Chapter 51: Worrying About Future
There’s no better feeling for males than to watch their females breastfeeding their cubs and play with them. At least it is what Astri’s spouses feel. However, they’re worried watching her go thinner and thinner day by day.
"We need to try presenting meat to the boys, so Astri breastfeeds only Yuki. She’s getting too thin." Claud says to the others after Astri falls asleep with the cubs and they go to the kitchen together.
"I agree. They can walk and already have some teeth. It’s enough of breastfeeding for them. I just didn’t stop them until now because Astri said that it would be good for them to get stronger with her milk." Wayde speaks.
"She’s right. A mother’s milk is always the best food. But for her health, I think it’s time. Also, it won’t trouble their growth."
Everyone nods.
"Tomorrow we will start giving them meat."
The next morning, they filled Astri’s plate with food many times and made her eat until she couldn’t handle it anymore. Wayde also shifts into a tiger, takes a big piece of meat, and shows the boys how to eat.
Astri watches the boys eating meat with their dad, feeling so proud of them and also very in love with Wayde. Now she understands why they keep staring at her when she’s breastfeeding.
—--
After three more days, the boys are completely eating only solid food and not having milk anymore. Even if they sometimes ask for it. Astri is feeling less tired now that she’s breastfeeding only Yuki so she decided to start training her half-shifting with Lee and Cyprian.
Her wings are wide and pure white. And the feathers look like glistening in the sun. However, Claud needs to teach her not to use her connection to Nature so she doesn’t make a strong gust that can throw people away when she flaps her wings.
"Nature knows you’re still learning, and that you don’t feel safe flying on your own. That’s why it’s helping you, but you might get tired too soon and people will notice too. You need to relax and trust yourself. Remember, you can talk to nature the way you talk to us. And the way you talked to me every day. In your mind. Or just through actions. It will always understand you, and you will always understand it." Claud explains to her.
She takes a deep breath and then starts flapping her wings again, little by little the wind gets weaker until it’s a normal gust from any feather beastman.
She goes higher and higher, holding Cyprian’s hand.
When they’re way high in the sky, Lee stays under them so he catches her whenever she loses her balance with the air currents.
However, they’re impressed with how much she learns fast. Soon she understood how things worked and she was flying quickly on her own, racing them and they had a hard time catching her.
—-
Claud, Wayde, and Zin are watching the cubs playing in the yard.
"How does it work when... we want to have intimate time with her? Is there a line? I just want to prepare something for her and I need to know when I can." Claud asks them.
"Normally it’s like when we sleep next to her. The next would be Zin, then Cyprian. To not make it too predictable, once all of us had our nights with her, we play pick the bigger stick. The one who has the bigger stick goes first, and the one with the smaller stick is the last." Wayde explains.
"Should I wait until after Cyprian’s turn then?" Claud asks.
"Would be the best. We would avoid fighting in front of her. She doesn’t like it."
"I see.. How long between one and the other?"
Wayde chuckles.
"I understand. You’re still not her spouse for real, and you want to make it happen as soon as possible. The time between one and the other will depend on how she is. If we feel she’s too tired, we wait until we feel she’s fine. Just warn the others earlier." Wayde answers.
"You won’t need to wait so long. I’ll be with her tonight. Cyprian will probably ask for his turn in two or three days. He could be the one after Cyprian since he’s not mated yet. Then we can make the pick the bigger stick." Zin says.
"No problem for me. We just need to talk to Lee and Cyprian. I think they will agree too." Wayde nods.
Yuki whines wanting to sleep, rubbing her little eyes with her chubby hands.
"Boys, come. Help your sister sleep. Can you clean them?" Wayde says.
Zin cleans Kai and Claud cleans Elias. The boys run to their bed. Now, Yuki sleeps in their previous little bed alone and then Wayde puts her bed on a bigger bed they made for when the little tigers get bigger.
The boys curl around Yuki, and she hugs her blanket, letting herself sleep and hearing her brothers’ purr.
"We’re so blessed we have Astri.. She’s teaching us great things every day. I always saw males having a hard time taking care of female cubs, but after Astri said to always keep them together they will always make each other safe like when they were in her belly." Wayde says lovingly to his children.
"And we won’t lose her soon too since she takes good care of her health and is also a Pegasus. Can you imagine how many litters we will have with her?" Zin speaks.
The three of them even blush thinking about seeing Astri pregnant again. Claud didn’t see her personally, just through memories, and he knows she’s beautiful.
—-
At night, after having her bath, Astri sees Zin covering the sleeping kids. She smiles at that big gentle snake.
He always said that he was kind only to her, but he’s a loving father too.
He halfshits and then coils her with his snake embrace and brings her to bed. Passing his hands on her body, and his tail too, which he knows she likes, he enjoys watching her getting excited.
She pulls him and they kiss deeply.
"My gentle snake. I love you more than you can imagine." She says to him.
He smiles happily and is thrilled everytime she tells him that.
"I’ll love you for all eternity." He says.
They kiss again passionately and he shifts to his human form.
"I can be a snake too." She tells him.
"What do you mean?"
"Let me show you how I can be like you."
She passes her hands on his body, then flicks her tongue on his ear, making him giggle but he’s also getting more and more excited.
She licks his body the way he does to her and his mind goes crazy. When she flicked her tongue on his member, he had to hold his voice to not wake up the kids.
He pulls her up and rolls her down. Then licks her juicy parts too and she bites her hands. Watching her in pleasure is the most beautiful scene for him.
They make love firmly because he is gentle even when they want something more rough. When she shows him her desire for him it is the greatest feeling he ever had every time.
When they’re done, she’s laid on his chest passing her fingers slowly on his chest. He kisses her head and keeps rubbing his hand on her arm, feeling in heaven.
"I wish the time could stop and our nights never end." He says.
"If time stops we won’t see the children growing." She softly answers.
"I know. It’s just so good having you only for me. But I’m lucky enough to have your love."
"And I’m lucky to have you."
He sighs after giving her one more kiss. He looks at the cubs and starts to wonder about when Astri lays his eggs.
"Something bothering you, love?" She asks.
"We talking about luck... I’m afraid that once we have our snakes, they won’t be as lucky as us. A female like you is too rare."
"I see... But things are changing now. There are people who still bully you, but there are others who respect you. The children are growing differently. They might find good females. And if they don’t, they will always have us to come back. We need to teach our children that not finding a good female doesn’t mean they need to accept any female who will mistreat them." She explains.
"It’s true. Snakes are always sent away when they are born. Here they won’t be sent away and they will be raised differently from how I was raised. I didn’t have a mother or father. I had to learn to survive since I left my egg."
She smiles softly at him, sensing his painful memories. She kisses his lips again.
"We will raise different snakes in the future. You will teach that the world is not easy, but that we will always love them." She affirms and he nods smiling.
Zin was always worried about when Astri would get pregnant of him and how everyone would treat their snakes. But he knows that she won’t treat them badly and will give them the same love and affection.
Since she will be loving them, the others will act the same way and they will live a good life. He’s happy that in the future snakes can be treated differently and with honor like other beastmen.