All they need is a priest

Another day dawns and you smile to yourself. Yes, it does have something to do with Helena, who's decided that wrapping her mouth around your shaft is the perfect way to wake you. But it has just as much to do with how well things have gone in general. You've managed to evade the inquisition and three of the knights who accompanied them are already being strung along by your catgirls, one way or another. Then there's the not inconsiderable number of military men who might come back here someday soon to catch up on the good old times with your friendlier catgirls.

Although Lady Emira took a risk the results are looking spectacular. She's even promised to keep writing down any ideas she has for possible new breeds and for the catgirl society, histories and journals. With a mind to her last important need you sent a message to Deacon Lorrick a few days ago, relayed by one of your trusted Bast worshiping catgirls. Enough information and enough good reasons to convince him to clear his schedule.

A few hours to noon and both the deacon and Fiona arrive at your mansion. You haven't seen her in a while and you're rather pleased at how her tiny frame is supporting that overstuffed womb. With so many on the way she's probably going into labor in a little less than a month. If you remember rightly, she's about seven and a half months pregnant with your quadruplets - and it shows. No dress can conceal her gravid belly or that cute waddle.

When you welcome them inside Fiona gets mobbed by most of your wives, Sandra in particular is almost bouncing from foot to foot. "You're almost as big as I was," she says in the same gushing way most women would say, 'Have you decided on a name?'.

Bethany asks if it's going to be okay for Fiona to travel so far like this, but Yvonne gives both her and Fiona some ear scratches and says, "This one? She'll be fine, you'll see." Fiona looks so happy as she cuddles up to Yvonne. She lifts her skirts so she can show off her bare belly to all your wives and a few other catgirls who've come over. There are all sorts of little reunions and she's reminded that she should come over more often to say, "Hi".

While all that is going on you quietly tell the deacon all about Lady Emira's situation, Sir Galren's involvement and the general plan. He grins widely and almost rubs his hands in glee. "I spend so much time 'arranging' things and finding excuses," he says, "but the trouble is that my reputation can suffer if that's all I'm seen to do. I've been looking for a chance to bank some 'goodwill' with some other members of the church and this has all the spicy details that will grease up the rumor mill."

"And Lady Emira will be quite grateful to us both. And to the church that made it all possible," you say, meaning the church of Bast rather than the church he officially serves.

"Yes, indeed. And are you sure she's a suitable candidate?" he asks.

"Oh yes. Her and Sandra are almost dangerously aligned."

"Hmmm, and you say Laura has chosen to accompany her? They get along too?"

"Like peas in a pod."

He laughs heartily. "I almost feel sorry for this young knight."

"I know what you mean, but on the other hand he's the biggest winner there is."

"True, true."

The next few hours are spent making the introductions, 'convincing' the deacon to take up the fight in front of Sir Galren, and so forth. One thing that you notice is the way Mercy, Skye and Aleksandra bristle when they hear the story. You wouldn't want to be one of these nobles who lied if somehow the three big, muscular catgirls got you alone in a room. Nancy, who's sitting next to Lady Emira, gently lays a hand on the lady's hand in support as the story is told and Vania tears up a little.

After it's all decided you excuse yourself from the social situation, which is rapidly developing into a big lunch and a goodbye party, to check on some mundane supplies. Luckily some of your catgirls are rather detail oriented. They came to the fore during the preparations for your wedding, and now these catgirls often get sent on errands in town. You check over the many things you asked them to stockpile over the last few days - a set of covered wagons, horses, tents, decent travel foods, bedding and dresses. It won't be a fast trip north, but it will be comfortable and should give all the catgirls a great opportunity to bond with their fellow travelers.

As you're mending a few minor rough spots on one of the tents you hear the door creak open. "Hello, Lord John," says a timid voice. "Ummm, could you help me?"

You turn and find Fiona playing with her tail, looking worried. You close and lock the door so you won't be disturbed and lead her over to some chairs. "What's the matter? I thought you and Deacon Lorrick were quite happy."

"Oh yes!" she says. "He's perfect. But, I worry about him. You know, he doesn't seem interested in other catgirls. And, I suppose in a way I'm flattered but... in a few months I'm going to give birth and Sandra and the other girls say we won't be able to, um, have sex. How's he going to deal with that? For months, they said."

You try not to chuckle. "Lots of men manage that, I assure you."

"But he shouldn't have to. I know you don't have to, Leshak doesn't have to. This Sir Galren certainly won't have to. And I'm mad at myself. If I'd just pushed him a little harder maybe we could have found the right catgirl for him. For us."

"So you want me to play matchmaker?"

She pauses and then says, "I don't know exactly what that means, but I think so?"

"A person who tries to set up a man or woman with a good match."

