Janace Cain awoke to find herself looking up towards a tiled ceiling and also found herself underneath warm blankets. It was a fast step up from where she remembered being before. She had gone to Antarctica to determine what some of the scientists thought might be signs of a geothermal hot springs previously unknown when a member of her team, who was supposed to be the survival expert betrayed them, leaving the scientists without much in the way of tools or technology and only the heavy jackets they had initially come with. The spot, while close to the coast of the continent was far enough away from the main scientific posts on Antarctica that when she had been betrayed no one knew of it. She had been left for fifteen years wandering around until she found the ice cave, though it didn't sit on solid ice. Snow from outside blew in during storms, but it had been solid ground with a small crevice that filled the back of the cave, and in that cave was water that was extremely warm.
The unknown geothermal pool did exist and its heat was enough to form the cave by melting the ice that had been around it, though its potential strength was not as high as expected. Cold could still penetrate the cave and Janace had been close to death when she was rescued by two furry beings that had identified themselves as her daughters. She told them her story of surviving on barely cooked penguin meat, but unable to make the journey back to where her team had originally landed because the one that betrayed her had likely left and no one would be there, and the overall location was so remote that the original scientific bases was too far away. They told her about the Fee City outbreak and how it turned them in "Kats" and that they'd largely spent twelve years trying to fix old mistakes and raising families at the same time.
"I think she's awake," Janace heard a voice speak.
"She is?"
"Grandma?"
"Easy, Fluffy, she's been through a lot."
"Will grandma be okay?"
"In time, Heather."
"Why would ssssome one leave her trapped on icccccccce?"
"We don't know, Missssssssssssa."
Janace turned her head and opened her eyes fully to look in awe at who had come into her room. They all seemed to mix various animals in a taur-like form, and while there were several adults, there were even more child sized Kats of varying ages.
"Jess..." Janace said slowly.
One that looked like a Fennec Fox based Foxkat came forward and placed a furry hand on her own.
"I'm here, mom," Jess said softly, "and so is all of your family."
"My family?" Janace said weakly, ignoring the pain in her ribs.
"Yes, mom," Jess nodded, "We all became Kats at some point, as Sally and I told you earlier, but we've all been very happy."
"Why... why did you come for me?" Janace asked before introductions could begin.
"To bring you home, mom," Jess told her, "To bring you home."
Janace only blinked back tears, feeling a great deal of love in having her "daughters" actually come looking for her.
"Family is important to us," Sally added from where shi was.
"Okay then," Janace commented, "I suppose I should meet everyone."
Jess nodded and actually stepped back. Janace then watched as a Siamese based Chakat. Hir fur looked soft, with a mostly grayish/cream color for hir body and very dark brown, almost black, for hir ears, face and muzzle, arms, forelegs, rear legs, and tail. Shi was wearing a rather beautiful looking vest with flowers pinned to it, or looked like they were growing out of it and it covered hir B-cup breasts which seemed to match both her own breasts and Sally's and Jess's. What stood out the most about this Kat, however, were hir eyes. They were a bright blue that despite the cat-like pupils, Janace remembered them.
"Hello, Jan," Justin said to her.
"Justin?!" Janace gasped, "You... you... you're transgendered?"
Justin gave a slight chuckle, "In a way... Kats have both sets of equipment and a largely female form... I became a Chakat during the Paris Outbreak to put my present mate at ease after hir transformation..."
"Mate?" Janace asked.
Another Chakat came forward, this one looked more like an African Serval, complete with the large rounded ears. Shi was also well dressed and brought hir arm around the back of Justin's humanoid torso.
"We had divorced, remember... you wanted to go off to Antarctica and I couldn't leave my diplomatic post and begged you not to go," Justin answered.
Janace heard some sadness in hir voice as shi said that. The divorce had not been painful or hate filled, and a part of her had still been in love with Justin, and very much so, but the supposed discovery had the chance of being the discovery of a lifetime that would reform how Earth would be able to use its energy. Justin had told her it was too risky and that the risks weren't worth it, but Janace felt she had to take the chance, and they separated. She couldn't help but cry a little as Justin had been right and now Justin had a new wife.
"This is my mate, Francine Bourbon de Moltitier, shi was a good friend and even hired me on after I retired from the State Department," Justin smiled to Francine.
"And you filled the hole in my heart that had been punched in it when my previous husband was killed," Francine smiled back, "I also became a Chakat during the Paris outbreak and Justin became my mate."
