When they both miss their next appointment at the clinic, a very pregnant Cora and Daph decide to spend the rest of the day for themselves.

Part 3 of 4 of a gift story I wrote for my friend  kamerad who is a precious bab too pure for this world.

Icon drawn by  Quib who is a precious bab, but is far far filthier than this world can handle.

Comments are good! Almost great! I like them a lot!

Enjoy!

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Even beyond her upbringing in the rural countryside of Scotland, cold was no enemy to Cora. The hearty genetics of her father's breed, passed down to her, left her with a natural defense against the harsh winter months of home. While Cora's mother shivered and complained inside, she and her father continued working outside year-round, with only the addition of a light jacket to help them. Their Galloway blood was nothing if not resilient.

The one exception to their work routine was the rare occurrence of one of Cora's favorite times of year: snow. It didn't happen often, with the rainy weather preventing much snowfall from sticking, but when it did, it was the perfect excuse for a family holiday. Even her mother would brave the biting air and bundle up in layers to play with Cora in the snow. She and her father had races through the knee-high snow, their powerful bodies barreling through the powder fast enough to kick it into the air. She remembered fondly the biggest snowfall she'd experienced at age 10, leaving the three of them cooped up inside for nearly a week. Though it agitated her father to no end to get no work done, Cora adored curling up next to the fire and doing nothing but reading and drawing for days on end. She knew that, if there was a heaven, hers would be snowy.

New York snow was not the same as Scotland snow.

Early in the morning, far too early to be up and about, Cora trundled along the empty sidewalk, her thick hooves crunching through the dirty slush. It collected in the corners of the streets and melted into a black, semi-liquid sludge that reeked of tar and garbage. At home, Cora liked to scoop up a handful of snow to throw into her mouth for a quick drink. In New York, she was afraid that even catching a snowflake on her tongue was enough to give her dysentery. Street workers did their best to clear off the streets and sidewalks for people to safely get around, but they still occasionally left a pile of snow Cora would have to effortlessly plow through, kicking up enough debris to find a spot of wet grit in her pants pocket every so often.

This wasn't to say Cora was exactly cold. In fact, she found most annoyingly that she couldn't decide a comfortable temperature. She was either just barely too hot or just barely too cold. The thick jacket she'd bought in a panic so many months ago proved to be the only thing she wanted to wear out of the house because it was the only thing that succeeded in covering the majority of her heavy body. She was, of course, seven months pregnant by that point and she was not carrying small. It was impossible to wear any of her old clothes, even her maternity outfits, without some small part of her pendulous belly left open to the cold air. On most days, she simply wore whatever was most comfortable and dealt with having a tuft of belly sticking out from underneath, but she wanted to look at least slightly more presentable on her checkup.

At almost two blocks away, she had to stop and rest, leaning against a wall to take some pressure off her legs and wait for her weathered breathing to slow. Normally, her thick legs could easily carry herself and any extra farm equipment she'd be forced to carry above her head. But after seven months of carrying around two very large and very excitable babies, she was starting to feel the burn. Cora lifted a leg and stretched out her muscles while she rested her arms over the convenient shelf of her belly. She was relieved that, after a night's worth of kicking and squirming and even excited brawling, the twin calves had finally tuckered out themselves out into an eventual sleep. She only wished their idea of a daily routine matched up with hers.

As the burning subsided from her overworked legs, she checked her watch to find her checkup time fast approaching. She sighed, running a finger down her belly, measuring its size intuitively. She could hardly believe she had any more growing to do. The clinic would just have to put up with her being a little late.

She shuffled down the sidewalk in the dim light of the rising sun, not yet broken through over the tops of the skyscrapers and leaving the street still plunged into a vestigial nighttime. Though initially surprised at not seeing anyone else on the streets, she found herself relaxed and enjoying the quiet time with the cold city air at her back, with even the twins inside her giving Cora a moment to herself.
She made it, finally to the clinic door and tugged it, only to feel a solid 'thunk' of the deadbolt keeping it shut. She paused, blinking in the dim sunlight, her sleepy brain trying to put the pieces together to figure out what was wrong. All she came up with was to pull on the door again, producing the same result; an angry, solid clank of metal lock on metal frame. Cora peered inside through the frosted glass, looking for anything to indicate life inside. Aside from a single dim light from somewhere behind the registration desk, everything inside was dark and silent. She checked her watch, then checked her phone for the date. Not only was it time for the clinic to open, she was already late for her appointment. Cora confusedly tugged on the door again, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at the inside.

“Yo!”

Cora jumped at the sudden, high-pitched voice cutting through the silent morning and turned in its direction. Rounding the corner from the other end of the street was Daphodille, a navy-blue jacket wreathed by the red-orange halo of her fuzzy tail. She waved, shuffling forward slowly, her normal running shoes swapped out for a pair of thick boots.

“I'll get there in a minute!” She cried out. “I'm walkin for three over here!”
As she finally approached Cora, her breathing labored and misting in the cold air, she beamed.

“I don't even need to go to the gym no more,” she said, fanning herself with her hand. “I get a workout jutht from walkin down the thtreet.” She planted her hands on her hips and gave a loud 'whew' sound. Despite her jacket, her own round stomach was clearly visible beneath the fabric, stretching out the zipper to its limits. “God damn, it'th cold ath a witch's tit out here, ain't it? The fuck we thtandin on the threet for?”

Daph reached across from Cora for the door and pulled on it, finding it locked.
“Huh?” Daph said, pulling on the door a number of times and producing the same result. She shuffled forward and pressed her eyes against he glass, her belly bumping up against the door as well. Turning back, she gestured to it and raised an eyebrow to Cora. “What the fuck?”

