A Kitten's Tail Ch. 37

"I'll be fine Master. It probably would have been easier if I had told them you were my lover before I got pregnant, but I kept putting it off because I didn't want to deal with them being disappointed in me." I sighed and shook my head. "Now I've made it worse, but it's time to face the music. If you'll excuse me though, I have an apology to make."

We glanced over to where Marian was and shared a smile. Gianna had apparently heard Master's comment about interrupting Marian's birthday and decided it was her turn. "It sounds like you might have to wait a few minutes before she can talk, but I imagine you would prefer to go help out instead. Go play sweetie, I'll give the doctor a call and set up your appointment."

I would have preferred he join us, but I knew he was tapped out for a while. He must have let one of the girls give him a tit fuck after his blowjob, because he didn't get hard the entire time I was in his lap. I certainly wasn't averse to having a little more fun with the girls though, and Marian's nipples were calling me.

Crawling over, I started licking and gently sucking on her nipple. I could tell she was already worked up and helped Gianna take her over the edge. As she came down and Gianna switched over to a gentle cleaning, I looked up at Marian and gave her a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your birthday fun. I just had to tell Master as soon as I found out."

Marian smiled and put her arms around me. "Don't be sorry. Finding out we are going to have another baby in the house is like receiving another present for me. I was only able to have one child, but I always wanted more, so all of you having children is like a dream come true."

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you only able to have one?"

"I don't mind talking about it; it's just not something that comes up normally. I developed eclampsia at the beginning of the third trimester. It didn't surprise the doctors as I was high risk for it, but it was far more severe that they expected. I spent ten weeks on bed rest until it was safe to induce labor," she explained. "The risk of it happening if I got pregnant a second time was even higher, so we decided to avoid it altogether and I got my tubes tied. I get so excited when we find out one of you is pregnant because it's one more baby I get to help raise."

"You'll definitely have a lot of opportunities to help with babies around here," I said as I looked back to make sure Master had left. "I know Master wants to put me on birth control after this, but I hope I can convince him to change his mind. Kiera and Sonia aren't the only ones who want to give Master more children."

"You should wait until after you deliver your baby to mention that to him. He is starting to waver a bit after seeing how well Sonia did in delivery. Kiera is on her third pregnancy, so she shouldn't have any issues. If you don't have any problems and start asking him as well, he may finally give in."

I nodded, knowing she was probably right. It would be best to wait until after I delivered before bringing it up. Master's sense of fairness could cause him to pull back from giving Sonia and Kiera more children if he knew I wanted another as well but I couldn't for some reason.

"I was a bit distracted, but I caught most of your conversation with Master about your parents. I really can't advise you on that one, but I know what you're going through," Marian told me. "My parents kicked me out of the house when I got pregnant at seventeen. It was a couple years before I would even talk to them after that, but we did reconcile. Whatever happens, they will forgive you eventually."

"Thanks, it helps to know I'm going to be surrounded by people who love me as well," I replied as I glanced at the clock and sighed. "Almost an hour until lunch time, I might as well go call them now. Dad's still at work, but I know mom's home."

Marian squeezed me tighter for a second before releasing me. "Good luck sweetie, and remember, if you need a hug after you finish, you know where to find me."

*

The doorbell rang and I made one last look around the great room. Everything just seemed weird today. It was probably the fact that everyone was dressed. I was so accustomed to seeing everyone mostly naked that clothing just seemed out of place.

I had been a bit worried when my mother agreed to come to dinner. Felicia, Kiera and Gianna didn't mind eating at the table for special occasions, but Rebeca would have been hard to explain. She had no issues being dressed, but even in street clothes, she was still a puppy. Master had solved the problem by having Sophia and Paige take her over to Zara's house for the evening.

It was probably for the best, as I didn't think my parents were going to be civil. My conversation with mom had been tense to say the least. I could tell she was pissed from the tone of her voice, but it had been less explosive than I imagined. She had insisted on meeting the man I was whoring myself out to, that's actually how she put it, and agreed to come to dinner tonight as soon as I offered.

