A color drawing by  pregoo of my momma cat Elaine and her hubby Chris.

Original Link: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39273830/

Goodness their last pic was uploaded over a year ago, and this image itself is a year and a half old. Well, anyways I need to be faster with the upload, but who likes reading that every upload I make? XD Hope everyone is doing okay so far this Summer. Funny, family is trying to paint a room as of late, but it turns out hey ceilings suck to paint! :P See you all soon!

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Elaine rested in the corner of the nursery, seated in a large soft rocking chair. In her arms lay one of her youngest cubs, eyes closed and belly full of milk. The tigress mother did not rush to place the kid back into his crib; she had a suspicion that the little one would start fussing again the moment she stood up. Standing up was always a challenge from that chair, but doing so with another full litter adding to her weight was even more difficult. So, she took her time. The other little ones were fed already, so she had a moment to spare at least.

She looked over the room's multiple cribs and dressers, and she paused to see a photo of the completed room from years ago. She could see a younger pair of parents, each holding two of their first-born children. The younger tigress and Fennec fox couple were eager, smiles wide with the flurry of adventure mixed with the looming anxiety of new parenthood. The nursery sat behind them, clean and prepared. Breaking in the nursery was a treat, but Elaine also remembered the work to get it all together those years ago.

"Okay, lets get to it," the younger tigress mrowfed proudly. Her voice echoed briefly in the wide space.
"It only took us two hours, but yeah," her short husband chirped, "everything is covered and the tarp is good to go."

Chris grabbed a wide paintbrush and ran it across the wall tentatively. The sheen of light green paint was immediately apparent, and his face twisted into a grimace.

"Are you sure this is the right color?"
"We asked the woman at Pocket Painters. Mom recommended this brand. And they said it dries lighter. Let us not get into that again,"
"Okay, okay..."

The couple did not want to repeat an argument encountered earlier that week when the paint itself was purchased. Chris was always a bit skittish about costly decisions, but Elaine was sure to remind him that paint was the least of his cost concerns at the moment. The four growing babies inside her were much more important - and costly - than whatever shade of green the paint would dry. There were more rooms to handle yet, and the tigress knew the litter would only become more of a physical burden to her in the coming weeks. She had faith in Chris doing small jobs in their new home, but the nursery took top priority.

For a few minutes, there were only the calm sounds of brushes and rollers against the wall. The fox thought about possibly turning on the boom box in the hallway, but Elaine seemed completely soothed without a soundtrack. Painting was a passion for her, and Chris was convinced she would have painted the whole house inside and out if she had the chance. A good tune to add to the atmosphere wouldn't hurt, would it?

The radio took some adjusting to find something akin to a Top 40 station, and Elaine was able to work through the repeats of the usual alternative rock that crackled through the cheap speakers. She had painting to do, so it may as well have been static to her - Chris would have definitely cared, though. During a break to ads, the radio's sound was cut off by Chris's pensive voice.

"I'm still wonder why you want this room for the nursery, hun. Isn't it a bit big for the litter?"

Elaine placed her roller in the tray and looked around the room. The previous owner may have used it for a separate guest room or entertainment space. The realtor was not very specific on its use. The room could easily be used as a split bedroom - maybe even three. Even for a litter of four, the room would surely be too big for everything needed for them, right? Elaine scritched her chin and placed her other paw on her overall-covered belly. He was right - four would easily fit in this room with room to spare - but he was also not thinking about the long game.

Elaine had witnessed the "long game" of a Zerih tiger. Her mother had her with two siblings and another set of triplets shortly thereafter. Imagine doubling your offspring in two years, then nearly doubling again with a larger third litter. By the time Elaine was really acting independent, she already had -litters- of brothers and sisters around. With each passing year or two, she witnessed the house remodeled or reorganized to house the growing cubs - and the growing NUMBER of cubs. By the time she was reaching her adolescence and high school career, the nursery she barely remembered had been changed and distorted into but a small portion of the now multi-faceted space of life. When she thought about her own place in the family, Elaine knew that she would have kids, and watching how happily her mother cared for the little ones and bigger ones as they grew up, the deep red tigress had a feeling it would be hard to stop at just one...or just two...or maybe three litters...

"Knowing my family...I'm not sure if it is..."

Elaine felt the slightest kick of a little kit within her rounded belly, stirring her from reminiscence. The little cub had not stirred awake after all, and the mother decided it best to get back to sleep. There were a few hours left before another round of feeding would begin, though she could rest some more with her husband awake by then. And rest she needed: it would only be a few months for their latest litter to be born, and the steps to reorganize the house would begin anew. The full baby was placed in his crib, and his mother moved gingerly toward the doorway. She stopped once again to look at the old picture of the same room.

"I think we're going to need to move that wall a few feet back soon..." she mused to herself with a smirk and returned to her bedroom.