“Dunno,” Cora said, shaking her head. “Got here right before you did.”
“Well, what the fuck,” Daph repeated. She was about to pull out her phone before spying Cora's watch. She leaned over and grabbed Cora's arm, angling her head to look at the clock face. “I got a checkup in ten minuteth.”
“And I have one now. We're both pre-shcheduled on the 20th of every month, aren't we?” Cora responded, pulling her arm away. She knocked on the door with a knuckle, making a louder sound than she intended.
“Ith it Daylight Thaving's time?” Daph asked, digging in her jacket pocket for her phone. “Did we jump forward?”
“I don't think that's until next month,” Cora added. She kept knocking on the door, trying to attract the attention of anyone inside. “At least...I don't think so...”

“Aw, god damn it!” Daph shouted, having finally pulled out her phone. She groaned and threw her arms into the air. “It'th mother fuckin President'th Day.”
“It's what now?” Cora asked, raising an eyebrow.
“President'th Day! It'th a national holiday!” She sighed again and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. “Man, god dammit, my fat ass could thtill be in bed right now.”
“And this is an American holiday?” Cora asked. “For...your Presidents?...All your Presidents?”
“I mean, I gueth tho,” Daph shrugged. “You don't got, like, 'Queen Day' or thomething?”
“Not really, no.”

“Oh.” Daph shrugged. “Well, I'm obviouthly not an expert.” She sighed again, glancing around the street distractedly. “Well fuck...I'm up now...I don't wanna jutht go back home...” Frowning, she let one arm cradle her belly, rubbing along its curve upward, her fingers only barely long enough to touch her belly button. Suddenly, an idea coming to mind, she tapped it excitedly with her hand and pointed to Cora. “You got any planth today?”
“Well, um,” Cora checked her watch again and shrugged. “Until around lunch time, this was my plan.”
“Fuckin rad,” Daph said, nodding. “You wanna hang out?”
Cora paused at the question. In truth, she hadn't been asked out by anyone but her roommate Sam in a very long time. She still didn't know many New Yorkers, at least not well enough to spend time with them outside of work, so Daph's offer was more special than she likely realized.

“Sure,” Cora said nonchalantly, tying hard to hide her enthusiasm.

“Fuck yeah. You hungry?”
“I could eat,” Cora shrugged, already hungry enough to eat her weight in wherever they decided to go.
“Me too. I'm alwayth goddamn thtarving,” Daph said, rubbing her belly. “Welcome to the third trimester. I got no idea what'th open right now that I-” She suddenly gasped, her mouth falling wide open as she turned to Cora excitedly. “Fuuuuuuuuuck, we should get fro-yo.”
“'Fro-yo,'” Cora repeated, skeptically. “Frozen yogurt. In this weather?”
“You kidding? With two little space heaterth inside me? I'm practically gettin goddamn hot flashes right now.” Daph exaggeratedly aired out the collar of her jacket. “And think how empty it'll be! We could chow down on the whole fuckin place!”
“Well...I don't know...I'm not so much in the mood for swee-” Cora's words were knocked out of her chest by a sudden, warning-less jab from a calf directly into her rib. She coughed once and rubbed her belly to calm it. “Good morning to you, too,” she grumbled.
“It ain't tho cute anymore, ith it?” Daph grinned.
“No, it certainly isn't,” Cora agreed, feeling the calf shift again, hoping it didn't feel the need to turn over and wake up its sibling. “I can feel their hooves now, too.”

“That'th gotta hurt,” Daph winced, rubbing her own stomach in sympathy. “...but I bet thome ice cream would cheer you right the fuck up, huh?” Daph added, leaning forward with a coy smile on her face. “Think about thothe toppingth...you can get fruit and chocolate and candy and nuts and...uh...gummy bearth?”
Cora paused, Daph's words unexpectedly striking up a craving. She had kept her diet as usual for the most part and only rarely indulged in the odd craving. But her hormone-addled brain locked onto a single concept, the pregnancy making her mouth water for blueberries and peanut butter like it was the only thing keeping her alive. A calf punched out against her uterine wall, as if to encourage Cora to follow her stomach. Her body, taking control of itself, simply nodded.
“Alright…” Cora nodded, her mind still trapped in the labyrinth of baby-brain. “Yes. Frozen yogurt it is.”

“Fuck yeah,” Daph shouted, beaming. She rubbed her hands on both sides of her belly and looked down at it. “You hear that?” she said to her stomach. “You two 'bout to get the biggetht goddamn sugar rush of your tiny lives.”
“Let's go,” Cora said, her own excitement building. “Let's go let's go let's go.”
“My favorite place ith kinda downtown, though,” Daph said, thumbing over her shoulder. “We gotta take the 2 train down a little bit. I know where a thtation ith, though.”
“Wait, you mean the subway?” Cora said hesitating.
“Yeah, tho?”
“I...” Cora swallowed, her arm sliding over the enormous globe of her pregnant stomach. “I don't...really like the subway very much.”
“What, you didn't figure it out? I know it like the back of my fuckin hand, we ain't gonna get lotht or nothin.”
“No no, it's not about getting lost. It's...” Cora shrugged, hoping she wouldn't have to spell it out. “It's just...very crowded and...and I'm...very big…” She blushed under her fur, cramming her hands in her pockets and looking away.
“Cora, c'mon,” Daph said, waving a hand dismissively. “It'th a holiday, nobody'th gonna be on the train thith early. Besideth,” Daph turned to the side and pulled up her jacket, exposing the stretched fur of her belly concealed just barely beneath of straining tank top. “We're both big! That'll be a good thing on the train! Trutht me.”

“...Alright, alright,” Cora said, nodding. She decided to follow Daphodille's lead and trust her judgment. She did know the city well, after all. In any case, Cora knew she wasn't going to get over any of her fears by avoiding them all the time. “We'll take the subway.”
“There you fuckin go,” Daph grinned, nodding. She turned to her side and motioned for Cora to follow. “It'th not far thith way. I promithe that if it'th too crowded, we can take a cab or thomething.” She turned and started to walk, her impossibly bushy tail bouncing from side to side with her gait.
Despite her long legs, Cora had developed a slight waddle to her step that she couldn't seem to hide. She felt her hips and belly bobbing slightly as she walked and hoped it wasn't too noticeable. But even despite this, she caught up with Daph quickly enough that she needed to slow down so as not to overtake her. The squirrel herself also had a heavy bounce to her step from her expanding hips and widening belly, but experience with her body at that size kept her moving without difficulty.

