Taking Snowy and Maurice had rapidly proved to be a mistake. Snowy had become pregnant after they had left Fee City and technically had been vaccinated against the virus when Maurice impregnated hir. The issue though was one that related what went on inside a Kat's womb while pregnant. Their homes in Janace, Colorado included a small former home which became a small medical clinic for them. They found they didn't require much in the way of medicines, but since Jess, Nikole, Charlie, and Sally all pregnant and their wombs growing bigger as Janice, Pinkie, Foxy, and Silky grew bigger inside them, the clinic did have one functional use. Jess, Nikole, Charlie, and Sally in fact spent the last months of their pregnancy laying together in the "clinic" building and petting their wombs to feel their children while they had been inside them. After the four infants were born, Jess with Maurice and Snowy worked with blood tests on the infant Chakats and Foxkat. They found to their great surprise that the infants, birth fluid, and placenta didn't have the vaccine in them. The theory that Snowy figured was that in the process of biologically producing a new life while pregnant, their wombs actually actively resisted the vaccine and did so successfully.
It meant that Pinkie, Janice, Silky, and Foxy had to be vaccinated after they were born. Syringes and the Foxkat vaccine were ordered and brought in, and the newborns got their first set of shots, including vaccinations for other diseases such as Rabies. This of course meant that the infant inside Snowy wouldn't be vaccinated when it was born, and that was the chief concern when the report of the outbreak in Paris reached Janace, Colorado. But apologetic for letting their own wants for peace and happiness get the better of them and produce what became a near war with the US government and some resentment from some of the Chakats in Fee City for the fact that the outbreak had been against their will, Maurice and Snowy were determined to do as much as they could to try to clean up their own mess, despite the fact that by this time, Snowy was reaching the point in hir pregnancy where she was at the point where Jess, Nikole, Sally, and Charlie spent nearly all of their time laying down.
In pushing hirself, Snowy pushed not just hir mind and hir own body, but hir pregnancy as well. Snowy had actually woke up to the feelings of contractions in hir womb, but she put it aside as at that time, it wasn't that bad. However, by the time that Francine had gotten Snowy to return to the nursery, the contractions had begun to get worse. Shi lay down on the wood floor and went into what amounted to a series of short naps. Shi'd awake to a contraction and looked up to seeing Justin and Francine looking after the other infant Chakats and Foxkat. Subconsciously, shi knew she was getting ready to give birth, but hir feelings of exhaustion from pushing hirself and hir personal desire to feel the same joy shi always saw on Sally, Charlie, Jess, and Nikole as they held their infants and fed them milk from their breasts kept hir from fully realizing that very soon shi would be giving birth.
It was only when hir contractions hit in full force and in rapid repetition, that was when Snowy finally consciously realized shi was in labor. Shi wanted to tell Francine to let Justin actually deliver hir kitten, since he had Jess's blood type and antigen level and was thus immune to the virus, but the pain was too much and while Justin comforted hir, Francine fond herself delivering the kitten and softly rubbing Snowy's pained womb as hir kitten came into the world. Snowy ultimately only had the energy to lick hir new soughter and then pass out. The newborn Chakat was a Persian cat based Chakat like Maurice, but had Snowy's all white coloration. As Snowy drifted back into sleep, shi set her newborn to hir breast, and soon felt the joy of nursing as the infant began to suckle at her nipple before falling asleep where it was.
That, however, didn't help matters for Justin and Francine. Francine, like Alexis, did not have Type O blood with partial D antigens, and in delivering Snowy's infant and doing what she could with regard to the afterbirth for the moment, Francine Bourbon de Moltitier had come into contact with the virus that couldn't be touched by the vaccine. In the time it took to complete the cleaning, she had absorbed the virus through her skin and began to transform. Justin then panicked, and forgetting that he did have Type O blood with partial D antigens took a shot of the vaccine himself as well as delivering a shot of the vaccine into Francine's shoulder.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile on the first floor in what had been the Chateau's library, Sally and Charlie were diligently working with the French scientists in manufacturing more of the vaccine needed to dart and stop the "mindless" state of lust in the Chakats that were appearing. Unlike Jess, Snowy, and Maurice they didn't know enough about science in general and genetics specifically, but they were good enough with following directions that they could easily follow the instructions for manufacturing the formula for the vaccine. Jess had left clear instructions, and the French scientists had moved their equipment to set up the lab. The leading scientist, who knew both English and French had even written labels in clear English so that Sally and Charlie could carry out the tasks required of them.
