Hi! how about Amelia/Neimi with either something like "getting a pet" or "the one Amelia likes"? (if neither clicks with you that's ok!) Take care!
Word Count: 2.2k
Warnings: pregnancy/childbirth (relating to cows), implied/future animal death
A village, Amelia reasoned, consisted of three things: people, housing, and food. Neimi nodded along, agreeing. So, they looked at themselves, looked down at their knobbly knees and at their badly shaven legs and their hands and decided that they had people. Next up was housing. Eirika and Ephraim had sent them supplies and then additional folk to teach them the art of construction and the like so that was another agreement. They had housing. As stick-like as it was, not exactly masterly crafted; looked as though a wolf could blow it all down with a huff and a puff, to say nothing of more likely disasters such as fire or earthquakes but they had housing. And finally, food.
Food, that’s where the young ladies disagreed.
“We can go out and hunt, there’s plenty of food in the forest.” Neimi, faint of voice, told Amelia.
“I don’t think that’s sustainable in the long run. We should have back up supplies. We need to transition your village to agriculture.” Amelia argued back.
Neimi’s voice and heart both wobbled. “I – I can’t argue with that.” She said, imagining if there was ever a drought; if the deer moved on elsewhere, it would be nice to have reserves which were untouched by a summer famine or the like.
“Okay, so what should we raise?” Amelia asked.
“Wheat, probably.” Neimi said.
“Yeah, definitely, I know exactly where to get some seed for that… back… in… Grado.” Amelia said, her confidence fizzling out.
“I’m sure there’s a town or village nearby willing to trade, we still have some money in the kitty, remember?” Neimi offered up.
Amelia grinned. “Yeah, we do.” She laughed. “But I think we need animals as well. Salted meat is so good. Lasts forever, too.”
“True.” Neimi said.
“And I know exactly what to raise.” Amelia boasted. “I bet you do too, the answer’s so obvious. We’ll both say it on three.”
“W-Wait, do you mean on three when you say three or – or-” Neimi quibbled.
“One, two, three-!” Amelia went right on ahead of anything Neimi had to fret about.
“Goats!” “Cows!”
Amelia blinked. Neimi blinked. Amelia’s throat felt a little raw. She had yelled goats all but on the top of her lungs. Neimi’s heart pounded as she felt like she had said the wrong thing and that made her feel very, very bad.
“Back in Silva, there was a lot of rocky terrain, so we kept goats.” Amelia said and then she sheepishly laughed. She scratched behind the back of her head, blushed a little bit. “But that’s on me for putting my experiences ahead of yours. It’s really flat here, more ideal to sheep or cow farming, huh? We should definitely get sheep so we can take their wool and make our own clothes, but I think having a cow around would be nicer since sheep milk… isn’t really a thing. But cows’ milk, yum, we could have, well, milk but also butter and cheese and cream. Let’s get ourselves a cow, Neimi, great suggestion!”
Amelia’s words all but went over Neimi’s head in her panic that she had said something wrong and would therefore make Amelia like her less but that wasn’t the case at all. The following week, they went into town and they looked around for anyone who could spare them some pittance.
They came home, late into the sunset, with a heifer, some seeds of wheat and also barely to sew, as well as a few vegetables. The people in the other towns were really kind. Even downright inspired when Neimi told her tale that she was going to revive that piddly little village which had gone down in flames not too long ago. The two young women were asked to come around whenever; they all wanted to see every inch of Renais restored after the war with Grado.
Amelia wasn’t quite as cheery after hearing it. She had defected from Grado and she had even fought with the royal twins of Renais, but she still felt bad that she had some hand in the misfortune which had besmirched the good, rural parts of Renais. She didn’t tell Neimi about the melancholy she felt but Neimi sensed, intuitively, that Amelia was feeling down for good reason. That night, in their hut, when they went to sleep together in their shared bed, Neimi snuggled Amelia a little bit tighter than normal and Amelia fell asleep with a smile on her face because of it.
It was nice. Listening to their new cow – christened Jessica – low in the distance. A little bit homesick, perhaps? But her voice was nice. Soft. Of course, tomorrow, when the sun came up again, the new battle started. Farming, agriculture, it was going to be hard but they both very much looked forward to the rewards of it.
It was a long journey to the rewards of it but Neimi and Amelia were both in the long haul for it. It was exciting. Seeing their seeds, sewn at the crack of dawn, and tended to with the utmost care every day, become sprouts and eventually become vegetables. Cabbages, potatoes, carrots: they were going to have the most delicious vegetables stews and soups and roasts. Oh, it was going to be marvellous and delicious and it really, really was.
Eating the spoils of their hard work had never been tastier. Cooking for one another in a billy over the fire; not having to rely on what they had to buy from other towns or even what they could hunt and gather from the surrounding forests. It was scrumptious, simply scrumptious. They took turns to feed each other. They had never felt more like peasants, having to grow and make their own food, but they had never felt more royal. They were willing to bet their fancy-schmancy friends didn’t eat so well up in their castles. They laughed as they made such jokes, getting nostalgic for whom they missed; Ross and Franz and the like, they hoped that the boys could come and visit soon. Though, they would likely be young men – just like they were young women – if they were.
With each passing day, Jessica got that little bit older. A little bit healthier and soon enough, Amelia and Neimi were ready to cast that die. To see if she could bear them a calf. They took Jessica into town and asked around. Eventually they made a deal with a family which was huge; two parents and five children as well, all under sixteen. They would get to have the calf for slaughter so long as Amelia and Neimi ensured that the calf was born safely and raised to a good size for eating.
