Yeah, enough hay now. Okay. So now they were just...supposed...to wait...?

It seemed like ages, but at the same time not, because suddenly, apparently, the baby was actually coming and they were supposed to watch or look away. Penelope had an internal battle with herself over what she should do. On the one hand, she didn't like the idea of this to begin with, and looking away sounded like a really great option. But it also seemed a bit cowardly, as if she hadn't seen gross things before and been totally fine with it, so why should this be any different and make her a coward? So...she watched...

...and instantly regretted it.

That was...not...just...just...no... She tried to swallow, eyes wide, and decided closing her eyes would be okay now that it was over. She just...needed to settle her stomach. Deep breaths. Deeeeep breaths...

SPOILER!!: The Cow Birth!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Peyton circulated the area as the students gathered the hay and then created the little bed. A few times, she'd wanted to speak up, mainly to glare and then firmly respond to a few remarks here and there, but she refrained. She'd given that part of the lesson to Firth, and he was handling things in his own unique way.

The bed of hay was pretty big now. Any bigger and the poor cow would need a harness to be lifted onto it. "Okay, okay, that's enough hay. If you still haven't added your load to the bed, then just make a separate stack of it over there," she said, pointing to a different location. "We have enough hay on this bed for now."

Once the cow was good and situated, Peyton backed up then turned to the students. "...and now, we wait." Which could be an hour, so they may as well get comfortable.

...but just as she said that, an extra loud, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" echoed throughout the little enclosure.

She grew wide-eyed and frantically gestured toward Firth, although she knew he'd know what to do, as well. "This is it, class! Either look up or turn away now." Because they did have two choices.

She watched as Firth helped the mother cow adjust her position a bit more, and then once he reached up, she knew he was guiding he cow out into the world. Moments later, a tiny little calf was there in the enclosure. "So perfect!" she exclaimed. "Such a little miracle!"

Kace heard the soon to be mother cow had enough hay. He stopped collecting and took his spot in the class. He wanted to back up a little bit. He didn't wanna be TOO close. He heard the cow give a big MOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Then he saw the Professor adjusting the position of the baby calf. He squinted since it looked gross looking. It was slimy looking. Surprisingly he wasn't squeamish though. He was taking it better than he expected. He smiled when he saw the little baby calf all healthy.

The Professor was right, it was a little miracle. The mother cow was probably happy to see her baby after being in so much pain.

A small voice he was unfamiliar with caught his attention. Smiling, he addressed the female Badger. "Tha' would be lovely, yes. Anyone is more'n welcome ter come visit and help if I need anything." Those Hufflepuffs really were very helpful.


Well he was certainly glad that she was monitoring the size of the hay beds, because Bonny was occupying his attention. Yes, they were plenty large enough now.

When the giant moo happened, he was glad that Peyton had the sense to alert the class. She was obviously more able to keep a level head than he was. Ali began to sweat, nervous and excited in equal amounts. I'm glad I have someone with experience looking on. He still didn't want to mess up in front of her, though; the last thing he wanted was to be embarrassed in front of someone he sort of... No, don't think about that right now. Focus, Alistaire.

And then, faster than he could've imagined, out came the most amazing creature he had seen in a long time. He caught the calf and placed it gently onto the bed of hay the students had made. Then he proudly announced, "I's a girl!"

Still smiling, he gently but firmly picked up the baby and brought it over to the smaller bed the students had prepared. "This is a fairly small calf, only around 60 or 65 pounds. Bu' firs' things first. If yeh'd like ter help stimulate the calf's breathing and rub its back an' belly a bit, please quietly an' without shovin' come an' do so now." Chaos was not what Bonny or the baby needed at the moment. "I do have for yeh," he raised his wand and Summoned something from his hut, "a box of gloves for yeh so yeh don' have ter get yer hands all gross and wet."


Firth stepped off to the side now to let the students through. But he still kept a watchful eye on both mother and new baby just in case any Amazonian Gryffindors students were too rough. So it was that he noticed the Slytherin Captain looking mighty green around the gills. "If yeh aren' feelin' well, perhaps yeh better step outside fer some fresh air." And not be sick all over himself.

