A short piece for Mihin Island 🌉
i. Context (you can go straight to Part II if you like rawdogging original universes :D):
The Mihin Island universe;
Humans, kemonomimi and anthros can have biological children, but can also receive babies from storks.
Considered a supernatural phenomenon, stork baby delivery seems to befall random individuals at random times. The babies received are ‘random’ as well; they can be of any species, with any kind of health status.
The babies come in a basket with basic accessories and ID.
No one knows where the storks or the babies come from.
What to do when you receive a stork baby:
In Florida, where our main characters live, the stork baby has to be surrendered immediately to a hospital equipped to handle them. The baby will then be quarantined, and assessed for any health issues.
Some ‘parents’ may simply abandon their infants at the hospital. But if a baby recipient does want to keep their new child, they will be subject to a background check, and will have to fill in the paperwork.
Finally, a stork baby may go home with its parent(s), or become state custody.
(Here's a link containing Ben's latest ref sheet:)
[First ID: A character sheet, with text introducing the character: ‘Benedict Friman; 67 years old (b. Aug 1945); nekomimi’. ‘Businessman,
Ben's feline ears perked up first, an automatic response to hearing that familiar ringing sound.
He looked up from his printer, which was still spewing out paperwork for his next meeting, and saw the device at his desk; his office phone was receiving a call. Ben sighed, a bit tired; his first worry was that it was going to be Amir from Diamondways again.
The catman walked up to the phone and hesitated for just a split second. Finally he picked the handset up and answered.
"Oh, Dirk!" The catman relaxed completely, sitting down in his chair. "What's up?"
A deep sigh. "Wow. So..."
"Yes...?" Hearing his son hesitate had certainly piqued Ben's curiosity, without him overthinking it so far.
"I think... well... you're a grandpa, now?"
Ben tried to think about this statement for a moment.
"...I-I mean, I didn't call you to say like, I had sex with Maelle or something," Dirk quickly continued, realizing what a situation like that normally entailed. "Actually... we, uh, we had a stork baby."
"Y-yeah!" Dirk explained excitedly. "We were just having lunch at, uh, Coffee & Candy, then the bird smashed the windows, demanding to be let in. Someone opened the door, it walked up to Maelle and dropped the baby!" The half-human's voice faltered a little.
"Really." Ben himself was trying to acknowledge this was actually happening. He was now standing up, his crooked black tail quivering. "So— now what, are you at the hospital?"
"Yeah. With Maelle. They're still checking her health and everything."
"Oh," Ben breathed. "It's a she?"
"Mhm. Human. And, uh, she came with the name 'Hani'."
"That's beautiful. You're..."
Both father and son paused for a moment, taking it all in.
"...I mean, you're gonna keep her, right?"
"Mhm," Dirk squeaked, full of emotion; his father purred softly, empathetically.
Dirk purred and sniffled. "Are you gonna come and see her?"
"Of course." If he could, Ben would be giving Dirk the biggest dad hug he's ever given. "I'll go get your mom. You've gotta wait for us, after work, okay? And did you call her?"
"Nope! You'll do that, then?"
"I will, kit. Thanks for calling. You've made my day, love you."
"And Maelle, my love. G'bye!"
The catman set his handset back down, tail still swishing. Agh, he couldn't think about his to-do list now. He had to be there for his son and daughter-in-law! They were finally getting the family they wanted; damn this office!
Ben impatiently grabbed the handset again, and punched in his wife's office phone number—if he was going to feel antsy for the rest of the day, he might as well find himself some company.
