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The sun was beginning to set, it's fleeting light signaling evening had come. The basitin girl Maddie was watching the lowering sun from her windows, thoughts drifting off to the memories of her past, being together with her mother, their many little childish adventures. She greatly missed her home and her people, but the punishment of exile made sure she'd see neither. However, what was taken, or denied, could be replaced, or at least partially, if one was willing to accept the offers life gave them. What did it offer the exiled Maddie? A home to call her own, and two good friends, Maeve and her mother Adira. A far cry from what she had before, but they accepted her with opens arms, and Adira had even recently given her a long nightgown, which she is currently wearing, as a gift. A fair bit revealing for a basitin's taste, but Maddie had slowly grown used to the local rules and ways of doing things, like no longer covering the ankles and base of her tail. The basitin girl was starting to enjoy her new life, a life more relaxed and carefree, and one where she having a child. And all this had brought a new question to the girl's mind. Was her exile a blessing in disguise? But before she could even dig into the question, a feline friend came to visit.
"Hey Maddie. How is your evening?" Said Maeve as she came into the room without even knocking first. And she is wearing a nightgown like Maddie.
The basitin turned around and leaned against the window. "I'd say pretty well. It's quiet, and my child seems to be sleeping." Looking down and gently brushing her big pregnant belly with a smile.
The feline smiled, too. "I'm glad to see you smiling. Your mood has really turned bright after your mother's visit."
Maddie nodded. "Mhm. It was great to see her again."
Maeve closed the door, walked over and sat on Maddie's bed. "Do you wish you could've returned home with your mother?" She scratched behind her head as she quickly realized that was a dumb question, and even worried it would be seen as an insult to the basitin. However, Maddie actually giggled a little bit.
"Sometimes I actually do wonder if I would've taken the choice. But I've grown fairly used to this place and what
you keidrans do. I no longer cover my ankles, the base of my tail, and just generally feel more comfortable showing more fur. If I returned home it would me time to get used to how things were before. In fact, I'm starting prefer it this way. I feel more free and don't have to worry about someone looking over my shoulder to check if there's a spot of fur showing." She then let out a sigh of frustration, annoying memories had come back to remind her about a certain guard who was hellbent on making sure Maddie was properly clothed. She then looked at the feline keidran. "But I also have friends here. Adira, Brutus, and you."
Maeve twirled her hair around a finger and looked away with a sky but happy expression, but looked back when she heard her basitin friend sit down next to her.
The basitin girl made eye contact with the feline keidran. "There is something I've been wanting to ask you. About your pregnancy." Said young Maddie, looking a little unsure about poking into her friend's private business.
"What do you want to know? And you don't have to be nervous, Maddie. We're friends." Scooting closer and then placed a hand on her pregnant basitin friend's shoulder, who gave a smile in return for the trust.
"Thanks, Maeve. That warms my heart. I wanted to ask you how it is like being a young mother? I mean, you got pregnant as a cub. That must've been fairly terrible to hear?"
The pregnant young keidran shook her head. "When mom said I was having a baby I was actually happy.
Very happy."
Maddie raised an eyebrow. "You were happy? Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to be a mother, it's something I've wanted since I was little. And yes, I didn't know what it all would entail. Like breastfeeding, sore feet and back, endless hunger, and giving birth." She looked away and sighed as she remembered the day when where Niall came into the world. Alone and with nobody to help or comfort her.
"You... Ok?" Ask Maddie, noticing the heavy sigh.
"I'm ok. When I went into labor, I had to do it alone. My mother wasn't home and Brutus did not live with us yet. It was... horrible. I was scared." The poor feline's mood dropped like a rock. That may have been one of her greatest days but it was also one of the worst. Maybe THE worst.
Maddie placed placed a hand on Maeve's shoulder, who looked back to her friend. "Don't worry. You're not a alone anymore. It's not like I'm going anywhere with this heavy belly on me."
Little Maeve smiled, and felt the mood quickly return. She just didn't want to be alone again when she goes into labor.
The pregnant basitin looked down to her belly, both hands now resting on it. She was 37 weeks and 4 days into the pregnancy, a fact that both worried and scared her. It was only a matter of time before the big day would come, and the girl have no idea nor experience on what to do when it was time. Worse yet, the poor basitin had to do it while standing. No sitting, and no lying down on the back. She must stand up while going through an extremely painful moment and pushing out a much large than average child through a small and narrow hole. The frightened girl already imagined herself screaming in endless pain, and tears constantly running down and possibly forming a big puddle. Why did she have to stand while giving birth? Old eastern basitin tradition and belief. A basitin will be viewed as weak if they can't give birth while standing, and there's a belief that the failure will forever haunt you. It's unknown if it's due to to simple peer pressure, of if it's something that is actual part of every female basitin's biology. And Jade, Maddie's mother, did not want take the chance and strongly encouraged her daughter to do it. But that's not the only reason. It was also to prove Maddie's own strength, to prove she is stronger than she thinks. And also because members of the basitin king are requiered to do it, but screw that. The girl is free from those requirements.
