This is a fouth "chapter" in a fan fic series I've been writing involving  ebonyleopards Extinctioners characters Arctica, Red, Scarlet, and Victoria.
 kensingshow was kind enough to allow me to use Rokki and his skunk character Ken (aka Stinken) in the story as well.

The previous stories are, in order:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1808866/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1808903/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1808972/

These stories are the fevered fics of this old squirrel's mind and have no real bearing on the on the canon storyline.

My thanks to  ebonyleopard and  kensingshow for their "Okays" to write this and to post it here.


Mothers, Kits, and Fairness

Arctica's ears cocked this way and that as she entered the house.
"Hmmmm, things are pretty quiet," she thought. "The kits must be napping."
A smile came to her face as the arctic fox vixen recalled how things had changed in the last couple of years. The first of them being that she and Scarlet had resolved their rivalry over Red by both becoming his mates. Then, things went a bit haywire.
Red had come home one night from one of his electronics gaming conventions and found a vixen in his bed. He nuzzled and felt around on her and she proved to be quite receptive to him. In that dark room they mated several times then dozed off in each other's arms. It wasn't until the light of morning that Red found out that the vixen wasn't either of his mates (His nose was stuffed up from a mild cold thus he hadn't been able to scent the difference.). She was Scarlet's mother, Victoria. And she was more then willing to continue mating with him while her daughter and Artica were away. Red didn't turn her down. Several weeks later they learned there were consequences for their actions. Victoria was pregnant, with twins, a tod and a vixen. Scarlet was not pleased! And it didn't help things any that Arctica found the situation terribly humorous! She'd even suggested that Red take Victoria as another mate. The idea stuck.
"Scarlet! They're my kits!" Red pointed out. "Accidental or not I'm responsible for them! They have to have a father and that's me!"
The logic of his statement was irrefutable. Still, she was a little steamed.
"I wanted to have your kits!" she stated.
"And you will," Red said. "Just remember that these two are your brother and sister as well."
A few days later Scarlet gave her blessing on having her mother as a comate.

Arctica eased up to the door of the nursery. She wanted to be as quiet as possible to avoid disturbing the kits if they were there. Poking her head around the open doorway she saw that they were. Terry and Ellen, Victoria and Red's 16 month old twins, were snuggled down together in a nest of pillows peacefully dozing away. It was a sweet sight. Movement at the corner of her eye attracted her attention to the room's other occupant...correction other two occupants.
Seated in a rocking chair a topless Scarlet breastfed her three month old son. Leisurely rocking to and fro the new mother gently patted her kit's back as he fed from her.
When Victoria was five months pregnant Scarlet announced that she was expecting as well. They were happy for her (Though Red was a bit dazed of a few hours after her announcement!) but, a couple of weeks later she miscarried. Determined to have her kit Scarlet did all she could to increase her chances of getting pregnant but didn't "catch". Finally, she asked Jacob, aka Micro, if he could do an examination of her and see if there was something wrong. He guided her to his mate's, Rokki's, creator, Prof. Ken Dannoura.
"He's better at the bio stuff then I am," Jacob told her.
The skunk scientist agreed to see her.
"Gives me a chance to do a detailed evaluation of a 'super' for further research," he said, then gave Scarlet a wink.
His examination of her was exhaustive! There were moments where she wondered if he was going to try to dissolve her so he could examine her cell by cell!
"Stinken can be...a bit obsessed if something really catchs his attention," Rokki informed her.
When he was finished collecting the data on Scarlet Ken took a few weeks to look it over and work up his conclusions. That he called her in to talk to her person to person in private told her that something wasn't right.
"Your immune system is overly aggressive," Ken told her. "During your pregnancy it took a little time but it recognized your embryo as foreign biomaterial and attacked and destroyed it."
The words stunned Scarlet.
"Then, it will be very...difficult for me to carry a kit to term?" she asked.
"It will be virtually impossible. From now on your body will 'see' any fertilzed egg as an enemy and will seek to destroy it as soon as possible."
The vixen thought for a bit.
"Aren't there some kinds of drugs that reduce the...aggressiveness of the immune system?" she asked.
"Yes. And I would recommend them to most people in this situation," he said. "But, you are not like most people. Your immune system has a very high ability to overcome, throw off their effects. Once that happens it would make very short work of any kit you carried."
Scarlet was devastated! She was so looking forward to having two or three kits by Red!
Scarlet's emotions ran the gambit from anger and sadness to bordering on despair!
It didn't help matters any that the first thing she saw when she got home was her mother breastfeeding her and Red's four month old twins.
"Why?!" her mind screamed. "Why should she be able to give Red kits and not me?!"
Anger at the state of things boiled up within her, threatening to explode! Then, she became aware that Victoria was looking at her with a questioning expression on her face. Shame replaced her fury. Scarlet hung her head and left the room. A bit later Victoria came looking for her oldest daughter and found her in the twins nursery, looking at the kits' cribs. Scarlet hadn't even been aware that she was crying. Victoria sat her daughter down then slowly, almost painfully, got Scarlet to tell her what was the matter. The older vixen was distressed at the situation. She was more then aware of Scarlet's desire to have a family. Her mind "gnawed" on the problem then kicked up a solution and she pitched it to her daughter.
"A surragate mother? I hadn't thought of that," Scarlet mused.
She saw a couple of problems with the idea, the main one being what if the surragate mom decided she wanted to keep the kit. Victoria solved that be suggesting that she be the surragate. Scarlet gave it some thought then accepted the solution. They talked it over with Red and Arctica and got their blessing on the idea. Red suggested that since Prof. Dannoura knew so much about Scarlet's biology that they ask him to do the "honors".
"Of course! Be happy to!" was Ken's answer.
A mature egg was extracted from Scarlet, fertilized with Red's sperm, then implanted in Victoria's womb. It took hold and she had a normal pregnancy.
Arctica grinned at the memories of seeing Scarlet's ear practically glued to her mother's swollen middle, listening for her son's heartbeat, the last couple of months of the pregnancy.
"Cheeky little tod kicked her in the head a batch times!" the white furred vixen remembered.
Scarlet took some treatments to start her breasts lactating. She wanted to be able to nurse her son herself when he was born.
"You going to come in or go on trying to pretend you're hiding there?" Arctica heard Scarlet say.
"Gee, and I thought I was doing a bang up job of being invisible," she said as she padded up to the red furred vixen. "So, how are things with Crimson and the twins?"
"Oh, they've been sweeties today!"
"Hmmmm, you might not be a little biased in your opinion due to the fact that two are your sibs and the third is your son?" Arctica teased.
Scarlet appeared to give the question some thought.
"Hmmmmm, that could have something to do with it," she replied.
Both vixens giggled. The tremors that resulted caused Crimson to fuss and Scarlet spent a moment soothing and settling him. Arctica glaced around the room, confirming that there were, indeed, only the five of them there.
"Where's Victoria?" asked Arctica.
A sour expression came to Scarlet's face.
"It's not fair!" she stated.
"What's not fair?" asked Arctica.
"I'm here with Red getting ready to feed Crimson and mom walks in, pulls her halter top down to show Red her boobs, says something about a barn, and the next thing I know they're both gone! It's just not fair!!"
Clapping both of her hands over her muzzle to stifle her laughter Arctica fled the room!