Summer Heat - Chapter 40: Twin-hatching

There was not much change after the heat of Sierah and Mara. After he returned to the big sleeping room where all the girls with the cubs were, it returned to the same situation like before their heat. It was Tara and Zina again who claimed the spot next to Zen most of the nights and generously most of the nights the other girls allowed them to sleep next to Zen. They all worked extra hard for the normal school material to make sure all girls would pass the next tests. It became a bit harder for the girls, now that the cubs slept with them, to rest enough and find the concentration to study, so that Mara, Zen and Paula decided, that they would return to the old system. The girls had to return to their room and, except for the weekends where there were no classes, the cubs went back to the cottage. At first it was hard to get used to this old agreement for the girls, but soon the young mothers adapted to the situation. Zen also decided, that only girls in heat would sleep with him in his room to be fair to everyone. This was much to the disagreement of Zina and Tara, but the girls accepted the decision and returned to the room, that they shared with Dott and Minna, if the girls were not sleeping in the cottage to help taking care of the cubs.

Another week went by and the process for all girls was good. Zen was pleased with the learning speed of them and even Minna and Dott sometimes took over a class and taught. They grew more and more fond to care for the cubs and the girls and teach them and as a bonus they got time with Zen, who they started to admire and love. One day, Paula approached Zen with news. "Zen, I think you should give Samantha a bit of free time so she can be at the cottage in the next week." Zen was surprised. "What happened? Is she ill?" he was a bit worried. He did not notice anything wrong with the girl this morning but Paula did not suggest something like this before, so he was concerned it was something serious. "No, have you forgotten already? Her eggs are still in the cottage and from the signs on them I think they will hatch in the next week." Zen was nervous directly, the same way he was when one of the girls was due to give birth. "Sure." He just said and left it to Paula to inform Samantha. Zen also was not very attentive in the next week but all the girls knew why and after two days, Mara decided that he should also take a break and join Samantha in the cottage. He should help with the cubs while Dott and Minna helped her to hold the classes. After a bit of negotiation by Mara, Paula and Lena, he agreed to it and spend most of the day at the cottage. Samantha was happy about this, because she had hours alone with Zen now and both got very affectionate while Paula, Lena and Bertha, who mainly cared for the cubs, left them alone most of the time.

"Say, did you ever witness the hatching of alligator cubs?" he asked the girl, while they were laying in a bed next to the one that warmed the eggs. He caressed the leathery skin at her belly and she had her head placed on his strong chest and the eyes closed. "No, it is very rare for our kind to have cubs, or so I heard. I never saw any other alligator except for my mother, my father and my aunt that visited us once." The girl replied. "It is no easy for us. My parents tried to make sure I do not notice, but actually they both work hard and they are facing some harassment because of their race." Zen caressed the chest of the girl and her belly at the same time which made Samantha moan happily. He knew that reptilian species were rare and that there was some negativity towards them, but he never knew that there was open harassment against them. Before he met Samantha, he only had seen a picture of an alligator at school when they were talking about the species living in Pan. "I am sorry." He said and hugged the girl while continuing the caressing movements with his paws. "I promise you, that we will never let you or your cubs face this here." He whispered and the girl giggled. "I know Zen. In school, before I came here, it was okay at first, but the year before my parents sent me here, it was very bad. Some jerks at my school always picked on me. At first I thought, that they just picked on someone at random, but later I found out, that their parents were anti-reptile believers who think that we are all scary and brutal beasts. This is why they ruffed me up and the school looked away because they were afraid to voice that there was this kind of things going on at their school."

