My Servant System

Chapter 1545: Chapter 1544: Another Celebration (2)

Kat PoV

With Mother’s hand in mine I guided her around the square as we danced together, taking this opportunity to talk as well as just be together ’alone’ for the first time in quite a long time; it was nice, and it felt even better since this was probably one of the first times ever that we had just been able to relax together.

’Growing up’ it had just been work work work, while before this move here to Arx Amator it had usually been broken up by how often one of us had to do something for someone else, so these moments were sparse and something we wanted to make the most of.

Right now though Mother felt the need to ’warn’ me about something as we danced, her voice steady yet quiet as we moved around the square slowly to the rhythm of the music, which just so happened to have Jasper strumming a lute and singing a nice, wordless melody.

“Earlier I asked if you knew anything about Caninekin babies… and you said no. Katherine, when I was pregnant with you the stress… because of the situation my condition wasn’t the best, and when I learned I was pregnant I… well… it was…”

She was struggling, both to word this and with the memory itself as she took a deep breath and looked away, a darkness creeping into her eyes before she just sighed and said “Caninekin very rarely ever only have a single baby, Katherine.”

Deciding to be direct with it, she looked back at me and nodded a few times as I asked “Then that means..?”, my eyes flickering between her face, her stomach and then my own; after a moment of letting that sink in, Mother finally responded, her voice a lot gentler now.

“That means that most likely you will have somewhere between three and five babies. If you want any ’proof’, you should just ask Kio how many she has every time she and the Sultana expand their family.”

“Then… when you only had me, was that..? Did you..?”

A bit of pain crept into her eyes as she nodded again, my Mother biting her cheek for a moment before saying “You should have had a few siblings, Katherine. When I learned that I was pregnant I was already on the run, and those following months were all… I honestly have always believed the Gods were blessing me when I actually got to keep you.”

She got closer and rested her brow against mine, her voice dropping and quivering slightly as she whispered “That was why I was so, so quick to accept something as serious as a Soul Bond between you and Jahi. I already lost two other babies… I couldn’t lose you too.”

The emotion in her eyes and in her voice had me ready to cry as well as we slowed down a little more, though after a moment Mother swallowed back her grief and instead smiled at me as she said “So that just means you get to have what I couldn’t, which is exactly what I wanted for you.”

I was still coming to terms with the fact that Mother had lost two babies and hadn’t told me before this, though after her more upbeat reminder I couldn’t help but pout at her as I said “Having multiple babies for my first ever pregnancy..? Up to five?”

Her smile widened as she added “That’s the average… When I was growing up there was a woman in the Pack who had eight children once… and one of my friends had six. Caninekin pups start out smaller than most other babies, and then after being born they grow a little faster. Something to do with how our lifespans worked and having the need to reproduce often.”

Now my mind was reeling at the fact that there was a possibility – no matter how slim it was – to have eight babies all at the same time, causing me to blanch and miss a step in the dance since I was so shocked.

Mother chuckled softly and reminded me “The average is four, to be exact. Most first time Caninekin Mother’s have three with their first pregnancy, but four is common too. Ah, and… well, I um… suppose this will make all three of your wives happy, but…”

Pulling away for a brief moment, Mother looked down and stared directly at my chest as she said “These are going to get a lot bigger… and heavier. Our bodies can tell when we have pups versus ’normal’ babies, and it produces the required milk quite accurately. So when you get closer to your due date…”

Her eyes lit up again before she smiled wryly, making me sigh and ask “What now? What other amazingly great information do you have for me, Mother?”, which made her chuckle as she said “You’ll be pregnant for four or five months.”

“What?”

My expression must have been comical since she laughed at that point, her lips curled into a very amused smile while her tail swished side to side lazily as she repeated “You’ll be pregnant for only four or five months. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

“No, not really. Now all of the changes in my body hit that much quicker..? Less time to adapt to having so many new lives relying on me?”

“Yes, well… it happens. You’ll adapt well enough too. You’ll also do better than I did, but that doesn’t really say much now does it? These are the main things I wanted to tell you, but um… there is more..? I just assume that is enough for now?”

Dragging in a breath, I gave her a dry look before I said “Three to five babies, four to five months from now… Plus my chest gets a lot bigger to compensate, and then there’s even more on top of that? Yes, we can talk more later… when I’m not feeling some dread at the idea of having that many babies at the same time.”