Volume 10 - Extending Family, Chapter 68 - Mommy Issues

Mara sat in the living room on one of the comfy chairs, but she was far from comfortable. Her legs were tucked tightly under her body, her arms were crossed, and she was glaring defiantly at the gaggle of women by the couch.

Chione, Tsuen, and even Mimi were all oohing and d'awwing over Pwess, who was nestled in a waterproof blanket in Iormu's arms. Little Pwess didn't have perfect control over her surface tension yet, so the blanket kept her from leaving slime everywhere. It was extra necessary when Pwess was being held by her other mommy, to keep her from sinking into Quess's own slime.

Pwess wiggled and squirmed and looked around at the world with wide, curious eyes and a searching yellow tendril on top of her head. She wanted to slide around and explore, but the house was a little too dangerous for a fragile, squishy slime like her, so Iormu kept her bundled up safe. At her current growth rate, she'd soon be holding herself together enough to go adventuring around safely, even outside.

"Oh. Em. Gee!" Chione cheered at the sight of Pwess. "She's so, so… cute!" Chione's face was stuck in a massive grin and she was bouncing up and down on the couch next to Iormu. "Just look at her wittle wiggly tail, and her wittle tendril!"

Tsuen pushed closer and kneeled down to get a better look at the tiny purple and pink slime. She had already met Pwess the day before, but she couldn't get enough of the adorable baby. Tsuen squealed, "I know, right? I just want to hold her and squeeze her and love her forever."

Mara's scowl deepened. What is it with slimes stealing all my attention? First it was Little Quess with Tsuen, and now Pwess is stealing Tsuen and Chione. Chione and I were supposed to be planning ComicMon stuff tonight…

Even Mimi found herself caught up in the excitement with the baby, and thanks to Tess's visit, Mimi's mind had already been on the topic of motherhood. When I finally have a baby, I'll be there for her. With all the new laws protecting liminals, there's no reason to give my daughter up and hide, like Mom had to with me.

A quizzical expression appeared on Tsuen's face and she asked, "Uh, what does Pwess eat?"

Mimi leaned forward and added, "Yeah, I was wondering too. Does she eat sexy-energy like Quess?"

Iormu smiled wide, clearly a very proud mother. "Young slimes need actual physical nutrients, to build up their bodies, so she's been eating flowers and regular baby food. She can't process sexual energy yet, but she can absorb love energy, which she gets in abundance." Iormu smiled down at Pwess. "Yes you do, my pwecious wittle Pwess."

Pwess, her magenta eyes wide over her smiling mouth, giggled and reached up for her mother's face. Her tiny arms stretched several inches, but Iormu lowered her face and met Pwess halfway, then planted a kiss on the top of Pwess's purple hair.

After a few more minutes of grown women making baby-talk at Pwess, Iormu rose up and announced, "It's Pwess's bedtime, and mine too. Quess already crashed an hour ago." She smiled down at Pwess and cooed, "Want to join Quess, Pwess? Bedtime for you and your moms."

"Moms!" Pwess echoed back at Iormu in a pingy, bell-like voice. It was still the only word she'd said, but it never failed to get a teary-eyed smile out of her mothers.

Tsuen and Mimi quickly cleared the way for Iormu, who started toward the back door and the cabin beyond, rocking Pwess gently. As she slithered past Mara, she bent over and whispered with a smile, "Sorry about that, Mara. You can have your ladies back now."

Mara begrudgingly returned the smile, then once Iormu had left, Mara pounced from the chair toward Tsuen. She looked up at Tsuen and said, "Shouldn't you be going to sleep too? It's your big day tomorrow, you know."

Tsuen sighed, her thoughts slowly shifting from the adorable baby slime to the impending announcement of Tsuen's promotion to assistant manager. "Yeah, you're right. And you better not stay up too late either. You said you'd be there for me at the groundbreaking ceremony," Tsuen said with a stern look.

"Of course. I'll be there even if I have to drag myself kicking and screaming," Mara replied, receiving odd looks from Chione and Mimi. Tsuen, however, was used to Mara's strange sayings and she appreciated the sentiment.

"Thank you, Mara," she said. She bent down to give Mara a goodnight kiss, then jogged off to her and Mara's bedroom.

Mimi left too, trying to sneak off to her own room without saying anything, but Chione noticed and called out, "Not even a goodnight, Mimi? What are you up to?"

"Nothing…" Mimi said. "I'm just going to bed, since I'm tired."

Chione was not convinced. She tapped her foot on the floor and said, "I may be a terrible liar, but I can recognize a lie when I see one." She smiled knowingly and asked, "Hajime's coming over, isn't he?"

