Drow's Dilemma Ep. 119: Growing

Author's Note:

A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.

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Episode 119: Growing

Life for the Duskhavens and the people surrounding them fell back into the normal routine for the next week or so. Tsabdrin, as planned, left the day after he was introduced to his nymphs. There was a modest send-off for him that pretty much only his family attended. Selene went into complete confinement within Risa's realm and left the entirety of the administration duties to her father and - to a lesser extent, as he had his own duties - Caleldir. Ashyr wasn't any help on that front; she was intelligent enough for it but didn't have the attention span or the retained knowledge from her training a century and a half ago. Because of this, Ashyr was able to remain in Risa's dimension with her cousin to be one of the first to know when Selene started labor.

That fateful hour arrived during the early afternoon while Ashyr was out for a run with Bard. Selene was in the bedroom listening to Ylene read aloud a novel that featured the legendary Ginger Greeneyes. It was a common activity for them those days; Ylene adored the novels and Selene, while not quite as fond of them, enjoyed her familiar's enthusiasm. The familiar reacted more than her master when the first small contraction hit. She halted reading and made a soft, worried noise.

Selene's lips thinned, and her face went just the slightest bit ashen. She knew very well that this didn't even come close to the pain she expected to feel in the oncoming hours. Once it passed, excitement (and a bit of natural fear) took over her mind. "Risa?" She called out to the building, her voice tight with the emotion she was experiencing. "I think it's time to take me to the birthing center. That didn't feel like a practice contraction. And could you tell Ashyr to summon Caleldir and Althaia? Ylene, bring the book with you. We have a few hours to wait if this is anything like my last labor."

Elsewhere in the domain, Laele was immediately ordered to fetch Althaia.

Although Caleldir was not in Risa's domain, he was with Risa, who was helping him and Abanonda with the engineering students. Mostly drow students, still, with an awkward number of young women who now lived in Risa's domain themselves for reasons of having had sex with Caleldir (including Mizrae and Elerra), but there was also a score or so of nymphs and three succubi from the Bouquet Seduction. It made for some interesting dynamics in the classes, though Dahlia was able to keep her succubi in line most of the time.

When she got the message, Risa gasped a bit, then glanced over at Abanonda. "Can you take over? Caleldir and I need to be elsewhere immediately."

Abanonda's eyes went wide for a moment, then she nodded. Satisfied, Risa pulled Caleldir aside, told him what was going on, and opened her portal to her domain.

After her first contraction was over, Selene insisted that she walk through a portal into the birthing center instead of being carried there. She had Ylene to keep herself steady, and there weren't any stairs to go up or down. There was an awkward moment where her water broke all over the floor, but otherwise, she made it there without incident. Although Risa herself was not yet present, the various R.I.S.A.s were always available, so Selene was well assisted and cleaned up after as the lesser A.I.s busily helped her however they could.

"Where's Ashyr and Caleldir?" She found herself demanding before realizing that it had only been a couple of minutes. Then the laboring drow huffed and carefully sat upon a couch that she insisted be in the room. She insisted that a lot of comforts be there in addition to making the room itself look like something out of an Underdark mansion.

Ashyr was the first to jog into the room. Upon seeing her cousin, she went straight to her. "Hey. Isn't Caleldir here yet? -Oh, he was outside wasn't he," Ashyr observed, seeming as anxious as Selene was to meet up with their mate and share in what was happening. She fidgeted and looked in the direction where she thought her son was in stasis. This birth was going to be so much better than the one she underwent, she found herself thinking. Even still, it reminded her of the infant she had to wait to interact with again.

"You'd think he'd hurry up," Selene said tensely before forcing herself to breathe, settle down, and be less emotional. "But we have time. This first stage will probably be several more hours."

"It'd be fun to see the look on his face, though. His first daughter!" Ashyr said with an excited grin that went more crooked as she thought of something amusing. "You think he's going to freak out?"

Selene thought for a moment. "Probably... not? He didn't when you... you know."

