'The big day that would change their lives was rapidly approaching, a day that seemed so far away when they first found out that they would be parents would be any day now.
Frysta had been on maternity leave for about twelve days after working really late into her pregnancy. Coming out of their bedroom, she had donned one of her favorite lounge shirts, but lately even those originally loose shirts were becoming a bit too snug for covering her twin-bearing tummy. Not that she minded, a day of relaxation was ahead for her and Peng had nearly finished preparations for the pending arrivals. Frysta and Peng weren’t going anywhere today, so wearing her snug shirt around the house wouldn’t be a problem. Frysta gave her twins a gentle patting as she headed out into the den to do some reading.
Approaching the den, she picked up the sounds of paper being turned, and she was soon greeted with the sight of Peng reading out of a book. Peng was reading so intently out of the book that he didn’t notice Frysta entering the room. Tilting her head to the side as she squinted her eyes, she noticed that her mate was reading out of a parenting book. Peng was mumbling a bit to himself as he was rereading passages of what to do when babies cry, what different meanings they could have, how to swaddle them, and how to comfort them. Peng seemed to be stressed as he was reading. He couldn’t help but feel nervous, and slightly doubtful of himself about his skills of fatherhood.
Frysta fairly quickly picked up how Peng was feeling. With a soft sigh she couldn’t help but smile as Peng double checked his parental skills, something she felt that he didn’t really need to do. Frysta knocked the wall lightly, which caused Peng to snap out of his reading trance and nearly drop the book.
“Gah! Wha? Oh…oh! Heh…Hi Frysta, just um, just uh…” Peng looked back down with a slight tinge of red in his face at the book, “…r-reading.”
Frysta chuckled softly as she approached her panda, soon placing one of her hands on his shoulder, making Peng’s nervousness melt away a little. “I can see that. Out of the parenting book hmm?” Her smile softened to a slight smirk as she gently rubbed his shoulder, “What’s wrong sweetie?”
Peng sighed deeply as his ears seemed to droop a little, and he smiled in a soft awkward fashion. “Oh, just…I…I know we’ve...we’ve done our best to prepare and all, but...” He then shook his head a little bit as he gave his shoulders a small shrug. “…well I just hope I’ll be a good father, I’m…just feeling kinda nervous, I suppose.” He showed how nervous he was by holding out one of his hands, which visibly trembled before Frysta’s eyes.
Frysta slipped her hand from the panda’s shoulder and slid it down to his trembling hand. Taking it into hers, she gave him some reassuring rubs. “Peng, when it comes to parenting, it’s a learning experience. Even though I’ve been around children for years, I can’t help but feel nervous too. I’ve been teaching children for years, but now…” she paused with a little chuckle, “Our children will be teaching you and me on how to be good parents.” Frysta came to Peng’s front some more as she took both of the panda’s hands into hers. Frysta looked deeply into his eyes for a short while, “It’s a learning experience for the both of us, but you know what? If there’s one thing I have already learned, is that you will be a wonderful father to our cubs Peng. I know you will be.”
Peng gave Frysta’s hands a small rub back as he felt his nervousness and doubt melt away significantly. Warmth and confidence slowly came in to take their places. “T-thanks Frysta, I-I really needed to hear that. Thank you.” With a smile forming across his face, he emits a small chuckle, “And you know what? I also learned that you’ll be a wonderful mother.” Frysta closed her eyes with a blush on her face. She briefly opened her eyes again with a giggle as she moved in to give her panda a kiss. While their lips were locked, her protruding midsection pressed into Peng’s own slightly pudgy tummy, which soon was on the receiving end of a kick from one of the cubs. Frysta chuckled as she pulled away a little as both cubs began to stir. “Hehe, looks like the cubs also think you’ll be a wonderful father too, sweetie.”
Peng tilted his head with a warm smile. With a soft nod he bent down to gently cup his hands on her active tummy, giving the stirring cubs a kiss as well, further proving to Frysta that Peng didn’t have a thing to worry about.'

• This lovely piece was done by Quibbot, and along with this image I decided to write a short story to go with it. It's not often that I write stories of this length, so I asked for input from helzimgiger and Rahheemme. I can't thank any of them enough. ^//^

The original submission is here. ^^