The rest had gone out into Paris to investigate what the Colonel had told/reminded them of first thing in the morning. Some of the Kats in Paris had been violently aggressive and had killed French policemen and even a soldier or two. The Colonel explained to them that those incidents where why the army had gunned down some Chakats. The mission was not to kill those that where only responding out of lust, but stop the ones that were attacking violently. The army agreed to use the darts for the virus and the lust, but those that attacked with weaponry would still be gunned down. The colonel was reminded that the phase of lust was only initial. Eventually the new Kats would burn through their lust and would regain control. They'd need the vaccine to keep from spreading the virus, but they wouldn't lust filled anymore. However, if the Virus continued through Paris, with its population in the millions, it meant that that phase could go for quite awhile if uncontrolled. The colonel then repeated the unease relating those Kats that had been violent. That was when Jess, Nikole, and Maurice volunteered to go into Paris and try to spread some of the vaccine around and figure out just who had brought or altered the Chakat Virus and why there were the incidents of violence. Alexis, Danna, Mikkie, and Flake agreed to go along in case they needed translators.
"Hopefully they all come back okay," Charlie said nervously as shi continued through the work in accordance with Jess's instructions for manufacturing the vaccine.
"I'm sure they will," Sally commented, "I mean, they made it through everything in Fee City without any trouble."
"The Chakats in Fee City weren't attacking people with guns," Charlie replied, "there it was only sex and lust... which... which we only just BARELY avoided being part of."
Sally nodded, remembering back to the outbreak in Fee City. Shi had been effected by the lust just as much as any other Chakat, however, hir years of study into various meditation techniques allowed hir to gain some control over hirself. Even with it, it took all hir might to keep from going to spread the virus to Charlie hirself. But, overcoming sex crazed Chakats was easy once shi and Charlie did get things together. Bluff and white lies did work, which Jess and Nikole later used to make the vaccine that essentially stopped the outbreak and prevented a war between the US government and the Chakats. The outbreak in Paris had things that were different. After all, Alexis and Danna were Skunkats, and skunks were mustelids, not cats, and that wasn't the only difference. The biggest virus was the violence potential that was going along with the new outbreak.
"Jess is still pretty clever," Sally said confidently, "I'm sure..."
Hir words were cut off with a yowling scream echoed through the chateau. It made both Sally and Charlie's ears prick up and even alerted the human scientists.
"What was that?" the leading French scientist wondered.
"That must be Snowy," Sally spoke, "Shi must have gone into labor!"
"We need to help!" Charlie said urgently.
The two put down everything, carefully, and made their way out of the library/lab and began to rush in the direction of the nursery where they last saw Snowy headed with Justin and Francine escorting hir.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The one who had given the cry, however, was not Snowy but Francine. Her ears had grown large and were on the top of her head, but unlike Jess's which were pointed, Francine's were largely rounded. They were not as rounded as Sally's or Charlie's ears, but they were not the perfect triangular ears of a house cat's or the massive but still pointed ears of a Fennec Fox. At this time, Francine's face had begun to push forward into a short and rounded muzzle, similar to any serval's. Faded yellow-tan fur was growing on her face as it stretched forward, the sound of bones cracking and changing as Francine's muzzle formed. The only thing that interrupted it were several small black spots and the honey/amber colored eyes with narrow slit pupils of most little cats.
"It hurts... it hurts..." Francine fried out, bringing up hands covered fur with large black spots on them, that at times banded around the arm, almost forming stripes, and pulling Justin to her.
"It'll be okay," Justin said hopefully, "it'll be okay."
He was slightly puzzled as to why he wasn't changing, but Francine's accelerating changes made it impossible for him to really do anything. As Francine hugged him to her, he watched as her legs rapidly grew longer, and with her hips growing wider, in preparation of what would soon be her lower taur body. Her feet kicked off her shoes and lengthened into long digitigrade feet of a serval's. Her stockings ripped, revealing growing fur and retractable claws on her toes. Her tail also grew longer and twitched madly behind her as Francine felt so pained.
