Luna settled into hir seat on the plane as it flew back to France with a bit of a contented sigh. Shi was an Auncle now, and while shi had expected Midnight to be hir only pregnant sither when shi and Lia had come to visit, but shi was thankful that the worst thing that came out of Janice's pregnancy was the timing. That was lucky, but shi imagined things would get better. Janice had clearly learned hir lesson and would hopefully would get excellent help from mom and dad and from Midnight for when shi and Snowflake were old enough to be parents on their own.
"They look cute, don't they?" Lia commented to hir.
Luna blinked and then looked in the direction that Lia was looking at. It was Pinkie and Alia sitting quietly together. Alia was talking about hir mother's past stories of being in France and Pinkie occasionally commented that shi hirself had been in Paris when shi was an infant and was in fact in the same room when Francine became a Kat. In a way, it was the same sort of "cuteness" that everyone had seen in Janice and Snowflake as they grew up.
"They do," Luna agreed, "and we won't have to worry about them getting to adventurous..."
"Given everything that has happened," Lia agreed as shi thought back to everything, including the last mission against the outbreaks.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
While they were still cleaning up in Cuba, Lia, Janace and Trigger found themselves being lead into another secret lab, which was actually in Santiago de Cuba and fairly close to the area around Guantanamo where the UN allied armies had been building up. They were lead by a Cuban official and escorted by a French general who had been the field commander of the contingent of French ground units that had been committed for the attack. To Lia's great surprise, he was actually the young Colonel who had been serving under Raul Herroud during the Paris outbreak. He looked older and more distinguished now. He paid respect to Lia as shi moved along, though he was also focused on the tasks at hand. And that was the lab, which appeared to have been disguised as a school and primed to explode. Engineers had already removed the explosives and now they were removing the various canisters and vials of the Kat Virus.
"I think we lucked out with all of this," Trigger commented as shi looked around, "All this looks like it would have turned everyone that marched through and anyone that might have been here had the war really got hot would have turned into a Kat of some time."
"Not that there is anything wrong with being a Kat," Lia commented, "the issue is that they wouldn't be able to choose to be a Kat. If they wanted to remain human, they wouldn't get that choice."
"Some of it was probably desperation on their part," Janace commented as shi placed a canister onto a wheeled cart that they had with them, "they knew they were outnumbered and outclassed from the beginning, but if they could something that would create a distraction that would through everything into chaos and thus stall the expected major offensive from Guantanamo."
"Nemo's magnet must have really done the trick then," Lia commented.
Trigger actually gave a giggle that sounded like a horse's nickering at that, "Who would have thought that magnets would stop wars?"
They continued to load canisters and vials onto the cart, which had been a fairly standard part of cleaning out these labs. The virus would ultimately be burned in a bonfire or an incinerator, depending on which seemed more popular with the Kats or the soldiers there. Eventually did get to the end and it seemed as though they'd be close to the end of the cleaning up after the outbreaks. As they brought the last cart out to the truck that was being used to transport things to where the Virus would finally be disposed of, Trigger gave a soft sigh.
"Thank you for letting me help," Trigger stated with a sigh.
"It's now problem, your doing this for Charlie and Brent, aren't you?" Janace asked, "I'm doing this for Jess and Sally."
"Yes," Trigger nodded, "but you were joining a family that was heavily looking for you. And while I love my sons and they did respect me..." Trigger paused to sigh for a moment, "I had to look inside myself and really realize that I'd been a bit of a dick with regard to how I interacted with Nikole."
"But you did apologize?" Janace questioned.
"Yes, it's the first thing my mate and I did after I became a Unikat," Trigger answered, "but it doesn't change the fact that I did have to apologize. I want to be in Charlie and Brent's life and that will mean being near Nikole and we agreed that it would be best to start over."
"Well, you've done well with the children and the only Kat you've looked at romantically has been that other Unikat," Janace replied, "So, I'd say you got a good start and as such you should be entitled a second chance."
"Again, thank you," Trigger smiled.
