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Tanjiro loves his nest. It’s a good thing, too, because he never gets a chance to leave anymore. No, now he has a litter of eight to care for. He shouldn’t be surprised to have such a large litter. That’s what he gets for taking not one, but two very dominant alphas. He must be out of his mind, but both alphas are so perfect that he needed both of their knots to be content. And oh, do they always give him what he needs. His omega rarely stops purring with bone-deep contentment. Tanjiro loves his life.
If it wasn’t for Giyuu and Inosuke, Tanjiro doubts that he would be able to build such a comfortable nest. He is in a cave in a mountain. Inosuke insisted because high ground is easier to defend. Rather than dirt and blankets, which are what one can generally expect from a cave nest, Tanjiro has all the comfort his primally soft instincts crave. Imagine going from the ruggedness of demon hunts to silk! He almost felt the change to comfort to be jarring. Almost.
For a cave, the nest is spacious. Inosuke and Giyuu both helped Tanjiro dig it out while he was pregnant. Now the little den is both cozy and comfortable, just what he needs for a large litter. Motivated by the massive curve of their omega’s stomach, the alphas worked hard anticipating a large litter. And oh boy were the correct. The combination of two dominant alphas and a profoundly strong omega are the perfect recipe for yielding pups.
When Tanjiro went into labor, it was all hands on deck. Tanjiro was the only one calm out of the three of them. After the third pup was born, Inosuke both worried and excited himself with the idea that Tanjiro would never stop giving birth. He could imagine his mate pregnant from his seed forever. It seemed to Inosuke that his omega would lay in the cave and birth his pups infinitely. While Inosuke’s alpha howled in delight at the prospect of having so many pups and preened at his own fertility, he just didn’t know how he could breed Tanjiro if the omega was already giving birth.
Giyuu told Inosuke to shut up as he held Tanjiro’s hand and gently brushed the omega’s hair off of his sweaty brow. Giyuu was internally berating himself to control his anxiety. He needed to be calm for his omega. It was his job as an alpha to keep his mate comfortable, but here he was, a dominant alpha, drowning in anxiety.
To Inosuke’s dismay and delight, only (ONLY?! Giyuu shouted when Inosuke stated his opinion) eight pups were born. Truly an impressive litter. The two alphas overflow with pride. Their omega did so well.
Tanjiro basked in the attention and praise of his alphas. He knew he did well, but he appreciates the acknowledgement. Giyuu and Inosuke were so proud of him for enduring the long labor and bearing so many beautiful pups. And Tanjiro doesn’t lose a single one. That is nigh a miracle for any large litter, let alone an isolated mountain birth. Tanjiro truly was the strongest omega that either alpha had ever met. They are elated that he bore both of their babies. Their babies would be strong.
Tanjiro and Giyuu take care of the naming. Inosuke wanted to name all the babies “Inosuke 1” “Inosuke 2” “Inosuke 3” and so on. When the other two shot down his idea, Inosuke had nothing else to contribute to the naming discussion. The final decision was: Kie, after Tanjiro’s mother, then the next four are named after Tanjiro’s siblings Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, and Rokuta. Giyuu and Tanjiro name the next pup in unison: Sakonji, after their shared teacher Urokodaki. Giyuu names the final two: Sabito and Makomo.
Inosuke complains that he’ll never be able to call his children by their proper names, and that they all should have gone with his idea because it is still the best idea.
Tanjiro is reveling in the beauty of his litter. He is even more happy that Giyuu encouraged him to name the pups after his lost siblings. He worried that it would be selfish of him to name most of the pups; that it would be neglectful of his alphas, but Giyuu had just laughed and said that eight pups meant there were enough names to go around. There were only a couple of names Giyuu wanted anyways. Plus, Giyuu and Tanjiro agreed that only one Inosuke was still enough Inosuke for their family.
Now, Tanjiro sat comfortably in his nest. His face was barely visible above the pile of loose, fine fabrics that made up his nest. Inosuke and Giyuu had been determined to scent as many pieces of fabric as possible during Tanjiro’s pregnancy. The cave is a positive haven of comforting scents for the omega. His babies’ scents meld the underlying yet pervasive scent of their sires’. Tanjiro floats languidly on the scents of his pups and his alphas. It is the only pheromone cocktail he wants to smell for the rest of his life.
The omega spends most of his waking hours, which were most hours of the day, nursing his pups. He has them on a pretty stable rotation, and he’s glad that his breasts can keep up with the demands of such a litter. It’s like his omegan genetics knew the exact size of his litter and altered his body accordingly. Despite being a male omega, his breasts swelled to accommodate more milk than even female omegas would consider normal. Male omegas often struggled to lactate, but Tanjiro did not. Giyuu Said it was a sign of his immense strength. Giyuu also found the breasts, proof of their bonds’ fertility, immensely attractive. The alpha found himself envying his pups proximity to the swollen chest of the glowing omega. That being said, Tanjiro’s hormones had been outrageous during the last trimester of his pregnancy. The amount of estrus and oxytocin that flooded his system to prepare his body for motherhood should have been a high enough concentration to stun an elephant.
