Aristocat Birth Story
"Mama, Mama," Berlioz exclaimed, "Is it true you're going to give us more siblings."
"Why yes my dear," Duchess replied, laying on her back, her belly bloated with kits, "They're all in here, in my belly, like you once were my darling."
The three kittens got all excited by this. But then they stopped as, one by one they each wondered something.
"But Mama," Toulouse asked suddenly, "If the kittens are inside you, how are they supposed to get out of you?"
O'Malley's eyes went wide, not sure how this question could be answered.
But Duchess remained well composed, "Why darling, these questions are too much for such young minds like yours, you'll know in your own time."
The kittens did not look satisfied with that answer.
"Well whatever it is," Marie replied finally, straightening her tail with pride, "I'm sure it's very ladylike."
O'Malley made a face, "Yeah, Ladylike... just not in the way you're thinking," he mumbled the last part to himself. Then, to war off any more questions, "Now off to bed you three, your mama needs to rest," and ushered them away.
Once they were gone, Duchess looked at O'Malley, "Sweetheart, whatever will we do? Three is already quite the handful," she chuckled.
"We'll manage somehow," O'Malley said, looking at her lovingly, memories of the day they met coming back to him clear. "You know, you're as beautiful as the first day I laid eye on you."
Duchess rolled onto her back to stretch, her underbelly incidentally showing in the process, round with all of their kits, and... well, O'Malley couldn't help but notice... all of her. "Really? You're just too sweet," she purred.
O'Malley blushed and she followed his expression, looking down at herself, and blushed as well. "I wouldn't change a thing," O'Malley replied.
Duchess chuckled, "Thomas, you're such a dear." Finishing her stretch she rolled back onto her belly, and lifting her head, gave Thomas a nuzzle on his cheek, "I'm glad I could share these kits with you."
Duchess was getting ready to go into labor and she paced the floor anxiously, feeling high on nerves.
"How you feeling?" O'Malley asked.
"Oh Thomas," said Duchess sitting down on the soft bed the Madam had made for her, "Last time I gave birth it was simply too much I thought I was going to die. I don't think I can bear to go through that again," she said somewhat mournfully.
"Don't worry," said O'Malley, "I'll be here by your side the whole time."
Duchess looked at him gratefully, but she couldn't get it out of her mind the memory of how much labor couldn't hurt.
"Well, seeing that you two are comfortable together," the Madam said, "I'll leave you to it."
And with that, she left the room, she was so glad she had she had O'Malley to be there for her, she couldn't watch her darling go through that again, she was getting too old for this.
Duchess felt a tightening in her stomach as the start of the labor began to come on, she started to panic. "Thomas, I'm not ready for this," Duchess said.
"It's going to be fine," O'Malley encouraged.
But just then, the first contraction gripped Duchess and she let out a painful cry, hunching her back and throwing her rear into the air.
"Perhaps I spoke to soon," O'Malley mused to himself, "Okay, what's happening, how can I help?"
"Thomas, I don't think I can do this," Duchess said.
"Of course you can," said O'Malley.
But then another contraction struck Duchess and she cried out once more, "Dear Heavens, please help me!" The pain was worse than she remembered and she began to panic, "Dear Heavens, no no no!" And then the pain increased sharply and Duchess yowled in agony.
Thomas could only be there for her, hoping it'd be over for her soon.
"What do you think is happening up there?" Berlioz asked, looking up the stairs to where their mother was giving birth. The three of them had been instructed to stay down here until it was over, and couldn't help but be curious about what was going on up in that bedroom.
"It's a lady's business, and a lady's business it should stay," Marie replied with conviction.
Toulouse looked at her, "O'Malley's up there," he replied.
"Well that's different," Marie replied, "Because he's in love with her and that's romantic," she said fluttering her eyes dreamily, "he's not just any common tom-cat like you," she glared at her brothers.
Suddenly, Berlioz's ears pricked, he listened a moment... "I think I hear yowling."
Marie looked at him, "No, you can't have."
"Well, that's what I hear."
"A lady does not yowl," Marie said confidently, but she began to feel uncertain.
Toulouse started to listen too, after a moment, he looked at Berlioz. "Mama?"
"No, you're wrong, you're making stuff up," Marie replied indignantly.
But Berlioz and Toulouse just looked at eachother gravely.
"Fine, I'll show you," said Marie jumping down from the cushion she was sitting on, "I'll show you a lady doesn't yowl." She jumped onto the first step and started to make her way up the stairs.
"Wait," said Berlioz, "Mama told us to wait down here."
But it was too late, Marie was already halfway up.
