Two weeks seemed to fly by leaving a tense atmosphere of anticipation as the trio eagerly awaited Stolas to go into labor. Soon two weeks bled into three then four making Stolas two weeks overdue creating an obvious aura of concern, however the physician assured all of them that Stolas was doing just fine except for some minor discomfort from being so pregnant for this long. Although still concerned the trio tried to relax if nothing else for Stolas’ sake so he didn’t stress unfortunately upon the evening of the third day of the fourth week that concern would be justified. Stolas stirred awake in the middle of the night, confusion fluttering across his still sleep riddled brain as to why he’d awoken so suddenly until a sharp aching pain pierced through his stomach. Jerking with a pained moan Stolas grabbed at his pregnant belly before looking to his mates who lay on either side of him, Striker was leaning against the headboard with his arms crossed over his chest, a position he often took while sleeping out of habit from traveling so much and Blitz was sprawled across the bed with drool dribbling down his chin as he open mouthed snored.
“S-Striker…B-Blitz…” Stolas whispered out just as another pang of pain shot through him.
“Hmm? Stolas…?” Striker mumbled having been easily awoken from his light slumber by the owl’s call.
“S-Striker…the eggs…” Stolas managed to get out between pained panting breaths.
“Shit! Alright, come on let’s get Ya sittin’. Blitz!” Striker cursed as he moved to maneuver Stolas into a sitting position while slapping Blitz with his tale to wake him up.
“Huh!? What the…!?” Blitz snorted as he jerked awake from the strike of Striker’s tail across his torso.
“It’s go time Boss man,” Striker stated.
“Oh shit! Stolas, you, okay?” Blitz questioned as the sleep was blown from his mind, scrambling to get up on his knees next to Stolas.
“N-No…this…there’s something not…right…” Stolas panted out in agony with his eyes squeezed shut, clutching at his stomach.
“Call the physician Blitz,” Striker instructed.
“Right!” Blitz retorted, scrambling to grab his cell phone off the bedside table.
“Try ta take it easy Darlin’,” Striker encouraged Stolas, holding the owl’s shoulder while Blitz called the royal physician.
The Royal physician had stayed in the palace to be on call for when Stolas went into labor thus it only took her a few minutes to reach the Royal suite. Immediately Stolas was maneuvered to kneel on the bed using the headboard for balance as towels were spread beneath him, Blitz on one side holding the owl’s tail out of the way whilst Striker was on the other side offering comfort. The royal physician confirmed swiftly there was something not right, Stolas was in far more pain then he should have been with the birth and with some ginger palpation of his abdomen she determined the first egg was turned sideways resulting in it becoming stuck.
“I’m going to have to manually turn the egg, try not to push your majesty,” The Physician briefly explained before snapping a glove on and applying a healthy amount of lube to her hand. Stolas cried out in agony, talons digging into the headboard with tears rolling down his face as the physician began the process of trying to maneuver the egg inside him.
“Easy Darlin’, try ta breath,” Striker encouraged, rubbing Stolas’ back.
“F-fuck! I…I…it’s…too much…” Stolas sobbed out, arms shaking as he tried to hold himself up.
“Hold on,” Striker declared, moving himself between the headboard and Stolas causing his mate to cling onto him, face burying into Striker’s chest and talons unconsciously raking Striker’s back. Striker clenched his jaw to bare the pain of Stolas’ claws digging into his skin, holding Stolas up as the owl sobbed into the pale imp’s chest.
“How much longer?” Blitz questioned the physician with concern in his tone, he could tell Stolas was reaching the end of his pain tolerance.
“It’s moving but I can’t do it too fast, or he might rupture,” The physician explained.
An agonizing 10 minutes passed when finally, the physician managed to get the egg into the proper position and moments later the troublesome egg was laid. Despite being exhausted Stolas managed to push out the second egg a couple minutes later however there was still one left and Stolas was at the thin end of his rope. Striker was holding Stolas’ full weight by this point, his mate’s body soaked in sweat as he was barely managing to stay conscious.