The large family establish an almost assembly line like routine. First Tanjiro nursed Kie and Takeo, then Hanako and Shigeru, then Rokuta and Sakonji, then Sabito and Makomo. As soon as sabito and Makomo are sated, Kie and Takeo become fussy and Tanjiro begins his rotation again. His nipples were raw, chapped, and aching, but he was too happy taking care of his pups to care much about the discomfort. Tanjiro even has four breasts, which he alternates between in shifts of two. He’s limited by how many children he can hold; he often jokes with his alphas that despite having four breast, he still only has two arms.
Tanjiro is blissfully happy to have a full and thriving family again. He has a family of his own and he is surrounded by their scent and all nine of them are protected by the two most capable alphas he’d ever met. Giyuu and Inosuke take shifts guarding the entrance of the cave. When they’re not standing guard they either hunt or help Tanjiro take care of the babies.
Whenever Inosuke enters the nest to take care of the babies with his omega, he brings the prettiest sticks he can find. Tanjiro has long since given up explaining to Inosuke that no, it isn’t that kind of nest. Tanjiro doesn’t know what criteria Inosuke uses to select he prettiest sticks, He just knows that Inosuke is super proud of them. Inosuke sometimes calls the babies his chicks, his eagle chicks. To be fair, the sticks really do make decent bassinets once Tanjiro is through with the construction. He lines the bird nest bassinets with so many layers of fabric that the bramble-structure in undetectable. The babies love their bassinets. After all, Inosuke’s scent is all over the sticks that make up the structure. They sleep (relatively) peacefully (for newborn pups). Sabito and Makomo share a bassinet. The just prefer being together. Their happy gurgles and giggles give Tanjiro the most achingly fuzzy feeling in his chest.
Giyuu, on the other hand, became obsessed with soft fabrics. Whenever he has a chance to sneak away to the nearest village, he spends all his money on fabric. He says that it is just for the babies, but Tanjiro has noticed that one: Giyuu “accidentally” places the softest fabrics in the corner of the nest where he sleeps, and two: Giyuu always runs his calloused hands over the silks and linens when he comes into the cave. Tanjiro knows Giyuu just likes the opportunity to be soft and care about comfort for once. Plus, Inosuke has supplied more than enough furs to line all eight bassinets, so there is certainly no scarcity here.
Tanjiro only sleeps in brief naps. That’s all the litter allows him. No matter how the alpha’s try to watch the babies, they cry for their mother eventually. Tanjiro figured out that the best way to nap is to synchronize it with the babies. In the rare (and glorious!) moments when three pups will nap simultaneously, Tanjiro will curl around them in, partially burrowed in pelts and silks and linens and old haoris from Giyuu. Tanjiro isn’t sure how Inosuke scented so many textiles given that he doesn’t really wear “clothes,” but he has scented so many so thoroughly that that his presence is permanent in the nest. Tanjiro enjoys the perfectly full nest and is able to curl up into a protective purring ball around his pups.
Giyuu and Inosuke love watching their omega nap. First of all, he desperately needs sleep and both the alphas want their omega to be healthy. They can’t give him sleep, or capture sleep and present it to Tanjiro. All they can do is convince him to take care of himself. Beyond that, though they’d never admit it for fear of sounding creepy, is that they love to watch their mate so at peace. He’s been smiling in his sleep since he’s had his litter. He still hasn’t lost the pregnancy glow. If anything, motherhood just canonizes the omega’s radiance.
There is almost always at least one pup curled into its mother’s breast. Often, it is Rokuta who purrs and wiggles into the warmth and softness of his mother’s reclined chest. Inosuke and Giyuu agree that Rokuta is probably a product of Giyuu’s seed. The baby boy has spiky hair and grey eyes. Furthermore, Rokuta can be quiet for five minutes, which is not an attribute any of them could trace to Inosuke. In Rokuta, there is little of his dam visible, except for in his exceedingly gentle nature. Inosuke says his babies are the not-gentle ones, but secretly hopes they grow into the kind eyes of their dam.
Now, Tanjiro is napping with Rokuta, Kai, Makomo, Takeo and Sakonji. The babies are more of a pile of happy pheromones on top of Tanjiro. True to form, Rokuta and Makomo are nuzzled against Tanjiro’s bare chest. Their tiny baby fingers curl against his soft skin without strength or malice, just kneading into the warmth. Rokuta fell asleep while feeding. He proceeded to drool all over Tanjiro’s chest; the baby forgot to close his mouth before he fell asleep. The babies have been out of their feeding schedule all week and the alpha’s knew that the even more limited sleep was wearing on their omega. Kai lay nestled into Tanjiro’s armpit, completely encased by his arm. Inosuke and Giyuu quietly played with the awake babies. Well, Giyuu played quietly and Inosuke tried to play quietly. One can only play Piglets of Assault so quietly, and it involves much tickling. Giyuu half-heartedly hushes Inosuke, but Sabito is giggling so uncontrollably that Giyuu can’t bring himself to seriously try to quiet the other alpha. Tanjiro slept soundly enough that the infants’ gleeful shrieks don’t pierce through the omega’s dreams.
