Chapter 17

After about a week Jenny was the first to go into labor. She was sitting in her home one morning accompanied by Little Wen and keeping warm when her water broke all over the floor. Little Wen ran over and asked Bowen to come help them deliver and Bowen ran over as fast as he could with a sack of different books to help him. As Bowen went over to help Jenny, Kapser took off to run and inform the King of the arrival in the cubs. The day started off very exciting. When it was time for lunch Jenny was finally done giving birth to three chuny male wolf cubs. Jenny was tired and exhausted but she sat up to breastfeed two of the cubs while Little Wen held the third one. Once Jenny started slipping off her dress Bowen congratulated her and excused himself back home to Artemis. As soon as he walked in the door Artemis was standing in the doorway of the family room waiting with Danny hovering by her side. "How did it go? Is Jennifer okay?" Artemis immediately questioned "Jenny is doing fine. She had three cubs and she did a great job!" Bowen informed her. "That's great! Get me my huge winter cloak. I'd like to go see them!" Artemis said, pointing to the cloak hanging by the door. "No, no, no! You were supposed to have your cubs before Jenny. You should stay in bed in case they decide to come today too!" Danny said holding onto her incase she tried to make a run for it. "But Daniel! I want to see the cubs!" Artemis exclaimed. "Daniel is right! You'll see your own cubs soon enough" Bowen said with a concerned look on his face.

Artemis knew she would not really win this argument because of course the two men are right she was well overdue to go into labor by almost two weeks. Artemis let out a defeated sigh and turned to go back to her bedroom. As she started to move forward she felt a tightening pull all over her stomach. Artemis held onto it and groaned. "I think I have to pee!" Artemis said to the guys turning to go to the bathroom but Danny stopped her from going anywhere and firmly held onto her arm. "Artemis, your water just broke that doesn't smell like pee" Danny said to her looking down at the ground. Both Artemis and Bowen stepped back and looked down at where Artemis was standing and sure enough there was a puddle of fluid and a trail going from where she had stepped back to. "Oh!" Artemis simply said, still looking down. At that moment she felt a contraction and all of the cubs started squirming inside of her. "Ok it's really time then!" Artemis groaned, starting to lean forward. "Okay let's get you into bed!" Bowen said, pulling Artemis out of the family room and into her bedroom. Once Artemis got onto bed Bowen put a few pillows behind her back and head and sat her up against them. "Are you ready to do this again doctor?" Artemis asked, breathing heavily. "I won't even sweat until my mate and her cubs are safe!" Bowen said, not sweating. "Danny, you boil water while I get the rags and towels," Bowen instructed. Danny nodded and went off to start a fire. Bowen stuck around for a few more seconds to make sure Artemis was comfortably in the right position. "Start getting your breathing under control so that you can keep your heart rate steady okay," Bowen told Artemis before running off to find the towels. While the men were off getting things together Artemis sat back and started counting and breathing exercises which seemed to help until a contraction came along. Artemis went through two more contractions until Danny and Bowen both came back to her side. Danny set down the pot of boiled water while Bowen spread Artemis legs apart to look at her progress so far. "My Princess you're doing great I can already see a cub coming! Get ready to push!" Bowen exclaimed. Artemis squealed with excitement. "I can't believe this is really happening!" Artemis said. Another contraction came and instinctively Artemis went with the urge to push. "We have a white cub like you, Artemis!" Danny said "Really?" Artemis asked, setting her head back against a pillow breathing heavily. "Yes. And your cub is a little smaller than Jenny's but still healthy" Bowen informed her. Suddenly you can hear a small frantic squeal fill the room. "Here, finish cleaning him off so he can feed first," Bowen said, passing Danny the cub. Danny carefully held onto the cub and wiped him down with a clean wet rag before passing him to Artemis. Artemis accepted the crying cub with teary eyes and she couldn't help but cry out loud. "Oh how precious!" Artemis cried.

Danny went into one of his chests and pulled out a handful of bracelets. "I made a few of these so that we can tell which one is which. We can adjust them as they grow" Danny said, putting one of the bracelets around the cub's neck like a necklace or collar. This one had one black bead on it. "Can we nickname him first until Grandfather comes and helps us name them all?" Artemis asked. Danny nodded and rubbed Artemis shoulders. "I am going to go get the bassinet." Danny announced before running out of the room. As Artemis started to feel the tightening pain coming again she made sure she was cradling the first cub securely with a few pillows under her arm so that she could still feed. Artemis took nice even breaths and pushed the second cub out. Once Bowen removed the sac from its face the cub immediately started squealing just like the first one did. Bowen smiled happily and wiped the cub down with a fresh towel. "You are amazing my Princess." Bowen said as he wrapped the cub in a fresh dry towel. Bowen got up and passed Artemis the cub and helped him latch onto her nipple. "Oh Bowen, they are so little!" Artemis said. Danny finally came with the huge wooden bassinet and set it close to the bed. "You are doing great my love!" Danny said, kissing her forehead. While Danny put a bracelet with two beads on the second cub Artemis pushed out a third cub with ease. Bowen cleaned the bub off and Danny passed over another bracelet with three beads on it for Bowen to put on the cub.

