FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part Two: Pre-Lay

Izuru and Gundham mostly stayed apart from each other in the den, Gundham sticking to his own nest, and Izuru settling for the one Javert had started to build him in one of the back chambers. His housemate didn't seem to be the warmest person, coming off as rather irritable and preferring to spend time with his hamsters rather than others. But that didn't bother Izuru at all. He preferred being alone.

And then his body started changing, and Gundham noticed. One day while Javert was doing his Clan duties, the mysterious man approached Izuru for the first time, stating "You're pregnant" as easily as one might say "The sky is blue."

Having just woken up from a nap, Izuru blinked at him blearily. "How do you know?"

Gundham motioned to Izuru's middle with a bandaged hand. "Look at you. Three weeks ago you were a walking skeleton. The rest of you is still too thin to be healthy, but yet, you have gained weight only in your abdomen. What else can explain that?"

Izuru paused, looking down at his stomach. Sure enough, there was a soft curve beginning to grow there, and his breath hitched as his situation became very real all at once. He was pregnant with a dragon's brood. Assuming he was three weeks pregnant, that he had conceived the first night he was there, he had a little over three months before giving birth.

He was not prepared.

Noticing his evident panic, Gundham frowned. "Do not stress, it will be bad for the growing children. You must stay relaxed."

Izuru swallowed heavily. "How. I am no parent. I cannot raise anything."

"That is why I am here. Should you find fatherhood unpleasant, I can always raise the brood alongside my own. Our periods of gestation should end around the same time." Gundham stared at Izuru evenly. "Is that fair?"

Izuru considered Gundham's words, and then nodded. "Yes. That is fair." He traced the curve of his belly with his fingers through the loose shirt he'd been given to wear.

"You will need an ultrasound, by now we will know whether you will lay eggs or birth Coatl kittens," Gundham continued. "And, also, to know how large your brood will be."

"What is the largest size?" Izuru asked.

"Six."

He sighed heavily. "Then it is likely six. My luck will make sure of that."

Sure enough, when Gundham dragged him to the medicine dragon, Fahdonsu, later that day, the ultrasound revealed what Izuru had suspected: there were six heartbeats on the screen, each one covered by a thin membrane that would harden into a shell.

Eggs. In three months time, he would lay eggs. The very thought embarrassed him, and Izuru crossed his arms around his middle when he returned to the den. Gundham seemed as though he was trying to reassure him, sitting next to him in the living room.

"The process of egg-laying is much easier than what I must endure," Gundham pointed out. "Admittedly, the eggs are large, but not at all like birthing a child. After the first, the rest will come easily. Live births take anywhere from one to twelve hours simply to dilate."

Izuru swallowed. Closed his eyes. "It is still unnatural. Strange. Whatever word you would like to use. I will not be pleased about this until the eggs are out of me and in your care."

"Fair." Gundham retreated back to his nest, and Izuru slunk back to his, feeling no better than he had before.

The weeks passed, and as they did, Izuru only became more of a recluse, more ashamed of the changes in his body. He gained weight quite rapidly, his pregnancy becoming apparent very quickly. Each egg would eventually grow to the size of an ostrich egg, and considering there were six of them, he knew he'd be huge by the time it came to deliver. He stayed in his nest, really only allowing Gundham to come see him, and Fahdonsu the medicine dragon when he needed to have an ultrasound.

He had barely even realized how much time had passed until Fahdonsu's final visit. By now, Izuru was quite gravid, but he was still a little surprised when the Fae dragon told him he could lay any day now. The eggs were ready, and would likely be laid within the next few days to keep them from hatching inside of his body. In which case, he could still deliver, but it would be a much more complicated process.

Even so, Izuru had no clue what to even expect as his due date inched closer. It wasn't as though he was like Gundham, who could feel the movements and kicks of his unborn offspring. Every once and a while, the eggs would shift inside of him, but that was as close as he got. So it really wasn't surprising when he didn't even realize he was in early labor and went about his usual routine of tending to the house and familiars that stayed outside.

Unsurprisingly, it was Gundham who realized something was up, and sought out his housemate in the nick of time. He found him around the back, watching over the small herd of Zeeba the Clan owned.

"You need to get inside and in your nest, now," Gundham said urgently. "Come on, we have ten minutes if we are lucky."

"What do you mean?" Izuru asked, voice soft and low. Yes, he'd been feeling strange, craving attention and touch all day, but he thought nothing of it, attributing it to hormones. "I feel fine."

"Of course you do, you are going to lay very soon. Now hurry, come with me back to the den. If you lay out here, the eggs cannot be moved." The tone of Gundham's voice told Izuru he wasn't kidding, so even though he still felt light-headed and strange, he followed him back inside and to the nest.

Almost as soon as Izuru entered the room, he gasped as an immense wave of pleasure passed over him, dropping to his knees in the nest as he shook.

It really was time, and he was entirely unprepared.