Four younger Chakats then came forward, and all of them looked like a cross between a Serval and a Siamese in many ways, either in having Serval's spots but a Siamese's coloring, one had the body of a Siamese but the coloring of a Serval. One had the build of a Serval but the coloring of a Siamese. One had the body of a Serval, but a Siamese's ears and tail, and the last had a Siamese's body, but Serval's ears and tail.
"You gave birth to them?" Janace asked toward Francine, still a little bit sorrowful at her mistakes costing her a man that she had loved and who loved her.
"I gave birth to two of them," Francine nodded, "Justin gave birth to the other two."
"We're perfect hermaphrodites, mom," Jess spoke up, "we have both sets of sexual equipment and they all function."
"I see," Janace sighed.
"These are the soughters I gave birth to," Francine spoke, and motioned to one eleven year old and one six year old, "Marie and Theresa."
Janace noticed that the two names together spelled out the name of one of Austria's enlightened rulers from the years before the American Revolution, though she could never remember exactly when.
"I have another soughter, Alexis, who became a Skunkat in the Paris outbreak, but shi is not here at the moment," Francine finished.
"These are the soughters I gave birth to," Justin then motioned to the other two young Chakats with them, "Antoinette and Mary-Todd."
"Hello, Aunt Janace," Antoinette said politely.
Justin smiled at the friendliness between hir children and hir former wife. Justin had every right to say "I told you so" but wouldn't do that. On some level, the divorce had been just as sad for hir as it had been for Janace. Shi could never go back to being a man again and shi would never abandon Francine, but shi did want Janace to be happy and on good terms with hir and hir family.
"And we are also three and a half months pregnant at this time," Justin informed her, "which has made us happy, and we hope that coming home and being with Jess and Sally will make you happy again."
Janace nearly cried in her own shame as Justin caressed her cheek and then moved to a side of the room. She wanted desperately to hold hir hand to her and never let go, but that wouldn't work for introductions, and surely she'd get some time to talk with the reigning Kieens of France.
As they came forward again, Jess and Nikole came forward. That made Janace smile a little bit. It was strange to see her friend look so young, and she had already made the joke on Nikole robbing the cradle by mating with her daughter. Nikole had answered that it was Jess that had come on to her. Janace also had to admit that Nikole looked rather beautiful with hir long white fur.
"I'm glad to see you're doing better," Nikole said with a soft smile, "Would you like to meet some of your grandchildren?"
"Yes," Janace smiled weakly and looked to the two sets of young Kats, two were Foxkats, two where Chakats, though all of them had some mix of their parents physical attributes. They did look rather cute.
"These are the soughters I gave birth to," Nikole gestured to the two next to hir, "Silky and Shasta."
"Hi Grandma!" the two young Kats said to her.
Jess then came forward and gestured to the other two, "These are the soughters I gave birth two, Foxy and Heather."
"They look precious," Janace said slowly.
"And growing up fast," Jess chuckled, "In six years, we'll probably see Silky and Foxy looking into taking mates."
"MOOOOOOOOM!" "DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" came the protests of embarrassment from Foxy and Silky. Jess and Nikole only giggled. Janace decided not to let her grandchildren known that both their mother and their aunt felt the same way about dating when they were that young.
The group then shuffled back for a moment to let another Foxkat come forward. Shi looked a little nervous and held an infant Foxkat to hir,looking very much like shi had given birth recently. What actually frightened Janace a little was who came with this Foxkat. Shi was a massive Rattlesnake with four scale covered human-like legs and two arms, a Rattlekat. Shi was actually coiled in a circular position and had ten little Foxkat/Rattlekat hybrids sitting in hir coils or beside hir. What made the Rattlekat actually look strange to Janace was not hir arms or legs, or hir scales, hir rattle, and hir obviously triangular head, it was that shi showed a great deal of love and care to the young Kats around hir, and to the Foxkat that approached.
"Hello, Ms. Cain," the Foxkat said tentatively, "My name is Ryles... I suppose you could add Cain as a my surname, too, since I never had a surname before..."
"Huh?" Janace asked in confusion.
"Ryles was my pet Fennec," Jess explained, "You remember what Sally and I told you about how the Justin Vaccine affected mundane animals?"
"You certainly turned out well," Janace then nodded to Ryles.
"Thank you, Ms. Cain," Ryles began...
"Call me, mom," Janace urged, "You were my daughter's pet. I suppose I should consider you my daughter as well..."