Ashyr shrugged. There was a moment of slight discomfort in her expression, but it was quickly smoothed. Her labor had been less distressing than the things that preceded it. She had been rescued, she was more or less safe, and she got a son that she adored out of it. The only trauma she recollected from her labor was the association of what made it come about. "It's different this time. Anticipated, you know? And she's his. His first. He has to be excited."

"We will find out, I suppose," Selene said with a small smile.

Risa herself showed up at the same time as Caleldir, porting in moments after Selene's proclamation that they would find out. As it turned out, both Drow were right, but Selene a bit more so. Caleldir looked fairly pale and his eyes were a heady mixture of excited and worried, with his mannerisms having a slight shake of powerfully repressed emotions to them, but overall he was very businesslike in his manners.

Both drow greeted Caleldir with a smile. Ashyr stood to give him a quick hug before letting him take his place next to Selene.

"Are you doing well, Selene?" he asked quietly. When he was assured that everything was, in fact, fine, he sighed and sat down near Selene. "I am afraid that I am a librarian, researcher, and geneticist, not a midwife, so I do not expect to be all that useful here. Just here for moral support." He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing.

"It's a good thing that I need neither a doctor nor a midwife," Selene responded. "But what I do need is my mate." As she said this, she shifted herself until her back leaned against him, and she grabbed his arms to pull them as far around her as they would reach across her swollen stomach.

"I guess he's only freaking out a little bit," the ranger teased with a more light-hearted tone than she felt. Really, she was excited and a bit anxious as well. She sat in a chair facing the couch, where her leg immediately began noiselessly tapping, restless and waiting.

Selene blew air out of her nose more forcefully than usual in amusement at her cousin's comment.

"If I was freaking out, I think I would be more ghostly," Caleldir said dryly. That said, his mannerisms were much more on edge than normal.

"Okay, Ylene. You can-" Selene began to say before another contraction hit her. She gripped Caleldir's hand tightly and rode out the discomfort. Once it was over, she let out a long breath. "As I was saying: Ylene, start reading again."

"I can help, as before," Risa said brightly.

"There isn't much to do now except keep an eye on our vitals. Which you do normally," Selene said. Her words were a bit terse, but her expression was grateful.

Althaia arrived about an hour later. Althaia may not have been the most experienced of midwives, but she was a powerful user of both natural and divine magics, both of which were very useful for this sort of situation.

And thus the first stage of her labor passed without incident in as much comfort as could be expected. It was just a lot of waiting, a lot of reading, and a lot of annoyed, uncomfortable noises from Selene at regular intervals. Every inch of the birthing room floor was paced by everyone inside. Every piece of furniture was sat upon in every conceivable way. It was a strange combination of peacefulness and restlessness.

Things became more chaotic once she transitioned into the second stage. Ylene couldn't read any more over Selene's low moans and impending motherhood. Despite the pain, Selene was absolutely insistent that no measures would be taken to dull said pain. She would endure like a Drow, as any proud dark elf might. She was Female. She was Strong. The Pain was just testing her Resolve. That was what she said in a sort of litany whenever she was tempted to stop the pain.

Caleldir seemed to think that Selene's insistence on not relying on any magics to soothe and speed was very silly. Childbirth may be a woman's war in cultures where women did not fight, but drow women did fight and warriors typically wore armor anyway. That said, he did not press the point more than to state that mitigating pain did not make one not a dark elf, not female, weak, or lacking in resolve. Just smart.

Then again, that was one of Caleldir's long noted tendencies: a strong dislike for any pain that actually pierced through his body rather than mental resistance to it.

Althaia also seemed to think that Selene was being silly, but Nymphs did not go through pain during childbirth anyway, so she just shrugged and went on helping.

Luckily for Selene, things rapidly progressed. Ashyr acted as a backup assistant to Risa and found the whole process fascinating. Though he claimed that he did not expect to be useful, Selene didn't let Caleldir move far from her. She seemed to think he was invaluable.

