Daph pushed her way out of the stairwell door, panting and huffing slightly after climbing the stairs all the way up from the lobby. The elevator worked perfectly fine, of course, but she never got in the habit of taking them. Or escalators for that matter. Whenever possible, she always preferred to get somewhere on her own two paws. She stopped next to the door and leaned against the wall to take a few deep breaths to still her racing heartbeat, raising her arms above her head to promote better airflow to her lungs. In normal circumstances, Daph could fly up the stairs to her friends’ sixth floor apartment in no more than sixty seconds, but the May heat tended to slow her down a bit. She was also heavily pregnant.

Her belly heaved slightly as she caught her breath and she watched it rise and fall with a gentle rhythm. The baby inside hadn’t moved or kicked in a while, but Daph knew it was only a matter of time before the excitable little squirrel would be squirming like crazy inside their surrogate mother. It would give the baby’s real mother a chance to feel them moving in the womb, so Daph couldn’t complain.

“Hooo...fuck…” Daph sighed, rubbing the side of her rounded belly and pushing herself off the wall, swishing her tail behind her once it was free. “You ain’t gettin’ thmaller, kid,” she remarked before fishing her water bottle from her bag, squirting a stream of slightly-cool liquid down her parched throat. Some of it hit her oversized front teeth and dribbled down her chin, but she barely noticed.
As Daph marched down the hall, she noticed that the late term of her pregnancy had changed the way she walked. Some mothers referred to it as a ‘waddle,’ but the word made her gag in the back of her throat, so she preferred the term ‘swagger.’ Besides, she didn’t move that much slower than before, anyway; Daph carried high enough that she could still stride unimpeded on her muscular legs without much difficulty.

At the apartment door, Daph raised her arm to knock, but quickly paused to sniff beneath her arm. She wasn’t quite sure whether the smell came from her or the shirt she was wearing, but figured her friends would let her take a shower if she needed one. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time the two of her saw her naked. The baby in her belly was proof of that. She rapped on the door with her knuckle and waited for it to open with her hands on her hips. After a few seconds of shuffling from behind the door, a tall, skinny, brown squirrel with pointed ears opened the door, flicking his tail happily at the sight of her.

“Hey Daph,” Darwin said.
“Move it, twiggy,” Daph barked, swaggering inside and pushing him aside with her heavy stomach. “Thith ain’t about you today.”
“Nice to see you, too,” Darwin said, rolling his eyes. Daph took her bag off and slung it onto the couch before glancing curiously around the room. She ran a hand absentmindedly around her belly as she stood with a wide-legged stance in the middle of the living room. “Do you want…a chair or something?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Daph said, waving her other hand before pointing at the walls. “Did you guyth paint? It lookth good.”
“…No, we didn’t paint,” Darwin said, flatly. Daph flicked her tail and glanced over her shoulder at him with an incredulous look on her face.
“What? For real?” She craned her neck far back to take a close look at the ceiling, scratching her head. “Shit. I thought you did. It lookth so different.”
“I have...no idea why you would think that, Daph.”
Daph paused, staring off for a moment lost in thought, then twitched her ears as she glanced up to Darwin with her wide, bright green eyes. “So where’th Georgia?”

“Bathroom,” Darwin nodded, pushing the door shut and crossing the room to sit on the edge of the couch next to Daph. Even sitting down, he was still easily at eye level with the pregnant squirrel, who herself was only a few inches taller than his wife. Without her there to break the tension, Darwin and Daph stood quietly in the living room, taking every opportunity not to look each other in the eye.

“So…” Darwin said. He clapped his hands together and gestured to Daph’s bulging, pregnant middle. “How’s the baby?”
“Oh! Yeah, she’th good,” Daph said, glancing down at her belly as if she’d totally forgotten she was nearly full-term with Darwin’s child. “She’s uh…yknow…” She held up her hands and waggled them strangely. “Thtill kickin’. Thtill in there.”
“Not for much longer,” Darwin smirked, swallowing a lump in his throat. Daph bit her lip and nodded with a wide-eyed expression on her face.

“You ain’t fuckin kiddin’,” Daph sighed, hooking her thumbs into the waistband of her shorts while shifting her weight from one paw to the other. She blinked as an idea came to mind and gestured a finger to Darwin. “Hey, you ever heard of ‘hypnobirthing?’”
Darwin paused, his mouth half open.
“Uh…” He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. “Uh, no.”

“It’th suppothed to be some kinda fuckin’…like they hypnotize you while you’re givin birth, I guess. Suppothed to make it eathier on you.” Daph rubbed her belly with one hand while making a swirling motion next to her head with a finger. “You know anything about that?”
“I…wouldn’t,” Darwin said, shaking his head. “You’d have to ask Georgia.” After so many years, he could never predict what was going to come out of Daph’s mouth next.