Giyuu sneaks away from the play area of the nest - Inosuke had that region covered anyways - and approached Tanjiro. He worries that the omega’s neck was at such an awkward angle that he would ache when he woke up. The possibility of Tanjiro waking up in pain was unacceptable to Giyuu. He kneels down and gently raises the omega’s head into his lap. The omega purrs in his sleep as Giyuu sweeps the wild, red bangs out of his face. Giyuu’s smile is brilliant, albeit hidden behind his shock of raccoon-like hair.
Finding babysitters is actually one of the biggest problems that the thrupple face. Just one babysitter is insufficient. Only one babysitter means that the afternoon was just made a little bit easier for Tanjiro, which isn’t insignificant by any means, but it also means that Tanjiro couldn’t leave the nest. One babysitter can’t be a babysitter at all; they can only be a helper. He didn’t want to leave the nest, not really, but he wouldn’t mind having the option to go outside. He tried to exercise in the spare moments he got, but he also needed to sleep. He is still human.
So, they need a team of babysitters. Maybe an army.
Nezuko is their most reliable babysitter. She cried when she heard the baby names. Especially Rokuta. Tanjiro really named a baby Rokuta. Her heart just about exploded in her chest. She’s an alpha, and as such she is extremely protective of her nieces an nephews, which meant she keeps a good eye on them. She is an excellent help and asset on her own. She just needs support to watch the babies in the absence of their parent.
Sometimes Zenitsu babysits, too. He only babysits when Nezuko is there and he pays more attention to Nezuko than to the pups. Tanjiro doesn’t really like that attitude, but he appreciates the help. However, Tanjiro will not leave the nest to Nezuko and Zenitsu. Zenitsu is a help, but given his motivations, he can also be a liability.
Tanjiro takes his first run after the birth when Kanroji and Nezuko coordinated their schedule to watch the pups simultaneously. And Giyuu was there too (Inosuke was out hunting). Tanjiro figured he could have a whole twenty minutes to himself. He ran for what he thought was five minutes, but then anxiety about his pups washes over him and he sprints home, desperate to see their round little faces. As soon as he stumbles into the nest, he picks up and scents the first pup he sees. Sabito coos into his mother’s neck and Tanjiro purrs deeply, glad that his friend, sister, and mate had kept the pups safe during his absence, even if he was only gone for about 9 minutes. To Tanjiro, time away from the nest feels like an eternity. He craves the comfort of the cozy den. Open space feels too unprotected, and all of his instincts are on edge.
It is natural for an omega to be edgy after having a litter. Maybe it is being around so many baby’s with almost no breaks and absolutely minimal sleep, but Tanjiro’s omegan instincts are on high alert. He is overwhelmed by the responsibility required of him to take care of so many pups, but the almost manic satisfaction he feels when he holds even one pup is enough to push him forward. He orbits his babies like a planet orbiting its sun. If it weren’t for Inosuke’s frenzied hunting, Tanjiro doesn’t doubt that he would forget to eat.
Nezuko brings them food every day. Usually steamed buns. She’s renting a room in the nearby village so that she can help out as much as possible, while maintaining her sanity and space. Also, even as Tanjiro’s beloved sister, she wouldn’t dare to overstay her welcome in the nest. That space needs to keep up its nuanced nursery scent. A stable scent is important for all of the babies, but especially the babies with alpha and omega dispositions. When the scents of outsider alphas become too strong in the nest, Kie and Rokuta become fussy and Sakonji has a sneezing fit. Tanjiro feels the subtle shifts in his pups’ moods like shifting in tectonic plates.
Currently, Tanjiro is so comfortable surrounded by his pups in his little nest, protected by his two alphas. Nezuko, still helping out her brother, feels a warmth in her heart she hasn’t felt since the day Rokuta was born. The only thing that could make this momentous event better, for her at least, would be if Zenitsu could calm down. But, the beta was so persistent, and since he was a beta and couldn’t effect the pheromone composition of the den, there was no pressing reason to kick him out.
By the time the litter turn two months old, the little pack in the mountains find themselves in a surreal dimension of unity. The babies were able to sleep for two hour stints, so Tanjiro could occasionally sleep for an hour and a half. Tanjiro is beginning to lose his pregnancy glow, but his brilliance as a mother is probably just overshadowing the previous glow.
Tanjiro grew softer over the course of the two months. He needs to eat for nine, especially since he insisted on breast feeding all the pups. Most mothers would try to supplement their infants’ diets with formula, but Tanjiro is a mother committed to doing the very best by all his children. He really had pushed his omegan biology to the edge of its limits. The weight was going all over his body, and while raising his pups is extraordinarily hard work and no one would dare to argue against that, it isn’t the same as maintaining an exercise regimen and regularly venturing out into the field. Giyuu worshiped Tanjiro’s growing thighs while Inosuke beamed at the omega’s tummy, chubby from food and the strain of carrying a liter of eight pups. Tanjiro himself doesn’t mind the changes himself because he can provide his pups with even more softness and warmth.
Tanjiro is the happiest he has ever been, surrounded by the alphas he loves and the pups they brought into the world together, who he loves even more.