"Oh... thisssssss will be interesssssting," the Casey gave a giggle.
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but the hissing nature of her sither's voice, thanks to hir tongue, altered it just enough that Janace couldn't tell.
"What do you mean? Who are you? A snake that got infected?" Janace questioned.
"No," Casey spoke, "I wasssss human. Rattlessssssssssnake DNA jusssssssst happened to be the DNA that wassssssssssss attached to the virussssssssssss that infected me in Housssssssssston."
"Houston?" Janace spoke, "I had a sister there, working for NASA... she knew about the adventure to Antarctica... and... I wonder how she is doing," Janace trailed off.
"I'm fine," Casey answered, "Rylesssss, Jessss, and Sssssssssssssally helped me adjust... and I finally found a... a "man" that cares and will give up hir perssssssssssssonal dessssiressssssssss to help me. Sssssssselfisssssssssssh of me, maybe, but Rylessssssssssssssss issssssssss very sssssssssssssweat to me. I love hir very much."
Janace's eyes bulged out of her head. This Rattlekat was Casey.
"Casey! What happened!? Who did this to you?" Janace blurted.
"I do not fully know," Casey answered, "Nor do I care. I am happy asssssssssss a Kat."
"Casey became infected in the Houston, outbreak, mom," Sally told her, "Shi was afraid at first... but Ryles made a very good first impression, and they've been mates ever since. These are their children. Your niphews."
"Niphews?" Janace wondered at the word.
"Combination of niece and nephew," Jess explained, "though don't worry... sometimes we use that term to mark our status as hermaphrodites... sometimes we use entirely female references as well. If you stay with us... which I hope you will... you'll get used to it."
Ryles then ushered two young Kats forward and bounced the newborn in hir arms.
"These are the soughters I gave birth to," Ryles spoke to Janace, "this is Kiran, Jissa, and the newborn is Lara."
Janace watched as Casey then gestured to the rest of hir children. She then named them as she gestured to each. They payed attention and looked to Janace.
"This is Trenta, Marassssss, Ssssinassssssssssssssta, Missssssssssssa, Rissssssssssssssa,Sssssssssssssssara, Janet, and Misssssssssssssssy," Casey spoke, "They are your niphewsssssssssss."
"Hello Auntie Janice." "Hello Auntie Janicccccccccccccce." Kiran, Jissa, Maras, Trenta, Sinasta, Missa, and Rissa said to Janace.
"Couldn't you have been a fluffier Kat?" Janace asked.
"I couldn't control what DNA infected me," Casey told hir sister, "and Rylessssssssss lovesssssssssssss my flexxxxxxxxxxxxxxibility asss I am."
Janace watched and swore she saw Ryles blush. There was something evidently sexual about her sister's statement and decided not to push it, so as not to embarrass the children. Ryles then moved back to sit beside Casey and let Sally come forward. As shi did so, Janace also saw hir ushering up another adult Chakat. This other Chakat had a sort of dangerous beauty to hir. Shi had fairly long fur, though not as long as Nikole's, and while its main color was a yellow gold, it was covered in black spots that were commonly used in the depiction of various saber-toothed cats from prehistoric times. That prehistoric look was reinforced by the two saber-like fangs that dropped down from the upper jaw of her lion-like muzzle. The end of hir tail was tipped by a scorpion's stinger, even though the tail was covered in fur. This Chakat wore the same sort of plant fiber vest, shirt that the others were wearing, though hirs was a bit more common than the ones that Justine and Francine were wearing. And there, there was something quite unlike the other Kats. The way hir shirt hung on hir chest and torso, indicated that shi had not one but two pairs of breasts that would either be a large B or a small C, depending on the make, model, and/or the person doing the measuring.
"This is my mate, Charlie," Sally introduced hir mate to hir mother.
"She's...?" Janace wondered.
"I'm a manticore based Chakat, apparently from fossilized manticore DNA that was found," Charlie answered, "but I assure you, I'm very friendly."
"And very soft and loving," Sally added, hugging hir, hir arms going just under Charlie's lower set of breasts.
"Why do you have four breasts?" Janace found herself asking.
"I don't know," Charlie gave a nervous shrug, "Sally and I have enjoyed it... but knowing why is a mystery... cats typically have around four teats, but before I became a manticore based Chakat I only had two... maybe manticores had higher hormone levels than other cats."
"And the two of you are happy?" Janace asked.