A few seconds later, the clicking sound of bare paws on the wooden floor tapped out from the bedroom. A petite, blonde squirrel with a sopping wet tail walked out into the living room in a bra and a pair of shorts, toweling off her long hair. She didn’t even glance to the living room as she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

“Babe, do we still have those peanut bars?” She asked, standing on the tips of her toes to peek into the cabinet over the refrigerator. “I want to keep some in my purse for Daph in case her blood sugar drops.”
“I got a hot dog on the way here!” Daph called out from the living room. Georgia jumped with a high-pitched squeal, dropping her towel as her eyes brightened at the sight of her best friend.
“You’re here!” Georgia shouted in glee. She ran from the kitchen and hopped over the back of the couch, flopping onto the cushions next to her husband before scrambling to her feet and gingerly throwing her arms around Daph’s shoulders. “I didn’t even see you!”
“I don’t know how you fuckin’ missed me,” Daph joked as she patted her belly. “I take up more goddamn room in here than the fuckin thofa.”
“I know!” Georgia agreed as she rested her own hands on Daph’s baby bump. “You’re so big now!”
“Oh for real? I didn’t fuckin’ notice.”
“I was talking to the baby,” Georgia said, crouching onto one knee and resting her head against Daph’s stomach. “Is Daph taking good care of you, baby?”

“You bet your ass I am,” Daph said confidently, nodding to Darwin at the same time. “I ain’t been thith healthy thince high school.”
“I thought you just said you ate a hot dog on the way here,” Darwin added, skeptically.
“Well yeah…” Daph paused while Georgia was too distracted listening for the baby. “For like…the protein.”
“You’re getting close,” Georgia said to Daph, who helped pull her to her feet. “She’s just about finished baking in there. How do you feel?”

“Pretty good, actually,” Daph nodded. “I feel, like, healthy and clean and fuckin’…” She found herself at a loss for words and frowned while gesturing her hands.
“Maternal?” Georgia asked eagerly as she backed away to the couch.
“Nah, not that,” Daph shook her head while following Georgia to the edge of the couch. “Cauthe, like, I’m not a mom, yknow? It’th your baby, dude.”
“You want something to drink, Daph?” Georgia called as she opened the fridge.
“I got water, I’m thtraight,” Daph waved her hand.

“We just bought more that strawberry flavored Perrier, though…” Georgia said coyly, winking at Daph.
“Oh shit,” Daph swore, her tail twitching excitedly as she headed to the kitchen. “Okay, yeah, gimme one of thothe.” Georgia twisted off the top with a crack of plastic before handing it over to Daph. The pregnant squirrel tipped a long swing into the back of her throat and shivered in satisfaction.
“Fuck. I can’t buy fancy shit like thith, but if I could, I’d get fuckin’ truckload.” She turned and shuffled back to the living room with the bottle in her hand.

“Oh my god Daph,” Georgia giggled ecstatically while watching her from behind. “You waddle now.”
“HEY,” Daph snapped as she turned and jabbed a finger at Georgia. “It’th not a waddle. It’th a swagger.”
“It’s adorable, is what it is,” Georgia teased.
“I thwear to god, girl, if I wasn’t carryin’ your kid right now…” Daph threatened, making a fist with one hand while drinking a gulp of her sparkling water with the other. She raised her eyebrows and gestured toward her bag while her mouth was full. “Gimme that, I forgot thomethin’.”

Darwin passed over Daph’s small gym bag. She gripped the neck of the bottle between her teeth and dug through the contents of the bag with both hands before pulling out a small, plastic tube the size of a thumb.
“What is that?” Darwin asked, wary of what Daph was about to do.
“Electrolytes, dude,” Daph explained. She tore open the end of the tube with her teeth and spat the plastic tip into her hand before squeezing the liquid into her mouth. Darwin looked up, alarmed, and glanced at his wife, who wasn’t paying attention. When he glanced back, Daph had swallowed the liquid with a grimace, her entire body shuddering before she stuck her tongue out. “Fuckin’ nasty,” she commented before chasing it with a gulp of sparkling water.