Master took my hand and rose to greet my parents as Gianna led them into the room. The anger on their faces as they saw me with Master was clear. I was waiting for them to call me a whore and storm out when everything seemed to slow down.

I recognized the pistol in my father's hand as he pulled it out from behind mother's back. It had been sitting in a case on grandfather's mantle the last time I'd seen it as a child. I heard screams as Master pushed me to safety, and realized I was one of the people screaming, but we were drowned out by the roar of the gun going off. My eyes were locked on the red spot high on Master's chest as he cried out and fell. My father had just murdered the only man I have ever really loved.

"Master is going to die and it's all my fault." I could hear people shouting and the twins jumped to help Master as soon as he hit the ground, but it had to be too late. The wound looked to be right over his heart, and no one could survive that. I just stood there, with that one thought running through my head. "Master is going to die and it's all my fault."

"Somebody call for an ambulance," Faith shouted as she ripped off her shirt and rolled it up to press against the wound. "I need towels to use for compresses. I don't think it hit anything vital, but we have to stop the bleeding. Master, please lie still so you don't make it worse."

I saw Gianna rush past holding towels. As Faith tossed her shirt aside and put a towel over the wound, I couldn't believe how much blood there was.

"Ambulance is on its way, but they are at least ten minutes out. Is he going to last long enough for them to get here?" I could hear the concern in Sonia's voice. There was just so much blood.

"The explosion threw off the shot, so it hit high in the chest. The blood is just seeping, so it missed the artery running to his arm. The round is still in there somewhere, but as long as we keep pressure on the wound he will make it."

I didn't realize Hope was standing in front of me until she slapped me hard enough to make my ears ring. "Snap out of it. Master is not going to die, but we need your help. Take Faith's place and keep pressure on the wound. Put your weight on it and press down hard. You'll do more damage by trying not to hurt him."

I stumbled over to Master. There was blood everywhere, and the pain etched across his features sent a wave of guilt through me. "I'm so sorry Master. This is all my fault."

"Did you tell your father to shoot him," Faith snapped. "I didn't think so. You're not responsible for what happened, but you can help save his life. Scoot around here, put your hands where mine are, and lean into it."

I scooted around to take her place and gave her a worried look. "You're leaving?"

She nodded as I leaned into the towel on Master's shoulder. "I'm not exactly fond of him, but I need to help your father. The gun exploded in his hand, and your parents took the brunt of the damage. Hope is checking your mom, but your father needs medical attention as well."

Even after what they did, I didn't want to see my parents dead, but it didn't make sense. "Why would you be willing to help them?"

"Master would want us to help them. Just keep pressure on the wound until Hope or I come back."

I didn't understand, but as I looked back down at Master, the guilt washed over me again. I couldn't help but feel responsible. My father never even yelled when he was mad. The idea that he would resort to violence was hard to believe, even after seeing it.

Hope came over a couple minutes later with a clean towel. "We need to change pads so I can see how much blood he is losing. Pull that one off on three. One. Two. Three."

I pulled the pad up as Hope slipped the new one in place. It looked like a lot of blood to me, but Hope just smiled. "Good, it's slowing down. Just keep pressure on it for now. The ambulance should be here soon. How are you feeling Master?"

"Like I got shot," he grunted through gritted teeth. "Hurts like hell, I wouldn't advise trying it."

"I can't say it's on my to-do list Master, but I don't imagine it was on yours either. Just try to stay still until the ambulance arrives and I'm sure they will have something for the pain." She looked over at me and smiled. "See, he's going to be fine. Your parents are stable, but your dad is pretty messed up. The explosion took off most of his hand and I think he is traumatized by the fact that my sister is topless while saving his life. I need to grab her a clean shirt before the ambulance gets here. We don't want them distracted when they are taking care of Master."

I was in shock as I watched her run upstairs. She had blood all over her clothes, Master was lying on the floor with a gunshot wound in his chest, and she was making jokes?