“I'm getting thalted caramel,” Daph said dreamily, licking her lips. “Jutht a little bit of thalted caramel, and fuckin loadth of nuts. Every kind they got. I want a whole cup'th worth of nuts. Pecanth, peanutth, cashewth, uh...fuckin...I don't know what elthe they got, but I want it.” Daph glanced up at Cora.
“Peanut butter...and blueberries...” Cora said, trying not to actively drool all over herself. “Maybe...maybe some strawberries...”
“They got crushed-up Reese'the peanut butter cupth,” Daph added excitedly. “Doethn't that jutht make you tho fuckin wet?”
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph...” Cora said under her breath, her eyes widening. “That sounds heavenly.”

“Hey,” Daph said, pinching the corner of Cora's jacket. “Ain't thith the coat you bought a couple months ago? When you had your...uh...'leaking problem?'”
“Yes, it is,” Cora snapped, batting Daph's hand away. “...It's actually very comfortable.”
“Oh yeah, yeah, totally,” Daph nodded. “Tho how are 'the girlth' anyway?”
“'The girls?'” Cora repeated. She looked down at her belly. “I'm certain the ultrasound said one of them was a boy.”
“No no no, like,” Daph motioned to her chest, “the girlth.”
“Oh,” Cora said, clearing her throat and looking away bashfully. “Well...um...they...they still leak sometimes, mostly late at night.”
“Yeah, mine too,” Daph said, tenderly poking one of her boobs beneath her jacket. “I thtarted spotting a little bit latht week. It'th a lot earlier than latht time. I think you're rubbin off on me.”
“Oh really?” Cora said, relaxing her embarassment as Daphodille expressed sympathy. “If you pump them a little before bed, that helps. It keeps you from waking up to do it later.”

“I'll remember that,” Daph nodded. Suddenly, a devious smile appeared on her face. “...Hey Cora...can I call you 'The Dairy Queen?'”

“NO,” Cora barked, amidst Daph's cackling laughter. “I will break you in half if you call me that.”
“C'mon, Cora, be a thtereotype,” Daph teased. “You should thee how many nutth and acornth I eat.”

The two of them chatted and joked back-and-forth as they went, not even noticing their sore legs or aching backs. By the time they made it to the subway entrace, the metal and stone stairs leading into the ground, Daph gripped the railing and made her way down. Cora stood at the top, wringing her hands together. Beyond general claustrophobia, she was petrified at the sight of the hard-edged stairs, slick with the melted snow from outside. Daph's experience led her down them with ease and confidence that Cora didn't possess. Unwilling to look like a coward in front of her friend, she swallowed her fear and took her first step down, her thick hoof clopping loudly against the metal stairs.

Gripping the railing, she would have already been nervous of her wet hooves losing balance without the added weight of her large pregnancy making her all the more precarious. She prayed with every step, unable to look down and see her hooves past her belly and hoped that it would make contact with solid ground. She'd descended far enough to see the platform at the bottom, dreading the thought of Daphodille laughing at her struggle.

Suddenly, a set of quick, sudden footsteps came up from her side.
“Fuck fuck, I am tho thorry,” Daph gasped, taking Cora's arm. “I totally didn't even think about thith. Are you okay? Do you need a hand?”
“I...I think so...Maybe a little,” Cora said, swallowing. “Could you just...could you just tell me where I'm going?”
“Yeah yeah, no problem,” Daph nodded. She descended down a few steps, her boots giving her traction Cora didn't possess, along with the added counterbalance of her tail. “Alright, jutht keep goin'. Go slow. You're okay.” Daph stood at her side, hands ready in case Cora slipped. The squirrel very likely wouldn't be able to catch the nearly 280 pounds of pregnant cow should Cora fall, but it was helpful to have someone to coach her down.
From the side, a slim, dark-furred canine in a gray hoodie left the turnstile and continued toward the stairs Cora and Daph slowly descended. He slowed on the steps, momentarily staring confusedly at the two of them, but especially Cora. Cora blushed and looked away, her ears flattening in distress and embaressment. Daph turned at her reaction to find the dog staring at them.

“You laughin, fuckboy?” Daph screamed, jabbing a finger at him. Her voice echoed off the tile entrance louder than it would have on its own, making Cora and the stranger jump. “Mind your own FUCKING business!” At the second shout, the canine jumped again, glanced around in even more confusion, and scurried away with his tail literally tucked in between his legs. Daph sighed, turned around, and continued to help Cora until the two of them were finally on flat ground.

“That was a nightmare,” Cora breathed, still gripping the railing with one hand and steadying her belly with the other. “Thank you, Daph.”
“Don't mention it,” Daph shrugged. “You got a Metro card?”
“I think so,” Cora said, digging into her pockets. “It's the same one for the bus, isn't it?”
“...You take the bus?” Daph said, incredulously. She shook her head. “I have got tho much to teach you, Cora...”
As they approached the turnstiles, Daph pulled out her card and swiped it through effortlessly. She hefted her body up slightly so her belly would clear over the top of the bars and clicked through like she had a thousand times. Cora followed, trying to replicate Daph's confidence and ease. She swiped her card, waited for the light to turn green, then stepped forward. Immediately, something was wrong. Cora couldn't even make it to the metal bars. Her legs wouldn't fit through the turnstile at the same time and her body was too wide to fit through from the side.