"Forever and always," Sally smiled, "Are you ready to meet the rest of your grandchildren? Our family is rather extensive."
Janace slowly nodded. Charlie then moved a largely pink Chakat forward as well as two younger Chakats, one with long fur and the other with short fur, but all had the mixture of a white underbelly (common in Cheetahs) and the black fur of a Black Panther (which they obviously inherited from Sally).
"These are the soughters I gave birth to," Charlie introduced, "This is Pinkie, Fluffy, and Mary."
Sally then came up with the next two, one had Charlie's cheetah coloring and the other looked like an all black Jackkat.
"These are Janice and Reca," Sally introduced them, "Charlie is Janice's father... and well... as I told you on the flight back here, I was raped in the Cairo Outbreak, and Reca is the result... regardless though... I love hir dearly and I will never let anyone harm hir."
"And I will defend hir with my life as well," Charlie added, "as Sally and I will defend all our children. We love them all. And we're both one month along with a new pregnancy and will have new kittens in eight months from now."
Janace nodded, remembering Sally mentioning that shi was pregnant when shi helped rescue her, and then commented, "That's good dears... be happy... Though, I must ask, why did you name your eldest after me, Sally?"
"Because we thought you were dead at the time or at least that you might be dead and I thought you would live on in hir," Sally answered.
"And who are the rest of your friends?" Janace then looked to the rest.
"Not friends," Sally spoke, "These are the rest of Charlie's and my children. We rescued them from bad situations and adopted them and loved them as if they were our own. I hope we did well."
"You did very well, Mom," Luna said to Sally, "Very well."
"Our eldest, Luna and Midnight have grown up and taken mates, Luna has given birth to hir own child and sired another, and Midnight is presently pregnant," Sally continued.
Sally then gestured to the two Wolfkats. They both gave polite smiles, though Janace unintentionally found her eyes drawn to the D cup breasts that both Wolfkats had. Janace did her best not actually look jealous. Luna came up to stand by hir mother and then gestured to the Dingokat that stood beside hir.
"Hello grandmother, it is a pleasure to meet you," Luna spoke, "This is my mate, Lia."
Lia waved politely, "Hello, Mrs. Cain." She then ushered a six year old Wolfkat pup forward, "This is the soughter I gave birth to, hir name is Marka."
Janace gave a faint nod as Luna moved up a six year old Dingokat.
"And this is the soughter I gave birth to, shi is Marta," Luna introduced the pup shi gave birth to. However while Marka looked curious, Marta eventually gave a yip and tried to get under hir mother's forelegs, "No... Marka she is your great-grandmother. Don't be scared."
"It's alright dear, with such a large and..." Janace began glanced over to her former husband and to Nikole, who looked like they were as young as Jess and Sally. They looked older than Luna, Lia, and Midnight, but not by too much, "youthful family, she's probably not used to seeing someone as wrinkled and worn as I am."
"But your family," Luna spoke, "I know that it's not by blood, since Charlie and Sally adopted us... but that's just genetics. We're family where it counts."
"I'm still new to you and to her," Janace replied.
"It's shi and hir," Jess corrected, "with pronouns we are fairly firm on identifying that we have no singular gender."
"I'm sorry," Janace apologized.
"It's okay, you've been gone a long time, and we're glad to have you back," Sally spoke up.
"Hey!" a young voice interrupted, sounding somewhere between eleven and nine, "It's our turn!"
The eyes all turned to three Dogkats, and it had been the eldest who had spoken.
"Hello, my name is Mardi, Momma Luna and Grandpa Charlie saved me and my sithers from bad men in New Orleans," the eldest Husky based Dogkat announced, "These are my sithers Baton and Parish."
"Shi's very straight forward," Janace commented with a chuckle.
"Shi and hir sithers had to come out of their shell after seeing a loved one betray them," Luna commented, "but once shi came out... it came out with avengence."
"I learned from my brave family members, all of them," Mardi declared.
"I take you wish to grow up and be a hero?" Janace asked to the Dogkat.
"Like Momma, Dad, Grandpa, and Grandma," Mardi answered.
"We hope to get enough things under control so that shi won't have to be a hero," Lia spoke up, "Luna and I may not have given birth to these three... but just like Charlie and Sally will probably tell you on their experiences raising Luna, Midnight, and Diamond as their own and looking after the kids that come into their foster clinic... it'd... it'd..."
"We don't want to see them get hurt," Luna finally spoke up, "It'd break us."
