A fun colored drawing from the delightful  Derrysome

Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32717551/

So, a couple years ago I considered expanding the Zerih family. Zephr and Zephra were the mainstays, and there were a few others in the mix, also named similarly (Zephrasia the tigertaur, Zephrami the blue tigress, etc). I decided to retool the family into a larger one, but one that we get to see in bits. Of course, Zephra is still the one we will see the most of, but there are plenty of more mews out there to see!

In current canon, Elaine is from the first litter of the family (I figure Maria may have done surrogacy work, but I’m still considering when she does). So, she is also one of the first to experience the fertility of her family firsthand (and to have witnessed it from her mother as she grew up). Character-wise, I feel like she's the most maternal right now, very much capable of handling the duties of a mother, though it has more or less slowed her down in other things. She loves to care for and help children, but she may also be a little less in-the-know of trends and technology and the like. The question is, what should we see her doing now that we’ve been introduced? :3

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"Elaine, we should probably get going. My parents left with a few of the kids to the park, and the rest will want to go soon, too."

Elaine chuckled softly to herself. A few of the kids. Had this been any other family, a few could have been two or three. However, the dark-red tigress knew how her family skewed that scale quite a bit higher. Thank goodness her in-laws seemed to have a grasp on their grandchildren, at least for a long enough time for her to relax with her husband. Her in-laws could not stop the activity of their future grandchildren, though, but they had kept quiet at the moment..

"Okay, let me get dressed up."

Elaine's husband was much quicker than she was in getting up, but he did not have a packed litter of fennec-tigers growing inside him, either. The tigress sat up in the large couch and stretched to fully wake up from her relaxing mid-day snuggle. Her middle began to shift a bit while the litter woke up as well, and she placed a paw on her belly to calm them down. A few more months and they would be the newest additions to their growing family, and then the chaos would only increase - not that she seemed to particularly mind. Somehow, each new batch of children just made her prouder, more capable, more adaptable, among other things her husband teased.

She hefted herself off the bedroom couch slowly, getting once again acquainted with the heavy curves before her. She had been wearing a loose shirt and some sweatpants through the morning, but with the public's watching eyes and slightly judgemental in-laws, the tigress tossed those aside to get something more fitting for a family trip to the park. Her husband came out of the master bathroom with his hair combed up and body fresh for the afternoon jaunt. The fennec looked up at the approaching tigress and gently nuzzled at her belly once it pressed up against him.

"I think you could have gone out with that outfit, hun. I'd defend you if you did,"
"Nah, I have just the thing to put on today. Besides, I don't need defending," she grinned and lightly bumped her tail against the top of his head. "Also I'd like to come back here for our next vacation. I'd rather be known as the tiger mom with lots of kids, not the tiger mom who gets into arguments and dresses like she just walked out of a thrift shop,"
"Got it, but don’t hate on the thrift shop. We do go there, you know," the fennec kissed her middle, causing the big tigress to giggle.
"Now who's slowing things down, hmm?"
"Oh pssh. I'll get the kids together in a bit. You have a few minutes at least."

The two gave a soft chuckle to one another, and soon the tigress was alone in her underwear. She could just hear the movement of her husband downstairs, followed by a flurry of activity and playful giggles and conversations from the children waiting below. She was glad to have a husband capable of handling their children as well as he could, and that capability bought her some time alone. The tigress waddled slowly toward the closet and looked through the dresses before her, but she already had one in mind. When it came to going out in public and with all the kids, she always enjoyed wearing this one dress. Grabbing it from the closet, the tigress placed it on the bed a moment and looked toward the mirror before her.

The motherly tigress was a stark deep red across most of her fur, cut across by curious waves of black, but her largest feature was a white coat that ran down her chest and rounded middle. She was not sure from which relative she inherited the stripe pattern, but when she was growing up, she knew she was not the only sibling with an oddity quite like that. One litter after another litter, her family grew from a few to many to many more. Her mother was always talking about how her new siblings were coming, and soon enough she was one of a multitude of tigers. Family birthdays had become immense parties, and the house was always in construction for new nurseries and bedrooms as the years went onward.

Elaine took her time to put on the bright summer dress. She let it slide down her body, but it eventually stopped at her rounded middle. Gingerly, the tigress pulled at the dress to let it go down her middle, brushing against the fur until it was freed to hang below. Once everything was shifted and tugged in place, the motherly tigress reviewed herself in the mirror once more, rubbing her belly as it grew active once more. The stirring of life within was such a unique feeling, one that she had only known from her mother for some time. If she ever asked, her mother would gladly let her lean up and greet her upcoming brothers and sisters. The warm squirming belly against her paws and muzzle made her feel so happy to be a big sister, and her mother was just as appreciative of her daughter’s affection as well. Now, the tigress’s belly shifted with little paws from the inside, and the delight was even greater still. However, it was not always as delightful all the time, being part of such a large family.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Elaine remembered her mother in that same dress, a proud mother tigress tending to another, younger cub one afternoon. Elaine walked slowly into the nursery, her mother still a few feet taller than she and particularly wider. Her mother gently placed the cub in a nearby crib, keeping him all wrapped up and snug with a pacifier in place. Whatever concern had befallen the near-toddler was lost after a moment with his mother, but by the time the motherly tigress had finished with one child’s problem, the next had arrived. There was no regret or exhaustion that the young tigress could make out when their eyes met, so Elaine approached as she always did, arms behind her and legs kicking about.