“Um...” Cora called. “Daphodille?”
Daph turned and saw the predicament. She frowned, tapping her foot the floor and twitching her tail in thought. She stood on her toes and glanced over Cora's shoulder, toward the empty glass booth that normally held an MTA attendant. Daph nodded to herself and strode over to the emergency exit gate. With a heavy blow, she bashed it open with her elbow and it swung open, letting lose a high-pitched alarm as it did. Cora didn't hesitate, clopping across the floor with her wet hooves and slipping through the wide doorway, even though she had to duck slightly.
“Are you sure that's alright!?” Cora called over the sound of the alarm.
“Whatever!” Daph said, walking over to the turnstile and cranking the metal arms around manually. “You paid for it, didn't you!?”

The two of them walked next to the subway platform, as far away from the noise as possible until it died down next to them. They would have sat down on the nearest bench were it not for the indiscernible liquid covering it. Next to her, Daph started to giggle, every once in a while wincing and making 'oof' sounds.
“I think thethe two finally decided to wake up,” Daph said, caressing her belly through her jacket. “Must've been the alarm that did it.”
As if on cue, the calves inside Cora's womb began to stir, both of them jumping and flexing their limbs against her belly from the inside.
“I think it was,” Cora agreed.
The two of them waited in silence, occupying themselves with the movement of the babies they carried. They glanced at one another and laughed wordlessly, each letting the other feel their bouncing and energetic twins. It struck Cora as a beautiful moment, something she'd never been able to share with anyone else, a part of her life she valued so deeply that she was finally able to share with someone else. It made all the pain, all the hardship, and all the stress worth it as long as she had a friend to help her carry the load and celebrate all the good things. They really were each other's 'Belly Buddies.'

“Oh fuck,” Daph said, suddenly breaking away from rubbing Cora's stomach. The metal scraping sound and whooshing of air signaled a fast-approaching subway train. “I think that'th us.”
Cora had ridden the subway a few times in her early days in the city and Daph had been regularly riding the trains her entire life. Regardless, neither of them were fully prepared for the absolute, deafening roar that came from a 10 ton metal rocket screaming through a century-old system of holes in the ground. Cora sighed, trying not to be too intimidated by the sound. Daph yawned, digging a finger into her ear.

“Oh no...” Cora said, her expression falling. Only as the train came to a stop could they see through the windows and get a clear look at the mass of shirts, pants, arms, feathers, fur, and scales that indicated a packed subway car. “Look how full it is...”
“It'th fine, Cora, really,” Daph said, waving her hand. The train's wheels screeched against the track as it ground to a halt.
“Maybe we can just wait for the next one...” Cora said, pleadingly. “Or...or we can go down to another car and...Daph, I thought you said it would be empty.”
“Not everybody hath off on Prethident'th Day, yknow? And it'll be fine, really. Jutht follow my lead.” In the few seconds between the train stopping and the doors opening, Daph zipped down the front of her windbreaker, exposing the almost fatally stretched undershirt pulled over her full middle. Instead of tugging it down, she reached forward and pulled the tail slightly up, her new outie belly button just barely visible from underneath. She bowed out her feet and arced her back, putting a hand just above her tail. She took one last second to glance at Cora and wink, cheekily.

As the doors opened and people began to file out, Daph waddled forward, letting out a few grunts of exaggerated discomfort. She barely shuffled at a fraction of her normal walking speed, the doors counting down by the moment until they'd close. She let one hand rest against her belly and held out the other in desperation for the door as they ticked away until the inevitable. Right as the doors began to slide closed, the hand of a dark-furred businessman caught between them, triggering them to open one more time.
“Oh Gawd bleth you, thir, thank you oh tho much,” Daph said in a loud, exaggerated accent. “I jutht can't move as fatht as I uthed to, I thweah ta Gawd.”

Taking a moment to freeze at Daph's bizarre plan, Cora shuffled forward, her own movement actually hindered by her pregnancy, and slipped in right as the doors began to buzz. Once the two were inside, the businessman let go, the doors shut, and the train lurched into motion. Cora had an instant to grab onto a handhold above them, while Daph had already clung to a pole.
“Tho like I wath tellin you, Portia,” Daph continued in her caricature of an accent Cora didn't quite understand. “I think tha only reathon he don't hit me no more is 'cause I'm carryin hith babieth, now! But I thweah to Gawd, Portia, he thtill yells and drinkth and fightth like he used ta.” She sighed, using her free hand to rub a circle around the exposed fur of her underbelly, making sure to face the seated passengers who didn't already have headphones in. “I mean, what'th a girl ta do, I thweah ta Gawd.”

Daph glanced at Cora and blinked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ohh...uh...” she tried not to glance at the sitting commuters and kept her eyes on Daph. Suddenly, an idea hit her. She settled back, shifting her weight into her hips and letting one of her hands sit atop her belly like Daph.

“Aye, Anno what'cha mean, hen,” Cora said, in the most ham-fisted parody of her father she could muster. “Me 'usband don't know what ta do with our...twelve other wee little bairns scurryin aboot. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, 'ow we can 'andle two more, I 'aven't a clue.”

“At leatht your husband knowth how ta treat a woman,” Daph said, with a fabulously ornate hand gesture. “He'th one of thothe 'old country bulls' you tell me all about. A real gentleman, I hear. My old Haaaaarold could use thome-a thothe manners, I thweah ta Gawd.”

“Oooo, me 'usband...F-Fra-Fletcher, he t'waint the man you think he is, I'll 'ave you know. The man 'as never once satisfied me...me urges ever since we found me up the duff, I'll 'ave you know.”

“Oh my Gawd, I wish I wath ath lucky ath you, Portia,” Daph said. “Haaaaaarold can't keep hith handth offa me thome nights, I thweah ta Gawd! But you know how horses are.” Daph sighed and patted her stomach while Cora bit her tongue to keep from laughing. “It'th hard ta baleeve I'm only five months along, I thweah ta Gawd. Tha dactah thaid I gotta be on bedrest in June tho the foals don't break my hipth when I walk.” Daph sighed again, flipping her hair out of her eyes. “But of courthe, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarold doesn't even pretend ta care, I thwear ta Gawd!”