"A typical parent," Janace smiled, "be proud in your love for your family."
Luna and Lia both smiled and nodded and motioned for Midnight to come forward. Janace then turned to head to see the other Wolfkat come forward. While Midnight was just as well endowed as hir sither, it wasn't what was on hir chest that really stood out. It was what rested on hir taur back, which were a pair of massive white dove-like wings. A rather Egyptian looking lion-like Chakat followed hir. Shi too had wings on hir back.
"Hello, grandma," Midnight spoke, "I'm Midnight... though like my dad I've gone through a few additional changes. While Charlie went from a Cheetah based Chakat to a Manticore based Chakat, I went from a Wolfkat to a Sphinx based Wolfkat." Midnight then flared hir wings to show Janace. "I got them as part of a surprise for my mate, Talia. Shi is actually a true Sphinx, not necessarily a Chakat, but like a Chakat shi has both male and female equipment."
"Greetings Madame Cain," Talia introduced hirself.
"Greetings," Janace answered and looked to see Diamond sitting quietly Reca and Mary. Having not been introduced to Diamond, yet, she guessed that Diamond belonged to Talia or Midnight, "and is this young one one of your daughters or soughters, whichever term you prefer?"
"Actually, this is Diamond," Sally came up and put her hands on Diamond's shoulders, "Shi was an infant Kat I found abandoned in Houston near where Mina lived..."
"Mina?"
"One of our two resident full time medical doctors, the other is hir mate Ronnie, if Mina wasn't the one who treated you, it was Ronnie," Jess explained.
"Shi was a Kat... but I think shi looked like some sort of reddish teddy bear with a ringed tail," Janace admitted.
"That would be Ronnie, shi's a Redkat," Sally answered, "Mina is a Smilodon based Chakat."
"Shi's like Charlie is now?" Janace wondered.
"Only with regard to hir teeth," Charlie answered, "My tail is longer and two extra breasts."
"Anyway, we adopted Diamond and we've been raising hir with our children," Sally finished, "and we've enjoyed watching them grow... Seeing Luna and Midnight grow up... get married... in Luna's case become a mother, and in eight months, Midnight will join hir sither in that regard."
"You're going to get pregnant in eight months?" Janace asked sounding puzzled.
"No, Talia and I are pregnant NOW, we're about as far along as Mom and Dad are and we'll probably give birth around the same time that they do," Midnight explained.
Janace smiled, "Congratulations to you all then."
A host of thank yous followed and Janace looked around the room. They were in a way all her family, even though Justin and Francine weren't related to her by blood, they were still her family. All of them looked happy and all of them had families of their own. It then created another pang of sadness in her, and cursing her own isolation and abandonment in Antarctica. She had missed not only Sally and Jess fully mature and find true love and have a family, she missed their family growing up, finding true love, and having a family.
"I've missed a lot," Janace spoke, sadly.
"You have more than enough time to catch up," Francine answered, "Justin and I will be in Janice for a week or so."
"And I will always be here for you, my friend," Nikole vowed, "you may have missed out on a lot, but what's important is that you're back with us again."
"Thank..." Janace began when the door to the room suddenly opened to reveal a male Red Fox based Foxtaur, and unlike the Kats who had a rather feminine torso (though not entirely so), the Taur had a very masculine physic. It was Raul.
"Pardon my interruption, but Ms. Luna, Lia... I'm going to need your help at the monitoring stations," Raul said slowly and actually panting between breaths.
"What's happened?" Jess asked.
"We have a new outbreak," Raul said nervously, "It hit New York City... and from what I could tell centered on the UN offices there... the general assembly... the security council... everyone..."
"How fast is it spreading?" Charlie wondered.
"I don't know," Raul answered, "but I've already sent Elise, Mikkie, Danna, and Brent to deal with it with all the vials of the new Wise Vaccine that we have. But we'll need to have some coordination teams and back up ready in case they either do something else or in case North Korea takes advantage of this or bring more Wise Vaccine vials."
"I take it Maurice, Snowy, and David are working on getting more of the Wise Vaccine ready," Charlie asked.
Raul nodded.
"I'd best go too," Charlie said to Sally, "Just to make sure they can make enough of the vaccine."
Sally nodded, and then sighed as things rapidly began to break up. Shi'd hoped that things would remain peaceful so that hir mother could adapt to being in Janace with them. Janace only watched and sighed heavily. She only wished to tell them that she wished to stay with her family and catch up on everything she'd missed.