This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the exceedingly cute creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

 

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Chapter 67: With A Bang

 

I slept. I slept HARD. No dreams disturbed my slumber, no nightmares, no quests through the depths of my soul or any others. I rested. In my bed, with my arms around my wife. It was good. It was needed. It was interrupted by the first rays of the sun’s light, shining through my window.

 

This was accompanied by two things. The first was that I noticed that the other weight in the bed had changed. Smaller, lighter, moving around. The second was that the source of that weight was trying to gently shake me awake with his paws. Nibbles. For some reason, Lucy wasn’t in the bed. Given how much energy she was using the last couple of days, that was concerning. “Okay, Nibbles, I’m awake. What’s going on?”

 

He gave me a very concerned-sounding “yarrrrb,” then hopped off the bed and waited by the bedroom door. Concerned, and slightly nervous. He didn’t want to be out there alone. Last time he was this nervous, the Hunger Battery had been showing signs of unknown function. That wasn’t good.

 

I stood, stretching arms and wings, but heard sounds from outside. Several people were doing a lot of active things. Again, not expected. We were in the apartment… or whatever you call a guest suite sized for a Guild of Demons. Not exactly where a ton of activity should be happening. It was supposed to be restful. A place to enjoy the ocean air. When I opened the door to the bedroom, chaos met me.

 

The large, scarlet form of my wife was moving as fast as her enlarged breasts and belly would let her, finding boxes and baggage wherever they hid. With hands that were both practiced and rushing, she’d open them, empty them out, then start grabbing pieces and taking them where they needed to go. The speed she was doing so was frankly absurd, the only way things would have moved faster was if she’d used Telekinesis… and I didn’t want to tell her that so she wouldn’t get the idea to try. “Good morning, Jay! Just woke up and decided to really get to it! Time to clean and prepare the place, need to make sure it’s ready for our daughter.”

 

“Uh… okay. Has anyone had breakfast or coffee yet?” I started to walk out, but had to dodge backwards as Paige zipped past with an armful of what looked like clothes.

 

“Gloria’s downstairs getting stuff ready! I’m helping Lucy.”

 

I looked in her wake. Neither she nor my wife were wearing much, just a light shirt and panties. Both looked good in it, too, but I hoped that anyone who went downstairs had a bit more on. “Love, you okay? Feeling alright?”

 

She seemed a bit annoyed. “Just a bit hot, but I’ll be fine. Gotta keep moving!” I didn’t even see what she was carrying this time as she rushed past. I opened my mouth to say something, but a banging noise from one of the other rooms distracted me. The question could wait, I jogged over to where I heard it come from and found Sarah in the midst of an almost-literal tornado of components. She, like Lucy and Paige (and Whitney, who was running around with her) was dressed in clothing as light as possible as she frantically assembled, disassembled, and put away the various things in her space. Incredibly, I could see what looked like two compasses being assembled on her workbench.

 

“Sarah, Whitney, you two okay? I heard a bang.” I looked around for what could be the source. It wasn’t that I didn’t see anything, it was more that too many things could have been the source.

 

Whitney pointed to the wall where I saw a couple of posters and a whiteboard hanging, full of Enchanting component information. “I hung those up a moment ago, that’s probably it.”

 

“Uh… okay. Sarah, make sure you don’t overdo things, your Hunger will only go so far.”

 

“We got plenty in the pool thanks to the team, Jay, we have preparations to make!” She did not slow down her work at all.

 

I slowly backed away, then stopped to let Paige dash past again. What had gotten into all of them all of a sudden? Something clicked in the back of my brain. One major thing had changed, alright. Lucy’s pregnancy hit its final stretch. Maybe Emily would know what was going on? If the pattern held, she’d be either in her room (a quick glance showed that wasn’t it) or where she expected to work. The clinic room. It took two more well-timed dodges to get there without a collision, but Nibbles was right behind me as I did.  Sure enough, once I got up the hallway, I could hear activity coming from within. Frantic activity. I cracked open the door, ever so slightly, not wanting to risk hitting her. “Emily? You busy in there?”

