[PreggySergal]

The ocean was an excellent shade of blue today. The current was soft and the water was warm. Nobody could expect a better day in the underwater city of Lemuria. Long ago, the city sat above the waves, but in a war of the gods, was sunk beneath the surface along with its sister states of Atlantis and Mu. Descendants of the Lemurians now dwelt here, adapted to a life underwater. Merfolk, tritons, merrows. All were the same being. Humanoids that had fish or cetacean-like tails. However, Lemurians were much different, as the case with Shai.

Shai swam around freely in the water, even though it was hard to do now these days. The young, feminine looking merman had a large belly out in front of him, filled with young. Lemurian merfolk had adapted into their new surroundings, strangely, by becoming like seahorses. Shai, like many other males, were the pregnant gender of the species. Even though a human would hardly know the difference between him and a mermaid. He kept his white hair on the long side, and tended to put a magic glamour on his face that gave him a more girlish look. He was waiting about for his mate, his silver-scaled tale swishing about. He was very close to the end of his pregnancy, maybe only a week out from birth.

[KrocodileKrew]

Miriala swam towards her mate, Shai, her azure tail swishing confidently through the water. She knew from her history lessons that when Lemuria had been part of the surface world, it had been the women who carried the babies of society to term, but considering she had been surrounded by expectant men all her life, it struck her as a strange practise. While it was true that their unborn children had been conceived in her vagina after her man shot his seed inside her and it fertilised her eggs, she had herself only held them inside her body for a few minutes before transferring them to his body through a special phallus-like object that tucked them safely into a pouch inside his waist, where they had attached and continued to grow to this day.

The mermaid brushed her short, boyish hair out of her vision and came up behind him, her muscular arms wrapping around his ponderous belly. She was so proud of him for how well he had taken to being pregnant, and how he had carried their younglings to term with first class endurance. It hadn't always been easy, but it had been worth every moment. She couldn't wait to raise a family with him.

"Hey, honey," she smiled, her hands stroking and petting his roundness. "How are the babies doing?"

[PreggySergal]

"They're doing fine." Shai blushed as his mate cradled around him, "They're eggs, Miriala. They don't move around a whole lot. "

He chuckled some, gently entwining his silvery tail with her blue one. It was a a nice feeling to have her strong body wrapped around him. It made him feel safe, especially when he was in a state that had made him so vulnerable. He had been feeling the eggs drop low in his belly, which worried him some. He looked up at his mate with aquamarine eyes. He gave her a small, but scared looking smile.

"They are getting rather low, though. It should not be too long from now that we'll have a nest filled with eggs, and after that, a little school of offspring." He smiled, "I suppose I am just scared, though. I'm told birthing is....uncomfortable. Like majorly so. Not to mention the threat of predators smelling the commotion."

While Lemuria was a city, it was an open city where all manner of sea creatures. In particular, during the time when male merfolk started to spawn, the birthing blood would often attract sharks and other predators of the deep. It was often the job of the community's females to fend them off. If not the entire community, the females that made up the immediate family of the eggs being laid. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters. IF they were old enough and strong enough, they were expected to protect the birthing male.

[KrocodileKrew]

"Glad they're okay," smiled Miriala. "I know they don't move much, silly, but they're my babies you're taking care of. I like to know how they're getting on."

Her tail entwined with his and she smiled warmly at him, her hands never leaving his belly. She had always been the stronger, more athletic of the two of them, but that was common among Lemurian merfolk. She had heard the Atlanteans were more traditional, with big strong men who did occupied most of the jobs in society and small, demure women who carried their eggs for the good of the city; she counted herself lucky to not have been born to them. While she had sometimes been curious about carrying a clutch of eggs in her own body, she had no wish to become a baby factory.

"Look," she said, "Don't worry about the birth. Your mother, my sisters and I can take care of any have-a-go predators that try to attack you while it happens. And yes, it is uncomfortable, but think about what comes after it's all done." Her hands pressed down gently on the swell of his belly. "We'll be parents! You'll be a father, and I'll be a mother."

Her breasts pressed into his back. They had been growing as well, lately. Lemurian females normally had small, petite breasts that were more practical for swimming and for combat (if it came to that), but began to grow in the late stages of a bonded male's pregnancy. They were filled with a thick, jelly-like substance called nutreol, which Miriala and other merfolk mothers used to nurse and feed their children.

[PreggySergal]

Shai got goosebumps as he felt her chest brush against his back. "Here I thought I was the only one getting big." He joked some, leaning up to kiss her chin with pouty, full lips.

He was put at ease at the thought of all the females that would be surrounding him, protecting him and encouraging him in what would be the most roughest day in his life. Miriala mentioned the thought that very soon that he was going to be a father. It was a thought that brought a smile to his face. He closed his eyes, loving being in her arms. Another thought came over him, though.

"Did we ever get sea sponge to line the nest with?" He asked, "Sorry. I'm scatter brained at the moment. I mean, I don't mind sand, but it's so...coarse. I want our little merlings to have something comfortable to hatch onto. It'll be their first sense of touch aside from us."

[KrocodileKrew]

"Heh, you should consider yourself lucky," Miriala joked as she arched her back, rubbing her nipples against him. "One day or night of discomfort for you and it's over. For me, it's a year or so of feeding these little ones until they have the means to eat proper food."