"Yes, that's what I need. And there's another thing too. You see, the church would really look badly on my Lorrick if he took in more catgirls. Or if I got pregnant again." She kicks her feet and sighs. "But..." she looks at you, bites her lip and looks away. Then she looks back and steadies her self before continuing. "But I really want that."

She holds her belly and says, "I've got these babies and I just know that their father would love them and me. I want to have babies with the man who's done so much for me! I want to see little kittens who look a bit like him." She's close enough you can see her start to blush beneath her fur. " But if I get pregnant again the church will probably blame him. Even worse I think I like this," she says, rubbing her belly through the dress. "I... like knowing there are little ones in here, and he loves it too."

You did specifically pick Fiona for the deacon based on the guess that he had a thing for pregnant girls. You picked a catgirl who was quite pregnant and you picked a girl who had a lot of interest in sex. Perhaps she's always wanted this, or perhaps some of those dreams you fed her in the nights before their meeting did this. Either way, the fact she feels this way means she's even more perfect for the deacon than you imagined.

"Hmmm," you murmur, tapping your chin. "That's tricky. You're not wrong about any of it, but I'm not the type to give up just because it looks impossible. And neither are you."

Fiona beams and gives you a hug. "I knew you'd help!"

"Well of course. I want you to be happy. I want him to be happy too. So, first thing's first - has he ever looked at other catgirls while you're watching?"

"He tries to hide it, but yes," she says. Then in a frustrated tone she adds, "And then he denies it!"

You do have to laugh at that. "I've tried to explain to all you catgirls that a lot of human women would be furious at a man doing that. He's just worried about your feelings."

"Yeah..." she grumbles.

"Anyway, what did these girls have in common? What did they look like? What did they act like?"

She gives you a blow by blow of nearly every girl she's caught him looking at. It's a long list, which tells you Fiona has committed them all to memory, waiting for this moment.

"Okay, so overall he looks at catgirls more than human women. He looks at shorter catgirls with red eyes, smaller breasts and thin tails a little more. Doesn't seem to care too much about fur color. Generally likes shy girls - I think you've won him over completely there," she giggles and smiles at that, "and the one common thread is they are almost all pregnant." She nods.

"Well you probably can't have everything you wanted, but maybe what I've got in mind will be to your liking." She shakes her hands and forearms restlessly. "You're right that the church would look into it if he took in another catgirl. And if you get pregnant again it's a sure thing that the church will check you to see if it's his child. If they suspect something they will certainly want to check you with magic."

"You can fix that, right?"

"No, probably not. There's no easy fix for that. But there may be a good alternative. You said you like carrying babies and you also said you want babies with him. But what if those two things were separate? There's a spell that might work for this - I can move children from one woman to another so long as the children are very new and tiny."

"So some other catgirl would carry my babies and I'd carry hers?"

"Yes, although that's not what we'd tell the church. Instead we would say there's a catgirl who has a defect in her womb - it was dangerous for her to carry her litter, so you selflessly offered to carry them for her. Then when the church tests for it they'll find that the children in your belly are neither Lorrick's nor yours. Meanwhile, secretly, one of your other wives will be carrying you and Lorrick's babies for you somewhere else."

She sits and thinks about it for a bit. "That's a lot to think about. So my wives would be staying somewhere else?"

"I'm sure I can arrange some quiet property somewhere. If asked the catgirls there can say they've decided to focus on raising their babies properly and took some land I offered."

"I'll have to come up with good reasons for us to visit all the time."

"Of course."

"What about these other babies? The ones for me?"

"First, maybe we can find a new catgirl who really wants to avoid having babies. A big girl like Yvonne who decides she doesn't want to be pregnant. If you're offering a girl like that might take the offer. If not, maybe some of Leshak's wives would be interested. No one has ever offered something like that, so I bet you can find a catgirl whenever you want to 'help' someone else again."

"Mmmmm, it sounds nice. I just hope they have a big litter for me to help with."

"Who knows what the future holds? Maybe you can help two girls with smaller litters at the same time. Or you could end up helping a human woman, since they could have problems with pregnancies too and human babies grow larger than kittens do."

"Wow! There's so much to think about. But how do I get my lovely Lorrick to accept any of this?"

"You're about to go on a long trip to the north and the eventual ride home will be lonely without the other catgirls. You need a companion, right?"

"Oh... yes, yes!"

"And we'll just have to make sure this companion is just starting to show, so when the deacon arrives in the north he's in the company of a pair of pregnant catgirls. When he returns south you'll have your kittens in hand and this other catgirl will be straining her dresses at the seams. But it doesn't matter because even if the church checks her she won't be carrying his babies either. He's just a good man, taking care of poor, young, catgirls who are soon to be single mothers. What a noble pursuit."

"Yes, that could work. I can make that work!"

"Which means all we need to do is pick the right catgirl..." When you say that Fiona grins conspiratorially.