 

“Yes, I am! This room needs to be ready for what’s coming.” There was that line again. “Is it urgent?”

 

“I think it might be. Uh, call it a Status oddity.”

 

There was an annoyed groan from inside the room, and Emily opened the door a moment later. She wasn’t wearing the same thing as the others. No, she was wearing her fur and nothing else. “What is it?”

 

“Tell me if this sounds familiar. You feel uncomfortably warm and have an overwhelming compulsion to get things prepared for either my daughter or the coming week.”

 

“Now that you mention it, yes.” Her head was tilted.

 

I took a deep breath. “Is there anything in late-stage pregnancy that can cause this? Especially in ones involving high-thaum births?”

 

“No, I don’t think… wait.” Her eyebrows furrowed deeply. “Um, some of the OB doctors report that many of their in-patient mothers have to be almost physically restrained due to feeling the need to clean everything. The informal name for it is the nesting instinct, and it’s present in Humans as well.”

 

“Got it. That is probably what’s going on, and it’s being pushed out among the network just like your boobs were. I’m heading downstairs to check on Gloria, do you know where Amber is?”

 

Emily shook her head. “She was still asleep when I came here.”

 

“Well, she wasn’t when I did, so I’m hoping she’s downstairs. Tell me if you remember anything else about this nesting thing, okay?”

 

Emily nodded, looking concerned. “There was something else, but I can’t remember it off the tip of my tails. Let me finish here and I’ll see if I can find it.”

 

“Got it. Like I said, let me know.” I turned and jogged to the stairway down. On a hunch, I poked my head out onto the second floor. In my head, I knew nobody should be here. In my heart, I suspected someone might. There was a shuffling sound, which I tracked down. Down the hallway to the right, sweeping away from me to gather up the scant traces of dust and dirt tracked there by people in the household using the portal there… with two brooms. Huh, I guess with four arms, that’s not as much of a problem. One push broom, one normal one catching what it missed. Amber’s shirt was straining to cover her chest, but on the flip side she’d put on jeans.

 

She made it to the end of the hall, grabbed a trash bag out of her Extradimensional Space, swept in the dust she’d gotten, put it back, then turned. Her chest had continued to shrink, thankfully (seriously, what was my life doing when I was THANKFUL for shrinking boobs?), but it was still unwieldy. Especially in her frantic haste, she overbalanced and abruptly landed seated on the ground before she ever noticed I was there. “Oh, hi Jay!”

 

“Hey, Amber. Um, let me guess. You woke up this morning with a ton of motivation to get the house ready, and felt that since nobody else was preparing this floor you’d clean it up?”

 

“Yes exactly! Once I finish sweeping up I’m going to check for newly opened doors, maybe clean up Justin’s dorm room while I’m at it.”

 

I sighed. “I don’t think you’re going to have that long before breakfast. Gloria is supposedly downstairs cooking up a storm, I’m going to check on her next.”

 

Amber looked around with a frown. “I guess I’ll have to hurry up, then. Can’t leave this undone.”

 

That was about as good as I was going to get, so after trying to tell her to take it easy I went back to the stairs. Now to check on Gloria. Another flight down, on the ground level, I found a rather bemused Justin looking into the kitchen from just before the hallway opened into it. “Justin? Isn’t this usually when you’re on coffee duty?”

 

He shrugged. “Abbey is in there with one of your team… Gloria, I think? Anyway, Gloria’s moving fast enough that it takes some real ability or a supernatural twist to keep up. Abbey can do that. I can’t. This distance is safer. Todd and his team are in the guest room until the hurricane’s done and they can get breakfast.”

