In fact, there was a lot he wasn’t sure about involving birth, and Tivar didn’t know shit. When Lumi had read about the process of abundant males, it had been years ago. Also, the book had been meant more as a primer for young abundant males who'd had their first heat and simply wanted to know how the basics of pregnancy and birth worked for them.
Tivar hadn’t bothered to get him pregnancy books.
The dull ache lasted all day, and it was more annoying than painful. Tivar was snoring away around midnight when Lumi’s real pains started. They weren’t too severe, and since he had long breaks between each bout, he tried to sleep so he could skip them. Anxiety kept him awake. The baby seemed lower, and its movements were regular, so he assumed everything was fine so far.
Around four, they grew a little worse, and a sudden gush of liquid from his rear wasn’t pleasant to say the least.
“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath. He sat up and kept his tail out of the way as more trickled out, and he waited until he thought it was done before he carefully got up.
Two sheets were now ruined. He pulled them off and placed two other clean sheets on his side. While he wiped himself with a rag, the baby shifted. He wanted to sing to his belly because he wondered if the baby was scared too. Did it know it was about to leave the home it had spent nine months in? He remained quiet since Tivar would be pissed if he was awoken by Lumi singing.
When the skylight lightened, he checked himself by feeling around his asshole. He knew he wasn’t dilated enough, and the baby certainly wouldn’t be sliding out soon. It was hard to staystill when a contraction gripped him, and he let out a groan partly from the pain, and partly because fucking Tivar had slept all night without a care in the world.
Tivar shifted and grunted. “What? What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m in labor.”
“Oh. When is it going to come out?”
Lumi glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t know.” How would he know? He flinched when he felt Tivar’s hand on his ass cheeks.
“Your hole’s gaping like I just fucked you.”
Because that was what Lumi wanted to hear. “It started around midnight. My water broke a bit later.”
“That’s normal, right?”
“I guess.”
“Does everything seem normal?”
“I think so.”
“You’d know if you’d given me heirs earlier.” Tivar sighed and got up. “I guess I won’t be sleeping anymore.”
Boohoo. At least he'd gotten decent sleep. Lumi wisely kept his mouth shut.
The contractions came every twenty or so minutes and lasted for about ten. He didn’t know if it was normal or not, and male pregnancy wasn’t quite the same as a woman's. Besides, not everyone is the same, so one abundant male’s experience could differ from another, right? He couldn’t remember much of what the book said about contractions.
Tivar made sure he had water and hung around. By noon, Lumi wanted someone who could actually help and knew what they were doing.
“Can you get a midwife from Lilling?” Lumi curled up on his side.
“Absolutely not.” Tivar, who’d been sitting by the windows, had eaten an early lunch, uncaring of the discomfort his baby maker was dealing with.
“Tivar, please. It’ll-”
“How am I supposed to explain why you're shackled to the bed?”
Luke lifted his shackled wrist and shook it to make the chain rattle. “Take it off. Say I’m a friend or something. Make up a lie about who I am and say you’re giving me a place to stay. I'm impoverished and-”
“I’d never take off the chain and let you have free roam.”
“Like I could run away in this state. Naked, with regular contractions, and a baby about to slide out of me at some point?”
“I’m not taking the chance.”
“I don’t want to run away. I want more children with you, and how would this one live out there in the cold with nothing?” Like he’d risk running. Tivar would take the baby and make sure Lumi died a slow, painful death even if he succeeded in getting out. “Please! Get a midwife in case something goes wrong. You’re going to say your Mistress died in childbirth, and what if I actually die? The baby could die along with me too. Your heir won’t be of any use dead.”
