[Eskal]

(That could work.)

"Ack!" The colbalt blue merman groaned. "Just get them out of me already!"
The emerald one beside him held his hand. "It's alright Ran..."
"How much longer? I can barely swim..."

*******************************

"It'll still work if I mix it in the food right?" Arvia asked as she started counting out her shells.

[BabyDaddy]

"Okay, so what do we have here? Ran and Arlok? Due next week... you were both impregnated the same day?" Ralor asked, looking at some of the charts in the room.

********************************************************
"I'd be worried if you didn't mix 'em in. That's what they're meant for me, honey, have a good day!" the shopkeeper waved.

[Eskal]

"Ran was a week before Arlok," Deniz, the mermaid, stated. She eyes Ralor with a slight grin. She swept her hand through her fiery-orange locks. Ran groaned as he squeezed Arlok's hand.
"Ah! Ah!" Arlok gasped as the slit to Ran's pouch began to open. "Deniz!"

*************

"Thanks." Arvia swam off with the coral and sea grapes in her basket. She stopped at the butcher's shop and looked through the meats. "Shark...Or manatee..?" Shark was the least expensive, but manatee held a lot of nutrients and fat which a carrying merman would need to produce their jelly.

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor cleared his thought, noticing the mermaid eyeing him with interest. "Woah there! I'll fetch the midhusband!" Ralor exclaimed as he noticed Arlok beginning to go into labor. He took off out of the room, swimming down the hallway to fetch a midhusband, as births were not in his domain.

********************************************************
The butcher set down her cleaver and eyed up Arvia. "Husband carrying? You'll want manatee, 'specially if its his first."

[Eskal]

(It was Ran.)
Pelagius just to happened to float out of a room. "Ralor, is something wrong?"

***************

Arvia nodded. "This manatee wasn't anywhere near the surface dwellers right?" The meat from manatees that roamed near the shore tended to be riddled with toxins and diseases. As well as giant wads of scar tissue.

[BabyDaddy]

"Male went into early labor and I'm not trained to deliver," Ralor said, quickly stopping to talk.

********************************************************
"Ma'am, I'd be shut down if I sold that kinda meat. No, everything here is good," she proclaimed.

[Eskal]

Pelagius nodded stiffly and grabbed Ralor's wrist as he headed to the room Ralor had just left. "Well you're going to be. Gar!" He called to another medic. "Get a birthing room ready!" The other medic nodded and swam off. Pelagius released Ralor as he came into the room. "Oh boy. How are you doing?"
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Ran said from between his sharp teeth.
Pelagius looked to the mermaid in the room. "Is this is first brood?"
"Yes," Deniz said with slight panic.

***********************
Arvia nodded. "I'll take two large steaks please. Do you have an recipe recommendations?"

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor was a bit overwhelmed, but let Pelagius do his thing. The older medic had more experience and had actually delivered children. Ralor couldn't help but smirk a bit at seeing the confident mermaid brought down a notch.

********************************************************
"It's a steak. Grill it," the butcher said, clearly wanting Arvia to buy and move on.

[Eskal]

With the assistance of a few other medics the family was moved to a birthing room. Deniz was instructed to wait in the lobby while Arlok joined his housemate in the birthing room.
"Alright," Pelagius said calmly. "Arlok, I want you to be here at the base of the pouch with Ralor." He swam to Ran's head and gently held his shoulders as he eased him onto the plush mat. "Ran, take quick breaths with every contraction." He gently rubbed the receptors on Ran's temples and his pouch quivered as the slit began to widen. A puff of orange jelly leaked out into the surrounding water. "It won't be long now, Ran." Pelagius looked to Ralor and Arlok. "Alright, Ralor I need you to feel for the baby closest to the opening and arrange it so that it's head first."
"Wh-what about me?" Arlok asked shakily.
"Just hold Ran's hand for now."

**********

Arvia huffed and put the money for the steaks on the counter as she took her steaks and left the store.

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor gently prodded the merman's contracting belly. One infant was laying across Ran's belly, while one was head down towards the merman's tail. More orange jelly leaked out of the widening slit as Ralor gently manipulated the baby to be head-up amidst Ran's whimpers and moans.

