One Tail at a Time

*Bonus Extension* Nesting

Nesting. I have heard of this unusual phenomenon from many of the women who attended my last birthday. Its actually quite funny, because for centuries I dreaded my birthdays for obvious reasons, so when Mo Yuan and my brothers decided to hold a small birthday party for me, I immediately shied away from it. And being pregnant, meant I was more emotional than normal, but when the day finally arrived, not only was I pleasantly surprised by the nice birthday they had all prepared for me, but my family were all present and so were many of my brothers girlfriends and wives. And it was the latter that talked to me in depth about the things I could expect.

And it is funny because, these women are the female friends that I had lacked as a child. They are all good women who are not only respectful of me, but they are genuinely nice. They are exactly the kind of female friends I had always wanted, only I never really understood how much I missed out on until that day. I can talk to them about anything at all, and I know that it will remain with them and not be spread about the world as half truths or outright lies, so I truly do feel blessed because not only did the Heavens give me Mo Yuan and a new baby to look forward, but I now have real friendships that I can cherish.

Of course, that was a year ago, and I am now nearing my delivery date, so the nesting period they mentioned, is well under way. Though none really explained the reason for it, but mother did say that it is the womans way of preparing herself for the babys arrival. It is an inbred mothers instincts which kicks in when the delivery time draws near, still I never really believed it until now.

So not only am I moving things around in our chamber, but Mo Yuan is allowing me to shift a few things out of his study, because I want to set up a sleeping area for the baby to rest in when I am called away for official duties. I am still the Queen of Qing Qiu seeing as Feng Jiu is nowhere near ready to take the mantel. In fact, that little girl is so busy chasing Donghua around the Celestial Heavens rather than at home learning the many laws of our land, that I don't think she will ever be ready, and as much as I would like to let the job go, I am not about to let her loose on our people just yet.

Now hauling out box after box from the many cupboards that line one entire wall, I can't help but wonder what is so important that Mo Yuan would literally fill such a large area of his study and going by the amount of dust on them, he obviously thinks they are important enough to hide, yet not important enough to look at, because some of these boxes have gathered enough dust to create several more boxes.

Only it isn't until I haul out an exceptionally heavy box, that I realize just how old some of them are, because it literally fell open and because I am not using magic to drag them out, I accidently ripped the entire side open. Actually, Yunru my midwife said it was best not to use magic in the end stages of pregnancy, because for one, I will need it all for birthing the baby and the baby is also using my energy to survive, so even though I am not using magic, I am being as careful as possible.

Only the sight of the contents now spilling out all over the floor, has me quickly turning towards the door. He is teaching the younger Disciples right now but I still glance towards the open door because I don't want him to know I broke his box. He is very fussy with his possessions and though he wouldn't mind me sneaking a peak, I still cringe at the thought of being caught snooping.

Thankfully he is not there, so I quickly turn my attention to what looks like a boxful of manuals. And I would have shoved them all back in again and fixed the box with a little magic, only the emblem across the top book soon has me reaching to snatch it up. There is no title, just a little fox with nine tails etched into the cover and being a Nine Tailed fox, the curiosity get the better of me and in a second I am opening it before settling down on the cushion to read.

The candle is lit and though there are others, this one candle is burning solely for my mother. Today is her commemoration day so I sit quietly and reflect on what she would have thought of the son she never got to meet. Father told me, she died the second I was born, but through the love in his eyes, I found a deep a profound love for her which I have held onto even now.