"She is just as worried as you are, but they never would have left my side if they weren't certain I would survive," Master groaned. "I'm just sorry your parents put you through this."

"I'm the one who should be sorry Master. You could have been killed because of me." I could feel the tears running down my cheeks at the thought of losing him. "I should have told them about us from the beginning, or at least given them more time to calm down before inviting them to meet you. I never thought they would be violent."

"Not your fault. Love makes people do crazy things sometimes."

I could hear the pain in his voice and winced. "I'll try to remember that Master, but please, no more talking. It reminds me how much pain you are in, and you shouldn't be trying to comfort me when you're the one who's injured."

He gave me a tight smile but stayed quiet. I was a bit surprised how well he was handling the pain. I had been screaming and crying my eyes out during my punishment, and he had to be in far worse pain after being shot.

I saw Hope rush back down and toss a clean shirt to Faith on her way to the door. It wouldn't stay clean for long with as much blood as she had on her, but at least she would be covered. After what seemed like an eternity, Hope rushed back in leading the paramedics.

"How many injured do we have? We need to start triage so we can prioritize the patients."

Even from here, I could see Hope roll her eyes. "Forget triage, your top priority is the one on the floor there. Gunshot wound to the upper left chest. We have slowed the bleeding, but the round is still in there and he has lost the most blood. The other two have severe trauma to the right arm from the pistol exploding and a minor head wound respectively, but we have both of them stable."

"Mario, check those two and verify while I check the shooting victim. I'd like to trust you, but it's our ass if you missed something and we don't check," he said to Hope as he pushed the stretcher over and started checking Master. "I need you to release the pressure so I can see where the entry wound is."

He lifted the towel up and whistled before putting it back and nodding to me. "Keep the pressure on it. Is he having any difficulty breathing?"

"No, he's been talking to us, but it's a bit hard with the pain."

He nodded as he listened to Master's lungs. "No fluid sounds on the lungs. Somebody up there is watching out for you."

"The other two are stable. That little girl knows what she's doing. What do we have here?"

"Gunshot wound, left side of the chest, but no damage to the heart or lungs that I can tell. I want the back board so we can keep pressure on the wound and immobilize the arm to prevent further damage."

I watched as they got Master strapped in, on the stretcher and started an IV. "We need to get some fluid in you before I can do anything for the pain. All I have is morphine and it would drop your blood pressure too much at this point. I'll be monitoring in route and give you something as soon as it's safe. I'm assuming you have a hospital preference?"

"He'll be going to Anthea," Sonia said from behind him. "I'll ride in with you to sign him in, if you don't mind. Vivi, the police will need your statement. Marian will be driving everyone in when the police are finished."

I nodded and watched as they pushed Master out. Knowing he would survive didn't do much for my anxiety at this point, and waiting for the officer to take my statement wasn't helping either. I saw my parents leave with the second ambulance crew under the eyes of a pair of officers, and was surprised how many officers were still here, while more arrived as they interviewed my family.

They moved everyone into the dining room as the investigators started taking pictures of the crime scene. It took forever before they finally got through talking to everyone and the lead investigator walked in. "I know you're all probably anxious to get to the hospital and check on your friend, but I have a couple questions. Did anyone get a good look at the pistol before it went off? We can identify it from the remains eventually, but any information you have could help find out where it came from faster."

"I can tell you what it was and where it came from," I said quietly. "It was a French officer's service pistol from the early nineteenth century. My great-great-grandfather was a major during the Napoleonic wars and it has been in the family for generations. After grandpa passed, it must have gone to my father, but he hated guns. I don't think it has been fired in over a hundred and fifty years."

"Well, that would explain a few things. We found standard gunpowder in their car, and the barrel of an antique like that couldn't handle the pressure. Do you have any idea why they would want to kill Alonso?"

I could feel the tears welling up as I nodded. "It was my fault. My father didn't even know Alonso was my lover until I told mom I was pregnant this afternoon. I knew he would be upset, but I never thought he would be violent."