A lady does not yowl, Marie once again told herself.
But as Marie made her way to the nursing room, she couldn't deny the unmistakable sound of the yowls of a cat in unimaginable pain.
Marie stepped through the door of the nursery, and stalled at what was happening.
There her mother was, now half on her side, half on her back, lying there, yowling in pure agony, twisting at turning as sweat poured down her face.
"Oh dear! Oh gracious! Please make it stop!" Duchess cried.
"It's okay, you're doing fine," O'Malley said soothingly.
"No, I'm not!" Duchess cried. Then, "Oh no no no," Duchess fretted, feeling something coming on.
Suddenly Duchess' stomach gave a violent spasm, and she gave out a terrible screech, a word emitting from her mouth that no lady would ever dare to use. Instantly, Marie felt a wave of nausea wash through her as she saw right then and there the first kitten arrive into the world.
Marie gave out a cry and in an instant, fled the room as fast as her legs could carry her. Duchess, who was in a state of temporary release from her pain before the next kitten came looked up at the sound of her voice, "Marie, darling?"
How could she, she never used a word like that, especially in front of her kits. Then suddenly, the next contraction came and she yelped again, shouting the first word that came to her mind which just happened to be the last shameful one she had used.
"I'll take care of her," O'Malley offered, "You got this?"
Duchess was in so much pain, she could barely respond as O'Malley rushed out of the room after Marie. As he reached the door, he turned back to look at Duchess, "I'll be right back," he promised. And suddenly another contraction ripped through Duchess' body and she threw her head back and yowled horrifically, all thoughts of her daughter overpowered by unimaginable pain.
O'Malley winced, torn inside. Yeah, Duchess hadn't "got this". He hesitated before turning and heading out of the room after Marie.
I'll be right back, he promised to himself.
Marie stumbled into the kitchen, back legs moving awkwardly. She couldn't get the thought of what she had just seen out of her mind. Her whole back half experiencing a strange sensation as she couldn't stop imagining what I must feel like to have a kitten... come from you in that way.
She slumped forward and moaned, her legs clinching inward at the thought of the pain. She felt her stomach with her paws, lurching with queasiness, all of her down there, it felt wrong.
She got to her feet and began to pace, but had to sit down a moment later, tightening her back legs together close to her. It all felt wrong, she felt so wrong in her body, aspects of her suddenly feeling out of place on her, aspects of her she couldn't hide because they were just there.
Her whole face went red. Lady cats weren't like that, they were dignified and elegant and refined...
But even she couldn't ignore that even in the best of times, even a lady cat had... an embarrassing lady cat region. Most the time she could just ignore it, forget about it, except when she needed to use the litterbox (most embarrassing part of her life), but now, she couldn't stop feeling it, her whole embarrassing lady cat region feeling queasy, imagining what it must feel like to give birth. It was unladylike, indecent, no true lady would act like that, but now suddenly she knew, even the very act of being born now involved the most unladylike display of what could only be done by a lady cat. And yet no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she couldn't hide from the fact that being a lady... ALL ladies, even the most aristocatic, had an embarrassing lady cat region, she realized, thinking of all her role-models to exist ever.
Marie suddenly began to sob, was this what it meant to be a lady? It was all messed up. All her life she had prized herself on being a lady, now all of a sudden, being a lady felt like the most unladylike thing a lady could do. Was that how she was going to act when she had kittens of her own? And what about her mother, the purist picture of ladyhood, yowling and using bad language and doing all that stuff no lady would ever do. Her mother would never act like that, but yet Marie had seen it herself.
"Oh mama," Marie mourned.
"Marie? How you doing?" Marie looked up to see O'Malley sitting in the doorway.
"What's happening in there," she asked, tears suddenly pooling in her eyes, "What's happening to mama?"
O'Malley walked over to her and sat down beside her, he wasn't sure what to say, but he'd try. "You see, your mother is in lots of pain, and when a lady is in pain, she says things..."
Marie's eyes went wide, "All ladies act like that when they give birth?"
"You see, someday, you'll meet a young tom, and you'll fall in love, and..."
Marie began to back away in horror, her hair standing on end, the knowledge of the embarrassment of the whole lady cat region was bad enough, but actually acting like that... "Will I act like that?"
"Marie," tried O'Malley, "It's nothing to be ashamed of..."
"I don't want to act like that!" Marie cried as she fled the room in horror. As she fled down the hallways, she couldn't stop the indescribable feeling inside her at the existential dread that someday it'd be her, and not just her mother screaming those horrible things that no lady cat ever should.