“Uh, excuse me,” came a voice from behind them. Two young canines stood up from their seat at the end of the subway and gestured toward them. “Would you like to sit down?”
“Oh my Gawd, thank you thweetie!” Daph squealed, shuffling over to the seat and groaning exaggeratedly as she sat down on it. She sighed, patting her belly and grinned up at the dog before motioning for Cora to sit beside her.
“Ooooo thank ye, laddie,” Cora said, waving daintily. “Yer such a sweet laddie, ye are.” In an incredible feat of stupid improvisation, she reached over and awkwardly patted the young man on the side of his face before settling down next to Daph. The dog smiled back awkwardly, glancing to his friend for assistance. At the next stop, the two of them and many of the other passengers got off, replacing them with new ones, but leaving Daph and Cora in their seats. As soon as the doors closed again, the two burst into laughter.

“What the fuck ith 't'waint?'” Daph cackled. “That wath like a fifth-grade play verthion of Harry Potter.”
“I never thought I'd do something like that,” Cora laughed, settling back in her seat.
“Yeah, well, you're kinda expected to give up your theat for pregnant ladieth on the thubway,” Daph said, crudely scratching the still exposed fur of her belly. “I jutht like to play it up a little, yknow?”
“Where are we headed?” Cora asked, craning her neck to try and look at the map behind her head.
“'Bout five stopth,” Daph said, pointing to an LED screen on the opposite wall with a scrolling list of addresses. “It'th not in Thaint Mark'th Place, but it'th right near it.”

After roughly twenty minutes on the train, happy to be sitting instead of standing on their sore feet, the two chatted back and forth until they reached their stop. Even the crowd entering the train parted ways as the two heavily pregnant friends exited. The station attendant had to open up the emergency exit legitimately so the two of them could exit, with Cora feeling not quite as embarrassed as before. After following the squirrel up and out into the cold air, Cora followed her down a side street in a part of New York she'd never seen, with rich clothing stores and designer fashions gleaming above the sidewalks. Cora wasn't much for fashion, but the opulence itself was intoxicating.

“Here! Here here here!” Daph pointed excitedly at a colorful storefront at the other end of the block. As they got closer, Cora made out the sign as Sixteen Handles, in a pastel-colored and bubbly font.
Blueberries and peanut butter, said her brain, her stomach rumbling with hunger, cravings, and two calves crankily awakened from their nap. Her mouth watering again, she followed Daph inside.
As expected, the inside was only slightly warmer than the outside air, but it was warm enough for Daph to open up her jacket and Cora to do the same. Her belly spilled out, unconstrained behind the strong zipper, and settling heavily into her hips. Cora sighed, rubbing her sore body. At least she could pretend she wasn't so gigantic with the jacket on.
After the debacle of the subway, the store inside was mercifully, thankfully empty, aside from the sound of rustling behind the counter. From a doorway in the back came a slim, bored looking male otter dressed in an unkempt uniform and wearing a hat tilted to the side.

“I'm sorry ladies, we don't open for another half an hour, please-” He stopped, glancing at Daph, before his eyes lit up. “Yooooooo, Daphodille!”
“What'th shakin, Raul?” Daph said, leaning over the counter to slap hands with the effeminate otter.
“Tch, work. You know.” He frowned and gestured at the room.
“Thame, thame,” Daph nodded, patting her heavy belly.
“Girl, how many dicks you gotta ride before you're satis-fied?” Raul shouted, pointing at her stomach.
“Ath many ath I want, mother fucker,” Daph said, flicking her tail.
“Well keep your demon-ass pussy away from my man,” Raul said, raising his webbed fingers into a cross.
“You better hope he'th ath gay ath you are,” Daph said, pointing with one hand and gripping her belly with the other. “You don't want no bushy-tailed otter runnin around here climbin shit.”
“You really are Queen Bitch Baby Maker, girl,” Raul said.

“Don't forget it,” Daph nodded, flexing. She suddenly jumped, as if remembering something. “Oh fuck, hey, thith ith my friend Cora. She'th in the thame program ath I am.”
“Girl, don't go spreadin your hoe ways to unsuspecting bitches,” Raul said, making a tch noise with his tongue. He glanced at Cora and dropped his facade into a genuine smile. “Hey girl, I'm Raul. How's it goin'?”
“Oh, um, fine, fine,” Cora stammered, stepping forward to shake the otter's hand.
“Don't worry about me and her,” Raul said, gesturing to Daph. “We go way back.”
“I can tell,” Cora nodded.
“You a surrogate, too?” Raul said, stepping back to look at Cora's belly. “Mmm. Yo Daph, your friend 'bout to take that crown from you, girl. She fixin' to pop.”

“Cora'th carrying twinth,” Daph said, proudly. “Ithn't that fuckin crazy? Do you know any cowth ever have twinth?”
“No I do not,” Raul said, shaking his head. “Then again, I don't know any other bitches get pregnant five times for a paycheck.”
“Mind your own goddamn busineth,” Daph teased. She dropped her jacket onto a nearby table and stretched as she waddled over to the yogurt dispensers on the walls. “You got anything new in?”
“We got some of that red velvet cake flavor,” Raul said, pointing to the back. “I ain't had none of it yet, but Trisha tells me it's fuckin dank.”
“Yeah, well Trisha don't like nutth, tho I don't believe a god damn thing she sayth,” Daph said, looking over the flavors. She laughed once, then called across the room, “Hey Cora! They've got peanut butter!”

Cora froze, licking her lips. Hooves clopping loudly against the tile floor, she stepped near the toppings counter, standing to the side so as not to knock her belly into anything. Sure enough, in the back row, was a bin of ice-cold, succulent, juicy blueberries. But there was more. Strawberries, as ripe and red as the day they were picked. Cherries, glistening and shining with their natural sugars. Raspberries, each bud as round and perfect as the other. And beyond the fruit were sweets and candies she'd never even considered. Crushed up Reese's Cups, like Daph had said. Bins of M&Ms, next to containers of classic sprinkles. There was a cup of melted Crunch bars, reduced to a thick chocolate sauce. The entire toppings bar was a cornucopia of sweets that sent Cora's mouth watering just at the implications.