That was a little bit scary. Knowing that one day they would have to slaughter the animals that they had raised but that was a little bit further out. For now, they just had to get their darling Jessica pregnant and making milk. They left her over night for a bit, they were allowed to hole up in the couple’s stables, sleeping in the straw and listening to the horses mow.
They didn’t sleep well but they were together. Making more progress towards their goal of having a village and a village couldn’t be a village without cows. The family did invite them inside for breakfast and it was such a jovial time. The tiny tots were taken with the young women; Amelia excitedly relayed to them all the stories from the war that she and Neimi had accumulated. The parents could barely believe their eyes; those two skinny things? Surely not but it was truer than the sky was blue.
“And there I was!” Amelia explained; the children gasped, eyes going wide. “Staring down the eyes of that fiend Valter and his ugly wyvern…”
Neimi laughed as Amelia told her tales. She had quite the streak for performance in her, apparently. She never failed to be amusing.
After breakfast, Amelia and Neimi took Jessica home with the hopes that the deed had been done by that family’s bull. They’d know eventually and Amelia was bragging that they would know sooner rather than later. They wouldn’t just rely on whether or not Jessica’s stomach had grown rounder than usual; she insisted they would know like good, hands-on farmers and that grossed Neimi out from the bottom of her stomach. Making her go green and pale and even dizzy. It was a miracle that they had gotten home at with that sudden near fainting spell of Neimi’s.
But down the track, as Amelia had promised, she was going to do it. She was going to check by hand whether or not Jessica had gotten pregnant. Neimi absolutely did not want to watch but Amelia loved the audience.
Neimi distracted Jessica from the front. Petting her snout and assuring her that it was going to be alright. She was such a beautiful cow, yes she was. Amelia, meanwhile, slowed her breathing and pulled those gloves up long and tight along her arm. She did it as quickly as she could. No time to think or back out because yes. Sometimes she was all hot air but not this time, even though she, too, felt sick as her arm went far too easily up Jessica’s vagina.
“Can you feel anything?” Neimi asked, going green as she kept Jessica calm.
Their cow was distraught. Neither of them could blame her.
Amelia grimaced. Brows furrowing harder and harder and then. Her expression blanked.
“Amelia?” Neimi prompted her.
“I found it.” Amelia said.
“Huh?” Neimi blinked, misty-eyed.
“We’re gonna be grandparents, Neimi!” Amelia yelled, vibrating with excitement. “Jessica’s pregnant! We’re gonna be grandparents!”
Neimi just wanted to hug Amelia but now absolutely was not a good time. Nor would in five minutes time be any good either, unfortunately, because Amelia’s right arm was covered in all sorts of gunk so Neimi held onto that feeling for as long as possible until after Amelia had jumped through a quick shower and then, not even waiting a moment longer, that’s when Neimi finally got her hug.
Amelia had barely been out of the shower for a minute, she was still hot and steamy and wet, and Neimi hugged her. Barging in and buried her face in the crook of Amelia’s neck and she laughed.
“Neimi,” she complained, “I’m gonna get you all wet. I don’t want you catching a cold.”
“I don’t care. We’re gonna be grandmothers.” Neimi said.
“It’ll be a long haul.” Amelia remidned her, patting Neimi’s shoulder. “And even then, don’t forget, we have to send our calf away afterwards.”
“I don’t want that….” Neimi all but immediately burst into tears.
“Won’t be for a while.” Amelia told her in a soothing voice.
But it was strange, the days felt like they were going by quicker now. Their farm was expanding. Their little fields had become just that little bit bigger; more defined with a bigger harvest. They had been receiving interest from other people – a young couple, the wife pregnant with their first – looking for a new start to join their commune and they were looking forward to it.
Even Ewan came by for a visit. He was amazed to see what Neimi and Amelia had done whilst he had been gallivanting about. He was overjoyed to meet Jessica and to eat their food as well. He had many stories to tell as well; cementing that it had already been a year since the defeat of the Demon King. It was a shame that he couldn’t stay longer; he wanted to be on his feet again soon, so he only stayed the night. The ladies felt bad that he had to sleep on the floor, but their hut wasn’t built for guests as of yet and there was barely enough room on their shared bed for the two of them at the best of times.
Ewan, ever placid and blithe, didn’t mind very much but that just made it all the harder to say farewell to him when he left later again on his journey. He was loud and bright and cheeky too but Neimi cried as though he were leaving for good. He wasn’t though. It was just bye for now but not forever.
It didn’t feel like much long after that – it really was though – that Jessica finally gave birth. Neimi couldn’t watch; it was too painful. Jessica sounded as though she were in agony, but Amelia was weirdly fascinated to watch as this thing, practically as big as her, fell out of Jessica in its amniotic sack.
The process, of course, was a lot more complicated than that. It was childbirth, after all, but essentially, that’s what happened. Neimi bawled. There was so much blood but even so, Jessica and calf were good as gold within minutes afterwards. Jessica licked all that stuff off her young and young was already raring to go.
It was amazing how grown the little thing – a boy, apparently, better off unnamed but Amelia and Neimi were too inexperienced and sentimental to properly digest such a thing so his name was, unofficially, Jedemaiah – kick about in the fenced off field with his mother. Always trying to play but Jessica was more sedentary than that. It was amazing. Miraculous, almost.
Amelia and Neimi had a grand time, sitting on what they called their back veranda, it wasn’t a veranda at all, with a plate of pie, basking in the afternoon sun, watching the calf live its best life. It was wonderful and the cream on the pie, made from wild grown raspberries, was truly the best part of their afternoon dessert coupled with entertainment.