowly, but could do little to hide how tired I actually was.
"She was exhausted, son," my father told me, "trust your mother when she says she was tuckered out. I wanted to jump for joy and dance with her when you were born..."
"I fell asleep before the nurses could even get me into a room like this one," Polly Wayne quipped with a chuckle.
"And besides, you look almost as tired as Molly is," my father added, "did you get any sleep at all while Molly was in labor?"
"I had to help her... protect her..." I said slowly, "be there for her."
I ended up ending the statement with a large yawn. It ended up displaying my teeth, but moreover, it also showed how tired I was.
"And you've done a fine job, son," Jacob Wayne gave a short smile, "but now, I'd think you are deserving of a little sleep."
"I'll stay here with Molly," my mother added, "your father and I did get some sleep while Molly was in labor."
"If she wakes up, let her know that I love her very much," I said slowly and then yawned again.
"Will do," my mother replied with a smile.