One of the calves kicked out hard against the side of her belly, as if impatient to get to the candy themselves. She barely even noticed, simply rubbing the spot with her hand as she stared down through the glass at all the possibilities.
“Uhm...” Cora managed to squeak out. She was pulled back into her mind just long enough to look up at Raul, who was pleasantly waiting for her to speak. “Do you...have any, um...bigger cups?” She blushed, flipping her tail and pulled her shirt down over her belly. Raul smiled knowingly and nodded.
“I'll hook you up, big mama,” he said, winking. He sauntered into the back and, with the rustling of plastic, came back with a large paper bowl. It was enormous, large enough to fit both of Cora's balled-up fists in it at once. It was perfect. She took it, smiling bashfully as Raul nodded happily.

“Yo, how many nutth you got!?” Daph called from the other end of the store, from the hum of one of soft serve machines she was already using.
“We got all four bins, full as fuck!”
“Get more!” Daph countered.

Raul sighed, rolled his eyes to Cora, then walked into the back, his thick tail dragging across the ground. Cora took her bowl and clopped over to the machines. Despite the variety of flavors, she made a beeline to the peanut butter, which was paired with a flavor marked only 'tart.' She hesitated, then filled her cup half-full of the peanut butter flavor. Of course, peanut butter was only at half its potential without chocolate, so she added some of that, too. Then again, chocolate without vanilla to balance it out seemed wasted and she had forgotten to mix the two, so she added a dollop of vanilla to the top. And of course, Raul's ignorance of the red velvet flavor made her curious, so Cora made sure to add a tiny bit to her cup to see what it was like. But what if she didn't like it? She wanted to try something a little new and was curious about the 'tart' flavor, so she added a dash of it to the very top.
Snapping out of a trance, Cora found that her hug cup was already filled above the rim, at risk of toppling over. She swallowed, one part of her wanting to scrape some if it off, but with another knowing that even this much wouldn't be enough. She sighed, trying to cast the thoughts from her mind and simply enjoy the treat she was getting. She shuffled quietly up to the register, holding her cup with both hands. Daph was already there, with a cup of surprisingly little yogurt. Raul came out from the back, carrying three different bins of nuts, which he handed over to Daph.

“Gimme,” she said, tipping the bin over and spilling pecans into her cup. “Fuckin ruin me with nutth.”
“I think somebody already did, girl,” Raul said, leaning over the counter and thumping Daph's belly with his middle finger. She spluttered at the sudden sensation and rubbed the spot.
“You know what I mean, you fuckin diva.” She took one of the scooper spoons from the line and used it to stir the nuts into her frozen yogurt, pouring in a healthy cup full of peanuts in as she did so.
“You know you ain't allowed to do that,” Raul said, gesturing to the spoon.
“Yeah,” Daph said, looking up and making a tch sound with her tongue like Raul did, “I know.”
Raul shook his head and turned to Cora, who was politely standing behind the squirrel and waiting for her chance to get to the toppings bar.
“What can I get you, honey?”
“Oh...some...blueberries, please,” Cora said, handing over the cup.

“Oh no, honey, you get the spoon and get it your-” Raul began, but he looked down at Cora's belly and measured her inability to reach across the counter. “...Yknow what, don't worry about it. I got you.” He took the cup from her hand and carefully sprinkled a spoonful of blueberries on top. “How's that?”

“Um...more, please,” Cora added, picking anxiously at her fingers atop her stomach. It wobbled once from a hungry kick by one of the calves, something she hoped Raul didn't notice. She directed him to add a covering of toppings to the cup until it resembled something like a candy landfill atop a mountain.
“Damn girl,” Raul said, glancing at the cup and smirking. “Cow babies get hungry, huh?”
“Y-yes...” Cora stammered, swallowing.
“We gotta pay for the firtht cup tho Raul doethn't get chewed out,” Daph explained as they shuffled to the register. “But he'th cool becauthe he'll let uth get free refillth.”

“Now who the hell said I was gonna do that?” Raul snarked, setting Daph's cup onto the scale next to the register.
“You'd be literally taking candy from a baby,” Daph said. “And besideth, we're not a party of two, we're a party of...” Daph tapped herself on the chest. “One.” She tapped her belly twice. “Two, three.” She tapped Cora on the shoulder. “Four.” She jabbed a finger into Cora's belly, making her wince and giggle. “Five, thix.” She held up her fingers. “Party of thix, Raul. And four of em are way, way, waaaay younger than three yearth old, tho I think we should give 'em a couple refillth, yeah?”

“Chill out, girl, I was messin' with you,” Raul said, smirking. He gestured to Cora's cup and looked up. “Is this together or separate?”
“Together,” Daph said before Cora could speak, already pulling her wallet out of her backpack. She glanced at Cora and shrugged. “It wath my idea. I got it. Thith'll make up for that thubway bullshit, too.”
“'Subway bullshit?'” Raul repeated as he swiped her card. “Girl, you got a story?”
“I'll tell you later,” Daph said taking back her card and picking up her cup. “Right now, I gotta get thethe babieth thome ice cream before one of em puts me into labor tryin' to get to it.”
“Eugh,” Raul said, wrinkling his muzzle. “That's nasty.”
“It'th the beauty of life, asshole,” Daph said, turning to the side and running a hand down her stomach while shaking her tail. “We're gonna be in the back with the coucheth, okay?”

“Word,” Raul nodded, taking the spoon Daph had dirtied into the back to clean. Cora followed her into the back of the dining room, walking carefully so as not to spill any of her toppings. They both finally made it to the back, into a small room with the walls lined on couches, without major incident. Daph set down her cup on a circular coffee table and groaned as she carefully lowered herself onto the couch, kicking up her feet on the table and leaning back. She sighed, comfortably, letting her hands rest on top of her belly, finger absentmindedly circling her navel. Cora sat too, a little heavier than Daph and sighed equally as deep, happy to finally give her hooves some relief.