Finally, after a fairly standard length of time and with only as much difficulty as usual, Selene and Caleldir's daughter was born. The editing of her genes prevented any defects that might have happened otherwise; she was healthy and strong. Selene was beside herself with joy to have a daughter in her arms once more - especially when the placenta had been delivered and healing magic mended all the damage to the mother that occurred (that, apparently, was perfectly acceptable for a Proud Drow to have assistance with).

Caleldir seemed very relieved, and a mixture of more peaceful and yet more concerned. And slightly uncertain. Definitely affectionate, though. He gave Selene a tender hug and his newborn daughter a gentle caress. "Iondae," he murmured, giving her the name that they had decided on before.

Althaia curtsied. "I will leave you alone now. Call me if you need me." She gave Iondae a wistful look and strode on out.

"Same," Risa said, also giving the infant a wistful look before porting out.

Selene had ended up reclined on a bed with her back leaned against a pile of pillows. She insisted that both Ashyr and Caleldir recline with her after everything had been cleaned up and set to rights. The four of them enjoyed a quiet, happy moment. Iondae took to her mother's breast with convenient quickness, but even when she wasn't suckling she was quiet. Phanuel had been quiet, too. It didn't phase their mothers; they seemed to expect it.

As far as Caleldir remembered, human and halfling babies were the noisiest, elven and faerie children were typically very silent. Iondae was even calmer than a normal elven child, though, which was understandable. He had noted after analyzing her profile that her genetic predisposition - personality-wise - was outwardly calm but inwardly excitable and driven. He had not changed that as it was based on a mixture of his own and Selene's traits.

"You might want to watch out, Caleldir," Ashyr said in quiet amusement when she watched Althaia and Risa leave the room. "I do believe I saw Risa and Althaia eyeing your daughter as if they want one of their own."

Caleldir had not noted the looks that Risa and Althaia were giving Iondae, but he was not surprised. "Althaia's desire to create nymph children with me is well-known to me. Risa..." he shrugged. "It would be very strange to have a child with an A.I."

"Risa has the biology to make it possible," Selene said as she took her successfully burped baby back from Ashyr. Iondae almost immediately fell into a peaceful sleep. "Or, at least, theoretically she does," Selene corrected.

"She does, but that in itself is still very strange." Caleldir shook his head. "It is not as simple as a vat-grown clone body for her: her very genes are fundamentally different from more ordinarily physical creatures like... uh... Actually, never mind. I am the son of an immortal warrior from a dead universe and the ghost of a faerie goddess. I should stop questioning plausibility at some point."

Ashyr kissed Selene's cheek and brushed one finger against Iondae's. "It would be no wonder if they did want one sooner rather than later. She is beautiful. If I didn't have my son to think about..." She trailed off, contemplating.

The younger cousin chuckled in a soft, tired tone. "Then you took precautions during the Ceremony?" Selene had a feeling that she didn't. "You know you become fertile again once you've stopped breastfeeding." Iondae made a noise and seemed to be done feeding. In a reverse of what had been happening with Ashyr's infant a while back, Ashyr reached for the little girl and was allowed to try to burp her.

"Um. No, I didn't," Ashyr confessed as she got to her feet and began the gentle bouncing, rocking motions. "Oh dear. That would make things... complicated, wouldn't it?" She didn't sound or look too chagrined, though.

Caleldir nodded. "Phanuel will be fine. Risa is taking good care of him in stasis. As for getting you pregnant during the ceremony..." he took a deep breath. "Well, we could always check if you are carrying another child or not. Risa has the technology to detect pregnancy a week after implantation. It has been that long."

"Yeah, we had better check if it's possible," Ashyr agreed after a moment of thought. She looked rather nervous about the whole thing, actually. Her hand went to the womb that felt so recently filled to bursting with her son. To have it be that way again? Well, at least this time a baby would take a more natural course of development. Though she hardly knew the exact time, she had the impression that Phanuel's gestation was incredibly short for a drow.

"Risa?" The ranger said to the room in general. "Can you do a pregnancy test on me? What do I have to do?" She had sat back down next to her cousin but then began to stand again, wondering if there was some sort of place she had to go.

