Authors: Anita Cox
“Holy shit! This is a school?” The guy put his hand on his forehead. “It’s like a huge castle.”
“Let’s start off in the dorms and work our way to the classrooms.” Grace flagged them to follow her. She froze in her tracks and closed her eyes. She turned to Nala. “Xander is going to be okay, but it’s going to take him a long time to heal from the brain damage. He could be in bed for a few weeks. Gustav is going to get our mother so she can sit with him.”
She nodded and silently breathed a sigh of relief.
“Who is Xander?” The brunette asked.
“My brother. His head was crushed by a shifter bear.” Grace wiped a tear off her cheek then proceeded toward the dorm.
“Oh my God. Her brother was almost killed and she’s taking us on a tour?” The brunette whispered to the redhead.
Grace spun on her heel until she was in the brunette’s face. “Little girl, he almost died because of you…humans. Yes, I’m giving you a tour and trying to remain calm because you need to see we are just like you. I’m showing you how we live so you can tell the rest of them so this doesn’t happen anymore. Do you understand? This is difficult for me. But my hearing is much better than yours, so please keep your comments to yourself until you leave.”
“Ma’am,” her face pale, she cleared her throat, “what I, uh, meant was, maybe someone else should give us the tour so you can be with your brother. Please. We’ve obviously done enough harm.”
Her shoulders slumped forward. “I’m sorry. You’re right.” She took a step backward. “Zoltar, if you would do the honors.”
“Of course, go.” He stood for a moment as Grace shifted and ran off toward the makeshift hospital. Once she was out of sight, he pasted a smile on his face, which shocked Nala.
“So, uh…” The young man shifted his weight, “so you have actual dorms?”
Zoltar put his arm around the man’s shoulder. Nala tried not to laugh when the human tensed.
“They’re much nicer than you’re used to, but come and see for yourself.”
The Centaur looked like a mountain compared to the thin human. When he opened the door to a room, the humans rushed in. “Do you take human students?”
Wendy chuckled. “We hadn’t thought about it, but as you know, until now, we were just a myth to you.”
“Oh man,” the redhead blurted, “we could like…pay tuition and stuff. We could be ambassadors.”
Nala could feel the supernatural eyes roll in the room. “That’s actually not a bad idea, Wendy. How is it any different than Gnome settlements among Lycans? We’re all about integration. Maybe if they see human students attending our school and stay human and alive…they could see we’re not dangerous.”
“But we are dangerous, Nala.” Zoltar spoke up. “We could hurt them on accident sparring or just…kids being kids and roughhousing.”
“It’s not like you’re eating us though. Those are accidents.” The redhead looked hopeful. “Look the girl that came to us said you guys were like, creatures of the night, all gnashing of teeth and stuff. But this is an actual college right? You’re accredited and stuff?”
“Wait? What girl?” Wendy stepped forward and stared the girl in the eye. “Brittany!” She gasped. “Zoltar ran out of the room.”
“What just happened?” The brunette looked at Nala.
Wendy grabbed the girl’s wrist and stared her in the eye again. “Think about what you know. Why you are here.”
The girl stared back at her. “You’re like…you’re inside my head. Holy fucking shit! You’re inside my head!”
After releasing her she stepped back and leaned against a wall to steady herself. “Nala… I’m…Oh shit.”
Water gushed out from Wendy’s dress.
“Wait, you’re not
that
pregnant yet!” She ran to her side. “Sit down.”
“Whoa. What’s going on?” The human male asked.
“Centaurs don’t gestate that long. I think all of this action…Ouch!” She clutched her stomach. “Shit! Contraction! Shit! Grace!” She screamed.
Zoltar and Grace rushed into the dorm room seconds later.
“Ow!” Wendy cried.
“Towels, we need towels.” The redhead fanned her hands in the air.
“Straight behind you,” Grace waved. “Light is on the right. Towels are in the cabinet.”
The redhead ran and returned in seconds with four towels. “Lay her down.”
