1.09: Welcome to the Family

So this one isn’t quite as long as I’d like it to be.  But I wanted to end on a certain point.  So sorry for slight lack of content, but hopefully next week, I’ll have a longer update ^^

“Hey Mama!  How you feeling today?” Yoshi asked as he passed his mother in the hallway.

“I’m ok, baby.  Little sore yet.  I was just coming up to check on you.  You want some breakfast?  Your Papa is making some French Toast now.”  Camron had just gotten home from work a couple hours ago.  He enjoyed making breakfast for the family before he went to bed for the day.

“Woo!” Yoshi exclaimed.  “I love French Toast.  Dad makes the best, hands down!”

Mulan laughed and ruffled her son’s hair.  “Yes, yes he does.  Your Mama can handle eggs and toast, but that’s about it.  That’s why your daddy is the cook in the family.”

Her son giggled and nodded.  “Yeah, I know Mama.”  His mama was amazing and could do a lot of different things, but cooking wasn’t her strong suite.  “How’s the baby, Mama?  Can I touch them?”

“Of course you can, baby.  You don’t need to ask me ya know.”

“I know, but I like to,” he said with a smile.  He put his hands to his mother’s stomach.  “Hey in there.  It’s almost time for you to come out.  I can’t wait to play with you.  I’ll be the bestest big brother ever!”

Tears pricked at the corners of Mulan’s eyes.  Oh, how had she gotten so lucky with such a sweet boy as Yoshi?  She couldn’t help the sniffle that escaped.  Yoshi looked up at her, concerned.  “Mama?  Are you crying?  Is something wrong?”

She let out a little laugh.  “Oh not at all, baby.  Everything is perfect.  Sorry, your Mama is being silly.  I’m just so happy, baby.  I love you.”

Yoshi smiled up sweetly at her.  “I love you too, Mama.”  Mulan leaned down to give him a hard hug.

She kissed the top of her son’s head.  Yoshi looked up at her, grinning.  “I’m gonna get dressed, get some of that French Toast, then go out and play!”

“Sounds like a plan, baby.”

He scampered off, Mulan watching after him with grin and those tears of happiness in her eyes.

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“Hey son, how was your breakfast?”

Yoshi looked up from the computer game he’d been playing after he’d finished his breakfast.  He grinned at his dad.  “It was great!”

Camron grinned.  Done with his game, Yoshi leapt up and ran outside to the monkey bars that his parents had had installed not long ago to give him someplace to get out some of his energy.

Wolf: Having fun there, champ?

“You bet, Wolf!  Watch this!”  He proceeded to show off for his Watcher as he raced across the monkey bars.

Mulan changed her clothes, preparing to sit down to do some work on her computer.  But she just stared at it for a long moment.

Wolf: Wow.  I uh… hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means…

“What?  What are you talking about?” Mulan asked.  “Look, I know I’m huge.  I feel as big as two whales, already.  I don’t need your commentary on it, alright?”

Wolf: Right… yeah, forgot, hormonal pregnant woman.  Sorry, Mulan.  I didn’t mean anything by it.  Just that… since the last patch there have been a-  Wolf’s voice trailed off as she began to mumble to herself, something about patches and some kind of a chance sky-rocketing.  The truth was, Mulan wasn’t in any shape to decipher her Watcher’s ramblings.  She had so much work to do and no mental capacity with which to do it.

Camron was working on preparing some spaghetti for dinner that night.  He liked getting a lot of the prep work done first.  Mulan joined him at the island, letting out a sigh.

He looked at her.  “You look done in, love.  When I go to sleep, you should come and join me for some shut eye.”

Mulan nodded.  “That sounds like a good idea to me.  I’m beat.  I wasn’t this bad with Yoshi, I don’t think, was I?”

“At times, but you seem to be more tired this time around.”  He came around the island and stood next to her stool.  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.  “I’ll finish preparing the sauce, then we can head to bed, ok?”

Mulan nodded gratefully.  She was ready for this pregnancy to be over.  It was true that she didn’t mind being pregnant, but the constant energy drain this time around was difficult on her.  That, and she wanted to hold her baby.  “Would you check on Yoshi before you come to bed?”

“Of course.”  Camron threw on some clothes so he could go out to let Yoshi know that they were going to lay down for a bit.  “Your mom’s pretty today, but she said she’d be up in a few hours so if you wanna go to the park, she said she’d take you.”

Yoshi grinned at Camron.  “That’s great dad!”

Camron ruffled his son’s hair, then went to join his wife.

Mulan felt like she had only just managed to close her eyes when she felt something give way inside her.  She sucked in a breath and stood up.  That’s when the pain began.  She was in labor!  But she wasn’t due yet!  This was too early!  She let out a yell as a particularly bad contraction ripped through her.

That woke Camron up and he was in quite a panic.  “Mulan!  What is it?!”

“I’m in labor!” she snarled.

“What!?  But it’s too early!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands to his head.

“No kidding!” she snarled, then let out a wail.  “B-but it doesn’t seem to matter!  The baby is coming!”  Camron panicked.  He had no idea what to do.

After she let out another cry, Camron took a deep breath.  “Should we go to the hospital?”

“N-no.  Don’t think I’d make it.  I-I’m going to go to the nursery.”  Still letting out a short scream every few moments, Mulan toddled her way to the nursery.

Upstairs, Yoshi was looking at the giant stuffed dragon his parents had gotten for him.  He hugged the big dragon.  “Dad says Mom’s having the baby now,” he whispered to his friend.  “S-she’s doing a lot of screaming.”

She was, indeed, doing a lot of screaming.  She stood beside the bassinet that had been taken from storage, alternating between moans and full out screams.

After a few hours of labor, Mulan felt the pressure ease considerably and in a shower of sparkles, Leonidas Rampart was born!

Except… well, no sooner had she settled little Leo into his bassinet than she felt another contraction!  “CAMRON!” she screamed.  “There’s another one!  ANOTHER ONE!”

After another couple hours of labor, Mulan could lay little Alaric Rampart next to his twin brother.

Mulan could only stare for a long moment.  Twins… she’d been carrying twins!  No wonder she’d been so tired.  She had been carrying two the entire time!

Wolf: Yup, knew it because of the last patch.

“What are you talking about?”

Wolf: Eh, it’s not important.  Congratulations, dear.  They are beautiful boys, regardless.  And hey, at least you got it all done in one go, right?

Mulan said nothing to that, afraid what might come out of her mouth at that moment.  But looking at her two boys, a tender smile crossed her face.

Welcome to the world, Leonidas and Alaric Rampart!

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