Minerva had been still petting the mom and making sure the mom was doing alright. She seemed to be doing well at least. "Mr. Firth how is Bonny doing? She seems to be alright, but is she?" She really wanted to make sure Bonny was alright, she was worried about the mommy cow, but was interested in getting back with the baby as well. So much to see and to help with. It was hard not to be excited. She wondered if this was the feeling that healers get in helping new moms.

Moving towards the back of Bonny she grabbed a pair of gloves and went to the calf. She started rubbing the calf and smiled. This was just way to exciting and fun. "Mr. Firth I would like to help, I mean later if you need it with any of them. Please let me know." She smiled at the man, "This has been really an amazing experience." Turning back to the calf she carefully rubbed the calf's belly.

Just so we're clear, rubbing that thing was an option, yeah? She didn't have to put on those gloves and pretend to swoon over the baby cow? Babies weren't her thing. She didn't see what the big deal with them was. Sure Lafay had brought her baby to class and she'd thought she was cute but lines were crossed here. The baby was the lesson. Just another attempt by that kind to steal attention.

She would not condone this. NOPE.

Alexa stood where she was, arms jammed in her pockets and waited for them to either be dismissed or instructed to do something else. Everyone could gush if they wanted to but not her.

Could she have the pitch fork back? She would happily jab away at the bales of hay while she waited. It would have been the preferred choice actually. In fact...Lex reached over and snatched it back. Hers. She started jabbing at the ground idly. Don't mind her, just casually not rubbing a cow. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Awww so the mama cow gave birth to a baby girl. That was adorable. He was smiling and then he heard the information. So the cow was kind of small and it weighed only 60 to 65 pounds. Well all Kace knew was it was heavier than him for sure. He could never pick up this girl calf.

Then the professor offered that they could pet the calf's belly to stimulate it's breathing. Kace was brave enough to volunteer. He went up and got the gloves and put them on. He went over to the baby girl and he saw Minnie there already. He smiled towards her, and then Kace asked Mr.Firth, "Are you gonna name her, Mr.Firth?" he asked the caretaker curiously.

He agreed with Minnie, "Yeah this was an eye opener experience for me especially." He was busy rubbing the baby girls belly trying to ease her breathing.

Awwww. It was a GIRL. A girl like Cat. Cat was a girl. Girls were good. She was still unsure how she'd managed to restrain herself from doing a happy dance in the middle of the crowd, but somehow, she was successful. She did, however, blow the baby a kiss. Hello little baby, welcome to the world.

Oh wait, it was time for rubbing? YES. Yes. Yes. YES PLEASE BABY. Cat most definitely wanted to swoon over rub the baby. She managed to squeeze her little self in and get some gloves. "Mr. Firth." She started, as she rubbed the baby's back, "If there had been more than one, would you have sold them all?"

Just curious. She'd LOVE to be able to see a baby grow.

Baby cow who was going to be ditched but didn't know so yet was coming, and Alice was being dragged. She didn't mind that or squeezy hugs, though, not in the slightest, because did people SEE the view she had now? Mo was her favorite. He got idle beams until cow birth started happening. Where was Dora, was she taking notes and getting a good view, too? If she wasn't, her sight was good enough for the both of them.

"I want to rub the calf! Cactus does, too." She whispered the words as quietly as possible and let Lex hijack her pitchfork, grabbing Mo's hand and tugging him toward the gloves. "I think we should name her after the Headmistress, Mr. Firth." Alice had heard rumours how much Truebridge adored cows, you know?

Ahem. So breath stimulating?

Sarah was ready to wait, yet she had to look...
Wait it was coming. Of course she looked... WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
She watched the keeper busy himself with the cow. Now she could help out at home doing birthing season. Awesome.

She nodded at the professor it was a little miracle after all.
Then she heard Mo say something, shock she replied, "everything is a miracle, not matter how often it occurs. One cannot take life for granted. And besides, childbirth is dangerous, creatures can easily die" He was such a typical boy


It was a girl that was too awesome. Was 60 pounds small? Sarah weighed about 90 or something. Of course she wanted to help with the other part. She took some gloves and followed the keeper and began to rub the babies back. "Cutie" she cooed at is. All babies caused an emotion like that, unless they were pest babies.