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Zoltar’s face burned red.
“Look man, I grew up on a farm. I’ve delivered four horses and one baby. I don’t know what’s going to come out of there, but I know what I’m doing. Now hold her hand.”
“I don’t even know your name,” Wendy cried.
“Oh honey, my name is Susan. I’m going to help you deliver your baby, okay, but I need you to do as I tell you to. Your water broke so there’s no stopping the birth. When is your due date?” She laid a towel by Wendy’s rear and draped another over her own lap.
“We figured three weeks.” Zoltar held onto Wendy’s hand.
“Okay, and how long is a normal pregnancy?”
“Five months.”
The girl looked into the air and started counting. “Okay, at that rate, your baby might be a little small, but can live outside the womb. So what I want you to do is take a deep breath and let it out. Do it three times.”
Wendy did as she asked. While she was breathing, the girl looked at Nala. “I need some scissors and a sterile knife. Dental floss would be great too if you can find it…and a bottle of liquor, something high proof.”
Grace jumped up. “I’ll get it.” She scrambled into the kitchen.
When she came back, she had a large bowl with everything in it.
“Okay Wendy, what I’m going to do now is cut off your panties. They’re pretty, but they’re already ruined. Are you okay with that?”
“Cut them off!” she screamed.
Susan smiled. “Keep breathing. No pushing yet.” She lifted up Wendy’s skirt. The human male passed out, hitting the floor hard. Ignoring him, she went to work, cutting away the panties and pulling the material, tossing them on the floor.
“Ow, ow, ow!”
“No, don’t do that.” Susan put her hands on Wendy’s knees. “Listen, I want you to say this with me, breathing through the words. Who. Who. He.”
“Who, who, he. Who, who, he.”
She nodded. “Very good, that’s a bit of Lamaze breathing. It’ll keep you from pushing too soon.” She explained she was going to check Wendy’s dilatation. Zoltar, who normally looked like a bronze statue turned an odd shade of grey.
“Don’t you pass out on me, or I’ll kick your Centaur ass all over this school!” Wendy screamed.
Grace grabbed Wendy’s other hand. “Look at me, Wendy. Good. You feel no pain. The only thing you feel is glee that you’re about to meet your son or daughter for the first time. Okay? Total elation.”
Susan’s mouth fell open as Wendy calmed down. “Keep breathing.” She looked to Grace, “explain to her just the way you did, she’ll feel pressure and when she feels that pressure, she needs to push. Your voice seems to do something.”
Grace repeated the instructions.
“It’s a royal thing,” Nala whispered to her. “It’s sort of like they can control some things in another being.”
“Sweet!” The brunette knelt down next to Susan. “I’m Fawn. Weird name for a human, I know, but there you have it.”
“Go put lukewarm water in the bowl and bring it back.”
Fawn grabbed the bowl and headed to the kitchen.
“The pressure. I feel the pressure. I
feel
the
pressure!
” Wendy huffed.
“Good, now push! Hold to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Stop.”
Wendy blew out a large breath of air. “What is it?”
“No biggie,” Susan said, “the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck. It happens all of the time. I just have to unwrap it before you push. Breath like I said, who, who, he.”
Sweat rolled off her face as she breathed the words. Susan made quick work of unwrapping the cord. “Okay, whenever you’re ready, push!”
She gave one hard push and the baby came out. It was small, but looked good. Susan dipped the end of one towel into water and started wiping the babies face. It finally let out a cry. “You have a beautiful baby girl.” She placed the girl on Wendy’s chest. Tying the floss around the cord, it severed the connection. “Um, Mom might want to hand the baby to Dad.”
“Why?” Zoltar asked. “Is she okay?”
“Fawn, go get a few more towels. We have another baby crowning.”
“What?” Wendy’s eyes widened.
Zoltar’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“Yeah, I see it crowning. Okay, Wendy, whenever you feel the pressure, go ahead and push.”
“I can’t. I can’t.” Wendy cried.