"May I ask a question?" Lia asked after a moment.
Trigger nodded.
"Why did you choose a Unicorn when the rest of your family are all Kats based off of felines or canines?" Lia wondered, "Or in Brent and Janace's case a mix of different animals? Was it the Unikat I saw you saying goodbye to when we left for this mission?"
"No, my choice of of a Unicorn for my Kat's form was from watching old Westerns and seeing a couple of Unikats in Janace got me curious," Trigger answered, "and not all of my family members are Hybrikats, Dinokats, Chakats, or Foxkats."
Lia tilted hir head in confusion for a bit. "Who? What?"
"My mate, Sarah, shi is a Unikat," Trigger answered, unlike many of the others who had had formal weddings shi and Sarah had simply had a "Kat wedding" which was simply to mate with each other. The answer, however, left Lia a bit confused. Eventually Trigger noticed this confusion as Lia lowered one ear. "Shi is my biological cousin."
"Oh..." Lia said slowly, "I see... well you love hir?"
Trigger nodded.
"Then that's all that matters," Lia gave a smile, "Luna is my cousin as well."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things progressed well. Lia and Luna got permission from Justin and Francine to stay in Janace until after Midnight and Talia gave birth, and they spent the time catching up with friends and family. Luna found hirself in hir old home actually helping Brent deal with twenty one little Scorpkats. Hir womb had begun to swell a little bit with hir own pregnancy, but shi was only in hir first trimester while hir parents and hir sither were now moving well into their second trimester and closer to their third trimester, and in France, shi knew that Justin and Francine were approaching their due dates. The little Scorpkats weren't newborns any more and there was a large garbage pail that actually smelled like a scorpion to hir. When shi looked into it, there looked to be what looked like several pieces of chitinous armor laying in it.
"What is this?" Luna asked as shi looked into the garbage pail.
"That is our "shell pail" for when this group is molting," Brent answered, "which is about every month... so far."
"Molting?" Luna wondered.
"Yeah..." Brent sighed slowly, "I wish Kathy could be here as shi could explain this better... but basically when my kids here get too big for their exoskeleton, it pops open in a horizontal line along the sides of their heads, going down their torsos and taur half. A lot of it has been natural and they actually spend hours stretching afterward as all their new shells harden... and about all they've really need our help for is speeding it up. They're surprisingly mobile, given how young they are."
Luna figured this out when the baby Scorpkat shi was trying to feed from a bottle decided in didn't want to be in hir arms, squirmed, hit hir with its pincer, and then climbed around to sit on Luna's taur back. Luna cringed as it felt like the infant's claws were going to pull hir fur out, but said nothing as the infant began to chirp for the bottle. Shi twisted around to feed the baby.
"So... you're taking two mates?" Luna asked with a slightly mischievous smile.
"Yes," Brent answered, "I suppose I'll never fully know how it came about... as I only met Kathy to get some help with regard to my pregnancy... but shi found me attractive and shi bounded with Elise and they decided to try and make me happy in every way..." Brent gave a small chuckle, "and in a way they succeeded. They're both very sweet... and I've come to love them very much."
"That's what matters, I suppose," Luna smiled, "I see you haven't changed much around here..."
"I saw no need," Brent answered, "You had good taste... and I saw little reason to change things."
"Thank you," Luna only giggled.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Three months after Luna and Lia arrived, Luna and Lia found themselves visiting a quiet home that was on the edge of the town, and was actually closest to Jess and Nikole's. The home was one that had been built for Janace and Anubis. The two of them were still waiting for things related to Janice's pregnancy to settle down to mate with each other, but both Janace and Anubis were already giving thoughts to a wedding. It greatly amused Luna greatly, as Jess and Sally had gone off to rescue their mother after Midnight's wedding, and here, less than a year later, Janace had become a Kat and was planning hir own wedding.
"I'm sure you two didn't just come here to listen to us go on about how we're going to get married," Anubis commented.
"No, we came because we got a video email from Justin and Francine, they have four little somethings they wanted Janace to see," Lia answered.
