Chapter 5 - Laboring in Love

Yvette and Terrence took the idea of a retreat for concubines and went all out after the gathering. Less than four days later, she led Tina, Bethany, Esther and a dozen other concubines to a pod that had been set up with a comfortable lounge just inside the entrance. One of the rooms off of that proved to be a large weaving room. There were two large looms that the AI reported could generate a cloth up to six feet wide, and three smaller ones that were about two feet wide. It even had a video screen, which the AI used to show video of lessons such as stringing the loom and setting up the multiple spools necessary to generate the picture tapestries that Tina had talked about.

Tina had used the four days surprisingly well. She had been using a combination of the sleep trainers and some virtual reality time to learn and practice weaving and had even coaxed James into allowing her to use a wallscreen to generate a picture of what she wanted to weave. It was an amazingly touching tapestry showing a quiet pond and wood. The foreground of the tapestry was going to be dominated by a hummingbird that was about to take a quick drink from a drooping blue flower.

Maggie had also come up with an idea for a tapestry and happily brought it around to show everyone. Hers was of a meadow filled with rabbits. I remember Kitty and Brittany giggling about the subject matter, but everyone agreed that it was very appropriate for our colony.

In fact almost all of the concubines were enthusiastic about our little refuge. Bonnie and Cleo were the only two who stayed away. This was not because they disliked the place. Tyson, their owner, was doting on them and so attentive that they did not feel the need to visit.

We quickly turned a third room into a practice room for musicians and had a practice stage set up in a fourth. Janice was working on the musical idea and had about an hour-long show written out. The transitions needed work, and Claire had suggested taking a couple of popular songs and rewriting them to be about beer. I still remember the laughs from Philipe and Craig when she blushingly suggested taking the song "You Got To Have Heart" and turning it into a song about the foaming head that men liked on their beers. David saved her by not only accepting the idea, but also championing her rewrite and finding a way to write it into the show.

An Ishtarian week after the center opened, Tina was happily working on her tapestry and even had the first three inches complete. I had stopped by to watch her work and was talking.

"Is it hard?" I asked.

Tina nodded. "At lot harder than I expected. I have to remember which of the shifters to lift each time in order to control the colors of each weave."

"You worried about mistakes?"

Tina nodded again. "Very. A mistake would be nearly impossible to undo. Still I'm discovering that I love this. I can see my picture slowly develop in the threads. It's an incredible feeling to realize that people just might look at it someday and wonder who the artist was."

I gave my sister concubine a hug and looked over at Maggie, who had finally finished setting up the many spools of thread she needed. At least the AI was watching as she worked and made sure to guide her through each step. She waddled around thanks to her advanced pregnancy, but like Tina there was a happy glow about her. "I'll admit, it's nice to have this place. Although I'll be happier when I give birth."

Tina laughed. "Yeah, who would have imagined that the first two concubines to give birth would be Paula and Jillian, the schoolgirl cuddle bunnies belonging to the twins."

I thought for a moment. "Well they are two of the youngest concubines. I think I remember in high school that young women were more likely to have shorter pregnancies, although on Earth that also meant more complications and babies born with problems."

Tina paled a little. "Do you think?"

"No," I said shaking my head. I noticed a small cramp in my stomach, but ignored it. "Donna and Shawna are confident that the Confed technology will ensure no problems with the babies."

I sat down to watch Tina work. My sister concubine often moaned that she was unintelligent, but the intensity of her concentration was amazing. Each pass of the shuttle only took place after she had carefully double-checked that the previous pass had left no loose threads and that she had flipped the proper switches for each section. I must have spent an hour watching as another inch of the tapestry formed until the cramping in my stomach forced me to get up.

I had just stood and moved when Tina looked over. "Meiko? Did you..." she asked and pointed at the chair I had been sitting in. I turned and noticed that a visible puddle had been left when I stood.

"No..." I replied carefully. Just then another cramp gripped me. At least I felt the same pain that I had been thinking was a cramp for the last hour. The blood left my face as I turned to look a Tina. "Oh my god..." I said quietly. "My water must have broken and I thought it was just a cramp."

"Oh god!" Tina screamed. "AI help! What do I do?"

There was silence for a moment and then I moaned as another pain struck me. I realized it was a labor pain and clutched my stomach. Tina reached for me in a panic.

"Meiko?" James voice rang out. "The AI just said Tina called for help, and that she did it because of you."

I was gasping a bit from the power of the last surge, but managed to speak. "I think I'm in labor."

There was a moment of stunned silence. "Tina, I'll alert Donna and Shawna. If Meiko can walk, try to guide her to the medical pod. I'm on my way," James declared.

The signal cut out and Tina put her head under my left shoulder. "Come Little One. It's a bit unfair you get to be first. But I guess nature chose."

I giggled between gasps as we started to walk to the door. "James won't love you any less because you weren't first," I told her.

Tina giggled. "I know. He loves each of us so much. But for now, we need to worry about you. How is it?"

"Uncomfortable," I said as another mild pain struck.

"So is pregnancy," Tina replied. "But it's a happy feeling at the same time."

I nodded as the door opened. Just then David ran up pushing one of the birthing gurneys that Shawna and Donna had talked about.

"Speedy delivery service is here," he pronounced with a smirk.

I just gasped as he helped me up onto the gurney. Tina had stopped and was standing and staring at the gurney. "So fast."

David laughed as Shawna ran up. "Michael and I have been standing by for the last week with the gurneys. We have kept one close to this pod because we expected that this might happen."