It was at this point that Francine's cries woke Snowy and her newborn up from their sleep. The infant began to cry in frustration, which got the other four infants to cry as well, but Snowy found herself watching Francine's body begin to push forward. Francine's skirt had lost its battle against her transforming body, and how her lower half was becoming the lower taur half of any Chakat. Her spine had a slight curve to it as grew new vertebra and pushed both Francine's legs and Justin back.
"Wha... what happened?" Snowy gasped, finding those words being the only ones that could escape her mouth as she held hir crying infant to hir.
"You gave birth," Justin said slowly, "In delivering the infant, Francine contracted the virus..."
"It... it itches... AND it hurts!" Francine yowled, now feeling a new set of ribs form inside her as she could feel what would be her first set of hips forming.
Snowy clambered up onto hir four feet. Shi still felt a bit tired, and wanted desperately to assure hir screaming newborn that shi was safe and would be okay, but the fact that hir soughter's birth had resulted in infecting their host made her push on. There was nothing that could stop Francine from becoming a Chakat, all that could be done was keep her comfortable.
"Your clothing is irritating your fur, madam," Snowy said to Francine and approached.
Francine looked at hir with pained and puzzled look. If Francine didn't understand English, she couldn't have done a better job of showing it.
"Tell her there's nothing that can stop the transformation," Snowy said to Justin, "all that can be done is make her comfortable... and for the moment, that will mean nudity."
Justin repeated it in French as Snowy sat down and used hir forelegs to begin undoing the jacket and clothing that Francine was wearing to cover up her top. Snowy also moved hir tail so that Jess and Nikole's and Sally and Charlie's infants might be encouraged to bat at it and stop their own cries for help that they didn't need. Shi also bounced hir newborn in her arms. The process forced Francine and Justin to release each other. As they released each other, two long forelegs formed and pushed out, and she stood up as they reached their full length. It gave Francine the sort of "tall" build that was typical of servals in Africa. Just looking down Francine's belly, which had some white fur to it with a large black spot here or there, Justin noticed that her change was not yet complete, until he saw what looked like a pouch opening form between her rear legs.
"It's... it's... it's growing," Francine said to Justin as she felt a penis grow out of hir newly formed sheath.
It hung limp for awhile and then pulled back into its protective sheath. And like that, Francine Bourbon de Moltitier had become a Chakat. Shi then collapsed to the floor and began crying into Justin's shoulder.
"Why didn't you deliver my soughter?" Snowy asked to Justin, "you have Jess's blood type and antigen level! You're naturally immune to the Chakat Virus... Even if whoever has spread it here has altered to affect people with your blood type... the birthing fluid and placenta that nourished my soughter carries only Maurice and my original strain. I couldn't infect you if I tried..."
"It all happened so fast... we where keeping my grandchildren happy... listening to stories when you went into labor," Justin answered, comforting Francine to him, "we could only react..."
Snowy gave a sigh, just as the door opened to reveal Charlie and Sally rushing in. They were left puzzled by the scene. Their soughters and Jess and Nikole's had stopped crying and were now reaching for Snowy's tail. Snowy was seated on her rear legs, cradling a newborn Chakat in hir arms while a serval basked Chakat lay on the ground and was hugging Justin and sobbing almost uncontrollably. They noticed that the spots on the back of hir torso were large and bled into each other until they looked more like stripes that ran down hir torso and largely stopped at hir waist.. On the ground there was a pile of shredded woman's clothing. They were torn between congratulating Snowy and wondering what's going on. Eventually puzzlement won out.
"Snowy, what's going on?!" Charlie asked.
"It's Alexis's mom!" Snowy said nervously, "I went into labor and shi and Justin carried out the delivery... but it went too quickly shi became infected."
Charlie and Sally looked to each other looked on nervously. They didn't know what they would tell Alexis when shi and the others were due back that evening.
"Has shi been given the vaccine?" Sally asked after a moment.
"Yes," Justin spoke, as he stroked the fur on the back of Francine's torso, "I injected hir when I noticed hir changing. Shi should be fine when shi... recovers."
That was a relief, but it left them with a great problem that would not be solved in the course of a day. It was one royal mess.