"They gave birth?" Janace asked.
"Yes," Luna smiled, "yesterday, and sent us a video email this morning."
Shi then fish into hir purse to pull out an iPad. It quickly turned on and Luna went to its internet screen and got onto hir email. And the first entry was: "New Kittens, Show to Janace!" As Luna did all this, Janace and Anubis came along to look over hir shoulder. After a few moments, Luna loaded attached video and Janace watched the screen picture Francine and Justin sitting quietly in the very nursery where Francine had become a Kat holding two little ones in their arms. They had no vest on and each little Kat was busy suckling from the breasts of their respective mother.
"Hey, Jan," Justin said on the screen, "they arrived! Giving birth still hurts... but they arrived and they're healthy. Oh aren't they the cutest little Kats ever? We're both so happy!"
"And I'm happy for you," Janace replied with a smile.
"Hopefully you're on your way to fatherhood by now," Justin continued, "but we'd thought we'd introduce you to your new niphews... and yes we talked it over, you're officially an unofficial sither to me and Francine..."
Janace only shook hir head. Shi hadn't even mated with Anubis yet, but Justin and Francine's faces just screamed happiness and shi couldn't criticize them for being so happy.
"Anyway, this is Princess," Justin spoke bouncing the baby Kat at hir right breast and then bounced the other infant, "and this is Janace Est Mon Ami."
"And you're my friend too," Janace managed a very warm smile knowing that the name Justin had picked for hir newest soughter was "Janace Is My Friend."
From there, Francine took over. Shi bounced the infant at hir right breast first.
"This is Eleanor," Francine spoke and then bounced the infant at hir left breast, "And this is Josephine."
"They're precious, and don't worry... I'll make Anubis a mother in my own good time, and I'll, hopefully be as happy as you, my friend... my... my sither," Janace smiled back as Justin and Francine said their goodbyes on the screen and the video ended, "and hopefully shi'll make me a mother again too."
Anubis only hugged hir as shi said that. Their smiling at the message soon ended when there was a knock at their door.
"Seems to be a busy day today," Lia commented.
Janace made hir way to the door of hir home and found that it was Timothy sitting there for the moment. The Komokat shivered a little bit as the fall chill was starting to hit.
"Tim! Come in quick before you catch cold," Janace said quickly.
"It isssssssssssssss not that bad," Timothy protested, but came in side all the same.
"What brings you here, Tim?" Janace asked as Anubis, Lia, and Luna arrived in the doorway.
"I had heard you were talking about a wedding," Timothy answered, "and I wasssssssssssssssssss hoping you and Anubisssssssssssssssssss would be in mine."
"I'm not doing a trimates deal, Timothy," Janace commented, wondering where this had come from. Shi'd seen Timothy being very friendly with the Tyrannosaur based Dinokat since their return from the Pacific theater of the avoided WW3.
"No, not to marry me, to give me away," Timothy answered.
The three ears on the right side of Janace's head dropped down and back in confusion. Anubis also gave a "huh?" as well.
"I assssssssssssssssssssssked Cassssssssssssssssssssssssssey Jonesssssssssssssssssssssssss to marry me, sssssssssssssssssssssssssshi sssssssssssssssssssssssssaid yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss and I want you to give me away," Timothy then explained with a sigh.
"But you're older than hir," Anubis protested, "Isn't the father of the bride supposed to give the bride away?"
"My father died when Mauricccccccccccccccccccce wasssssssssssss sssssssssssssssstill in college," Timothy answered, "and Cassssssssssssssssey Jonesssssssssssssss' family cannot make it for reasssssssssssssssonssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssshi doessssssssssssssssss not know. Mauricccccccccccccccccce will be my bessssssssssssssssssst "man" and Ronnie hasssssssssssssssssssssssss agreed to give Cassssssssssssssey Jonesssssssssssssssssss away. Ssssssssssssssssshi sssssssssssssshould be asking Elissssssssssssssssssssssse to be hir besssssssssssssssssssssssst man. I want you to give me away."