“Mom, do you have a second?”
“Yes, Elaine, but just a couple,” the older tigress giggled to herself. It was a joke heard before, but it was regular for the mother. She gently lowered herself onto one of the many seats in the nursery, placing a paw beside her and the other on her belly. Her bright dress stretched out with the first few months of pregnancy, and it always delighted Elaine to see her in it. But today was slightly different. Her mother could tell once her daughter’s question did not start immediately.
“Um, well, are…” she paused and leaned toward her mother in the seat, voice hushed. “Are we...weird?”
“Weird?” the question was unexpected, but her mother kept her reaction limited. “What do you mean ‘weird?’”
“Well,” the younger tigress shifted where she stood and fiddled with her shirt, “today, a few of the kids at school said we were weird. That we are too big a family. That I’m weird because my hair is all frizzy and my stripes are all wobbly, and I have too many brothers and sisters…” she paused, trying not to let the emotion hit her too much, but it was easily read on her face. The mother shook her head and reached out for her.
“Aw, come here, Elaine,” the young tiger came up to her and gently hugged, sniffling and holding back any tears that could have formed. “Now now. You can’t let that get to you...because they’re right.”
“Huh?” she sniffled, looking up at her.
“Yeah, we’re weird. Well, weird is a bad way to put it. We’re unique! We are different, and people are easily scared of different. Remember when Urba came over that one time? She was an orca, and you’d never seen one before in person! You were so shy around her, which is rare for you. Was she weird to you then?”
“...m-maybe…”
“Well, she isn’t just ‘weird.’ She’s Urba! She and her daughter were so nice to you, and we had a great time together helping them out for a few months. Now do you think she’s weird?”
“No! She was nice and baked great cakes, and Jazzie loved the same music I did and could outrun a good few of us! They were great!!”
“Shhh, the babies, hun. Inside voice.”
“Oh, yeah..sorry.”
“That’s fine, kitten. Now,” the mother had her daughter sit beside her on the loveseat, “weird is not a really bad word, but it can be a word that hurts. You can tell them you’re weird, but be sure to tell them why you think you’re weird...why you’re unique...those stripes are yours are yours alone, and you have a great knack at painting here and there! And I...well, I happen to make lots of cubs...I have a skill to help make our species, our family bigger, and I have made a few litters for other needy families-”
“Like with Urba and her job,”
“Similarly, yeah! We all have skills, like you and all those kids do, and we are all unique for it. So, own it!”
The little tigress nodded and hugged her mother once more, feeling the slight flutter of activity within. Whether it was more siblings or another job for her mom, she couldn’t remember exactly.
“And remember, they could be just ignorant of who you are. Sometimes kids bully when they’re scared or want to look bigger. Maybe you could find a way to be friends with them. Middle school is not a fun place for new kids. And if you need any help...you have a lot of backup!”
Elaine giggled and nodded before she hopped off to run back to her room, but she stopped and turned around at the door. “Uh....also, Mom?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I have that dress when I get older? You look so lovely in it!”
The mother’s smile widened. “When you get older, yes, love.”

“Okay, everyone’s here! Just need to wait for-” the fennec looked over to the front door to see his wife emerge from the door, purse in one arm and the other gently rubbing at her belly.
“No need to wait! The Great Mommy Tiger has arrived!” her announcement was greeted with a few playful cheers from the family. “Now, who is ready for the park! Keep nice to each other, and you’ll get some ice pops before we leave!”

The group of fennec kits, tiger cubs, and hybrid children all made their way onward, the older children corralling some of the younger ones as they began their short walk to the park. For sure the larger-eared children could already hear their siblings in the distance. Before they joined the troupe, the couple stayed back a second, the husband gently shaking his head.

“‘The Great Mommy Tiger?’ I thought that was your mother’s title,”
“I think after a few litters, I’ve deserved the promotion, hun. Or do you prefer I be called Cub Factory?”
His ears deeply blushed. “I prefer you keep our bedroom pet names in the bedroom,”
“So Great Mommy Tiger it is,” she smirked, and her husband chuckled and shook his head.
“Elaine, you’re so weird sometimes,”
“Weird is what brought us together, hun,” she grinned and bumped her belly against him while they caught up with their kids, “and I prefer unique.”