I felt kitten's hand on my knee as she shook her head. I know they didn't blame me for what happened, but I still felt responsible. My father was the one who shot Master, and he never would have been here if not for me.

"Well, that would give a motive, but I have a lot more investigating to do. All of your accounts say he just walked in, pulled the gun and fired, so something feels off to me. We'll be in touch if we have any follow up questions, but I think we have everything we need from you. My CSI team needs to finish gathering the evidence, but they should only be a couple hours before they are out of your hair."

"Most of us will be gone," Marian replied. "Those who are staying will keep out of the way." She waited until the detective was out of the room before looking around at everyone.

"Marta, Hope, Faith, I know you want to go see Master, but you have class tomorrow." She held up a hand to stop their protests. "You know what he would say, and the last thing he wants to think about is having to punish you for missing school. I promise I'll call and give you an update as soon as we get there and find out how he's doing. I will also pick you up as soon as you finish class tomorrow and take you to see him."

"I should probably stay behind as well," I murmured. "Someone needs to clean up the mess after the investigators finish, and I'm not sure Master would want to see me right now."

"I think you're wrong on that one, I have a feeling he wants to see you most of all. No one here blames you for what happened and you need to stop blaming yourself." I looked up and could see the worry in Marian's eyes. "You know he's going to worry about you if you don't show up. I saw what happened and his first instinct when he saw the gun was to push you out of the line of fire."

"I know that," I replied with a sigh. "He should have worried about himself. My father would never have hurt me."

"I'm sure you also thought your father would never hurt Master," Marian replied. "We can't say what he would have done if Master had reacted differently, but Master would never risk any of us. If he had tried to move the other way, someone else could have ended up being hit. He made the choice to risk his own life to keep the rest of us safe."

"He shouldn't have. I don't know what I would do if I lost Master," I said as the tears started falling again, "I couldn't handle being alone again."

"Master is not going to die, but you would never be alone," Kiera said as she walked over and put her arms around me. "I know I've told you some parts of my life before I came to live with Master, but did I ever tell you how I became Master's pet?"

I shook my head, not sure how it was really relevant right now. "I know what you're thinking. It's probably not the best time for a story, but it will make sense after you hear it. After kitten and Sonia chose me, I was under the impression that I was chosen so they could breed me. The freedom he gave me, and the amount of love he showed me made my first week with him the best week of my life."

"When we found out Sonia's family had died in the fire I was heartbroken. Part of it was me already being in love with my new family and feeling their pain, but another part was my fear that they would return me to the stables. Sonia's husband was the one who was supposed to be breeding me, and with him gone I thought they wouldn't want me anymore. Sonia and Master had to reassure me that they planned to keep me. They told me I was family now, and they would never let me go."

I didn't understand until she lifted my chin so I was looking into her eyes. "You are our sister now. No matter what happens we're planning on keeping you and will never let you go."

I looked around the table and could see the same sentiment reflected in everyone's eyes before the tears were falling too heavily for me to see clearly. Master was the leader of our family, and it would never be the same without him, but we were still family.

It was a few minutes before I could even respond because I was crying so hard. "I'm sorry. I just thought no one would want me here if I got Master killed."

"Sweetie, look around you. Nobody here blames you for what happened. You need to stop blaming yourself before I ask Master for permission to spank you."

I couldn't help the little grin that crossed my face at the idea of Kiera giving me a spanking. "I'll promise to try, but it may take some time to get over the idea."

"I guess that will work," Marian said. "Just remember that we are all here if you need us. Now that we have you sorted out, does anyone else think they need to stay behind?"

"I won't be going in with you," Kiera said. "I'm worried about Master, but I need to stay and take care of Nicky. I know Paige wouldn't mind babysitting, but it's getting late and she isn't used to Nicky's schedule."

"I'll be staying as well," Gianna added. "Rebeca can't go into the hospital, at least not until they have Master in a private room, so kitten or I have to stay with her. Kitten, before you offer to stay, we both know Master needs you. I can take Rebeca down to see him after I finish work tomorrow."