Chapter 31 Pregnancy And Birth #3
Titan’s ire faded. He leaned in and whispered to Mathlin’s baby bump, “Hey there, pup. It’s me again, your other dad. I hope you’ve been good in there. Don’t kick your dad too hard! Or he’ll start telling me it’s my fault.”
Mathlin snorted, elbowing Titan. “It is your fault!”
“Oof,” Titan said, but he was grinning and pulling Mathlin snug against himself. “I definitely can’t wait for you to be born. Can’t wait to see who you take after. Hopefully your dad, because he’s amazing.”
“Hopefully our pup will take after you too, because you’re fantastic,” Mathlin said.
“Ugh, you’re going to make me gag,” Hamilton said. “This is too much sweetness for me.”
“So stop eavesdropping,” Mathlin and Titan said together—it wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last either.
“Pfft!” Hamilton said. “I’m going to draw fan art of these pickup lines and send them to their author. At least I know Dicky Mems loves it.”
Mathlin laughed, snuggling back against Titan. “Not long now,” he said, rubbing his belly.
“I can’t wait,” Titan whispered, kissing him again.
The day Mathlin went into labor, things exploded.
“What was that?!” Mathlin cried.
Titan growled and sniffed, looking around.
They had just returned to their cabin after a long day at Twin Buns; earlier, Jannie had gotten into a tub of frosting and smeared some all over herself.
But everything was cleaned up now, and Mathlin had been looking forward to an evening of Titan rubbing his swollen, aching feet.
Not the strange pops of small explosions that were still happening—both inside and outside the cabin.
“Stay back,” Titan said, handing Jannie over.
Mathlin frowned, keeping a few paces behind Titan but following him anyway.
The explosions seemed inconsequential. There was no destruction and no fire damage, just the faint puff of smoke where something had triggered the release of each explosion.
Pop!
One went off on the opposite side of the living room, sending out a burst of... confetti?
It had come from a little box on the wall. As the confetti fluttered through the air, a scroll unrolled from the box like a tongue, long and pink, with words written along its length.
“What does it say?” Mathlin asked.
“‘Pop goes the weasel, pop goes the cock! Pop goes the waving dick in my Master’s sock!’” Titan paused. “What the fuck?”
Mathlin wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think exploding cocks are very sexy.”
“You do think so, sometimes.” Titan’s voice dipped as he smirked.
Heat crept through Mathlin’s face. “Oh hush! Are the rest of the explosions like that? All of them are pickup lines?”
“We could bet on it, but you know what the outcome will be,” Titan said dryly.
“I don’t know of anyone else who would break into our cabin just to fill it with pickup lines and confetti. Wait. Is the confetti cock-shaped?”
Titan gave Mathlin a pointed look that told him what he already suspected. Mathlin waddled closer, snorting at the tiny neon dicks on the floor.
“Hamilton The Sixty-Ninth, you’re cleaning this up,” Titan said.
“But you haven’t read the rest of the pickup lines,” said Hamilton petulantly.
“We could read one more,” Mathlin said.
Titan sighed. “Fine, but you’re sitting on the couch first.” Without waiting for Mathlin to respond, he swept Mathlin off his feet and carried him over, setting him down gently.
Mathlin leaned sideways and placed Jannie on the floor. She promptly shifted into a kitten, wriggled out of her clothes, and scampered off. Wildcart chased after her.
Titan went around the cabin, collecting all the exploded boxes of pickup lines. He ducked out for a bit and returned with more. Then he piled them on the coffee table in front of Mathlin.
He was about to pick one out to read, when a contraction rippled through Mathlin’s belly.
Titan whipped his head around. “Sweetheart?”
“Contraction,” Mathlin said, panting. “That was a big one.”
Titan’s eyes widened. “O...kay?”
“‘M fine,” Mathlin mumbled. “It’s normal.”
“But I’ve never heard you sound like that before.” Titan came to crouch in front of Mathlin, stroking up and down his thighs. “Should I fetch someone? Ottis?”
“Ottis ran away, remember?” Mathlin smiled lopsidedly.
“Fuck,” Titan said, his brow furrowing. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
Ottis had run away with his pup not too long ago. Titan’s alpha brothers were chomping at the bit to chase him down, but their dads had forbidden them to.
“I’m fine,” Mathlin said, rubbing his belly. “I think—”
Something popped inside him.
“I think my water broke.”
“Your water what?” Titan squeaked.
“Popped!” Hamilton cheered. “Just like I said it would!”
Mathlin exchanged a look with Titan, bewildered. “The exploding boxes? I’m... not going to question it,” Mathlin said as his body went into another contraction.
“Sweetheart,” Titan yelped. He wrung his hands and reached out, cuddling Mathlin against himself. “What do I do?”
“Get the bed ready,” Mathlin said. “Lay down some towels. Tell the pack, but I really don’t want an audience.”
“Yeah, no, we’re not filling the room with wolves watching you,” Titan said dryly.
Mathlin snorted, then winced when his body clenched again.