“I only need a couple final pushes your majesty,” The royal physician stated.
“Ugh…I…I…can’t…” Stolas panted out weakly.
“Yes, Ya can. Come on darlin’,” Striker encouraged, nuzzling into Stolas’ sweat soaked hair.
Stolas steeled what little energy he had left then bared down two more times promptly producing the final egg only to pass out instantly. Striker gently eased Stolas down with permission from the physician to do so, Blitz taking off to retrieve a massive bowl of warm water along with new linens to help clean Stolas as well as the bed up. A heated blanket was retrieved for the eggs while the physician went about tending to Stolas, assuring Blitz and Striker that despite being exhausted beyond belief he was stable. Once Stolas was set up with an IV for fluids the physician started examining the eggs, the last two to be delivered were perfectly healthy unfortunately upon examining the first egg the physician discovered a crack. The physician explained to the two imps that it would take 3 to 5 days to find out if the eggs were fertile or not then warned that even if the cracked egg was fertile there was no guarantee that it could make it full term due to the crack. Despite the new concern there was nothing to do except wait, the physician finished giving instructions to turn the eggs every six hours while she would return to check on Stolas every two.
Once the royal physician left Blitz instantly took on the task of mother hen, tending to the eggs diligently whilst Striker took care of Stolas. Early morning rays streamed through the palace windows as Stolas gave a soft moan, eyes fluttering open to the sight of Striker leaning over him gently carding his fingers through the owl’s feathers in a soothing manner.
“S-Striker…? Where are the eggs?” Stolas inquired, glancing around in concern.
“Relax Darlin’, Blitz has the eggs,” Striker stated gesturing to Blitz on the opposite side of Stolas, body wrapped around the eggs like a cat curled up on a rug.
“Hmm, are they okay?” Stolas asked with a wary smile.
“Two are alright, the third…was cracked,” Striker delicately informed Stolas.
“What!? Ugh!” Stolas jerked up followed by a wince of pain as Striker grabbed his shoulder.
“Easy! Fuck! Ya ain’t healed yet. Doc said the crack is stable, but it could result in a premature hatchin’,” Striker explained, easing Stolas into a semi sitting position.
Blitz uncurled from around the eggs to gingerly hand the cracked egg to Stolas who looked over it with a frown, fingers lightly caressing over the crack. Stolas concluded that there wasn’t anything to be done, all they could do was wait to see how it would affect the egg and the embryo, if there was even one inside.
Three days later Stolas had healed enough to get out of bed with some help from his mates, preparing the candling technique on the kitchen table to find out if their eggs were fertile or not. Nervously the three stood around the kitchen table where a large purple candle was lit as Stolas held the last egg laid over it, gently turning it until a small black spot appeared inside. The second egg revealed the same thing sending waves of excitement through the room however the third egg which had been the first laid with the crack quickly put a damper on that as at first glance it appeared empty. Stolas’ face became solemn as he prepared to give up on the egg when Blitz suddenly stopped him, squinting hard then pointing right next to the crack. Stolas thought his crimson mate was reaching, but he humored the imp by holding it over the candle again only to be taken aback. Right next to the crack was the smallest black speck out of all three eggs yet sure, enough it was there meaning the egg was fertile resulting in a wide grin crossing the owl’s face.
“So how long till they hatch?” Blitz excitedly inquired while Stolas placed the last egg on a pillow on the table, joining the other two that were on their own pillows.
“One to two months,” Stolas informed his mate.
“Seriously? That’s so long…” Blitz whined causing both Stolas and Striker to chuckle.
“The chicks need to develop darling,” Stolas giggled out.
“Okay,” Blitz accepted with a pout.
“Let’s get Ya and these three back to the bedroom,” Striker suggested still chuckling at Blitz as he scooped up one of the eggs.
“I agree,” Stolas confirmed also scooping up an egg.
Blitz still pouting scooped the last egg up then the trio trucked back to the bedroom where the imp’s tucked Stolas in with the three eggs huddled into a heated blanket.