Zen was shocked. "How could they. Did your parents at least act?" "There was not much they could do. They went to school and talked to the teachers, but they said it was me who picked a fight with the boys and that it was nothing more than a normal quarrel between children. I somehow managed to finish the school year, but in the last week, I came home with bruises and wounds, because they went extra hard on me and even the brothers of my classmates helped them. None of my other classmates helped me and after that I did not want to return to that school." Zen softly caressed over the head and arms of Samantha. "My poor little toothy." He said in an affectionate matter and Samantha opened her eyes to look up to him and show her pointy teeth that earned her this nickname. "It was hard, yes. I somehow got the graduation, even though my grades were bad. I think the school tried to bribe my parents into not making a big deal out of it. We kept quiet, also because it was not good to draw too much attention to us. The parents of these pupils were in the company of my father and part of the group that harassed him. The tricky thing with this was, that without anyone to witness it or to speak on our behalf, they do not believe us because of the sentiment they have against reptiles. If my father would get rough with them, he would just play into their hands and they could argue that he is a brutal beast and needs to be restraint. Therefore, my parents decided to terminate the contact with that school and looked for another school where I could go." Zen nodded and Samantha closed her eyes again. "It was only by chance, that my mother heard about this school here. She was a report in the newspaper about the results of the exam and that this school was preparing girls for the life after the school. She proposed it to my father. He was not very fond of the idea at first, because he was afraid that I would be bullied here as well and that they would not even get any word about it or able to help me." Zen nodded again. Being a father himself now, he could understand that her father felt very protective about Samantha and with his experience it was natural that he would fear his girl would be in danger. "But in the end..." Samantha continued, "... he agreed to at least check out the school and go to the parental meeting. The argument of my mother, that the bullying and brawling in the other schools had always just been by boys and this school was an all-girls school, convinced him that this school might be worth a shot before sending me to some other school close to our town. This is how I arrived here and your speech and the speech of Mara made them feel good about the school." Zen smiled. "I bet they would not be too pleased if they knew what I did with you, right?" he asked and Samantha giggled. "Well, my father would to at least admit that this is far better than how others treated me in my old schools, but I would prefer to not tell him. I do not think he would see you the same way he does now after hearing that you are the father of my cubs." Zen kissed her. "I would never allow anyone to treat you badly here." He whispered. "I know." Replied the alligator girl. "What did your father say, after you returned from school this summer?" Zen asked. He always liked it to hear more from the home of his girls and their parents. "They were overjoyed when they heard me talking about the school with happiness. They felt that I really liked it here and that no one is bullying me. After I told them, that this is the best school I ever went to and that I have a lot of friends, they hugged me and promised me that I could go here as long as I would like to. Even if the school would start to charge for it." Zen softly ran his paw over her cheek and he could see the skin turning a bit darker under his touch. "You do not need to worry about that. You know I would never charge any parent for this school. But I am happy that our accident turned out to be a blessing for girls like you." He mentioned. He just noticed, that he did not tell them the story of why the school was created in the first place. But he had time. He took the time to tell Samantha the story of the founding of the school and she giggled when he told her about his first mating and how he did not know that this would impregnate his sister and Mara as well as Lily.

At the end of his story, a sudden cracking noise from the other side of the room had both of them raise to a sitting position. It only took them three seconds to jump out of the bed and be at the other bed. Something moved under the cover and Zen carefully pulled the cover up. He pressed the button at the wall, that they installed in all the rooms for the pregnant girls to make sure they could call for Paula. The beaver and her friend Bertha were with them at the moment, the shell of the first egg completely broke and a small head pushed out of it. Samantha carefully helped the cub to get out of the egg and pressed it to her chest before she reluctantly gave it to Paula. The experienced doctor had warm water prepared and bathed the cub while she checked the health. "A healthy boy." She said after a short examination and she gave him to Zen. "Congratulation you two. I hope the second one will be as healthy. Bertha, can you get me the bed for them?" Zen knew the bed for them good. He crafted it himself with the instructions of Paula and soon Bertha came into the room with a box that had walls all around and soft pillows and covers and an infrared light to hold them warm. When the second egg started to move, Zen carefully put his son into the bed and looked at the second cub fighting its way out. It took ten more minutes before the second cub, helped by Samantha, was free, bathed and placed next to its brother. Paula said, that she was a girl. The boy had a darker color and black dots around his eyes, while the girls had a lighter color and a blue spot on her head. "What do you want to call them Samantha?" asked Paula, without regarding Zen. In the past, Zen had named some of the cubs, but this time Paula did not even let him a chance to voice his opinion and Zen did also not interrupt the girl who now spoke her mind. "The boy should be named Zorro and the girl Zaphira." She said after looking at her cubs with dreamful eyes. She had not been overly affective with the eggs but for the first time she now looked like a mother. Her love for the cubs and that she would protect them to the end was clearly visible in her eyes. "I think they fit well." Said Bertha. Zen could do nothing more than nod and hug the mother. "They are just as gorgeous as you are." He whispered with a smile and Samantha giggled while she returned the kiss of Zen, who pressed his lips on hers. Paula reached Samantha some paste that was in a bowl. Zen knew that there was mixed meet in it that was mashed to enable the cubs to eat it. They used similar food for the girl of Katherine. "Make sure to wet them every few hours Samantha. It is important for their immune system to be in the water regularly and warm up afterwards." The alligator girl nodded while she started to feed her little cubs with small pieces of mashed meat. They were so small that Zen could have held both in one paw. He wondered how they would grow as big as Samantha some time. Paula seemed to have caught on Zen's gaze. "Don't worry. They will grow faster than you think in the next months." And with a smile on her lips she left the room with Bertha to look for the other cubs. Zen stayed with Samantha until all the other girls visited them. Paula and Bertha made sure to only let in two at the same time to not overstress the young mother and the little ones. They all smiled at the small cubs and Samantha beamed in joy and pride when they told her how cute her cubs were and congratulated her and Zen for the new addition to the big family at the school. No one complaint when Zen decided to stay with Samantha this night and they watched over their young together. Zen noticed that alligators were much less difficult to handle than other cubs. They rarely woke up at night and only needed food once a day. The only work they had to do was making sure that they got into the water three times a day.