Parental Intuition

Chapter 5 - Baby Shower

Days continued along to weeks. Weeks turned into months. It was looming closer and closer to Ericka's projected due date, and Drac made sure to eagerly mark off the rapidly approaching days on a calendar in the same way he had when his daughter was pregnant.

In order to fully prepare for the baby's arrival, the wives and female monsters of the hotel had decided to arrange a special little baby shower for the expecting mother only a month before the projected arrival.

They had all whisked her away that fresh spring morning to the hotel's grand ballroom for the event. Ericka entered, wearing a new loose-fitting white maternity dress that had some cute sunflower patterns on it. The women gushed as she carefully hobbled her way over to take a seat with them.

"Look at you!" cried Eunice.

"Wow!" cheered Crystal.

"Oh, honey," Wanda cooed, "you're looking so big these days!"

Ericka chuckled and took a glance at Wanda's own pregnant belly. "I could say the same to you, Wanda."

Mavis then entered the room wearing a bright smile. "It's present time!" she said cheerily as she approached Ericka and gave her a brief side hug. The ladies all gathered closer to the seat that she was situated in.

Wanda pointed an excited front paw at the large pile of gifts on the nearby table. "Open mine first, sweetie, it's the one right in the front."

Ericka nodded and read the card that was attached to the box: "Congratulations, Ericka, on your new little mess-maker. I hope this will help!'"

She unwrapped the packaging and pulled out a plastic bag and a little shovel with a pail.

"Oh! Uh..." she began a little unsurely.

"It's for the accidents, you know, in case you can't get to a diaper in time?" Wanda explained.

"Ah, right."

The next present was wrapped in a beautiful shimmering skull-patterned paper, and she tore it open to reveal a guillotine playset. "It's my favorite present to give!" Eunice gushed as she sat back in satisfaction. "I gave Dennis one too, remember that Mavis?"

"Oh yes, I do," Mavis replied, not telling her Aunt that he had never actually used it for fear of cutting off a finger or even a limb.

Next, Ericka opened up a box set of various little baby clothing that had little phrases on it, like 'Daddy's little monster' or 'Mommy's little demon.' She thanked Mavis for the gift, and put it aside. More gifts were opened in the same way, and by the time Ericka was done, she had various teething toys, bottles, a crib, blankets, and dozens upon dozens of diaper packs. The expecting mother was grateful for all her presents and touched by their generosity. She felt even more at ease when they all joined in playing games, such as guessing the diameter of her pronounced belly.

"It's just enormous!" Eunice commented.

"Yeah, I heard that having a bigger belly means you're going to have a boy," Crystal said.

"I thought that carrying low meant that you were having a boy," Wanda said. "That was the case for me in all of my pregnancies, and look how many boy wolf pups I have running around now! I have no doubts on this litter, either," she said, patting her own belly.

"Hey, how come ya haven't checked it out for sure?" Euince asked Ericka. "I think you're more than enough weeks in for the doctor to be able to tell."

Ericka shrugged. "Oh, I just want to be a surprise, you know? I think it'll be more exciting that way."