 

“Sounds smart.” I sniffed the air. “Coffee, sausage… two ways… eggs also two ways, and either pancakes or waffles. With fruit. At least Gloria’s on a specific mission with this one. If creamer’s in the fridge, I might just risk it. Today feels like I’ll need caffeine.”

 

“It’s your hide, but yeah. Should be two or three containers in there.”

 

I closed my eyes, sent a prayer to whomever might be listening, and definitely hoped I was imagining the laughter I heard in response in the back of my head. Three steps forward, and I had to twitch to the right to dodge Gloria. Good news, she was significantly more dressed than the others. Bad news, that knife had come closer to ending me than the rocket launcher the other night. “Gloria! Just trying to pour coffee for everyone.”

 

She had a pot or a pan on every single burner of the stove, and all four had something different going. The coffee pot was full, the sink running as Abbey (dressed in pajamas) was frantically scrubbing spatulas, measuring cups, and other assorted kitchen tools to keep up with her. Abbey was looking tired, she might not keep up much longer. Gloria was all over the place, somehow tending all of the things she had going, and a glance at the small kitchen table showed a tray of sliced fruits along with one of toast already done.

 

It took three trips in and out of the kitchen (at severe risk to my health), but I got several cups and the coffee pot extracted along with the food that was ready. Next trip was to gather everyone up to start eating, a bit more of a challenge than it should have been. All things considered, though, the mansion was in REMARKABLY good shape. Even Sarah’s room had acquired a kind of order I had rarely seen out of her by the time I dragged her away and made sure people had clothing on.

 

I was getting tired already, but the coffee helped. Eventually, all seven of my ladies sat down for breakfast along with Abbey, Justin, and Todd’s group. Emily was still looking a bit puzzled. There was something important here, but she just could not remember it. “Okay, I’m not sure what bee got up everyone’s bonnet this morning, but I think the house is clean and ready.” The emotions in the room were clearly visible to me on both faces and auras, the transition from frantic energy to blended motivation and fatigue at those words was incredible. “Let’s eat, then we can get on what we need to do. This week’s going to pass quickly. Ghata, Song, need to check something to plan. How busy is your schedule? We are going to try to progress things so that Lucy… Lucy? Are you alright?”

 

I happened to look in her direction. To be fair, I did that a lot, since I really liked looking at my wife. But this time, she looked a bit different. She was breathing harder, and the hand that didn’t have a fork in it was gripping the table. Lucy closed her eyes, looked like she was about to say something, but then her whole body seemed to clench inward. Her mouth opened, a screaming expression on her face, but one that was not accompanied by any sound. “J… Jay? I don’t know.”

 

“Emily!” I yelled out as I stood, moving swiftly to be by my wife.

 

She was already moving. So were Whitney, Ghata, and Song. Emily laid one hand on Lucy’s belly as she started to have another spasm. “Jay, the nesting phase! It happens right before labor. Lucy is contracting, and they’re close. Help us get her up to the clinic!”

 

Say less. I had my wife in a bridal carry before the echoes faded. Wasn’t about to waste time with the stairs, either. Not when the back door was closer. Through the kitchen, out of the house, and with three mighty wing beats I was at our suite’s balcony. In, through the door and hallway, and into the clinic room. I had her laying on the bed there before Emily got into the room, followed by every person with more than a scrap of medical knowledge in the house. The room was a bit crowded, but I’d live. Anything to make this easier and safer.

 

The bustle of the crowd pushed me back a bit, but at least I was there. Emily had her hands on my wife again, those present were helping her strip out of her clothes. No need for modesty here, and given that they did not have many of the suites of sensors the hospital might they needed all the visibility they could get. What they did have, though, they deployed with ruthless efficiency. Gadgets to measure heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and ambient thaum got pulled out of bags and cabinets then attached to Lucy.

 

The thaum meter suddenly went wild and pinged an alarm as Lucy had another contraction. This one wasn’t quiet, her scream echoed in the small room. Emily was directing the others. “Her water’s broken. Song, I need you to clean that up. Jay!”