"Maddie? Maddie, are you ok?" asked concerned little snow leopard.
Maddie took her eyes away from her belly and focused on Maeve who's head was tilting in confusion. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Maeve frowned at the respond. "No you're not. You were dead quiet and starring into your belly as if you were possessed. What is it that worries you? If you need help, simply ask." The feline keidran said, then placed a gentle hand on basitin's belly to comfort her.
Maddie smiled, but quickly went back to looking somewhat sad. "I need advice... about pregnancy. How do I prepare for the moment when I go into labor? What I should I do while in labor? And what should I do once I'm done?" She said in a somewhat begging and desperate tone.
Maeve tapped her chin while looking up at the ceiling, thinking how to approach this. "Hmmmm... Ok. Let's start with the basics. When preparing for the moment labor might come. Simply stay home and have towels ready.
You'll know it's time when you feel a rippling pain and a gush of water runs down your leg, and when that happens you should shout the child is coming, then go to the room where the towels are. The next step is to push the baby out. And... uhhhh... you'd usually start with laying down on your back, but..."
Maddie sighed. "But I have to do it standing, and I swore to my mother I'd do it. Just tell me how I'm suppose to push."
Maeve nodded. "When you feel a contraction, that is when your belly is clenching down and hurts a lot, start pushing. Stop pushing when the contraction has stopped and wait for the next one, which can take a few minutes and you should use those minutes to catch your breath."
The basitin looked nervous. Very nervous, with eyes darting around the room before staying focused on Maeve. "H-how much is a lot? Will I..." Before even finishing the sentence, her friend's expression quickly turned dark. "Yes. You will be in a lot of pain. And..." Maeve then took a deep breath and breathed out. The last part, the very end of a female's pregnancy, was always what made it the worst thing a lady could experience. "And you will scream. A lot. And. And it isn't made any better with your child being so large. I'm sorry, Maddie."
The basitin girl took a deep breath and calmly let it out. "Then so be it. If enduring such pain is required of me to bring my child, my sibling, into this world and my arms, then I will do it." She said firmly, and the words brought a smile to her friend who too believed in that. "Ok. When the child is out, then what?" Maddie continued.
"Then you're pretty much done. The child will be wrapped in towels and brought to your arms, though first after you've sat down first as your legs will be very weak and likely to give out soon after."
Maddie nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Sounds like a good idea."
With Maddie's questions answered, the discussion shifted to pleasant small talks and lighthearted banter between the two friends. They talked about their past experiences, their life as children, and of course about their own children.
"Do you have a name for your child?" Asked Maeve.
The pregnant basitin nodded with smile. "I've decided on James if it's a boy. And Jane if it's a girl."
"Those are good names. But Jane sounds a lot like your mother's name Jade."
The basitin nodded again. "Yep. I figured if it was a girl it should have a name similar to my mother, but also because my 'little one' seems to be taking after my mother. There's more Jade than Maddie growing inside me, and I'm more than happy with that. Because that just means I'll have a very strong child." Maddie giggled. The respond made her friend's tail wag for sharing the same opinion, and she then came up with a fun little idea.
"Wanna compare size?" Her friend raised an eyebrow.
"Compare sizes of what?"
"Our bellies, of course. I want to see who is the bigger mother." She then got up from the bed and stood a few steps away and waited for a respond.
Maddie simply shrugged to herself and stood up, figuring there'd no harm in comparing belly sizes between friends. "Where should I stand?" Asked Maddie. She was gestured by Maeve to stand next to the feline, and while Maddie walked over, the snow leopard grabbed the lower part of the nightgown and lifted it up so that she have less to pull up for the full reveal, and her friend did the same.
"You ready?" Asked Maeve.
"Yep." And their nightgown was lifted up almost at the same time and revealed their big bellies to each other. They both starred closely at the other's belly and trying to find out who was bigger, which was a bit difficult as any movement threw off the comparison.
"I think. Yes, I'm bigger. Yay!" said the happy snow leopard,
while Maddie, surprisingly, looked a bit grumpy over having lost. "Yeah yeah. But I still have the bigger child, so I'd say it's a draw."
Which Maeve agreed on with a nod. "Sure. Can't beat that." And they both smiled.
But then the pregnant basitin noticed something was... missing, on the snow leopard's pelvis. "Maeve. You're don't have any underwear on."
"Oh, I stopped when my belly began resting on my pelvis and thigh and made it difficult to get them off. Doesn't your belly do the same?"
