A wonderfully cute pic by  derrysome which was actually the debut image of Oslo chronologically. Man I am behind in my uploads!

Original Link: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37288359/

Zephra is nearly at her due date here, and those of you looking at certain artists may have seen the steps leading to the end of her pregnancy and the start of her days of motherhood. Not to say she will never be with child again...because such is the life of a hyperfertile tigress...but she will likely need at least a little time with all her little ones first. :3 Oslo better be prepared to get inducted into the Zerih family for real!

And now time for an improvised story blurb. Let me know what you think :P

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Walking down the hallway, Oslo glanced into the still-vacant nursery. The blue snow leopard spent most of the last couple weeks finalizing preparations for its tenants. Eight cubs would be joining him and his beloved tigress mommy-to-be Zephra, but at the moment, there was an anxious presence about the room. The calm blue walls and the pink drapes were silently waiting to greet the little furrballs of joy, and the individual cribs stood built at the ready for each child - thanks in part to assistance from Zephra's family. No matter how many times he read the instructions, he would get stuck somewhere, but after a couple phone calls, Oslo was reminded just how ingrained preparing for children was for the tiger's kin. While the snow leopard was thankful for their expertise and support, he also knew that his darling kitty would be helpful on her own, not to mention the advise between the family members would probably be rather pervasive for the first few months, at least.

Zephra had gone to a baby shower for larger mothers, but the two kitties also went to one with family - a regular event, Oslo realized, given the size of the extended family and propensity to have litters consistently. Little stuffed toys were selected by family members on either side, and supplies were shipped in bulk to their house. He knew babies went through supplies quickly, but multiplied into a litter, those supplies were still a shock to see when they arrived. It became quite apparent that even with the larger house, there was going to be a lot less space in a short time. No wonder Zephra made sure they got a place with ample acreage.

Oslo scritched his chin. Was everything ready for the litter? There was always a thought that maybe they had forgotten something, but he kept getting reminded that the list had been cleared twice over. Continuing his slow pace through the hallway, Oslo saw a few bags in preparation for the upcoming birth. The hospital was not far from the house, and there was a team ready to rush to the house just in case things carried along too much. Zephra's siblings contradicted each other with advise of the impending birth - some were clearly aggressive toward home births, while others preferred the hospital lodgings or more particular locations. He did not get in the middle of that decision, and Zephra was fine with going out, at least for the first litter.

"Honey, where are you?" a soft mewl came from the living room, followed by a light huff.
Oslo's heart rate shot up as he dashed down the rest of the hall to the living room, eyes darting to find her. "Zephra, is something wrong?" he panted, expecting to see the tigress doubled over on the floor, already in labor.
Instead, he saw his darling kitty curiously tilting her head as she waddled from the kitchen. "Hehe, no no. You were just taking your time getting back,"
"S-sorry," he huffed, heart rate and breath returning to normal speeds. "I thought you were-"
"Ah-ah. Don't say it, Ozzie. We have a little longer yet, and I don't want the little ones to think we're good for blastoff. I finally found the book."

Zephra rested a paw on her rounded dome of a belly, the dress hugging tight to her growing middle and motherly curves. Oslo remembered just a couple weeks ago it fit much lighter against her fur, but now her body had grown out, the babies becoming slightly bigger each day and crowding out the space within their mother's tummy. The weight was a lot for the tigress, but she seemed to adapt heartily to the situation. Perhaps Zerih tigers were just built different, Oslo pondered, especially given how heavy she felt when resting on him a few days earlier. He would refrain from discussing that for obvious health reasons on his part.

"The...book?"

His significant other showed him the book cover with her other paw. First Timers Naming Guide. She had told him about the book for the last couple weeks, and like some other literature the couple read, Zephra explained that this was a rite of passage in her family. Find a few good names within the book, and make sure to keep track so as not to match up with too many of the many siblings and cousins within the feline family tree. Thank goodness for nicknames and middle names, Oslo thought quietly.

"Yes, the book. I had trouble finding it, and frankly, I can only do so much searching at a time nowadays," she giggled and brought the book up to flip through a few pages. "I think we need to get names for these little ones..."
"We probably should have gotten names for them earlier, to be honest," Oslo chuckled and stepped up to her heavy belly. His paws gently rested on either side of her rounded tum, feeling a little bump of movement from the cubs inside. He remembered when he could wrap his paws around her body and hold them all close together, but now the litter kept him too far to fully reach around her!
"You say that, but I know a few siblings who didn't have names ready until a few days after the cubs were born!"
"Really? Who? Don't tell me Linnet would-"
"I'm sworn to secrecy, and besides, sometimes babies decide to arrive before everything is ready. I'm ticking baby bomb right now, myself, so we best get started..."

Zephra flipped a couple pages and nodded when she found the first selection of note.

"So, we have eight cubs...this is going to take some brainstorming. How about I pick a few names from here, and you pull out a few, and we whittle down to the top four for each?"
"Hmm, okay. I hear some people use relatives' names for middle names or first names for their children,"
"That sounds good! But I think we need to make sure we love the names, ourselves. These are our little bundles of joy, after all..."
"Of course, hon. And they are going to be the cutest, happiest little furballs ever,"
"Oooh, yes~" Zephra mewled, leaning herself more into Oslo's body. "The cutest! Hmm, but we need to make sure we don't name them -too- cute,"
"Such is the challenge of naming kids, I reckon."

Zephra nodded and purrled warmly as Oslo began to slowly run is paws in circles around her full belly. Both parents-to-be smiled brightly toward each other, one reading the book for names, the other pondering his own selection of baby names. If anything, these names were a sure sign of the adventures yet to come.

"Okay, love, let's get started, before I melt into a happy kitty in your paws."

And thus began the naming process. Oslo was not sure how long it would take, but as with the impending challenges of parenthood, he was more than content to face it with his darling Zephra before him.