Bethany needs some comfort

After a long day you tiptoe back to your bedroom, ready to curl up and sleep. With so many wives you are definitely not going to get straight to sleep, but as is customary you keep quiet so anyone who's already asleep has a chance of staying that way. It looks like most of your wives are either out feeding your kittens or else they're sound asleep. Lessia is snoring delicately, cradled in Yvonne's arms. Your big protector has one hand pressed to Lessia's belly and her leg and tail are both wrapped around Lessia's lower body. Yvonne can look so peaceful when she's asleep, and tonight there's a slight smile you can just see on her lips.

Not far from that pair are Helena, Doe and Kyelle, their white, black and chestnut fur all but merged into one. Oddly it's Helena who's holding Doe tonight, your first catgirl's head buried between Helena's B cups. Kyelle, being much taller than the other two, has cuddled up against Doe from the other side. Her long, heavy tail is lazily swinging behind her, like a gentle wave against the bed. She's actually still awake, though only just. Her big blue eyes try to watch you, but they keep drooping shut again. No doubt Kyelle was well taken care of tonight. As one of your newer wives she's often the center of attention as all your other lovers want to make sure she knows she's welcome.

You only hear the softest footfall before there's a gentle touch on your elbow. When you turn Bethany gives you a slightly worried smile and wordlessly leads you back out to the small sitting room located opposite the bedroom. By unspoken agreement this room is not for sex - well, not normally - you like to keep it clean and ready in case you have visitors on short notice. Because of that it's become the place the girls take you if they want to talk. Bethany leads you to the nice, comfortable couch and perches on in, all nerves.

You sit next to her and put an arm around her shoulder, then wait for her to start.

"I don't know if everything's okay," she says. "Can you please check if..." she gestures to her belly.

"Of course," you tell her, testing her and checking over her womb with your powers. After just a moment you tell her, "Everything is fine. Three tiny catgirls and one teeny human boy."

Bethany lets out a big breath and presses against you. "I just feel off right now. After dinner my stomach felt like it wanted to turn itself upside down."

"Oh - Beth, you probably have morning sickness."

"But... it's happened at night. And twice now. It happened two days ago too, but it wasn't as strong so I didn't worry about it. Then I thought it might be the babies..."

You pull her into your lap and she curls up against your chest. "Don't worry, it's all just fine."

"But is it okay? Doesn't it mean something bad is happening?"

"No, morning sickness just means your body isn't sure what's happening right now. It's not normal for a woman to be pregnant - no matter what Sandra tells you - so your body is just complaining because it doesn't know what to do. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it from the others. There are quite a few catgirls out there," you gesture in the general direction of the main hall, "who've had babies and tell other girls all about it."

"Well," her ears droop, "before I left with Lessia I wasn't thinking about babies, so I spent lots of time in the library. I didn't think I was going to suddenly find a man, so I thought I could always find out later. And now, with us keeping it a secret, I didn't want to ask."

"Well Renee can tell you all about it. She had a moderately bad case of morning sickness. Not surprising when she was carrying quintuplets."

"Is it more likely with more babies?"

"Yes, though catgirls seem to get it less often in general. Sandra managed to avoid it, somehow, and so did all our other wives. There again, there's nothing to say they won't get it with their second child."

"Oh, it's not just the first time?"

"I'm afraid not. But at least there's nothing to worry about. The babies are fine whether you have it or not. It's just that you might end up having to rush to the bathroom to throw up once in a while. It might be a mild case or it might be worse than what Renee had. There's no way to tell. And I can't say how long it will last either."

"And I guess you can't cure it, right? Not if Renee had to go through it."

"No, it's one of those rare things life magic isn't too helpful for. It's almost uniquely unhelpful, in fact. It's happening because your body is out of balance. I can set you back in balance, but the pregnancy is constantly changing things, so you're out of balance again almost as soon as you leave my side. It's almost better to do nothing, because those little tweaks might fix things for now but maybe they also make it last longer."

"Okay. Well I feel better just knowing. I guess I'll ask Renee about it tomorrow. Thanks."

You pull her tail over into your hands and gently stroke it. Bethany sighs and cuddles, tucking her head into the crook of your neck. And that ends up being the spot you sleep in tonight. Looks like you were more tired than you thought and a warm, loving catgirl curled up in your lap was all it took to send you into a deep slumber.