Titan swore and rushed off, throwing open all the closets.
“We’ve talked about the birth!” Mathlin called after him. “There’s no need to panic!”
“I know, but it’s the birth of my pup! I’m gonna be a dad!” Titan grabbed their entire stash of towels and hauled it to their bed.
When he finally hurried out and scooped Mathlin into his arms, Mathlin said, “Well, Jannie’s your pup too.”
Titan almost tripped on the way to their bedroom. “What?”
Mathlin frowned. “You’ve been caring for her as your own all these months, Ti. She’s as good as yours, too.”
Titan stared, his eyes wide. “Fuck. All this time I thought... it was just a story we were telling our customers.”
Mathlin smiled and reached up, brushing his fingers through Titan’s hair. “You’ve been a great dad to Jannie. I want you to be her actual dad, too. That is... if you want.”
“Of course I want,” Titan replied, choking up.
He pressed a rough kiss to Mathlin’s lips, stealing his breath away.
It was only when another contraction rolled through Mathlin, that Titan broke the kiss and sat on the edge of the bed, cradling Mathlin in his lap.
“What do I do now?” he asked when the wave was over.
Mathlin panted. “Clothes off. It might go faster this time, it’s not my first.”
Titan scrambled to help him undress. Then he spooned Mathlin from behind, rubbing Mathlin’s swollen belly. “Will you tell me when you’re about to...?”
“Of course.” Mathlin tangled their fingers together, and Titan kissed him wherever he could reach.
“Mine,” Titan rumbled. He leaned away when Jannie and Wildcart chased each other into the bedroom. “Would you like them to stick around for the birth, or would you rather have the pack watch them for a bit?”
“Would the pack mind?” Mathlin asked. But he reached out for Jannie anyway. “Let me cuddle her first.”
“Hey, lil pup. Even though you’re not really a pup.
But you’re—you’re mine now, too.” Titan’s breath caught.
He scooped Jannie up and cradled her against his chest, looking a little overwhelmed.
Then he pressed a kiss to the top of her fuzzy head.
“Someday, when you’re older, you’ll call me Papa too, huh? ”
He grinned and handed her over to Mathlin, letting them snuggle. When Mathlin’s next contraction rolled around, Titan set Jannie in Wildcart’s cargo basket, and Hamilton took them away. He settled behind Mathlin again, strong and warm. Protective.
“You’re amazing,” Mathlin purred.
“So are you. You’ve always been amazing, and I’m blessed to have you as my omega.”
Mathlin shivered, snuggling his alpha harder. Then his body contracted again. “Soon,” Mathlin said. And he shifted into a black cat, still lying on his side.
Titan rumbled. He shrugged off his clothes and shifted into a huge grey wolf, wrapping himself around Mathlin on the bed.
Then, Titan began to lick him. He licked Mathlin’s face and chest; he licked down Mathlin’s side and over his swollen, furry belly.
“That helps,” Mathlin purred, stretching his limbs.
“Good.” Titan continued to lick him.
The contractions began to roll through Mathlin with increasing frequency.
“Is this where I tell you to push?” Titan asked warily.
Mathlin hissed.
“Sorry,” Titan yelped, licking Mathlin’s face again.
Mathlin pushed with the contractions, giving a low purr when Titan curled more tightly around him, so his warmth soaked into Mathlin’s back.
His alpha was here with him. Encouraging him. It was so much more than he’d had before.
Mathlin pushed and pushed, panting and biting the towels. Then, finally, something slipped out of him, bedraggled and dark gray.
Their kitten.
His heart skipped. Behind him, Titan sucked in a sharp breath. Mathlin shuffled closer to bite off the umbilical cord, before licking their kitten clean.
“You’re both so beautiful,” Titan crooned, scooping them both onto his chest. He had shifted back into a human, and his eyes were wide, his face bright with awe. “Little Frankie. Welcome to our family and pack.”
Mathlin’s heart swelled. He shifted back to a human and sprawled all over his alpha, gently cradling their newborn in his hands. “Hey, Frankie,” he murmured, stroking the kitten gently. “Everyone is so excited to meet you.”
Frankie yawned, nuzzling closer. Mathlin exchanged a look with Titan, both of them grinning so hard that he felt as though he could burst.
“This is perfect,” Mathlin said.
“Yes,” Titan murmured, leaning up to drop kisses all over Mathlin’s face. “You did so good, Math. I’m so proud of you.” He scooped Frankie up and kissed him too, ever so gently. He was such a perfect dad, and Mathlin couldn’t ask for more.
At the start of this, he had expected a job, and maybe some shelter. But what he’d found was a home and a family, and what was shaping up to be the best years of his life.
“I love you,” Mathlin blurted. “Like the sun and moon crashed together in a big bang, and all their sex juices flew everywhere to become stars in the sky.”
Titan laughed, his gaze ever so warm. “Love you too, sweetheart. I’d collect those sex juice stars, join them into a necklace, and present that to you as my token of love.”
Mathlin beamed.
Around them, a chorus of howls welcomed the new addition to their pack.