Then she heard Alice say something about naming it for the headmistress, which caused Sarah to mumble under her breath "if you do, there better be a mirror in the barn for the cow with its own house elf in attendent and the cow would be forever occupied in her appearance"

Okay....enough hay said Professor Barlow. With a sigh, Beezus returned the bales she had gathered back to the stack. Those weren't any soft as the first bunch she had anyway, so it was okay if she didn't add it in. Besides, the hay beds looked more than comfortable for Bonny and her baby now.

So...they were to wait and ------

O___O

Her head snapped like lightning to the Groundskeeper who was assisting Bonny. Professor Barlow's voice fell into the background along with the choices she offered the group as more mooing were heard from the mommy cow. Beezus was nervous and excited....that she was biting her nails from the suspense of it all. Of course, her large dark brown eyes were strained hard on the event taking place before her. She didn't dare look away or even blink.

....and then.....

MEEP!FLAIL!ASDFGJKL!

A babycow! Babycow! BABYCOOOOOW!

The brunette SQUEALED yet again as she took a step forward....the baby calf.....a girl.....it was.....UGH....there weren't words enough what she was feeling at the moment.....and it was such a quick, easy and safe delivery......UGH! The calf was boooootiful!

....and without meaning to, she was suddenly sniffling loudly and the next thing she knew, her eyes were tearing up.

What they had witnessed was just......so wonderful.

....No, Marcus Orion Branxton. Just because something like this happened every day didn't mean it wasn't a miracle...because it was.

Beezus rubbed her eyes. "That's not it......It's the fact that there is a new life before us at this very moment. That is the miracle." She just couldn't go on with commenting. Life was a miracle....she knew this. It was a one shot deal, should be treasured and therefore not be taken for granted. That goes for animals too. They are, after all, capable of feelings too.

GLOVES?! If she could have sped up to be the first to get a pair, she would have done. She still got one for herself all the same though, even if she wasn't the first to do so.

Just as she finished slipping in the gloves, eyes still cloudy from all the feels, she heard the Groundskeeper say something to someone being sick....who turned out to be Dylan. The Ravenclaw frowned, grabbing an extra pair of gloves and quickly stepping beside him with a worried expression on her face. "You okay?" She handed him the gloves. He was going to help, right?

*hopeful looks*

A baby girl? Aw! Ella grinned and gave a thumbs up to the Momma cow, even if cows didn't exactly understand the gesture. She wished she knew how to conjure some balloons too cause that would have been a nice decoration, yeah? She'd need to read up on that for next time.

Time to help the baby? BEAM! Ella made her way towards Mr. Firth quietly, eyes wandering from him, to the baby, to the mama, and back again. She was feeling much better about this whole thing now that the little baby was here and needed her help. How could she say no to that?

Nice of Mr. Firth to provide gloves for the class. Ella grabbed herself a pair and slipped them on, ready to start.

"So...Mr. Firth? Do we just start or?"

Unsurprisingly, one of the first students to move forward was Minerva Wheatborn. Firth smiled at her, still thankful that she appeared to not be mad at him anymore. "She's doin' fine, yes, jus' tired as you cin imagine." Birthing a baby was no small task. "Tha' would be jus' fine. Give it a few days fer Broc an' Bonny ter get used to a new being in their pen an' then come on down." Firth beamed with inner pride. He was glad that the miracle of life had touched at least one other person besides the Squealer Beezus.


Ali moved a bit closer to the newborn. It wouldn't do to have the students hurt her just because he wasn't paying good enough attention. A small Hufflepuff soon asked him a question. "Well I thought abou' it, but I think I'd jus' be too sad for her ter go if I got attached by naming her." Firth was a softy in that regard. "Bu' I'm glad yeh enjoyed the birth," he said, smiling warmly to cast off the momentary sadness that had bloomed inside of him.


Now there was an interesting question. He hadn't really even considered the possibility of there being more than one calf, honestly. "Eh... well, I hadn' thought abou' that, ter be honest." Could he bear to separate siblings? Would that be worse than giving them both up? He shook his head, trying to clear away such thoughts. It didn't matter, there had only been one calf.


SNORT.