O'Malley watched her go, not sure what he should do now. Maybe he should give her some alone time, this was a lot for a young she-cat to process (or any she-cat for that matter given how Duchess was apparently taking it), and as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't the most cut out for helping her through this situation. Maybe he should return to Duchess' side and be there for her as she continued through her litter, she really needed that right now. So taking one last regretful look in the direction Marie had fled, O'Malley stood up and returned back the way he'd come.
Duchess writhed on the floor yowling madly, she was in so much pain she barely remembered that O'Malley had abandoned her and why. Tears rolled from her eyes as she could hardly process her existence.
"Spare me," she cried, "Spare me."
But another contraction hit her and she jerked her back back, yowling all the harder.
She was in so much pain, she hardly noticed when O'Malley reentered.
"How are you doing sweetheart," he said, going up to her and sitting down beside her.
"Oh Thomas, please let me die," Duchess replied in a weak voice.
"It's okay, you're doing this," O'Malley soothed, "see, you already have four- five... how many can you fit in there?"
Before she could answer, another sharp contraction ripped through her and she cried out all he more, giving another curse in the process.
"Oh, I simply need to stop doing that," Duchess said when the pain subsided some, "words like that are so unseemly."
"Don't worry yourself," O'Malley said, "Just do what you need to do, okay, you will get through this."
This didn't help Duchess much through the panic brough on by her labor, but at least it was some comfort to have Thomas there with her through the whole thing.
Marie sat in the courtyard, mumbling to herself, trying to get her thoughts together. What was wrong with her? What was wrong with ladies? Nothing was connecting right in her mind, every thought was misfiring, not able to understand how everything she had seen and heard connected with everything she knew about herself and ladyhood.
"Are you okay?" Marie jumped, trying to cover herself up with her legs. She sat like this all the time, but suddenly it just felt weird. She suddenly understood why humans wear clothes, what were cats thinking not doing the same?
The cat who spoke was a handsome young Tom, one of the street cats that the Madame had invited to stay at the place, and he was very very handsome. Marie blushed and shifted her legs, not knowing what to say to such a handsome young tom. Oh no, she was starting to feel romantic right now, how could she feel romantic being in a state like this?
"Hey, are you okay," the Tom asked again looking at her in concern.
"Yeah I'm..." Marie went red, how could she ever speak again to a Tom like him knowing what she did about embarrassing lady cat- "My mom's in labor," she blurted out, "All ladies do it, and it hurts worse than anything you can imagine, and it's embarrassing, and when a kitten is born, they come from..." Marie took a deep breath, she felt a rush of words coming and she couldn't hold them back, "and all ladies have an embarrassing lady cat region, and ladies are... ladies have... when a lady gives birth..." And then, unable to contain it any more, she burst out in everything she was feeling, everything she was thinking about being a lady, embarrassing regions and all. Marie couldn't stop, the more she talked, the more and more embarrassed she got, and the more embarrassed she became, the more romantic this Tom's presence suddenly became to her. The Tom's eyes went wide, very much not sure how to respond to all that Marie had to say. Marie's face became very red, but still she could not stop, why did this Tom have to be so handsome!?
Finally, Marie threw her paws over her mouth, hunching down, trying to force herself to stop. Ladies like her weren't supposed to like blurting out all their embarrassing lady secrets in front of handsome young toms.
Oh no, she realized, holding her mouth tighter, realizing she also knew a few things about toms and that toms have their own embarrassing tom re-.
It wasn't until the Tom shifted awkwardly that she realized with the way she was hunched over, her hiney was poofing up in the air. She threw her paws over her eyes, no longer able to face this Tom eye to eye. She'd just let her hiney remain there, this Tom wasn't there, he didn't exist, and it certainly didn't matter if her hiney was poofed up in the air because he certainly wasn't there making her blush at the thought of him noticing it. Oh why did the thought of him noticing it make her feel this way?
There was a moment of silence, then, "Well, you seem very ladylike to me. I mean not because you just told me everything more than I ever needed to know about being a lady, but..."
Marie uncovered her eyes and looked up, "really?"
"Yeah," the Tom said, "I've seen you around the house, you seem very proper and ladylike. And everything that's not... that kind of suits you to."
"You think so?" said Marie, straightening up and shifting her legs.
"Absolutely," said the Tom, "You're cool the way you are."
Marie finally regained her feet under her, blushing. "Thank you," she said, a sense of calm flowing through her at these words, "but I think I need to go now." As weird as she still felt, she figured her mother was probably done giving birth to the litter by now, and though all thoughts of it made her feel awkward about her where-she-didn't-even-want-to-mention(-again, oh this Tom had already had enough of an earful about that), she did want to great her new brothers and sisters into the world.
