Doe wants to strangle you both

Doe knew that Ariane was coming to celebrate Linne's birthday. They're such close friends that it's an obvious choice. When duke Kaldrass, Chantel and Reine all arrive with Ariane Doe is... perturbed. When Sarine and Sarinna show up as a pair Doe's eyes start to bore holes in the back of your head. When Hanna, who's visibly pregnant and Sasha, who's within weeks of going into labor, arrive together along with their boyfriends Doe hauls you into one of the storerooms.

"You fucker!" she hisses angrily. "How the hell am I supposed to... talk with them all?"

"Why not be yourself? I'm sure Hanna's been dying to see little Linneth."

"I can't be myself. You know that. I'm... I'm not like that." She throws her hands up and her whole tail twitches. "They won't look up to me if I'm, you know..."

"Friendly? Kind? A caring mother?"

"Soft."

"Hanna's a tough girl. Look at the way she grabbed Thomas and told him, 'we're an item now, got it?,' when she found out she was pregnant. Does she seem soft?"

"Ugh."

"Sarine? The half-tiger tomboy who always wants to bring home the biggest deer or boar for the army? Has she slowed down or started being soft just because she's getting bigger round the middle?"

Very quietly Doe says, "But I'm not like that."

You pull her into a hug and tell her, "I get to see this so called 'soft' Doe every day. I love her. Linne loves her too."

"Mnnergh," she mumbles as she tries to wriggle away from your hug.

"Hanna, Sasha and all the other men and women you knew in the army will still respect you. But I want you to be able to show off our babies, I want you to be able to curl up with Linne and I in public, so that everyone knows what you're really like. I bet all your old friends are scared of what it's going to be like to be mothers and they would love to hear about it from the woman who's blazed that path for them."

Doe pulls back, crying. "Aw, that's not fair!"

You pull her in for another hug and tell her, "You're a great mom. And you're allowed to talk about it."

"Fuck..." she moans. "I'm, uh, a mess."

"Why don't you feed Linneth, clean yourself up and then bring her down and introduce her to all our eager guests?"

"Yeah... yeah... I will. But tonight I'm probably still going to slap you and spank you." After saying that she shoves you away and slithers up to your room. But you do catch her looking over her shoulder as she heads up. Doe tries to hide it, but you see the edge of a smile as she disappears into your room.

"Oh, my apologies," says baroness Vencillan as she comes in, "I fear we're more than fashionably late". Putting a hand on her belly she adds, "I do hope my child doesn't take after me." That gets a laugh from just about everyone.

The phrase 'herding cats' has never been more appropriate - Linne, the birthday girl, is constantly getting up and fetching things for people, even though you hired on a few maids temporarily to serve this birthday bash. Ariane isn't about to let Linne do that herself, nor is Chantel. And if they're helping then so is Reine. And that in turn means that Iris, who definitely inherited a certain amount of friendliness and helpfulness when she became a dogtaur, can't help but offer to help.

To get things under control you finally have to physically restrain Linne with an arm around her waist and pull her to the table. It's when people are finally settling down and the first of the food is getting delivered that Doe makes her appearance. She comes slithering down the stairs, silently of course, with your daughter cradled in her arms. As one person after another notices Doe a quiet starts to descend over the room.

Doe takes her place on Linne's other side and holds Linneth up slightly. In a strained tone she says, "Good morning, this is our daughter, Linneth."

Maybe she was planning to say something more, but Linne's excitement bursts forth and she starts talking in a high pitch, at high speed and without any filters. "Oh, I'm so glad you brought her down, is she alright? Everyone, thank you so much for coming to see us. Isn't it sweet that Doe named this cute little girl after me, oh wow, it's the best birthday present I could ever imagine! She's such a darling, please, you all have to meet her!"

Doe looks like she just got struck by a mallet, but there's no stopping what comes next. At first a few of the more intrepid girls stand, uncertain. Soon you, Doe and Linne are the center of a swirling lineup of congratulations, questions and joy. It's all about Linneth, who's happy to look at all these new people, giggling and twisting like she's putting on a show for them.

The ever sensitive Iris tries to ask about Linne, since it's her birthday, but Linne's having none of it and immediately starts telling Iris more about Linneth.

Only once Linneth has grown tired and been taken back upstairs do things quiet down. But the ice has been broken. Everyone gets back to talking about Linne, the person this party is ostensibly for, but Linne is too excited. She redirects everything back to questions about your guests pregnancies, how different couples got together and so on. That or she brings things up about Doe.

The talk of babies and pregnancies soon develops a life all its own. It's obvious that most of the girls here have questions, some of which can only be answered either by the mage who created their bodies or by a woman who's already given birth. Both you and Doe end up talked out. You'd be even more talked out if it weren't for two women in particular who decide to truly throw decorum out the window.

The baroness insists that at a party like this everyone should just call her Amara. She spends her time making more and more raunchy comments and off jokes while rubbing her belly. Maybe she wouldn't go quite as far if it weren't for culprit number two - Sarinna, the first foxtaur to get pregnant. Sarinna was another woman you changed for the army.

Foxtaurs can go out and hunt like cataurs and, like cataurs, there's an unspoken expectation that the foxtaurs are 'there' for the men of the army. In practice most centauresses, cataurs, dogtaurs and foxtaurs quickly found a particular someone they liked, often an officer. But a few of them, like Sarinna, are oversexed and took the unspoken expectation as their excuse to do as they pleased. You knew when you transformed her that Sarinna had a reputation. She got sold into slavery because she seduced the wrong man, or perhaps men depending on who tells the story. So she seemed a perfect choice for the cavalry. Yes, you wanted some 'nicer' girls who the officers could latch on to, but it doesn't hurt to have some wanton women.

With Amara priming the pump Sarinna starts talking about some of the things she's done, including going from man to man until two dozen soldiers were left drained in one sitting. An occasional nod from Hanna or Sasha suggests her stories are not all hot air. And Amara - a woman of rank, who should be demure and cultured - takes it as a challenge. You see her husband Evran and his other wife, Uma turn several interesting shades as their pregnant wife chats away happily like a whore from a seaside brothel. Worryingly, you see Reine is grinning and almost taking notes.

By the end of the day everyone knows a lot more about the various 'taur pregnancies and everyone knows at least one more rude word or turn of phrase. You think almost everyone has a new friend or two and there are promises to meet up again in smaller groups. But best of all is that as the partygoers leave Doe doesn't look quite as ready to beat you to within an inch of your life.