 

“What is it? Is anything wrong?”

 

“Not yet, but I need you to keep it that way. Her mana spiked last contraction, I need you ready to counterspell in case she accidentally casts something.” She looked at her watch. “They’re spaced by two minutes. Your child will be here soon.”

 

Ghata looked at the situation and seemed to realize something. “Emily, I’ll be back as fast as I can. Jeremiah said the child is going to be Demonic, we may need your Hunger Battery in case anything goes wrong.”

 

“Good idea. Get Sarah to set it up outside the room, she can use it easiest if this comes down to an emergency.”

 

Ghata turned, saw no clear path to the door due to the number of people in the space, and transformed into a housecat to dart past me. That was peripheral, though. Lucy had another contraction, and this time her scream was accompanied by an unformed spell manifesting. I had no idea what it would do if I let it resolve, but given the kinds of magic on her Rote list it couldn’t be anything good. With a sharp effort of will, I countered it with a Combat Disenchant. “Emily, Lucy has way more mana in the tank than I do. More than five or six of these and I’ll need a Potion or Battery.”

 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Lucy, how are you doing?” Emily looked concerned, which concerned me.

 

My wife was panting. “That hurt more than I thought it would, but I think I’m alright. The memory of that pain is almost worse than the pain itself.”

 

“You would not believe how often I hear that one. Your body is designed to do this. We’re just here to make it easier and make sure nothing goes wrong.” Emily looked satisfied with the answer. “So, good news. You are in active labor and your water has broken. Succubi reproductive systems have a few quirks meant for other things that are going to help you as well, so this should not last too many more cycles.”

 

Lucy nodded. “Definitely good news. Very good news. Uh, what do you mean by other things?”

 

“Mind if I take this one? Just had a quiz on it.” Song interjected. At Emily’s patient nod, she continued. “Succubi vaginal canals are unbelievably flexible and can adjust their size much larger than others of similar size. Similarly, your bone structure can flex more than a Human, and your skin is more resilient and stretchy. As a result, you have nearly no risk of tearing or similar injury, and your recovery is going to be measured in days instead of weeks. Probably a messy few days, but days.”

 

“Okay, chalk that up as unanticipated benefits of wearing this body.” She looked like she had more to say, but another contraction struck. She didn’t scream this time, she didn’t lose control of her powers, it definitely looked like she wanted to. My mental trigger finger was on the Disenchant again until I knew for sure she wasn’t going to have a misfire.

 

Song’s hands moved swiftly after it concluded. “Lucy is fully dilated, the child is positioned low.”

 

I looked over at Whitney. “Translation?”

 

“Any of these pushes could be the good one.” Whitney’s eyes never left my wife as she answered.

 

I took the opportunity to move over to my wife’s side and hold her hand. “You hear that, Lucy? As soon as you think you’re ready, you probably are.”

 

A voice sounded out from behind the door. “Battery table set up, just yell for me if it’s needed!”

 

Lucy yelled back “thanks, Sarah,” then settled in on the bed, looking determined. “I feel it coming. This isn’t going to be the one, but it’s close…” another strangled cry emerged from her throat as her belly rippled and tightened. After a moment of this she relaxed again, sweating on the bed. “Uh, I feel disgusting. Definitely going to enjoy the next shower I get, yep.”

 

Some chuckles around the room. Emily glanced at the clock. “Down to a minute and a half.” She laid her hand on Lucy’s head. “No injuries for me to siphon, which is good. It’s all endurance and willpower from here.”

 

“Good thing I’m stubborn enough to keep up with Jay, then.” Lucy took a few more deep breaths. “Guess I skipped all the prenatal classes. No idea how to do all the breathing stuff.”

 

Whitney smiled. “Easy enough. Breathe. Oxygen is reaching the body, mission accomplished.”

 

Lucy chuckled. “That’s a lot more straightforward than I thought it was going to be, yep.” A strange expression crossed her face. “I… I think she’s coming. I need to push!”