[Eskal]

"You're doing great sweetie," Arlok assured his partner. "You can do it."
"Alright," Pelagius said as another medic took his spot. He settled by Ralor and cupped the bottom of the readied infant. He waited for the next contraction, which didn't take long. "Push!"
Ran's body curled as his pouch contracted and Pelagius began guiding the baby towards the slit. the medic at Ran's head gingerly rubbed the patient's temples to make the pouch open further. More jelly oozed out as Ran screamed.
"Breath, Ran! Pelagius howled as the contraction subsided. He turned to Ralor. "See what I did there? Keep doing that, I'm going to catch."

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor swam up to the laboring father's head and continued to slowly and methodically massage his temples. The birthing mermaid's shrieks were drowned out by Ralor's mind, thinking of how this would unfortunately be him in a year's time.

(Are the husbands in a family intimate with each other?

Also, maybe we could introduce a doctor here that Arvia ends up impregnating after this labor.)

[Eskal]

(Very much so.)

The first child, a boy with a sky blue tail, came out first after nearly thirty minutes. Pelagius chuckled as he squirmed in his arms as he cleaned him off. "A squirming baby boy."
Ran huffed as he looked to Arlok. "A boy...Arlok..."
Arlok nodded and kissed his husband's head. "You're doing great."
Pelagius gave the child to a nurse and felt around Ran's pouch for the next child. "You're in luck, Ran. Just one more to go."
"Oh thank the gods," Ran huffed. He groaned as Pelagius moved the child into position. "Hang in there Ran, it'll be over soon."
Ran took a deep breath and quickly nodded as he began pushing and Pelagius guided the child.
"I...I can see the head..." Ran wheezed after several minutes. A blob of light fuzz began to push at the opening of the pouch. Pelagius moved and carefully slipped a few of his fingers into the opening while he kept the other on the pouch. Ran pushed and the head slipped out. With another push and some adjustments on Pelagius's part the shoulders were next and the rest of the body slid out. "It's a boy," Pelagius announced as he saw the deep green hue of the tail. He smiled as the child began to wail.

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor smiled and slowly swam out of the room to fill out the various reports. Besides, they weren't the only heavily pregnant fathers in here.

He knocked on a room down the hall. "Hello, I'm Medic Ralor," he said as he swam in. A pale blue merman with an absolutely massive belly was laying on the bed, looking miserable. Floating next to him was a proud-looking and somewhat sadistic looking mermaid.

"I'm here for... Gallan. It says here you are carrying four babies?" Ralor asked, waiting for his other friend to arrive.

(I figured the other friend could end up being impregnated by Arvia and come to live with him. Maybe the friend could even be a big reason why Ralor moves in.)

[Eskal]

(Which other friend? Or do you plan on bringing in another character?)

Pelagius got the family situated in the recovery wing before returning to his office. He looked over the paperwork as he touched his empty pouch. He ran his hand through his ponytail as he sighed. His pouch never fully developed, only developing a slit and a shallow pocket. He was never particularly interested in having a family, but he would've liked the option. He looked up as he heard a knock on the door and saw a stunning mermaid floating there with a large parcel in her hands. "Can I help you?"

"Oh," Arvia said, flustered. "I just...Brought this for Ralor. I thought he might be hungry."

Pelagius nodded and took the parcel. "I'll give this too him during his next break. I can't guarantee that he'll eat it. His stomach has been acting up."

"Thank you," Arvia said as she dipped her head in respect, as Pelagius's red arm band suggested that his rank far exceeded her own. She quickly swam off before giving the merman her name.

[BabyDaddy]

(Bring in a new character. Mind playing him for this part?)

A chime called Ralor back outside. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be back. I'll make sure to get your names," he said to the suffering male and the satisfied female.

Out in the hallway, Ralor noticed his co-worker and other friend Laven, a bright cobalt merman, come swimming up the hall. "Laven! You're to come with me on this one. Merman's got a week to go with four babies, poor man."

[Eskal]

(Not at all.)

"Geeze. Four?" Laven rolled his eyes as he swam along side his coworker. "Poor guy. How have you been feeling? Cuz you kinda look like shit, bro."

[BabyDaddy]

"Hangover. Late night. This poor guy is worse than I am," Ralor said as he opened the door

[Eskal]

"How are we doing?" Laven asked cheerfully as he saw a heavily pregnant merman sitting on the table with two others beside him, the other two were earlier on in their gestation. Neither of them looked like they've gotten much sleep.
"Horrible," the larger one choked.
"We just got bad news about our wife..." one of them muttered.

[BabyDaddy]

Ralor set to checking out the massive merman as Laven talked to the only slightly pregnant other husbands. One...two...three...and four, he mentally counted, feeling his way around the huge pouch.