Secrets of the Enslaved

The next morning, Andy woke with a start when he reached over in his sleep to wrap his arms around his sweetheart and came up empty-handed. He was used to him being by his side, and unless he’d somehow managed to get up to make a run to the bathroom due to his morning sickness without waking him, he should be in bed beside him.

Startled into motion, he threw the covers off his legs and tail, starting to rise from the bed…until the door to the room he and Ash shared cracked open. As he sat there watching, the door continued to open, revealing the long, raven tail of his mate. It was distinctive because, out of all the Nekos in the house, he was the only one whose tail was puffy. Everyone else’s was long and skinny, much like their fingers, so the young Dom sighed in relief when he realized that his mate was fine. However, he didn’t expect him to walk into their room with his hands full, expertly balancing a tray in them.

“Good morning, my love,” Ash said, grinning when he saw that he was awake. His chocolate eyes sparkled with happiness and mischief.

“Sweet Jinxx,” he sighed, slumping back into their bed. “You scared the Hell outta me, sweetheart.”

“Mrow?” the older Neko asked, cocking his brow curiously.

“I nearly had a heart attack when I woke up and you weren’t beside me,” the Dom admitted. “You know how I am about making sure you’re safe.”

“I’m fine, Ands,” he giggled. “I was downstairs making you breakfast.”

It was Andy’s turn to raise his brow.

“Happy birthday, you silly kitty,” his mate giggled, setting the tray over his lap.

“Awww, Ashes.” He blushed as he pulled him down for a kiss. “You didn’t have to do that.”

The fertile blushed even more furiously than his mate, but insisted that he couldn’t resist doing something sweet for his birthday. Not about to turn down something he’d put such effort into, he pulled him down on the other side of the bed, wrapping one arm around his shoulders to hold him close while he ate. The tuna salad he’d made him, considering that that was his favorite breakfast, was creamier than normal, but that made it better. That proved to him that his mate had been the one to make it, as their Master didn’t realize he liked it creamier than how he made it. A smile curved his lips as he took his time eating it, enjoying the way Ash snuggled against his ribs as he did so.

When he’d finished his breakfast, the young Dom refused to let him take the tray back downstairs and wash the dishes, too. He’d already gotten up über early and made him breakfast, probably when he wasn’t exactly feeling his best due to his pregnancy, and he wasn’t about to let him push himself too far. The older Neko was a bit torn about letting him do his own breakfast dishes. It was Andy’s birthday, so he shouldn’t have to do anything today but lay around and relax, but then again, the fertile was pregnant with their kitten, and he shouldn’t really be up and about too much, either.

In the end, Andy won their playful little mini fight and took his tray back downstairs himself. He didn’t mind doing his own dishes, even though it was his birthday, simply because he wanted his mate to rest as much as possible. The poor thing was miserable from his morning sickness, which pulled his smile into a slight frown as he made it into the kitchen, but he didn’t let it bother him for long.

By the time he’d done his dishes and was ready to head back upstairs, the youngest Dom was starting to worry again. Ash’d been awfully quiet, so quiet that he couldn’t even hear the slightest of movements from their room with his enhanced hearing. Unless he’d fallen back to sleep, that couldn’t possibly mean anything good. With a soft sigh, he shook his head and headed back upstairs, hoping that he’d find him curled up on their bed, sleeping peacefully, but what he walked up to find wasn’t what he wanted to by any means.

“Ashley!” he cried on a gasp, scared out of his fur when he opened their bedroom door.

The older fertile lay on the floor at the foot of their bed, his head turned to the side and right next to a small puddle of vomit.

“Please still be alive,” Andy begged, kneeling down beside him. He was thankful to find him still breathing, although his pulse was a bit weak, and that relieved him slightly.

“Everything all right up here, Andy?”

Turning slightly, he saw their Master standing in the doorway, his view of his oldest pet obscured by his body.

“No! Ashley’s unconscious!” he cried, tears finally welling up.

“Oh, sweet motley crew,” Nikki cursed, immediately moving to his side. “What happened to him?”

“I dunno,” the youngest Dom said, sounding choked up. “I went downstairs to wash my dishes since he made me breakfast in bed for my birthday, and this is how I found him when I came back!”

“I think his morning sickness has been worse than he was letting on,” the older man said, sounding worried. “Since Dr. Adams said he may need to be hospitalized for it, I’m gonna go ahead and call an ambulance. You stay here with him and make sure he doesn’t move if he comes to, that way he doesn’t hurt himself, or your kitten.”

Nodding, Andy reached up long enough to wipe his tears away, then turned his attention back to his fallen mate. He gently lifted his head up, then scooted closer so that it was resting on his lap, supported well enough to keep from hurting his neck. He gently stroked the older fertile’s hair, trying to comfort his unconscious form as much as soothe himself so he didn’t freak out too much.

Shortly thereafter, their Master returned with a pair of EMTs hot on his heels, a stretcher between them. They lowered it to make getting Ashley on it easier when the time came, then had the youngest Dom help roll him onto his back. Andy was forced to move back so they could check his vitals, clueless to the kitten he carried since they didn’t deal with Nekos on a regular basis. Nikki comforted him as best he could as they pressed sensors to his chest, which they then attached to the heart monitor resting on the back of the stretcher behind where his head would be.

Working together, the EMTs picked up the older fertile’s limp form, gently depositing him onto the stretcher before strapping him down. Andy was openly crying by this point, his shoulders quaking as he sobbed silently, fearing for his mate’s and kitten’s lives. Once the EMTs started downstairs with the older Neko, their Master nudged him toward the door.

Even in their pajamas, they were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital, that way they could get regular updates on his condition. Nikki left Gunner and the other Doms in charge in his absence, something that was easily agreeable. If the three of them couldn’t hold down the fort while they were at the hospital with Ashley, they might as well start preparing for the end of days. The two of them crossed their fingers as they followed the huge vehicle, and Andy thought to himself, Some way to spend my sixteenth birthday.

Notes