Shawna nodded. "And you don't have to worry. We already know that our idea works amazingly well.

"How?" Tina asked.

Shawna looked at my sister concubine for a moment and then turned to check a readout on the gurney. "Paula and Jillian were both on these when they gave birth. I won't say they want to experience childbirth every day, but both they and their children survived."

I giggled. "I just wish it wasn't so uncomfortable." I was going to say more when another pain struck and I moaned.

Shawna was watching the readouts. "Humm, pains about five to seven minutes apart right now. I'm afraid you have a few hours to go."

David started to push the gurney back to the medical bay. Shawna and Tina were both walking alongside the gurney and I heard Tina ask, "Why so long?"

I had my eyes closed as David rapidly moved the gurney through the tunnels, but could still hear Shawna's answer. "Think about how the baby is going to come out. Normally powerful muscles keep that passage nice and tight for sex, but now something a bit bigger than James' cock is going to be moving through. A woman's body is designed to open up and allow the passage, but it doesn't happen instantly."

"But the pains start so early," Tina wailed.

"It's not that painful," I said. "In feels more like a bad cramp at first. And now I barely feel a thing."

Shawna giggled. "The gurney does that. We don't have it give a full epidural, partly because we weren't sure how it would affect things, but Confed nanotech can turn down the sensitivity of pain receptors without causing a total loss of feeling. Paula and Jillian both said that the only bad part was the pushing at the end."

I sighed. "I just can't wait to hold my baby in my arms."

Just then Janice ran up. "Oh gosh, is it a boy or girl?" she squealed.

"We don't know," Tina replied as she reached out to give my left hand a squeeze. "Shawna says it will be some time before the child is born."

I felt Janice grab my right hand. "Oh, don't you know! I know I'm having a girl."

"I never wanted to know. I'm like James and wanted to be surprised. No matter what sex the baby is, I know I'll have lots of love to give."

"We all will," my master said. He must have just walked in because Tina and Janice both screamed in surprise.

There was a moment of silence and then I felt James gently remove Tina's hand from mine and replace it with his own. "How are you feeling Little Meiko?" he asked.

Somehow it felt like warmth was radiating from his hand and flowing to my heart. I had to gasp for a moment as another contraction hit my body. Once the contraction passed, I sucked in a breath and panted out. "Loved. Uncomfortable. Embarrassed."

I heard giggles. "Well, you certainly are very loved," I heard Bethany say as a hand touched my left foot.

"And that doesn't look like a comfortable position," Kitty said adding another giggle.

"But why be embarrassed? Each of us will be here soon," Brittany said as another hand stroked my calf.

"Is everyone here?" I moaned.

Donna spoke. "Not everyone. Just your household, Shawna and myself are here. And Shawna is going to be getting some sleep shortly."

"Yeah, I just did twelve hours on birthing duties and now Donna will take twelve." Shawna quipped.

"Only twelve?" I heard Janice ask.

"Well, really a half day plus, but who's counting every minute," Shawna said. "Now don't worry, Meiko. Donna knows what she is doing."

I tried to smile, but another contraction hit and I hissed as my muscles moved. Donna must have been checking the readouts because she spoke. "You need to relax a little, Meiko. You haven't quite dilated enough so you shouldn't be pushing. Just hold back for now and take deep breaths when a contraction hits."

"Easy for you to say," I hissed.

I do not remember much of the next three hours. James stayed by my side, encouraging and loving. The others also stayed near until Janice's water broke and she was helped onto the gurney next to mine. James moved to sit between us and put my right in her left hand before clamping both to his chest as Donna finally told me I could start pushing.

Those words pretty much ended my ordeal right then. Or so it seemed to me. With Donna's coaching and James holding my hand and whispering he loved me it seemed to take only three more contractions before Donna announced that she could see my baby's head. Several more and I heard a baby cry.

"It's a beautiful and perfect baby girl," James said with a touch of awe in his voice.

I heard murmurs of approval from my sisters and then Donna stepped around the gurney and I felt a weight against my naked chest. A moment later a pair of lips fastened to my left nipple.

"She's already taking her first drink," Donna said happily. "Congratulations Meiko."

I was lying on my back exhausted, but lifted my arms and carefully placed them around the tiny bundle that was my child. Slowly I lifted my head to see a small bald head resting against my chest. I was so tired from the labor, but I still lifted my left hand and touched my child, lifting her arms so I could see her tiny fingers.

"She has no hair," I said quietly.

Tina reached out to stroke my daughter's head. "No, she has a little, but it's very fine."

I heard Bethany laughing. "I might not have given birth to my own child yet, but I do know that most babies are born with little hair. It will grow in. So what will you name your baby?"

I continued to look down at the small body still suckling from my breast and sighed. Despite all the time and warning that I would be having a baby, the thought of a name had completely escaped me. My thoughts were wild and confused as the others looked at me and waited. Suddenly I remembered a name from one of the manga series that had been collected from James' Earth apartment when we left. "Madoka," I whispered. "We shall call her Madoka."

James smiled. "A very good name. May she wear it well in the years ahead."

Janice groaned. Her contractions were still a few minutes apart, but it was clear that they were strong. "With a name like that she'll have to be a sponsor when she turns fourteen."

"Yes," I said with a smile as I caressed Madoka. I wanted to say more, but the hours of labor had exhausted me and before I could prevent it, my eyes closed as I descended into slumber.