Worlds Apart Pt. 02

"We should probably see if they're hungry," Liz replied with a nod.

Jamie collected the kittens from the pen two by two, bringing them over to Liz for feeding. She slid down the towel to expose her breasts, holding one kitten in each hand as they ate greedily.

"You know, I was worried that I wouldn't feel anything for them," Jamie said as he watched her cradle two of the kittens.

"What do you mean?" she asked, glancing over at him.

"I didn't want to say anything about it. It sounded bad no matter how I tried to phrase it," he admitted. "But, I thought that maybe they'd look too different from me, like maybe whatever paternal instinct was supposed to kick in just wouldn't."

"And now?"

"Now, I can't take my eyes off them," he replied, unable to contain his smile. "I can't believe that we made these, that they came from us. They're part me, part you, and they're so alive. I almost can't believe that this all worked out. All the travel, all the tests and procedures, and we're finally seeing the fruits of all that labor."

Liz leaned over to push her nose into his hair, nuzzling affectionately.

"Everyone kept warning me about postpartum depression," she said as she gazed down at the kittens in her arms. "They hit me over the head with it so much that it almost felt like they were encouraging it. But, ever since the delivery, I just feel...on top of the world. I've wanted this for so long, and now everything has fallen into place. It feels perfect, like the Universe is aligning just for me, like putting the last piece of a puzzle into place. I'm tired and sore, don't get me wrong," she chuckled. "Maybe it's just a soup of hormones addling my brain, but all I feel right now is love. For them, for you, for where we're at right now."

"I'm glad to hear that," he said, leaning his head against her shoulder.

"We'd better make sure we take plenty of pictures of them," she said, shifting one of the kittens to bring it closer to her nipple. "We owe Cassidy and her crew a whole photo album."

"I took plenty in the hospital," Jamie replied. "Not to mention all the footage that the UAS guys took. We must remember that we owe Holly some pictures for her grand propaganda project, too."

"That can wait," Liz said, handing one of the babies back to Jamie. "The files will take months to reach her, so it's not like waiting a few days or weeks will make much of a difference."

The baby began to squirm in his hands, kicking its little legs.

"Uh oh, I think he wants his mom," Jamie said as he held up the wriggling kitten.

"Try burping him," Liz suggested.

"Okay," Jamie replied, placing the baby's head on his shoulder. "I read about this. So, I just pat his back, right?"

"Gently," Liz added, Jamie giving the kitten a couple of light taps. It let out a tiny burp by his ear, then settled, Jamie cradling it in his arms.

"Good job," Liz chuckled. "Here, take Bren back and go fetch Hazel, would you?"

***

The first night with the kittens was about what Jamie had expected. They had bought a crib large enough to fit all five and had placed it near the bed. According to what they had read, sleeping in the same bed as the children wasn't a good idea, but it was best to keep them close all the same. According to Liz, the Borealans took similar precautions with their offspring.

The kittens roused Liz and Jamie for feeding several times, so neither one of them really got much sleep. There was also the problem of diaper changing. They had already decided that they wouldn't be handling diapers, vomit, and other unsavory realities of child-rearing in shifts or turns. Turning it into a chore that was to be foisted upon one partner or the other would only breed resentment. If help was needed, it would be provided by whoever was available at the time.

Jamie had never changed a diaper before, and he had to pull up a tutorial on his phone, leaning it against the wall as the kitten wriggled on the kitchen counter. Then there was the matter of cleaning. Unlike human babies, the kittens were covered in fur, and each diaper change had to be accompanied by a thorough washing and drying that further complicated the process.

The next couple of days proceeded much the same way. The kittens' eyes were still closed, and they weren't yet strong enough to do much other than wriggle around in their pen, crying for food and attention. Even if Jamie couldn't play with them yet, he still enjoyed holding them, stroking them as one would pet a cat. They were so reactive, very much aware of their surroundings despite their lack of sight, and they sought out affection with the same eagerness that they sought out food.

Four days after their birth, Liz's milk finally came in, and the kittens transitioned from drinking only colostrum. By this point, they should all have healthy gut biomes that would help them digest their new diet. The process of feeding didn't change much, but there was one big difference. Now, Jamie could start helping out.