“Aw fuck,” Daph groaned. She put a hand next to her mouth and called out, “Hey, Raul! We forgot spoonth!”
“Then get up and get 'em!” Called the otter from some unseen corner of the back room.
“But we're already thitting down!” she yelled back, putting on a mockingly whining voice. “And we're pregnaaaant! C'mon!”
“They ain't even yours!”
“I know! That'th why thomebody needth to pamper uth!”
After a moment of silence, Raul came out of the back, shuffling to them dejectedly with two plastic spoons.
“Thank you, thweetie,” Daph teased.
“Whatever, bitch,” Raul sassed back, handing them over. “You just lucky I'm on the clock.”
“Tho lucky,” Daph said, blowing a kiss. Raul made a motion of slapping it out of the air before walking into the back.

With utensils in hand, the two of them were finally able to dig in to their treats. As soon as the candy and frozen yogurt hit her mouth, Cora's entire body went into ecstasy, tasting every kind of craving she'd suppressed for the past seven months. The indulgence was intoxicating, to finally give in to what her hormones told her she wanted, but knew in her mind she didn't actually need. Daph also fell into a silent trance of satisfaction, making errant 'mmph' sounds every so often as she crunched on the handfuls of nuts she'd poured into her yogurt. The different flavors Cora had poured into her cup blended into an indistinct rainbow of tastes, at times blending together, at times separating into different sensations on her tongue. She seemed to inhale most of it in just a few minutes. While still hungry, Cora wrenched her self control back from the cup and set it down next to her for a moment.

“You're done?” Daph asked, raising a surprised eyebrow.
“No no, just...” Cora never finished the sentence and simply sighed as an answer.
“I know, I know,” Daph agreed. She noticed a melted drop sliding down the side of her cup and licked it off. Sitting back, she pondered for a moment, then pulled up her shirt completely, tucking the bottom edge of it beneath her breasts and leaving the tan fur of her belly open to the air.
“Daph, what...” Cora said, shaking her head.
“What?” She said, smoothing down her belly fur and drumming her fingers against its taut surface. “I don't wanna do laundry. Washing clotheth costth money, but washing fur ith free.”

Cora chuckled and shook her head.
“What?”
“Daphodille, how are you so shameless?”
“'Cause that'th it,” she shrugged. “I got no shame. I know who I am and what I'm about, yknow?”
“I can tell,” Cora said. She picked up her cup and sighed quietly into it, stirring absentmindedly. “I wish I could be like that.”
“You can, yknow,” Daph said. “It'th not like magic or anything. You just gotta...I gueth...Like yourthelf for being yourthelf.”
“That...can be hard...” Cora sighed, speaking half to herself. “Especially when you...don't really know who yourself is.”
“Nobody doeth. Not for a long time,” Daph said, shaking her head in sympathy. She took another huge spoonful of fro-yo and set the cup atop her belly. “Oo-oh…cold...” She winced. “But you're young. You're, what, twenty-one? You've got a lot of time to figure that out. We both do.”

“I feel older than I am sometimes,” Cora said, rubbing a spot on her belly. “This is my second time being pregnant. I've already given birth before I could drive. That just...it doesn't seem right.”
“Hey, you read that book? 'Bout that girl that lived in the rainforetht and had a couple babieth with that tribe? She met a girl there that wath having her firtht baby at thixteen. Tho like, you're not that young, yknow?”
“...I suppose,” Cora sighed, unconvinced.

The two went back to their frozen yogurt, eating it silently. Cora felt both of the calves shift inside of her uncomfortably. She had no idea if the sugar in her body was starting to get to them or if they were simply responding to the cold. Regardless of how much it hurt and annoyed her, she was proud that they'd grown so strong inside her. She sighed at the huge cup, nearly empty, and thought about getting even more. What was supposed to be a fun distraction was starting to make her feel even more self-conscious.
“Guhhh….fuck….” Daph said, finishing off her cup and dropping it on the seat next to her. Cora giggled and pointed to an off-white drop of liquid falling down the rounded side of Daph's belly.
“Thee? I told you,” Daph said, thumbing the drop before it reached her pants and sucking it off her finger. She paused for a minute, sighing comfortably as the soft serve settled in her stomach and enjoyed the lull before the twins she carried caught some of that sugar rush.

“Hey Cora,” Daph said, glancing over. “I jutht thought of a quethtion I wanted to athk.”
“Alright,” Cora said, after swallowing a half-melted spoonful. “Go ahead.”
“What wath with that dress you wore on our firtht appointment?” Daph asked. “Yknow, the inthemination. Knowing you now, I can't really thee you wearing thomething like that.”
“Oh,” Cora said, rolling her eyes. “That.”
“What? Did thomething happen? Should I not have athked?”
“No no no, you're fine. It's just...it's stupid.”
“What, the dress?” Daph shrugged. “I don't wear em much mythelf, but it, like...it wath kinda tight on you, but it looked good. Like it wath thuppothed to be tight.”
“It's not about the dress,” Cora shook her head. “It was...I was trying...trying to be more feminine.” She shrugged. “I was...embarrassed at going in there looking the way I normally do. That they might think I was a man or something. It was better once I started to show, but at first...”

“What, you?” Daph said, snorting. “I mean, I can tell ya right now, you don't look like a guy.”
“Now, I don't. Now that I'm pregnant. But before, people just...they'd just assume.”
“Do you...do you want to be more feminine?” Daph asked. “I...I mean, you're not gonna get any fuckin help outta me,” she joked. “Obviouthly. But I've got friendth that could help.”
“No, I don't think I do, but...I think I should.” Cora sighed. “I just don't feel right.”
“I mean, you don't have to be anything but yourthelf.”

