One hour.

Every last one of us, going into labor within one hour of one another. I was first, but saw Chen’s water break the moment I turned to tell her. I had her comfortable and settled, resting by an ancient potted tree I kept for just such occasions when Chiaki burst in, panicking at Song suddenly screaming from the kiln. And by the time I’d gotten there, Kaoru was sheepishly mentioning that she could wait a moment, since I was obviously a little busy with her little girl.

Bleh. Ridiculous. I had them both moved to the clinic, infants don’t last long in infernos outside of a fire cultivator’s womb. Chen was obviously pulling in what she could while she could, as evidenced by the tree I’d left her beside now being dead.

Good girl. I’d miss that tree, but her life was more important right now. One last nutrient potion for each of my patients, before downing one myself and telling Kaoru to take care of herself, since she knew how. I then retreated to my own office, and got to work at a labor setup I’d already prepared.

Li and the young soldier the girls had mated with barged in, but at least my husband knew a thing or two at this point, and directed a still frightened and scattered Chiaki. I was glad for it, since my apprentice and best assistant was currently too busy giving birth herself to help others, and I had to rush things a little so I could be there for Kaoru and Song.

Right, breathe deep, push through the discomfort, owowow, tortoise balls that hurt. I was lower on qi than I thought. Not as low as the others though, and could use affinities they couldn’t to recharge and maintain stamina. I used that now to dig in, and out came a perfect little girl with bunny ears, followed by an identical twin sister and a human brother I knew they’d torment.

I didn’t have time to think on names, though. My best friend and our little girls needed me.

Kaoru was working not to scream out, a fire in her eyes. She panted a bit, saying she didn’t want to resemble that bitch, and I just nodded and told her the Vermilion Queen wished she looked as hot as Kaoru did right now.

Kaoru was soaked in sweat, naked, exhausted even before the real labor had begun, pale, and had just dealt with the unfortunate issue of the muscles needed for labor being the same ones used to evacuate the bowels. She laughed, then cursed me out for making her do so.

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Song, looking over weakly, agreed with my assessment.

“Mommy, you’ve never looked prettier to me.”

That worried me. Song was always overly formal to her mother, especially of late as she felt like she’d been forced into becoming the adult of their family. That she sounded like she had when we met up before facing the Tortoise King felt far too much like she was already fading, and she hadn’t even begun.

“Everything okay with my youngest siblings, mom?”

I nodded. “Two healthy sisters and a brother, all currently under your father’s care. He’ll make sure they’re fed and named while I handle things here.”

Chen nodded, and went back to cultivating. Other plants in the clinic were starting to wilt, and the potions were dropping in potency. I could guess why.

“I’ve saved another one of those ancient trees in my office, Chen. Keep it in reserve for later.”

She nodded, and watched as I saw to Kaoru.

“Fully dilated, so let’s get you sorted. You’ll be a lot better off when you can cultivate fully.”

Kaoru, not even really hearing me, began focusing her mind and body on that rhythm we both knew so well. At this point, we could almost control it. Out came three beautiful daughters, each with fox ears and a tail.

“One of these days, I’ll have to study why all your daughters are foxes. But-”

I stopped, then smiled as Kaoru slept. Her body was already subconsciously repairing itself as she could draw on her full cultivation base for the first time in almost ten months. She’d recover.

A scream from my little girl, as I rushed to her bed and checked on her. Yeah, ready to go.

“You’re progressing fast for a first-timer. Must be my genes.”

“Not the time for jokes, mom!”

“No, but it is time to push. Bear down with the contractions, breathe through the pain. It’ll be over soon.”

Chen did as I directed, and quickly delivered me three beautiful grandsons, each with the trademark rabbit ears of a half-bun. She quietly nursed them, contemplating names… but froze when she saw my look of utter panic.

I’d been watching Song the whole time, of course. She was progressing, but her stamina had been low to begin with and she lacked her mother’s cultivation base to draw on. I would’ve had her on bed rest and a liquid diet of nutrient potions far earlier if I’d known she didn’t have a strong wood base in her cultivation. As it was…

Song had just stopped breathing.