[There are several ways I can do that,] R.I.S.A.'s voice said serenely. [You can pee on a strip that will change color depending on hormones present: that will tell me if your body is producing pregnancy-related hormones. Or I can do a life-force scan to detect a secondary life-sign within you. Or I can put you into the full gene scanner, which will tell me what appearance and personality your offspring would have. In addition to telling me if you are pregnant, of course.]

"I like that last option." Caleldir nodded. "But I can myself run the life-force scanner right now without much preparation." Since they were still in the birthing lab, Caleldir walked over and grabbed a device. Returning to Ashyr's side, she rubbed a bit of cold, jelly-like substance on her stomach, then pressed the scanner to it. He blinked. "So... it has been four weeks since the consort ceremony? Well, you are four weeks pregnant."

Ashyr grinned disbelievingly. "I guess no more getting drunk for me," she said. Not that she had been drinking anywhere near to excess recently. Abstaining while breastfeeding Phanuel had gotten her out of the habit and now there were so many more things to entertain her. A wider grin spread across her face, and she embraced Caleldir firmly.

"This will be seen-" Selene began to say, then was interrupted by a massive yawn. "As a good sign by the people. Yes." She was clearly both happy and utterly exhausted.

"No more getting drunk indeed," Caleldir said somewhat dryly. "And yes, Selene, I think that this is fortuitous. And another reason to press forward and attempt to capture the Gene Forge sooner rather than later. There is a 90% chance that Ashyr is carrying a girl, who will be the next heir to House Duskhaven."

The ranger, still grinning, took Iondae from her rapidly falling asleep mother and put the infant in the cot next to the bed. "Sleep, dearest," she told her cousin. "You earned some rest."

Selene didn't seem to need the encouragement, though. Her eyes were shut, and her chest rose and fell with the steady slowness of deep slumber. Her daughter had already succumbed to a similar state after her first meal. Not even being moved around woke her. Both looked safe to leave alone for an hour or two.

Ashyr turned to Caleldir. "I don't think I can sleep yet," she informed him as her now ever-present grin turned naughty. "Shall we go... 'celebrate' the good news in the bedroom?" Her hand was already grabbing at his, and she was already moving towards the exit.

Caleldir was glad to see Ashyr clearly feeling very horny. Likely, Risa and Althaia would be unusually insistent on sex later on as well, and Dahlia was pretty much always ready for a round. Hmm... where was she right now, anyway? Eh, he felt that she was busy, and doing something non-sexual, so he would not spend time fruitlessly wondering what she was up to. Anyway, Caleldir was a bit afraid that his night would be even more sex-soaked than normal, but he would somehow live through it. Truly he had a hard life...

Especially with Ashyr raring to go like this. Caleldir gave her a grin and an embrace before following her insistent lead. "Yes, celebrations are in order," he said seriously. "To the bedroom, for a hopefully just two-person party."

It was, in fact, a two-person party. For the first orgasm or so. Then Dahlia ported in to help them celebrate. Ashyr didn't mind; she sort of liked Caleldir's familiar. The succubus was nice to her, and was usually quite respectful.

After that, life fell back into a new routine with baby Iondae. The infant seemed to be thriving and everyone was happy to help with anything that Selene needed. With Risa there, the rest of the family could get right back to their work guilt-free. It was on one of those work days, several weeks later, that Ashyr spoke to Caleldir over the breakfast table.

"High Priestess Hadlyn contacted me this morning," the ranger said casually. She couldn't hide the slight grin, though. "She said she wanted to speak with you today, and told me to tell you to meet with her at the temple during the time you normally take your lunch break. Kind of seemed like a Holy Order to me."

Selene looked partially amused, partially annoyed. "Did she have official business with him, or...?"

"Both, probably?" Ashyr responded with a shrug.

The mage sighed and shifted Iondae to the infant's preferred breast; the cute little frustrating girl wouldn't suckle on Selene's left no matter how hard she tried, and things were getting uncomfortable again. Selene couldn't be too angry, though, and the issue was old enough that she could ignore it. "It is the High Priestess right," she said with an apologetic look towards Caleldir. "Though you can remind her that she can't hinder your duties for too long. There is too much to do."