We were expecting our pregnancies to last about nine months, give or take a few weeks but our babies had other ideas. They all popped out at the five-month mark, quite unexpectedly.
Avery was the first to give birth. We were just hanging out in the town square when she started getting cramps. They got painful fast but thankfully, the labor wasn’t very long. A few screams, a couple of stabbing cramps, and a lot of pushing and the baby slid out.
I was right there, getting my hand crushed as Turic was between her legs delivering the baby. Avery wasn’t so happy when she looked up and the whole village was standing there, watching with wide turquoise eyes.
She quickly let that go when Turic handed her a beautiful baby girl. She was big for a human baby with light blue skin and a perfect mix of facial features that were half human and half Roka.
Turic had begged to name her Kulag after his mother, and after a lot of bargaining and foot massages, Avery agreed to the horrible name.
“It means flower in the Roka language,” she explained to me, “and Turic promised that he would change every dirty diaper if I agreed.”
“Oh, Avery,” I had said with a chuckle. “Some people never change.”
“What?” she said, sticking her tongue out at me. “I’ll just call her Katie.”
Rolanda was next, giving birth to a beautiful boy who had the same light blue skin tone as Avery’s baby. He was a healthy baby born during the middle of a hunt. Pontuck and her were the only ones around and she said the pain wasn’t too bad, although her pain tolerance was always higher than ours.
They named their baby Sartonia after Pontuck’s great grandfather who was the chief of the village back in his day. Rolanda didn’t mind about the strange name. She was just so thrilled to have her child.
I was lying in bed with Straykeer, falling asleep as he gently stroked my hair when I started to get cramps. I knew it was coming, I could feel it.
Straykeer helped me push through it after calling for Avery and Rolanda. They helped with the painful delivery, encouraging me along until I managed to push the baby out. Rolanda caught it and Avery was ready with clean furs to clean its tiny body and keep it warm.
That moment when she handed me my little boy will always be cherished close to my heart. A tear slid down Straykeer’s cheek as he looked at the little sleeping baby and in that beautiful moment I knew that everything would work out. I spent the night stroking my baby’s soft blue hair as he slept on my chest feeling more grateful than I ever have before.
We named him Jack, a name that I’ve always loved. Straykeer nodded when I said it.
“It’s a powerful and mighty name,” he said, tilting his head as he considered it. “The powerful Jack will be a mighty and ferocious warrior just like his father.”
I cradled him to my chest and breathed in his sweet scent, already worried about him going out into the world and being the warrior that his father claimed he would be. I just wanted to hold him to my chest and protect him forever.
It’s been five months since I’ve given birth and our baby is fully alert and loves watching me as I dance around the room while singing eighties songs to him. He bobs his head and wiggles his toes as he smiles at me. I love him so much! I could squeeze those cheeks for hours.
“Look at that face,” Avery says as I meet her and Rolanda in the town’s square. She leans over him and smiles. “He’s so goddamn cute! A baby blueberry that I just want to eat up.”
I pull him away with a laugh. “Eat your own blueberry,” I say with a giggle.
She turns and smiles when she sees four Drandroka males leaning over Kulag, trying to make her laugh by making funny faces. It turns out that the Drandroka males absolutely love babies and our three kids have become quite the celebrities in the village, attracting gushing crowds whenever we bring them out.
I was worried that the rough and tough Drandroka would be harsh in their parenting styles but they have turned to complete mush since our babies have been born.
Straykeer explained that the village was in desperate need of some young life since all of the female Sandroka got abducted by aliens all of those years ago.
I shivered when Straykeer told me about the dreaded day when the males were out for a group hunt. When they returned there were flying caves in the sky and all of the Sandroka were missing. Straykeer was just a toddler back then but he knew the story well. The elders had made sure that they never forgot.
“My girl is going to have the choice of two hot guys when she’s older,” Avery says as we look at the three babies lined up on the fur blanket. Kulag is lying in the middle of the two boys, waving her hand in the air.
“With a name like Kulag, I don’t think they’ll be interested,” I say with a laugh. I’m always teasing her about that.
“Her real name is Katie,” Avery says defensively. “Just don’t tell Turic that.”