“Georgia?” Darwin called over his shoulder. His wife, a former nurse, stepped up to the couch and glanced between Darwin and Daph.
“Daph, what did you just do?” Georgia asked wearily.
“It wath jutht a goddamn electrolyte packet!” Daph said defensively, holding up the empty tube as proof. “I went to the gym and drank a lotta water.”
“That’s fine,” Georgia said to Darwin. “It’s what’s in Gatorade, but without sugar.” Georgia paused, then glanced up at Daph in disbelief. “You’re still going to the gym?”
“Uh, yeah?” Daph shrugged. “Do you fuckin’ know me?”
“Daph, you’re crazy pregnant right now!” Georgia exclaimed. “You should be resting.”

“Re-fuckin-lax, I know what I’m doin’,” Daph said, planting her hands on her hips defiantly. “All I’m doin’ ith walkin on the treadmill anyway…And like...squatth. But not with a lotta weight.” She paused, then added, “Oh, and kegals. Lotta kegals. I do thothe at home.”

“Cut the squats,” Georgia warned. “Treadmill is fine, but don’t do anymore than jog.”
“Yeth ma’am,” Daph groaned, rolling her eyes as she rested her hands on her belly. “You should feel your kid after I’m done workin’ out, though. She fuckin’ loveth it.”
“She’s probably just reacting to getting shaken around like a blender,” Georgia remarked. She gestured toward the bedroom and added, “If you just came from the gym, you want a shower?”

“I might,” Daph nodded. “I’d better get in ath many showerth ath I can before the baby’th born.”
“…Why?” Georgia asked.
“I called my mom today and she told me that I can’t shower for a week after the baby’th born or they could die from shock,” Daph nodded knowingly. She cocked her head to the side and pointed at the two soon-to-be parents. “Did you guyth not know that?”
Georgia and Darwin stared at her.
“Daph, what the fuck?” Georgia asked. Darwin blinked like he was going to pass out.
“What? Ith that not a thing?”
“Why would that happen?” Georgia asked, gripping the edge of the couch.
“I don’t fuckin’ know!” Daph shouted. “By my mom had four kidth and none of ‘em died, tho I figured she might know thomething I don’t!”
“Daph,” Darwin said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. “Please don’t go a week without showering after you give birth.”

“Yeah, okay, fine. I get it,” Daph sighed, rolling her eyes. In her mind, she made no promises and decided it was better not to risk it when the time came. She glanced at Darwin, then looked back at Georgia and changed the subject. “So Darwin called me here thtraight from the gym, but he hadn’t told me what’th up. Are we doin’ thomething or-”
“She already found out,” interrupted Darwin, dejectedly.
“Aw fuck, really?” Daph said, deflated.
“I did,” Georgia said, smiling slyly.
“Damn it, Georgia,” Daph sighed before holding out her arms and saying, “Well, Happy Mother’th Day!”
“Happy Mother’s Day!” Georgia squealed as she hopped up and down excitedly with her hands clasped together over her chest.
“You’re not a mom yet,” Daph said patting her heavy belly. “But you’re close enough.”

“This means a lot to me, guys,” Georgia said. “Even if it’s not a surprise.” She leaned over and kissed Darwin on the cheek and pressed her face against his while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I’m already thinking about Father’s Day for you, big guy.”
“I won’t need anything,” Darwin said, pulling her closer to kiss her on the cheek. “Just you and the baby.”
“And not me third-wheelin’ it up over here,” Daph added.
“You’re not a third wheel, Daph,” Georgia said.
“I kinda am, though,” Daph shrugged. She wrapped her arms beneath her gravid belly and said, “I’m pretty much jutht the gift wrap for your kid that you can’t open yet.”

“Oh shut up, Daph, you’re more than that,” Georgia said. She suddenly gasped and patted her hands on the couch. “Ohh ohh ohh, I almost forgot. I’ve got a surprise for us!” Georgia sprinted into the bedroom and pushed the door shut behind her.
“Don’t take too long!” Daph called to her. “Or thith ‘brunch’ ith gonna end up a regular ‘lunch’ at fuckin McDonald’th.” Daph paused, licking her lips and rubbing the underside her belly. “Which I wouldn’t mind, for tha record.”
“Noted,” Darwin nodded, his legs kicked up onto the side of the couch.

Daph ‘swaggered’ curiously around the room, looking around the expensive decorations. Darwin and Georgia would have been well-off in their careers on their own, but together, they could easily afford the nice apartment in the upper-east side of Manhattan and all the furnishings. Daph and Georgia had come from the same childhood of poverty, side-by-side, and Daph was glad at least one of them had managed to make something of themselves.
A pair of new framed photographs sat on a shelf beside one another. One of them was the latest ultrasound image of Daph’s womb and a ‘family photo’ the three of them had taken that same day. Daph looked at the photo, remarking how huge she already looked even a few weeks ago. Setting the photo down, she swapped it for the ultrasound photo. She remembered the first image of what looked like a blurry dot the doctor told them was a fetus compared to the clearly-defined image of a baby on the picture, complete with hands, paws, and a tail.
“Wow…” Daph said to herself, holding the photo in one hand and sliding her hand over her belly with the other. That was her. That was happening inside her, at that very moment. Even weeks ago, Georgia and Darwin’s baby looked nearly ready to be born. Daph could only guess how she’d grown since then. It would be soon. Whether Daph was ready or not, the baby would come. “It’s my firtht time, okay?” Daph said quietly to the baby. “Go eathy on me, will ya?”