***

Liz walked over to one of the cupboards above the kitchen counter, rummaging around inside. She pulled out two items that looked remarkably like air horns. There was a cup-shaped implement on the top of each one, and beneath it was a baby's bottle. She retrieved half a dozen more empty bottles, then made her way over to the couch, where Jamie was sitting.

"Here, hold these," she said as she sat down heavily beside him. He took the clear, plastic containers from her, watching as she opened her shirt. She had taken to wearing button-up, flannel shirts instead of her usual t-shirts and tank tops, as it gave her easier access when it was dinner time. She let one of her boobs spill out into her hand, then she brought the breast pump to her nipple, flipping the switch on the back that would start the little electric motor. It created suction, starting to draw on her breast in a way that mimicked a feeding baby, a slow trickle of milk starting to fill the bottle. She did the same with the other breast, relaxing back into the cushions as the quiet whir of the pumps filled the room.

"Does it hurt?" Jamie asked, grimacing at the machines.

"Why would it?" she chuckled. "It does feel a little odd, though."

"I don't know what I expected, but I guess we're literally farming milk now."

It took a good hour for Liz to fill all of the bottles, and by then, the kittens were ready for their next meal. Liz wanted to try bottle feeding for herself to see how the kittens reacted, and she had just expressed most of her milk, so she joined Jamie as he brought over two of the kittens. He cradled Hazel in his lap, giving her furry belly a quick rub, watching her wriggle around happily. Next, he cupped her head in his hand, angling it up so that he could bring the flexible tip of the bottle to her mouth. She was reluctant at first, turning her head away each time he tried to get her to drink, and he started to wonder if it didn't smell enough like Liz to fool her. Thinking on his feet, he squeezed just a little of the milk out of the tip, using his finger to smear it around as he held the kitten in his other hand.

When he brought it to her lips again, she accepted it, taking the rubbery tip of the bottle into her mouth. Her little, underdeveloped hands reached out to grip it clumsily, squeezing intermittently as she did when she was nursing at Liz's bosom. He glanced over at Liz with a smile on his face, seeing that she was having the same problem.

"It's the scent," he explained as she struggled with her unhappy charge. "Squeeze out a little milk, see if he'll drink it then."

She did as he suggested, and Bren accepted it, the little orange kitten starting to drink ravenously. He looked so tiny in her giant hand, and the bottle was so small that she had to hold it between her thumb and forefinger like a toy.

"Remember when Cassidy toasted us at the feast on the Magellan?" Liz asked. "She said that we knew more about being parents than we think we do. I think I get what she meant now."

"A lot of this comes naturally, intuitively," he replied with a nod. "I was worried at first, but now, it feels like something that I've always known how to do."

CHAPTER 11: HEREDITY

By the time a week had passed, Liz and Jamie were starting to feel the effects of their interrupted sleep schedule. They found themselves napping during the day whenever they had an opportunity, but they rarely made it more than an hour without being woken by a hungry kitten. They eventually started to sleep in shifts, but Liz's sensitive hearing meant that ignoring them was impossible, even through walls. Jamie didn't fare much better. In such a small apartment, there were few places they could go for refuge.

They didn't let it get them down, however. As surly as the lack of sleep could make them, the moment that they picked up one of the kittens, any resentment melted away.

One night, Jamie was awoken once again by a crying kitten, the sound jolting him out of a dream. Their cries were so piercing, his heart pumping as a flood of adrenaline encouraged him out of bed. He rolled over, checking the clock on his bedside table, groaning as he saw that it was two in the morning. Liz grumbled as he slid out from under the sheets, flattening her ears against her head as if that might help block out the sound.

"I got it, I got it," he mumbled groggily. "Just...stay in bed, I'll deal with them."

He stumbled across the bedroom, making his way over to the side of the crib. It was Toza tonight, and he had woken two of the other kittens. Jamie reached in to stroke them, trying to calm them. He and Liz had learned that it had a similar effect to rocking a human baby. Once they were quiet, he lifted Toza from the crib and took him out into the kitchen.

"Alright, alright," Jamie muttered as he cradled the crying kitten in his arms. "Jeez, Toza, you're just as pushy as your grandpa."