“But what if you don't know what that is?” Cora said, quickly. Daph didn't respond, just waited for Cora to continue speaking. She looked down and twiddled her fingers, feeling a soft nudge from a calf that she chose to interpret as being encouraging. “My mum had a very...specific idea of what a woman was. I still don't understand it, but I know I didn't like it. She didn't really want me to go to college. She didn't say so, but it was easy to tell. She always got me these dresses and blouses and ribbons she wanted me to wear that I never did, like she was trying to bribe me into being more of a woman. But...even at the same time, I hated working for my dad on the farm. All that work, all the labor...it's probably the reason I'm so big now.” Cora held up her arm and flexed her powerful bicep slightly.

“When I was young, I loved my dad for letting me be the tomboy and the little girl that liked to play in the mud and build things and hated my mother for trying to make me the prissy little lady that just sat around the house all day.” Cora's voice began to rise slightly from a mumble as she released thoughts and feelings she'd suppressed for years. “But then I got old and I just realized that...I didn't want to be either of those things. I happened when I got pregnant for the first time, for a girl I'd grown up with who couldn't conceive. And you asked me, Daphodille, you asked me what I thought about it and if I liked it. The answer is yes, I liked it. I loved it. I loved being pregnant, it was the most fulfilling experience of my life and ever since that first time I wanted to do it again and again.

“But my dad, he...he almost killed it for me. He was so angry, more than I'd ever seen him. To me, at least. And I thought at first that it was because I did something really stupid or really impulsive that he was so angry, but I don't think that was it. I was nineteen at the time, I didn't need his permission to do it, and I think he was just upset that it was so...feminine. That his little tomboy went out and got pregnant and it just wasn't something he thought I would do. And I was so ashamed for a long time that it was something I shouldn't have done, but really, it was something I wanted to do and that I loved doing that he didn't have any control over. I haven't even told them about this surrogacy, that I'm about to give birth again. Maybe I wanted to go out and work on engines and build things and work with my hands and maybe I wanted to go get pregnant for people and have babies for a living because I just love the feeling and I want to make people happy. Why couldn't I be both? Why couldn't I just be who I wanted to be? Why the fuck did I have to fucking choose?”

Cora took a deep breath, not realizing at first how fast her heart was beating or that she had sat up in her seat. Daph had remained silent, her hands clasped together, patiently waiting. She had pulled her shirt down over her belly and had sat up to pay closer attention.
“Do you wanna keep going?” Daph asked. Cora shook her head.
“No, I...I think I've said what I needed to.” She sighed, suddenly very tired. Evidently, the calves were not. She felt one of them kick against the other, both of them stirring in the warm darkness of her womb, the sugar rush starting to spread to them. Cora laughed, feeling her belly jump slightly as they nudged against one another.
“They don't care how feminine you are,” Daph said, pointing to Cora's belly. “They're jutht glad you're you, that you're keeping them healthy and alive until they're born. Right now, you're the motht important perthon in the entire univerthe to them.”

“I know...” Cora sighed, slipping her hands under her belly as she sat.
“But yknow, once they're born, you don't get to be there in their life like you are now. Even if you were their mom, once thothe babieth get born, they become their own people. And you can't control who thothe people are. You jutht have to let them be who they wanna be.”

“One of thothe cows ith a boy, right?”
“Right,” Cora nodded. She slid a hand toward the lower right of her belly until she felt hooves pressing against her hand. “I think it's this one...”
“You want him to grow up to be a football player or a dancer?”
“I don't care,” Cora shrugged.
“What about the girl? Do you care if she growth up and she'th a construction worker? Or if she wantth to be a thupermodel?”
“I don't, no,” Cora nodded. “Not if that's what they want.”
“Okay,” Daph nodded. “What if the boy became a polygamitht and had nine wiveth. Would you be okay with that?”
“Wh-I...No, not really.”
“Or if the girl grew up and she decided at 18 that she liked going to thex clubth and fucking old men with a thtrap-on. Would you like that?”
“I...Daph, what?”
“Would you like that?”
“No, I wouldn't.”

“Exactly,” Daph said, pointing to Cora. “Ithn't it tho hard to think about thothe kidth doing thingth you don't think are right? That'th what your parents thee, except what they think ith right or the way it'th thupposed to be aren't the thame ath yourth. But they don't get to control who you are, Cora. Not if you don't let them do it. Only you can be the person you want to be. But they love you and want you to be happy. And if you can jutht be happy by being yourthelf and doin what you wanna do, I think you can change their mindth. I really do.”

Daph smiled around her teeth. Cora smiled back, letting Daph's words sink in. The squirrel suddenly jumped, looking down at her stomach.
“Hahah, fuck,” she said, lifting up her shirt. If she looked closely, Cora could just barely make out bulges and nudges coming from inside Daph's belly, pressing out against her fur. “I think the thugar ith hitting them. I'm gonna be in trouble tryin to thleep tonight.”
“Most of the time I can sleep through it if they decide to get fussy,” Cora said. “But one of them kicks me in the bladder and it wakes me up every time. They're a little too clever for their own good.”
“Are you feelin any better?” Daph asked, softly.
“I...I don't know yet. You gave me a lot to think about.”
“Well, that wath all jutht the way I thee it,” she shrugged. “I'm not any kind of shrink, trutht me.”
“I appreciate it, though. Thank you, Daphodille.”
“Gah, it'th nothin,” Daph said, dismissively. She held up her empty cup. “You want another one?”
“Well...I don't think so but...I'm still hungry,” Cora said, bashfully.
“Yeah, me too,” Daph sighed. She checked her phone. “Ith 11:30 too early for lunch?”
“Does it matter?” Cora shrugged.

“...Nope,” Daph agreed, dropping her phone back into her bag. “Not a bit.” She groaned to her paws and stretched, her shirt riding up over her stomach. “I'm tryin' not to pig out too much tho I can lose all thith weight later, but yknow what? Fuck it. Today ith my cheat day. I'm eatin for three and I'm hungry ath fuck.”
“I think that's the second best idea you've had all day,” Cora agreed, groaning to her hooves as well. “But...can we please avoid the subway this time?”