She very much enjoyed taking care of him, as she had for a long time before they decided they were ready to raise their first school. She had always wanted to be a mother, and now that she was on the verge of becoming one for real, she had never been more excited.

She chuckled at her mate's forgetfulness. "Yes, we gathered sea sponge for the nest, Shai. As much as the merlings could possibly want. Enough, in fact, to make a bed for you and I to sleep on with the leftovers. Scatter-brained is right." She kissed his cheek affectionately.

[PreggySergal]

"Sorry..." He blushed at her. "So many things to keep in mind in case, well...the day comes to where I'll start laying. Gods, Mira...it could be today, even."

The slight shakiness in his voice indicated he was indeed stressed, worried and nervous about the entire ordeal. So much planning and preparation. He shivered again as her chest ran again his back. He leaned into her some, growing calm by her presence. It may have been a typical male reaction in this society, but he did enjoy being protected and cared for. He could not have asked for a better mate to start a family with.

"A bed would sound nice at the moment. My back is killing me." He said to her, "Takes a lot of effort to swim with this much weight."

[KrocodileKrew]

"Aww, you poor thing," Miriala said sympathetically. "Let's go home. My mother showed me a good way to help with back pain that I'm sure will be most helpful in dealing with your aches and pains."

She disentangled from him, then swam around to his front and pressed a gentle kiss to his belly, as if bestowing a blessing, before kissing him on the lips and cupping his face in her hands.

[PreggySergal]

Shai smiled as he recieved kisses from he affectionate mate. He swam beside her as they went home. He blushed occasionally as thy passed an on-looker or two on the route home. He swore that his pregnant gait while swimming made him look like a baby whale, with wide turns and all of that. He then saw home in front of him, and it made him smile. While the Atlanteans had similar style to the Greeks and Romans, the ancient Lemurians had a honeycomb and lotus flower inspired archeticture, not unlike the Khmer (Thai, Cambodian, some Vietnamese) peoples of the surface. He quickly swooped in through the entrance, going to the nearest thing he could lay down on and rest on. He let out a sigh of relief as he did, laying on his side, belly sticking out in front of him, and his back relieved of its duties of weight-bearer for a while.

[KrocodileKrew]

Miriala followed her mate inside and lay down behind him. she rested an arm around his belly and pulled his long hair aside to press a kiss to his neck softly. "I love you, you know," she said with a smile. "I couldn't have asked for a better lover. Or carrier."

[PreggySergal]

"I love you, too, Mira..." He said, calling her by the pet name he came up for her, 'And I could not ask for a better mate and mother for our hatchlings."

He pressed up against her, his eyes fluttering as he did. He was soon sound asleep, adrift into dreamland. The energy that it took to be so heavily pregnant wore his petite body out quickly. The only indication of his life signs was a gentle puff of air that would open and close the flaps of his gills. Otherwise, he floated still and peaceful in the water. He made a little groan as an egg shifted and his belly visibly dropped lower.

[KrocodileKrew]

Miriala smiled. She loved it when he called her Mira. Generally he only called her Miriala if he was highly emotional about something, which had become more frequent in the last days of his pregnancy.

She swam up and around him, her hands rubbing his belly softly. His skin was pulled taught like a drum over his protruding pouch, where their younglings waited to be born and hatch. She could hardly wait. She nuzzled his roundness, revelling in the proof that they loved each other and were ready to raise a family together.

Resting her head on the bulge, she began to sing a lullaby. It was as much to help herself relax as to calm the eggs as they shifted lower in Shai's belly.

[PreggySergal]

(Ok to initiate birth or no?)

[KrocodileKrew]

(Heh, go for it.)

[PreggySergal]

As the hours ticked by, the eggs rested lowly in the male's pouch. He slept soundly for the most part until it was growing close later at night before he whimpered. His blue eyes shot open and he sat upright. His hand went to his swollen protruding belly. He went over to his mate, gently nudged her several times. "Mira...Mira..." He tried to say softly, but got more urgent, "Miriala!" He did not mean to get so loud, but he was trying to get her attention. He thought that this could be it.

[KrocodileKrew]

Miriala woke to the sound of her name with a start. She sat up in a hurry. "What is it, Shai?" she asked as she looked at him with worry.

[PreggySergal]

Shai whimpered and held his belly. "My stomach hurts." He said to her, hoping she would get his meaning. "The pouch feels like there's a bunch of squeezing pressure around it."

[KrocodileKrew]

Miriala gasped. "Oh dear," she whispered. "Okay, stay here and get the nest ready. I'll go find my sisters and your mother." And with that she swam off to find her fellow mermaids.

[PreggySergal]

Shai reached out to grab her hand, almost not wanting her to leave. it was too late already, she was off to go find the other females. With that, he would dart out occasionally to set up the nest. Rearrange a couple rocks here and there, some sea sponge to line the bottom, then move back into the house. The behavior was purely instinctual. He felt if he was out too long in the open water without protection, it would be a buffet advertisement for predators. He groaned, stopping a moment to rub his taxed belly.

[KrocodileKrew]

Some time later Miriala returned, the other females following behind her. "Shai, you remember my sisters, Catar, Vespa and Cecily, right?" she asked as they found him.