Danny carefully took the first cub out of Artemis' arms and put the third one there to breastfeed. "You'll have to eat even more now to keep making milk okay." Bowen said to Artemis. "We already have everything rich in the right nutrients." Danny added. Artemis nodded sleepily. "This is becoming exhausting. Second little one has fallen asleep and I think the pain is coming back around" Artemis said. Danny took the second cub from Artemis and Bowen used a wet rag to wipe down her face. "Once you are finished we will get you a drink of fresh cold water and then you can rest, okay my Princess?" Bowen said "Okay!" Artemis said, pushing out the fourth cub. "Well done!" Danny praised "Artemis I'm afraid you still have another cub coming. The fourth one was not connected to the cord. When one comes out with the cord all you have to do is push out the placenta" Bowen told Artemis. Artemis let out a deep sigh and threw her head back "oh Nana, I really need to hear your voice right now!" Artemis cried. "Nana, I'm so tired!" she added. Artemis was about to keep going on about how she couldn't do it anymore when suddenly she heard Grandma Shuu's voice in her head. "DON'T GIVE UP NOW ARTIE! THIS IS THE LAST CUB!" The familiar voice encouraged her. Artemis took a couple deep breaths to prepare herself to push. "I think this is the last cub!" She said out loud.Danny put the third cub in the bassinet with first and second cub and then put a bracelet with four beads on it around the fourth cub's neck. "Okay. Whenever you're ready just push as hard as you can!" Bowen said getting in position and peeking in between her legs. "If I'm going to have more than three cubs per litter none of us will be mating again anytime soon!" Artemis yelled at Bowen and Danny. "I promise I won't do this to you ever again!" Danny declared. The contraction finally came and Artemis pushed and pushed using all of her will to get the cub out. This cub was bigger or shaped differently and Artemis could tell the difference without looking down. It felt differently than the first four cubs and was the hardest to push. "Why does this one feel different than the others? Somethings wrong!" Artemis cried out. "No Princess. Nothings wrong. Keep pushing!" Bowen said calmly. "Are you sure?" Artemis asked. "Yes my love. The cub's head is out, you must keep pushing." Danny told her, wiping her forehead. Artemis took two deep breaths and then began to push again. Suddenly a different cry filled the room. This cry was a little more high pitched than the first four cubs. Artemis was scared that this one was deformed and underdeveloped. "Is he okay?" Artemis asked, finally lifting her head to look down in between her legs. "It's a girl!" Bowen said holding up a baby girl. Artemis gasped. "She's so beautiful and tiny!" Artemis said emotionally. The baby girl looked just like Artemis. She had a slightly brown skin tone. She had small white curly hairs on top of her head. The female cub was a human baby with white wolf ears and four white little wolf paws. "Artemis, you have given birth to four Princes and a Princess" Danny announced, passing the baby girl to her. "I'm a mother now!" Artemis cried.

Bowen and Danny got Artemis cleaned up and redressed and then they all sat and admired the five sleeping cub's. "I really still can't believe that I just gave birth to five cubs," Artemis sighed. "You really are an amazing woman. You and Jenny both did great today," Bowen said to her. "Thank you. You did great as well. You delivered eight cubs today!" Artemis said to Bowen. "We're finally parents! We have made a great family!" Danny said, rubbing Artemis' shoulder with one hand and patting Bowen's back with the other. Bowen patted Danny's back and smiled at him. They're sweet moment was interrupted by Kasper running inside. "Princess are you okay? Apollo and Little Wen said they heard yelling coming from over here earlier?" Kasper asked frantically. "Both Jenny and the Princess gave birth today" Danny said, moving aside to show Kasper the sleeping cubs cuddled together in the bassinet. "Oh my!" Kasper gasped. "I'm going to go get my father! He's visiting Apollo too. He'll be thrilled to see this for himself!" Kasper said before running back out. Kasper returned moments later with King Maximus who burst into the room like a child waiting to see his baby sister. "My King!" Artemis said, trying to sit up better. "Oh no! Don't get up, forget the formalities. I'm here to see more of my grandchildren!" King Maximus said. Artemis burst out laughing and holding her stomach. "Papa. I'm so happy you're here!" Artemis said as she watched him get closer to the bassinet. "Xhi'er! You're one strong Princess! Look at this lot!" He beamed. "Wow, four Princes and a Princess. They are beautiful Xhi'er. I don't know how to thank you and Little Jennifer for continuing our family's bloodline and giving us eight healthy cubs!" King Maximus said. "You could thank me by naming our cubs papa," Artemis told The King. "I will host a naming ceremony in a few weeks once the cubs start walking. I want everyone to see two happy and healthy families come out of the recent tragedies" King Maximus announced. "Very well then. I can't wait!" Artemis said, nodding her head. "My Ah'Shuu would be crying tears of joy right now" The King said, still admiring the cubs. "I think her spirit was here with me. Just as I was getting tired and exhausted I heard her voice to tell me to keep going. Nana never really left us. She still lingers" Artemis told The King. "I believe it. Once I started to step foot out of the door I started to feel better like usual. She was gone in the human world for so many years but she was still here" The King said, putting his hand on his chest where his mark for Grandma Shuu used to be.