"Aren't they so darling?" Duschess asked as she snuggled with her new kittens. O'Malley nodded his head proudly, and Toulouse and Berlioz stood by looking at their new brothers and sisters in awe.
Marie watched them in confusion, sure the kittens were adorable, sure she'd love them forever, there even seemed to be a small she-cat of the bunch who she could imagine taking under her wing and showing her everything she knew about being a lady, but Duchess just laid there, admiring her new litter, as if nothing had even happened. Wasn't she at all ashamed of what she had said, embarrassed about how the kittens got here in the first place. Marie knew she'd be, she could imagine no lady ever being able to live with themselves after saying some of those nasty words she had heard earlier.
Marie tried to feel pride in her new siblings, and in a way she did, but she couldn't just forget all she had learned about their process of getting here.
O'Malley noticed Marie watching them from the doorway, "Marie, how are you doing? Come meet your new siblings." He tried to sound cheery, but he still wasn't sure what to say to her or how she'd respond.
Marie stepped up and sat beside the others, looking at the new kittens. They really were cute, weren't they?
Duchess noticed Marie's expression, "Marie?" She looked at the other's, "Do you all mind if I have a moment with Marie."
O'Malley nodded, grateful that maybe Duchess would know what to say, "Certainly dear."
"Alone?" Toulouse asked.
"Yes dear," replied Duchess.
"But what about the new kittens mama?" Berlioz asked.
"Come on you two," said O'Malley, leading them out.
"But aren't the kittens going to hear?" protested Toulouse, "Why do they get to hear and we don't?"
As O'Malley finally herded them out of the door, he turned around and took one last loving look at his wife, and Duchess waved back to him sweetly. And with that, he was gone.
Duchess turned to Marie, "Marie, dear, I can't help but notice something is bothering you."
Marie bowed her head, "Mama, when you gave birth..." Marie shuddered, she didn't want to find fault in her own mother, but she just couldn't get it out of her mind, "You said things, horrible things, things no lady would ever say and... that's not how ladies should act."
Duchess looked at Marie sympathetically, "Oh Marie darling, I know it's hard for you to understand, but that's just the way things are with birth."
"But it shouldn't be," Marie said.
"No, it shouldn't," Duchess agreed, "but it is, and I don't regret a single moment of it if it's you that I have in the end."
"But Mama," Marie said, "You used words, words that you would never use before..."
Duchess shook her head, "You should have heard me when I had you three. I thought I would never live it down."
Marie just sat there, "But I don't want to speak like that. It's not ladylike."
Duchess tilted her head, thinking a moment, "Some cats do, some cats don't, every cat must deal with it in their own way, it's no use worrying about it until it happens."
Marie sat there a moment, then, "And I saw this Tom, he was one of the new cats here, and he was so handsome, and I... And I... I said everything there was to know about ladies to him! It was so embarrassing, and I wanted to stop myself, but he was so handsome, and charming, and I... and I..." Marie covered her eyes and squealed miserably with the embarrassment of it all.
Duchess just looked at Marie, trying to suppress a laugh, "Oh Marie, that just means you're a normal young lady," she paused a moment, "well I suppose it's not proper to say all that to a handsome tom you just met but, this Tom, as he nice?"
Marie blushed, "I-I guess."
Duchess looked at her amused, "I'm sure he was quite a charmer."
Marie blushed harder, "Mama, please..."
Marie fell silent a moment.
Then, "If toms are going to be so handsome, why do we have to have such embarrassing differences from them?"
"Oh Marie, you are just too much," Duchess laughed. Then, more thoughtfully, "I can't tell you why things are the way they are, but sometimes those embarrassing moments are some of the best parts." She thought of all her and O'Malley's moments and felt her own face turning red, but she felt it best to leave that all unsaid.
Marie flinched, "I don't understand." She couldn't help but feel the blush coming on her face, feeling almost like she did, why did that Tom have to be so romantic?
"You don't have to right now sweety," Duchess replied, "Maybe wait until you meet a nice tom who you really like and you decide to have kits of your own..."
"Like the Tom I met today," Marie asked blushing, unable to help herself as she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering.
Duchess was taken back a moment, "why don't you wait and see for that one dear," she chuckled
"Okay mama," Marie said, face flushed, shifting her paws awkwardly.
She felt no less the awkward than she had before, but certainly a little bit better. Her and her mother sat there a moment in silence, and a peace began to settle in as the newborn kits snuggled against their mother.
Finally, "Though he is a really handsome Tom, wasn't he?" Marie couldn't help but add.