Maddie hesitated on how to answer this. "It does, but. But you're showing your lady parts." The basitin's friend then walked over to the bed and simply took off her nightgown and threw on the bed, then turned to sit on the bed and show her form to Maddie. "What? What are you doing? Now you're naked and showing all of it. Why would you do that?"
The snow leopard looked somewhat confused at her friend. "It's what we keidrans usually do. Being naked is not an issue for us, even if we show our privates."
"Yes... But..." Maddie want to argue against it but hesitated as it would be against her friend, who was just doing what her kind normally does.
"Try it." Said Maeve.
"What?"
"Try it. Take off your clothes."
The basitin girl's cheeks turned cherry red at the suggestion.
"Come on, it's just us here."
"Maeve, I can't just take off all my clothes and act like it's normal. And I'd prefer to be naked only around my partner."
The snow leopard looked at her friend with big cute puppy eyes. "Please. Just this one time?"
"What if I just take off my nightgown?" Asked Maddie, hoping to get her friend to stop asking.
"Sure. Then you're almost naked."
The snow leopard's friend looked a bit grumpy. Even a compromise seemed like a defeat when put like that, but she did it anyway and took off her nightgown. "Satisfied now?"
A nod was given from the feline.
Maddie then went over to the bed and sat down, and placed the nightgown on the bed.
The slightly grumpy basitin had her arms folded after being pressured into taking off the nightgown. Her friend, however, was very happy the nightgown was off and took the chance to stare at the basitin's belly, with a happy tail wagging behind the feline and eyes following every movement of the 'little one' inside. Maddie couldn't but find the snow leopard's big and fluff tail cute.
"Hey Maeve, may I hug your tail?"
Maeve flicked her tail over to Maddie who then grabbed it and hugged it closely to the chest. Even nuzzling it. The little feline's cheeks turned red from the affection the tail was getting, then closed her eyes and focused on the sensation. She could feel Maddie's hand brush the soft fur, the cold nose pressing on the tail, and the basitin's breasts squeezed against the tail. The basitin's breasts? That reminded Maeve of something. "I almost forgot. I haven't taught you about breastfeeding yet." Said the feline keidran, and this made the basitin stop showering the fluffy tail with affection and now looked at Maeve.
"Breastfeeding? Is that important?"
"Is it. Babies can't eat normal food for a few months and will drink breastmilk instead."
Maddie let go of her friend's tail and looked down at her chest, then back to Maeve. "And how do I do that?" "Take off your bra and I'll show you."
This took the young basitin by surprise. "Maeve, stop pulling tricks on me." Said Maddie in a somewhat annoyed tone.
"I'm not. I need to show it."
"Then show it with your own breasts."
"And I would if I could, but this something you need to experience for yourself."
This slightly frustrated Maddie. First the nightgown. Now the bra? It was either that or risking not knowing how to properly feed her own child, even if it was a trick by the snow leopard. "Ok." The basitin said. Then hesitantly took off her bra and placed them on the nightgown, but not show her chest yet.
Maeve then got up and stood in front Maddie, then gently placed a hand on the arm that covered the basitin's chest. "May I? Asked Maeve.
The pregnant basitin sighed lightly and moved the arm away from her chest. "Be gentle with them. They're a bit sore." Said the somewhat embarrassed and blushing basitin.
"I'll be careful."
"So how do I breastfeed, then?"
The feline grabbed a tit, which caused Maddie to gasp and blush even more. "When your child is hungry, you hold it in your arms and bring it close to your nipple. This one." Running a finger over the sensitive nipple, causing Maddie to moan. The look on their faces was one of pleasant surprise.
"Sorry." Said the blushing basitin.
The feline keidran just giggled. "Anyway. The child will then suckle on the nipples and drink the milk. It can feel a little funny at first but you'll get used to it. And if your breasts are too sore, that means you have too much milk in them."
"So I should just feed my child all the milk I have?"
"The baby only drink till it has had enough. You can squeeze some of it out if they're very sore. Hold it like this." Maeve grabbed one of her own tits to demonstrate. She continued. "You hold it like this and then squeeze with you index finger and thumb close to the nippee." And milk trickled down on her hand.
Maddie watched carefully and then tried it herself. It took a few tries as her breasts were sore and a bit sensitive, but milk did eventually come out. "I did it. Uhhh... ew." Said Maddie before she wiped away the milk from her hand.
"And there you go. Just be sure to leave some for your baby."
The basitin nodded while still wiping away some of the milk.
After finally getting the milk off her hand and fur, Maddie then reached out for her bra.
"Wait." Said Maeve.
The basitin looked at her friend confused. "What is it, Maeve?"
"Before you put your bra back on. Uhhhhh... Could you try and walk around naked for a minute?"
