A Heart’s Embrace

Weeks passed. The Doctor's hut was nearly indestructible now, ensured with concrete. They even had Roman and Blizzard brutally testing it out. Other than that, they were helping to perfect the team attack drills Logan was inventing.

Crystal came running out of nowhere. This distracted Jay of course, and Brian instantly took advantage, throwing him to the ground. "Oh! I'm sorry hun… But I need to speak with the two of you urgently." Brian gave her a curious look, while Jay groaned and sat up trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. "Okay. What's up?" Brian asked as they stepped off to the side of the battle commotion. She put her paw on Jay's shoulder and looked at Brian. "I'm pregnant." "Are you sure?" Brian asked. "Uhh, yeah. I've been pregnant before. Pretty sure I know what I'm talking about." At first stunned, Jay replied, "I didn't think that was possible." dragging his attention to his brother. "They basically castrated me." Brian sort of chuckled and said, "Well, we'll definitely have to run some tests on you both." He whisked them away discreetly to his hut. Even with the minimal blood flow, everything apparently checked out on Jay's end. The doctor then moved onto an ultrasound on Crystal. He sighed and said, "Well, great news!" he exclaimed. "You both are having a son! Congratulations." Crystal gave a small gasp and then smiled beyond joy at Jay. He was breathing heavy with mild panic, but was grinning ear to ear.

With this news, Jay spent the next month overdoing everything for Crystal. Never alone, never hungry. He was fretting over her and how he was going to do everything perfectly. She had had enough. "Jay! Look, I love you, but your hovering over me is really incessant. "I know you're nervous, but I'm perfectly safe and capable of doing most things, at least for now. You go and train for the battle to come. Right now that's the best way for you to keep all of us safe. I promise I'll still be here when you get back. All I am going to do is go catch up with my mother about her pregnancy and then most definitely take a nap." Jay sighed. "Fine, fine, okay. I'm sorry." He kissed her on the head and walked off towards the training grounds.

Crystal sighed, finally getting some peace. Her mother Nala wobbled over to her, one month more plump than she was. "So you finally got him to leave eh? I'm lucky Logan is super focused on beating that dragon. He knows I'm safe right now and well looked after by the entire clan." "Oh, I think Jay is in some way trying to make up for not being there last time, though he's got absolutely nothing to prove. I also think perhaps maybe he just wants to not miss a single moment of this experience." Crystal paused and then chuckled "I never thought I'd be pregnant again." "Ha. It's been forever since I've had a kid. A least a decade. It's just being tired and hungry all of the time really." Yeah. I need a nap already." Crystal replied. "Where are Dawn and Dusk?" "Oh, they're just fascinated with watching the battle practice, trying it themselves, you know, learning how to fight." Crystal yawned and then so did Nala. They settled down right there and fell asleep.

The two of them later woke up to their husbands sitting and staring at them amusingly. Dawn and Dusk toppled into them a moment later. They were almost equally excited about being big sisters. Jay jumped in playfully and threw one to his father who blew a raspberry in her belly. They eventually let them up and both got worthy revenge punches from both Dawn and Dusk.

Another month went by, just as happy and stressful as the last. Everyone was gathered around the nursery; the new princess was about to arrive. Nala gripped ferociously at the ground and Logan's holding paw as she gave her final pushes. "Hello sister," Brian whispered as the cub gasped her first breath. Nala too was catching her breath while Logan was just speechless in awe. He was not only nervous about being a father again, but he had great fear of the unknown plans of the dragon to come, and his daughter's uncertain fate. He had been completely fatigued with worry for many weeks now that he looked almost as tired as Nala. Jay popped his head in the entrance and gazed in wonder at his new baby sister. "She's quite beautiful," he uttered. "...Looks like you're no longer the pretty one, brother." Jay laughed out. Brian simply smirked at him, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Welcome to the world little one," Logan finally whispered, gently touching his nose to her fur. "No one shall ever harm you while I'm alive," he continued. "Nor I," the two brothers said simultaneously. "So what's her name?" Brian inquired. "Korra," Nala sighed, letting out a yawn. The doctor gave a wave motion and shooed everyone out so she could rest. They said their goodbyes and went and chatted away with the pride about the glorious news.

Days passed as everything swayed back into an illusionary "normal." However, Jay could sense the tenseness in the air. Without command, the entire pride was on high alert and more edgy than usual. Almost everyone was now aware of Logan's past, and was determined not to fail him. Having a newborn around also always rose everyone's defensiveness, and they all cared about the King far too much to wish any more suffering upon him. While basically all of them were battle training, Jay spent most of his time learning tips about being a new parent with Nala. He was far more worried about his son to come rather than the dragon.