 

Everyone in the room scrambled as she contracted again, visibly harder. More purposeful. And again, screaming, sweat on her scarlet brow. And again, pain and determination on her face. There was almost no gap between them, the end of one blending into the start of the next.

 

“I see horns! The child is crowning. One last good push, Lucy, bring her into the world!”

 

For the rest of my life, I would never be able to say for certain who had said those words. My wife was screaming, half in effort and half in pain, and a moment later her voice wasn’t alone. I saw Emily move, and a new voice joined with a gasping cry. Everyone was still scurrying , wiping Lucy’s brow, cleaning off our daughter, applying ointment. The fox turned with a smile. “Congratulations, it’s a girl.” Emily turned the rest of the way, and I could see my daughter for the first time in her arms.

 

Her skin was pale, undercast with pink. She had midnight-black hair on her head, matching the wings on her back and the claws on her hands and feet. Emerging from her head was a pair of brilliantly white backswept horns. Her cheeks were chubby, her aura flickering on its own, her mouth was open, she was crying, and it was the most wonderful sound I had ever heard. My daughter.

 

“Jeremiah, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?” I accepted the medical scissors from Ghata and let her apply some kind of clamp, then cut where she told me to. Emily brought our baby to Lucy, who cuddled her close, and she dove in to feed from her mother’s breast. Thankfully, plenty there, but I could feel something else. The Aura went from flickering to flowing, acting with a purpose.

 

“Sarah! We need the Hunger Battery NOW!” I shouted back at the door, and the green-scaled Enchanter came through in an instant. As soon as she brought the Battery close to my daughter, I could feel the questing Hunger latch onto it just like she was physically latched onto her mother. Good thing we made sure it was topped off last night, I could see the Aura from the Battery flowing into the child as visible sparks of power flowed across it in reality. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if she tried to feed from everyone in the room, because I knew what she was even without the need to Scan. After all, there was another Greater Succubus in the house downstairs right now.

 

My brain was working just as frantically as our medical team. While the (adorable) baby girl was latched onto her mother, Ghata took the finest-point needle I’ve ever seen to administer a shot to the little one’s thigh. Emily had conscripted Sarah to massage Lucy’s belly to help her pass the placenta, a process I glimpsed but would really rather not remember the sight of. Back to the thoughts. Succubi under the age of eighteen, such as my newborn daughter, needed to Feed much, much less than adults. The problem was that Greater Succubi, such as my newborn daughter, needed to feed more than their peers. Now that she was not inside of Lucy, I could see that she was no longer a part of the free-flowing power network my ladies shared, which meant in turn that we would need to ensure she stayed Fed regularly. The Battery would help a lot with that, much more so than the transfer devices the government gave out.

 

“Jeremiah?” It was Lucy’s voice, piercing the storm of thoughts swirling around my brain.

 

I shook my head, bringing myself back to the present, then walked to my wife’s side. “Yes, love?”

 

She looked down at the baby girl snuggled on her chest, no longer latched on but now sleeping soundly. “Do you want to hold our daughter?”

 

“Of course I do.” I smiled and gently leaned down, picking up this tiny bundle of joy my wife offered to me. I held her to my chest and felt my knees go weak. Thankfully, there was a chair there for me to ever-so-gently sit on. She snuggled up against me, and I knew. I would move Heaven and Earth for her. I would spill oceans of blood, including my own, to make this world safer for her. There was no force in existence that could stop the new purpose of my life. That sleeping girl would have no fewer than eight ferocious guardians, eight of the most deadly defenders humanity had ever known, and woe betide anyone who dared test us. The words collided in my chest, a confusing mass of all the things I could say. All the ways I could give an introduction to the person who had just wrapped my entire soul around her pinky with nothing more than a cry and a sigh of contentment.

 

“Welcome to the world, Lily Kithkin. I am your dad, and I love you.”