“Okay! Look!” Georgia’s voice called out as she ran from the bedroom. She wore a pair of bell-bottom jeans with freshly brushed hair as she carried out a pair of white t-shirts in her arms. Daph met her in the middle of the room and held out her hand.
“Which one ith mine?” She asked.
“The double extra large maternity one,” Georgia said excitedly as she handed it to Daph. Before she could unfold it, Georgia reached out and caught her hands. “Don’t look yet! Just put it on!” Daph paused, then glanced at Darwin, who shrugged helplessly.
“Don’t ask me,” he said. “This is all her.”

“Okay…” Daph said hesitantly. She handed the shirt back to Georgia before peeling off her own and tossing it onto a nearby chair, revealing the furry globe of her pregnant belly and her straining sports bray.
“Well well well,” Georgia said with a sultry voice as she tucked a hand beneath one of Daph’s breasts. “The girls are looking bigger. I like it.
“Yeah, you and every fucking guy on the island of New York,” Daph said, glancing down at her chest.
“Are you complaining?” Georgia asked, handing over the shirt.
“It ain’t the men’s attention that I want,” Daph said sourly as she worked her hands into the sleeves and pulled the shirt on. Georgia put hers on at the same time. They weren’t much more than white, cotton shirts, but Daph glanced down at noticed upside-down, red text printed above her belly. She looked at Georgia, who was fixing her hair and grinning stupidly while wearing a shirt that read ‘MAMA’ across the chest.

“Oh god, what ith thith,” Daph said in fear as she read her shirt upside-down. The red text printed over her belly read ‘BABY’ and the text over her own chest read ‘BABY MAMA.’ “Are you fucking kidding me?” Daph looked up to find Georgia ecstatic and Darwin’s eyes wide, a broad grin on his face.
“I’m taking a picture,” he said, hopping up from the couch and running into the bedroom.
“You got us matching shirth?” Daph said in disbelief.
“I did!” Georgia said.

“What kinda sorority thister bullshit ith this?”
“It’s for Mother’s Day!” Georgia said happily, leaning forward and wrapping Daph in a hug before pecking her on the cheek. Before pulling away, she whispered in Daph’s ear, “And it’s my Mother’s Day, so my gift from you is you have to wear it.”

“Every time I thtart to think I like you,” Daph sighed to her childhood friend. She cocked her head to the side and said, “Hey, I thought my gift wath the fact I’m carryin’ your fucking baby?”
“No, we’re paying you for that. That doesn’t count.”
Daph thought for a moment.
“Okay, fair.”

Darwin ran back into the room with his cell phone in hand and switched to the camera function.
“Okay, you guys get close together,” he said, motioning them together with his hands.
“Don’t create any photographic evidence of thith,” Daph pleaded, scratching her belly beneath the shirt.
“I wouldn’t,” Darwin said, “if I didn’t think it was funny.”

“Damn it,” Daph swore as Georgia wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Daph rolled her eyes and grasped Georgia by the shoulder as well. She paused, then sniffed under her arm and said to herself, “Huh, I guess it wath the shirt.”
“What?” Georgia asked.
“Nothing. Jutht take the picture tho we-” Daph suddenly jumped in surprise as a flutter of visible movement stirred from within her belly. “There she goeth.”

“See? This is a Mother’s Day for you too, Daph,” Georgia said, reaching down to feel the soft kicking of her daughter from Daph’s womb.
“Nah, I’m not the one who’th gonna be a mom,” Daph protested. “You are.”
“You’re close enough,” Georgia smiled.

“Get ready!” Darwin called, holding his phone up in front of his face. Georgia and Daph shuffled together, the pregnant squirrel smiling reluctantly while the soon-to-be mother beamed happily. “On three say…Happy Mother’s Day!”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An amazing trade I got from  TiggyBloom I just had to write a story for!

Art by  TiggyBloom

Darwin, Georgia, and Daphodille by Me! And you can read more about them in the upcoming novel about Daph's first surrogacy
Do It For Her!. Consider this a teaser of what the book is like.