"Yeah. What of it?" Mimi snarked. "We've got Yuisu's permission."

Chione smiled, but it was a slightly sad, resigned smile. She was slowly getting over her crush on Mimi. Slowly. "Just be careful. We don't need another baby in the house."

"Ugh, you sound just like my mom. We use protection, obviously," Mimi said, then she saw a good opportunity to make Chione squirm. Mimi started making lewd jerking motions with her hands and said, "I get him good and hard, and then I slide the condom on like this." She demonstrated with her mouth open in an 'O' shape.

Predictably, Chione flushed red and cried out, "Eww!"

Even Mara looked a little uncomfortable after that vulgar mental image involving male anatomy. She squinted her six eyes and said, "Just go bone your boyfriend already, Mimi. Chione and I have work to do."

Mimi wore a smug victor's smile as she rolled off towards her room and called back, "Will do! G'night!"

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Up in the cabin, Quess was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. When Iormu came in carrying Pwess, Quess jumped at the opportunity to help out. She slid up to Iormu and held her arms out. "Want some help Iormu? I can put Pwess to bed while you get ready for bed."

Iormu stifled a yawn and said, "Oh, that'd be great, thanks." Even with her natural motherly skills, taking care of Pwess all day certainly took a toll on her.

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After Iormu slithered off to the bathroom, Quess gently rocked Pwess, humming a lullaby. It seemed Pwess was still a little wound up from the attention earlier, and was taking a while to settle down.

Meanwhile, Iormu returned from the bathroom, slid under the covers, and was immediately asleep.

Once Pwess finally fell asleep and reverted to an adorable round, purple blob, Quess set her in a slime-proof 'crib'. Quess insisted to herself that it was definitely not an aquarium, despite the fact that it had been purchased at a pet store…

I'm having a hard enough time convincing myself that I'm a good mother. What would all this look like to someone else? Quess worried as she crawled into bed with Iormu. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Quess snuggled close to the sleeping serpent and tried to relax, her worries slowly fading. She shrunk down to a little basketball-sized blob, pressed up against Iormu's chest, and fell into a heavy sleep.

When Quess awoke the next morning, Iormu had already been up for a few hours. She'd been busy taking care of Pwess and reading a book about slime growth that Agent Will had lent her. As the new mothers were already learning first-hand, newborn slimes reach a toddler state within mere weeks. Normal slimes stop maturing there and remain childlike, but Queen slimes continue to mature like humans, though nearly four times faster.

Pwess could be a bratty teenager in just a few years, so Iormu was determined to make the most of her time with the baby. Quess, on the other hand, was actually looking forward to when Pwess was a little older and could be interacted with like a real person. Unlike babies, she actually knew how to interact with people.

Quess returned to full size and crawled out of bed. After a wide yawn, she called over to Iormu, "G'morning."

"Good morning, love," Iormu responded as she rocked the napping baby in the crook of her arm. "Pwess is doing great today. I hope she wasn't any trouble last night?"

Quess shook her head with a smile, "No, she was a perfect angel."

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A few days later, Pwess was anything but a perfect angel. She seemed to have reached the equivalent of the 'terrible twos' and she was being feisty and hyperactive.

Quess had gone to town to run errands with Yuisu and she returned home to find Iormu sitting in the living room of the main house. The fireplace was roaring, keeping the room nice and warm, and Iormu was zoned out watching a soap opera while Pwess clambered all over her.

"Hi, Iormu! Hi, Pwess! How are my lovelies tonight?" Quess called out as she approached. She quickly noticed the exhausted look in Iormu's eyes and the frazzled state of her purple hair, pulled back into a messy bun.

Iormu turned and waved feebly but Pwess didn't respond. Instead the serpentine slimelet climbed up Iormu's coiled body then zipped down her tail like a spiral slide, leaving a trail of slimy residue.

Quess sat down on a chair next to Iormu and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm… fine," Iormu said, barely containing her frustration. "Pwess is just being… ornery today."

Immediately proving the point, Pwess used her sticky hands like suction cups to scale Iormu's stomach and chest and perch on the shelf of her breasts. She then proceeded to bat at Iormu's nose with her tendril, punctuating each bop with a word, "Mom. Food. Mom. Food."

Iormu looked pleadingly at Quess and said, "Please say you brought home some flowers to feed her."

Quess smiled. "I did, and I got something special for you." She leaned in to kiss Iormu and grabbed Pwess at the same time, wrapping her in her slime-proof blanket. As Quess wrangled the hyperactive baby, she said, "How about you go take a nap? I'll take care of Pwess and make dinner for you too."