He opened the fridge and pulled out one of the full bottles, setting some water to warm on the stove and placing it in the pan. As he waited, he rubbed Toza's furry underside, the baby reaching out to grab at his fingers as he wiggled them above his head.

Wait...

Jamie did a double-take, glancing down at the baby again. His eyes were open.

"Liz! Come quick!"

He heard a thud as Liz rolled out of bed, followed by footsteps as she rushed to the door. She banged her head on the low frame as she left the bedroom, cursing as she held a hand to her forehead.

"W-what is it?" she demanded, still half-asleep. "Is something wrong?"

"No, sorry," he replied. "I just..."

Her angry glare faded as she turned her eyes to the kitten, her ears pricking up when she saw that he was staring back at her.

"His eyes!"

Jamie handed the kitten to her, taking the bottle out of the pot, testing the temperature of the milk as Liz held Toza up to examine him.

"He has your eyes," she mused, wide awake now. "He has my fur and skin tone, but his eyes are as blue as the sky. I never would've imagined..."

Jamie handed her the bottle, and she cradled Toza again, waving it above his face. The kitten's eyes tracked it, and he reached out with his little hands, not yet coordinated enough to catch it. She relented, letting him drink, Toza closing his eyes contentedly as he suckled.

"The others should be opening their eyes soon, too," Liz said as she smiled down at the baby. "Another few weeks and they'll be mobile."

"How mobile, exactly?" Jamie asked.

"You'll be glad of the pen we built, I'll tell you that much."

***

Over the next few days, the kittens opened their eyes one by one, and with that came a new curiosity about their environment. Even if they couldn't do much more than roll around, Jamie could see them examining the world around them, especially the plush toys that he and Liz had placed in their play area. They were fascinated by one another, too, spending much of their time snuggled together in a heap.

Their eye colors were just as varied as their fur. Dazka had the emerald-green eyes of her mother, while Kenneth had yellow irises, and Bren's were also green. Jamie was secretly delighted to see that Hazel's eyes were the same brown tone as her skin and fur. According to Liz, it was a very unusual eye color for a Borealan.

Having their eyes open made them vulnerable to infections during the first few days, and Liz showed him how to gently wipe around them with a warm flannel to help keep them clean. Their ears had started to unfold, too, exposing them to a new world of sound.

The babies were eating well, growing larger and stronger by the day. Jamie was amazed that Liz was able to produce enough milk to feed them all, considering the quantity that they drank. Her breasts were still sore, and he kept up his massage regimen as best he could, even if their lack of rest meant that they didn't take things any further than that. He might have been more bothered by the disruption to their sex life, but the kittens kept him busy enough that he rarely had time to think about anything else.

It wasn't long before they got a call from the UAS, who wanted to send over a team to check up on the kittens. It felt a little intrusive at this juncture, when the stress was high, and both Liz and Jamie were having trouble forming any kind of schedule. That said, it was what they had agreed to, and none of it would have been possible without the organization's participation.

Half a dozen doctors and scientists showed up at their door that same afternoon, carrying a litany of equipment with them. They weighed the babies one by one, reporting that they had all increased in weight by about one hundred and fifty percent since the birth, which was a good sign. They were growing remarkably quickly. The UAS personnel took more blood samples and ran some simple tests that were designed to measure coordination and alertness. It seemed a little premature to Jamie, they were still infants, but the results seemed to please the researchers.

As gentle as the scientists were, and as much care they showed in handling the babies, Jamie still felt an aura of menace from Liz. She watched them at all times with those feline eyes, bristling when she suspected that one of them was being careless with a kitten, and she asked them for a detailed explanation of every test that was performed. It wasn't that she objected to their presence. It was more primal than that, a maternal instinct that made her overly protective. She never brought it up, and the researchers seemed oblivious to her mood, but Jamie knew her well enough to know when she was suppressing an emotion. Liz had always described Borealans as hands-off parents, so perhaps that was more dictated by culture than instinct. It was a lot easier to let your kids run wild when there were a dozen other pairs of eyes available to watch them.