"I would be honored," Janace commented.
"Though I wonder why each having a "father of the bride/maid of honor type role" and a "best man," Midnight didn't have one of each at hir wedding," Lia commented.
"We have both gendersssssssssssssssssssssss, ssssssssssssssssssso why not ssssssssssssssssssssssshare our happinessssssssssssssss with twiccccccccccccccce as many," Timothy replied.
"Why not a double wedding then," Anubis offered, "My imam will agree to compromise and work with your ministers, so I don't think there should be a religious issue and I don't think he'll mind helping marry multiple couples."
Luna gave a smile at some of the changes that had occurred in Timothy Chakat. Before shi and Lia had went to France, it had seemed as though there would be one epic "love-triangle-war" between the three and from what Luna had been told, it was ultimately Timothy's own transformation that settled it, though not in the way that Timothy had originally wanted. Luna was glad things had settled between them.
"Let me know when you settle on a date," Luna commented, "Lia and I might not get the time to come back again... but I'm sure Justin and Francine wouldn't mind coming to the wedding."
"We will," Janace nodded, "just let them know we don't want it to be a massive royal wedding."
Luna nodded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Returning to the present, Luna and Lia smiled as they watched Pinkie and Alia chat.
"We have been through a lot," Lia commented as the plane flew along, "We became Auncles and you gained a new set of sithers..."
"Who are all adorable," Luna finished.
"And now we'll be going home and in three months we'll have our own little ones," Lia finished.
Luna did hir best to snuggle hir swelling womb to Lia's and gave a contented smile.
"As seems to be the tradition among royal Kats," Luna giggled.
"Or any Kat, really," Lia commented, "There has only been a handful that have decided they didn't want to have children..."
While Luna and Lia thought and talked over their prospective motherhood's, Pinkie and Alia thought over their own possible adventures to come. Pinkie missed Janice, already, but shi knew that Janice had Snowflake. Granted the experiences of the past nine months had probably made hir sither respect their parents' rules, but Pinkie also knew that there was more to love than sex. Charlie and Sally loved all their children and it seemed that they commonly spent their day bending over sideways to do so... to keep them happy, to keep them loved, to keep them safe, and to try and raise them right. And Pinkie knew that mom and dad did more than just have sex with each other to show that they loved each other. Janice had Snowflake, and even if they didn't have sex, Snowflake was still going to be the most important thing in hir sither's life. Pinkie knew that shi and Janice would always be close, and shi hoped they'd have houses next door to each other when they grew up, but for the moment, they'd both need to clear their heads. Janice to fully bond with Snowflake in the emotional sense and for Pinkie to do the same with Alia.
"So what do you think French schools will be like?" Alia wondered.
"Everybody speaks French, I suppose," Pinkie answered, "I was only a baby when I was there."
"Maybe its a prep school," Alia commented, "Your sither has soughters, right?"
"Yes, though the ones that are our age are ones shi adopted, they're Dogkats... though the breed is a Husky so don't be too surprised that they look a little bit like Luna or Midnight yet aren't Wolfkats," Pinkie answered.
"Are they fun?" Alia asked, "We could race them!"
"I'm a Chakat, I can't race horses," Pinkie answered, "but I bet you'd win with all those big leg muscles of yours."
"I'm scaled down in comparison to a real horse though... a horse is bigger than a big cat, but Kats seem to be about the same size," Alia answered, "I mean that one Tyrannosaur Dinokat isn't forty plus feet long is shi?"
"No," Pinkie nodded.
"So, I will not be as big as a real horse, maybe taller than you, but that'd only be because of my horn," Alia answered and then nudged Pinkie with hir nose, pocking Pinkie in hir shoulder with the horn.
"Hey! That tickles!" Pinkie protested.
"Oh!" Alia snickered.
The two ended up in a tickle fight seeing who could make who laugh the hardest. It was fun and gave Pinkie the confidence to feel that shi could get hir mind together and return home, but for now, Paris and new adventures awaited.