Can Quess even cook? She doesn't eat real food… Iormu wondered, but she was too tired to worry about it for long. "A nap sounds amazing. Thank you so much Quess," Iormu said as she started to unravel herself and head for the back door.

Once Iormu's tail was out of sight, Quess smiled down at Pwess and said, "Alright, babygirl, let's cook some spaghetti for Iormu. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"No. Food!" Pwess cried out, using some of her new vocabulary. It also included such adorable terms as 'want', 'play', and a half-dozen other ways of saying 'no'. She wriggled and tried to escape the blanket, and almost succeeded. She was getting better and better at it as she learned to control her shape more.

"I'll get you some food too, Pwess. Flowers!" Quess said, which thankfully calmed the toddler down a little.

Once in the main house's well-equipped kitchen, Quess gave Pwess a handful of flowers, then set to preparing pasta for Iormu. I've never cooked it before, or anything else for that matter, but how hard could it be?

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"Hey, Quess," Yuisu said as she stepped into the kitchen. She asked, "Whatcha making?" but she could already guess, judging by the splatters of red sauce on the tiled wall and countertop.

Quess turned and smiled at Yuisu. "I'm making spaghetti for Iormu, since it's her favorite." The smile withered and she said, "Cooking is really hard though. There's so much stuff to keep track of."

Yuisu walked up to the stove. "I can help if you want. I need to start cooking for the other girls soon anyway." She surveyed the stovetop and said, "It looks like you've got the sauce and noodles under control."

Then Yuisu noticed a large lidded pot next to the stove. She pointed and asked, "What's in there?"

"Ah, I just stuck Pwess in there to keep her out of the way," Quess said distractedly as she read the label on the spaghetti package again.

"What?"

Quess elaborated, "Pwess wouldn't stay put, and I didn't want her falling in the food, so I put her in that pot."

"What?" Yuisu repeated at a higher volume, her face twisting into an expression of disgusted confusion.

Quess turned to Yuisu and flinched back as she saw her face.

Yuisu grabbed the pot and set it down on the floor, then she finally found the words to launch into a tirade, "You put a baby in a cook pot… Right next to the stove… Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? What if you accidentally put it on the burner?! What if she crawled out and fell on it?!" She took a deep breath and firmly stated, "Quess, do not put the baby in a cook pot!"

The severity of the situation hit Quess all at once. She wasn't a stupid person, but she saw now how stupid her actions had been. Panic was in her eyes as she rambled, "Oh god, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking… I was so distracted by cooking…" She looked down at the floor and whispered, "Thank you, Yuisu."

"As long you learned your lesson, no harm, no foul," Yuisu said, then opened the pot and peered inside, where she found Pwess sleeping soundly. "Huh, she fell asleep in there."

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In the little kitchenette in the cabin, Iormu was gleefully slurping spaghetti and looking rejuvenated after her nap. Yuisu had even agreed not to tell Iormu about the cooking pot fiasco…

Quess was sitting on the floor, playing with Pwess as she zipped around on the tiles. She worked up some nerve and said, "I've been thinking… We should start saving money for Pwess's future."

Iormu nodded solemnly. She'd used the last of her savings to relocate to Japan on short notice after her bad breakup with Erin. Since then, Iormu had just been getting by on what the Exchange Program provided. "Good idea, but how will we earn it?"

Quess steeled herself and answered, "I'll get a job. Maybe just part time, so that I can still help with Pwess."

Iormu pondered that for a moment. It was no secret that Quess wasn't as motherly as Iormu, and Quess clearly wanted to help out somehow. Being the financial provider could be just what Quess needs, she thought, then she said, "Actually, even full time would be fine. We've always got the other girls in the house to lean on if we need a babysitter, after all."

"Hmm, that's true. If you're really okay with that…" Quess looked at Iormu expectantly.

Iormu shrugged, sending her huge breasts jiggling. "Yes, I'm really okay with it. Did you have a job in mind?" she asked.

Quess grinned and the yellow-tipped tendril on her head stuck straight up like an exclamation point. "Yep! I've become pretty good friends with Mrs Kawahara at the flower shop, since Yuisu and I shop there so often. She normally closes up in the winter, saying that her 'old bones' can't handle the cold."

Iormu nodded. She knew that feeling well, though her problems with the weather had more to do with being cold-blooded than her considerable age.

Quess continued, "Well, I told her that I thought we could keep importing flowers and selling them year round, and she was up for giving it a try, if I run the shop."

"Hmm, I guess I could see that. Is there really a market for that in the winter?"

"I think so, between birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas, there's plenty of occasions to buy flowers." Quess grinned mischievously and added, "And I have an idea for making special occasions on demand…"