“You can. Ready?” Susan smiled. “You can do it.”
Nala could hear her own heartbeat in her ears and it was thundering. A tear trickled down her cheek.
“Ow!” Wendy yelled before she pushed. The baby’s head popped out with the blackest hair Nala had ever seen. It looked different though, like the baby was face down. No…that’s a rump. The next child was coming out in Centaur form, butt first.
“Take a deep breath and push again!” Susan yelled. The baby came the rest of the way out. The black little horse body shimmered then morphed into human. “A boy!” Her eyes widened. “I think.”
After placing the baby on Wendy’s chest, she severed the cord and folded the mess in the towel.
“Twins. Z! We have twins!”
“At least one of them came out half a horse,” Susan stood, scooping up the towels. “He came out that way, anyway. I’m sorry. I don’t know how it works for you.”
“Congratulations!” Grace sniffed.
“Yes, congratulations,” Nala cried, “that was beautiful.” So much chaos and violence was suddenly overshadowed by the beautiful delivery of two healthy babies. The energy in the room was completely positive and happy. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hands.
Zoltar kissed Wendy’s forehead. “Thank you for the greatest gift. I can’t believe my eyes. Wait until the herd finds out.”
Fawn and Susan went to the kitchen and washed their hands. Nala followed them. “Ladies?”
They turned to her.
“I want to thank you for what you just did. I know it was…different.”
Susan slid down the cabinet onto the floor and began sobbing. “Are you kidding?”
Unable to contain the shock on her face, Nala bent down. “Uh, are you okay?”
“We could have killed the mother…and those babies.” Her face in her hands she continued sobbing. “Innocent lives.”
Fawn patted her shoulder. “We didn’t know. That lady said they were like Satan worshipers and sacrificing humans and stuff.”
Nala set her jaw, determined to decimate whoever was behind this absurd ploy. “As I said, we’re not all bad people. Sure, we have some bad apples, but then again so do you. Right? Just like Wendy said outside.”
Susan paused and looked up at Nala. The skin around her eyes began to swell and turn red. “Right.”
“Let’s make a promise to each other.” She stood and held her hand out to Susan, who used it to stand to her feet.
“Okay?”
“Let’s both do what we can to decrease the fear. Maybe if we understand each other a bit more, we can coexist. Less casualties means both sides win.”
Nala heard a high pitched shriek come from the other room. “Babies!” Mary had apparently been made aware of the births.
Susan, Nala, and Fawn giggled, easing the tension in the air.
“Truly, what you did for Wendy was amazing. You stayed very calm. Both babies came out fine. Not really part of the tour but…thank you.”
“It’s time for the tour to end. Escort them from the property so we can lock down security.”
Graced pushed through her mind. Nala shivered and asked the women to follow her.
Fawn collected the human male who stared at the floor like he saw the slightest sign of the birth, he might pass out.
“Congratulations on the babies.” Susan gave a weak smile to Wendy and Zoltar who were holding their newborns. She turned to Mary. “I’m very sorry about your wedding day. If there is anything I can ever do for you…” Reaching in her back pocket, she pulled out a card. “This is my phone number. Don’t hesitate to ask. I will do whatever I can to earn your forgiveness.”
Mary stared at the card she was about to accept and pushed it back at Susan. “You delivered Wendy’s babies. That is enough for me. You are forgiven. Just tell the other humans to leave us alone.”
Fawn clutched her arm and choked back a sniffle. “Thank you ma’am. We should be going.”
Mary turned her attention to the two tiny bundles of joy.
As Nala led the women from the school, her mind raced. How could they stay hidden now? The humans wouldn’t keep the secret. Not after Gustav turned three of them. A thought occurred to her. “May I have that business card?”
“Uh, sure.” Susan reached in her bag and pulled it out, handing it over.
“Maybe we can grab coffee sometime soon. We can talk. I can answer your questions as I’m sure you have plenty. I know Grace did when she came to us.”