Jamie was relieved when the kittens were given a clean bill of health. The only concern right now related to the development of their bones. Because Borealans were evolved for a higher-gravity environment, there was some debate over how their skeletons were going to adapt to Earth. Liz had been born on Borealis, but she had come to Earth as a small child, and her development had been aided by the same medication that people living in low-gravity environments took to reduce the loss of muscle mass and bone density. According to the UAS doctors, that medication could be administered to the kittens once they were old enough, though an exercise regimen would be required if they desired to reach their full mass.

Once the scientists had left, they calmed the kittens down and fed them before putting them to bed.

***

By the third week, the kittens had nearly doubled in size. They were growing so fast, and they were bulking up, growing stronger the more they ate. Some of them had started to crawl on all-fours like a human baby now, exploring their pen.

Jamie was walking past it one day when he saw a furry, orange hand gripping the edge of the plastic fence. He stopped in his tracks, his coffee in hand, watching as it was joined by a second. The kitten was feeling around, probing with its stubby little fingers. Jamie drew closer, seeing that it was Bren. The kitten was standing upright, leaning against the wall of the pen, his fuzzy tail waving behind him.

"Are you trying to climb out, little guy?" Jamie chuckled. He reached down to rub the kitten's head, Bren mewling in response. "Maybe we should get you a walker."

"He might be hungry," Liz called over from the couch. "Better bring him here."

Jamie set down his mug on the coffee table, then returned to lift Bren out of the playpen. He was getting heavy now, maybe fifteen pounds, closer to a three-month-old human baby than his three-week age would suggest. Now that the kittens' eyes were open, they were always staring back at their parents, seemingly fascinated by their faces. Jamie found himself wondering if they saw him any differently than they did Liz, but they seemed just as affectionate towards him as they were to her.

He handed the chubby kitten over to Liz, and she brought him to her bosom, Bren reaching up to knead her breast eagerly. He began to suckle, then Liz sucked in a sharp breath through gritted teeth. She drew the baby back, his furry little brow starting to furrow now that her boob was out of reach. Tears began to well in his eyes, Liz petting him apologetically to stop him from crying.

"What happened?" Jamie asked.

"Little monster bit me," she replied, Jamie noting a red mark on her nipple.

"Hang on," he said, moving closer. He reached down carefully, pulling back Bren's upper lip. On his gums were the beginnings of teeth, their white color contrasting with his pink flesh. "His teeth are coming in!"

"Oh, great," Liz muttered sarcastically. "How do I teach him not to bite? He can't even speak yet."

"Hang on, I read something about this," Jamie said as he pulled up his phone. "Here we go," he continued after a few moments of searching. "This article says that you should remove the infant from your breast if he bites, and he'll eventually get the picture. It also says that you shouldn't yell at him, because if you scare him, he can go on what's called a nursing strike. That doesn't sound good..."

"That article is talking about human babies, though, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "The same principles must apply, I'm sure. So, if he bites, just pull him away and give him a minute to put two and two together. If he doesn't play nice, he doesn't get any boob juice."

"Alright," she sighed. "Feel like I'm sticking a fork in a power outlet, but here we go..."

She returned Bren to her breast, the kitten maneuvering her nipple into his mouth. He nursed normally for another minute, then Liz grimaced as he bit her again. She did as Jamie had suggested, pulling the baby away from her bosom, Bren starting to kick his little legs in frustration.

"Maybe we should use a bottle today," Jamie said, but Liz shook her head adamantly.

"No, he has to learn. I don't want to start bottle-feeding them exclusively, not yet. This is part of being a mom, part of bonding. They need it."

Liz pressed on, and after one more incident, Bren finally seemed to realize that biting the nipple that feeds was a bad idea. He settled, nursing normally, Liz letting herself relax. It had to be nerve-wracking, just waiting for him to pinch one of the most sensitive parts of her body with his little teeth. Unfortunately, that probably meant that the other four kittens would have to go through the same process. That didn't mean that Liz had to endure it all at once, however. Jamie grabbed a bottle and helped with the feeding, balancing Toza in his lap as the kitten sucked down the milk greedily.

Fortunately, none of the other kittens bit Liz. It seemed that Bren was ahead of the curve. They had already bought teething rings for just such an occasion, and Jamie fetched one of them, stepping into the playpen through the gate. Immediately, the kittens crawled their way over to him on the foam padding, jostling for space on his lap when he sat down. They really were mobile now.