Maddie's eye went wide upon hearing that. That was likely one of the last thing she ever expected to her from her friend. "What!? Why would I ever do that? Why would you ask me that?" Said the blushing red basitin.
"I know It's a crazy thing to ask. But I really think this will help you feel more confident while showing your body." This did not seem to convince the snow leopard's friend who was rubbing the bride of her nose.
"Maeve. I appreciate your help. But how would showing my body help me?"
"Like I said. More confident. I've seen you many times trying to hide your pregnancy when too much fur is showing, and you shouldn't be afraid of people seeing it."
"I know that. But I'm not going to act like I want people to see me naked or look at any revealing parts of fur." "Acting like you want people to look at you is quite different from simply being comfortable with people looking at you. We keidrans do it all the time."
"Maeve, I'm a basitin not a keidran. If I walked around naked, they will see me as a naked basitin and not a keidran."
The feline keidran then smiled. "Yet you're dressing like a keidran. You're not covering your ankles, the base of your tail, and you're allowing fur to show. Something a basitin would never allow."
Maddie's mouth was open yet no words came out, and a look of defeat could be seen.
"Come on. Just a single try." Said the keidran.
The basitin sighed in... Defeat? Or maybe she was just a bit warm from the suggestion and needed some cooling. "I guess you have a point. A single try, then. I still don't like it, though." The basitin then stood up and took off her underwear. "Damnit." Or at least she tried to. The huge belly was resting on the underwear's strings and made it difficult to take them off.
"Need help?"
"Yes, and please be quick before I change my mind." Which the snow leopard didn't want to happen, and so quickly knelt down in front of the huge belly on the basitin and helped get the underwear off, which then slid down Maddie's legs and landed on her feet.
Maeve stood back up and walked a few steps backward.
Maddie looked nervous and unsure on what to do next.
"You ok? Do you want to take them back on again?" Asked Maeve, but her friend shook her head in reply.
"J-just tell me what to do."
"Uhhhh... Walk from the entrance to your bed."
The basitin walked over to the entrance with unsure steps, each wanting to stop the whole thing, then turned around and walked over to the bed.
This gave Maeve a side view of the whole thing and could see that each step taken by her friend was more steady and confident than the last. "See? That wasn't so bad." Said the feline keidran who clearly enjoyed it.
"I... I guess."
"Now try and walk over to me." Maddie turned towards Maeve's direction and walked towards her, and the steps were much more stead and confident this time.
The snow leopard was mighty pleased to see her friend coming out of her shell so quickly.
After a few more steps the naked basitin stood fairly confidently in front of her also naked friend. "Huh. I guess it isn't so bad after all. Though the free flowing air between my legs feels weird." Said Maddie.
"I'm glad to hear it." The friends looked at each other with pleasant smiles, and their tails were wagging behind them. Maeve was very happy for her Maddie. She thought the basitin would never consider walking around in the nude and show her form, but was glad to have been proven wrong. Would this mean they'd walked together in the tavern without any clothes? Time would tell.
"OW!" But it would seem enough time had passed for someone to wake up.
"Is your baby kicking?" Asked Maeve.
"Yeah. Seems like it's wide awake now." And that could clearly be seen from the amount of activity and bulging on Maddie's belly.
"I think your baby is say hi to the twins."
Maddie giggled at her friend's comment. "And hopefully they will get the chance so- Wow, hey."
The snow leopard had pressed her belly against the basitin's.
"Now they can say hi."
The silliness made Maddie chuckle and facepalm. "There's never a dull moment with you around, Maeve." But then Maddie's expression began twisting and her hands moved to her belly.
"What's wrong?" No reply.
The basitin's face was now of one who was in great pain, enough that a tear was shed and ran down her cheek, and enough to bring the girl to her knees. "I Think... I think the baby is coming." Said Maddie with great pain in her voice.
"You sure?"
"Maeve, it hurts like hell. Yes I think the baby is coming." However, the pregnant basitin's friend did seem overly worried. "Maeve, what are you doing? Help." The feline knelt down and looked at the floor.
"There's no water on the floorboard. You're going through false labor pain."
"You sure?"
"I'm certain. Just give it some time and it will go away." And with little choice, Maddie waited for several minutes while in great pain the whole time. Shedding tears and sometimes begging it to stop.
"I think it's gone now." Huffed the tired basitin.
"I'm sorry, Maddie. I completely forgot to tell you about false labor pain."
"You forgot? How can you forget something like this." Said Maddie slightly angrily.
"I don't know why. Sorry." "Eh. Fine. Will it happen again?"
"Most likely. So long as water isn't running down your leg, then it's just false labor pain."
The basitin was not happy to hear that and let out a heavy sigh of frustration. "I can't wait till this is all over."
Hang in there, Maddie. It will all be worth it in the end.