Well, Annie was definitely the reason he was selling the calf to begin with. How much of the... incident... did the Captain know about? "As... tempting as tha' is, Alice, I think I'll have ter pass."



Oh, had he not been clear on that? "Yes, by all means, go righ' ahead!" He held out his hand in a gesture that indicated she should proceed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Were there any more takers for rubbing and patting the calf? Firth searched the crowd of students. "Alrigh' if there's anyone else that wants ter rub the newborn, now's yer chance. Professor Barlow is abou' ter give yeh all a task, so hurry up." He nodded at Peyton, handing back over the reigns for the lesson in the process.

When she was given the okay, Ella bent down by the little baby and smiled nervously. "Welcome to the world," She whispered before carefully placing a hand on her back. It was funny, how nervous she was. The sixteen year old was petrified she was going to do something wrong and mess the little cow up forever. She really needed to stop thinking so much.

Slowly at first, Ella began to rub the calf's back. She watched for any sign that she was hurting the baby but nothing like that happened, thank Merlin. When she got the hang of it, she placed her other hand gently on the calf's back and continued to rub.

Was she doing okay?

Once he was sure he was going to be fine, Jake dropped his hand from his mouth. He took a slow breath, glancing at Anya before letting go of her hand and starting toward the newborn creature. It surely wasn't the prettiest of things, but it still needed to breathe. And... if rubbing it's back was what helped it do so, Jake would do what he could.

He was grateful for the gloves, though. He pulled a pair on, flexing his fingers. "Okay," He muttered quietly to himself before crouching down next to the calf. Very gently, he reached forward and started rubbing the cow. He kept his eyes locked on the little girl, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he thought. Lots of thoughts.

There was talking. People were talking. And moving. But Tobias still couldn't see what was happening because his hands were still clapped tightly over his eyes. However, it seemed like the worst part was over (or the best part depending on your personal opinion) so it was probably safe to look again. Tobias was actually pretty sure the cow was out and everything because the Scottish guy was saying about rubbing it the calf and everything.

So he very slowly peeked through his fingers, ready to cover his eyes again super quickly if he needed to.

But he didn't need to.

Soon enough Toby was staring at the itty bitty baby cow, eyes wide and mouth agape, frozen for a moment. And then he flailed.

Stretching up onto his tip-toes, Tobias made sure he wasn't hitting anyone and flailed his hands in front of him. "Babycowbabycowbabycow!" he chanted softly but excitedly. He so wanted to help so he could get closer to it, but Tobias was terrified that he might accidentally get something wrong and hurt the baby cow so he was quite satisfied with his mini-flailing and watching.

Yea....Yeaaaa...

"Sir.....thank you for understanding..." Dylan was ready to spew at any moment...and because of that, he took the Groundskeeper's advice and exited the barn...but not before turning to Beezus, who was holding out gloves to him? Do what?

"Babe. No." Really, he needed out of this barn..."Go with...Phillips or whatever..." Don't hand me gloves....I'm NOT touching that thing....

The Slytherin didn't think he'd ever recover...from seeing that...

Yes, he'd....seen stuff when Bee's aunt had given birth...and that hadn't been much better. Merlin...Stepping out, he put a steadying hand on the its outside wall.

Breeeeeeeeathing....

Gurgle.

The forth-year has been watching with a blank stare. When the groundskeeper said to either look away or watch, she turned away. Then turned back to the cow. She was both curious and hesitant. If Mr. Firth thought they'd be ok if they watched as he didn't say otherwise, then it was safe to look, she decided.And so her eyes were back Bonny. The cow's sound was kinda disturbing though or more like sad. Cassia winced hearing the last MOOO!

But then the baby cow was out. Despite herself the snake smiled. It was the first time she's seen an animal give birth. When her cat did Cassia wasn't there.

Paying more attention to what student were saying and Firth, Cassia's hand shot up in the air and waved, "ME! I want to!" She said enthusiastically. Skipping over to the baby cow, Cassia waited till one of her classmates made some room then she crouched down next to the baby cow. Who wasn't going to get a name.

Deciding that she was going to wash up big time later, Cassia rolled up the sleeve of her robes and reached for the lil cow. Her fingers barely brushed the calf at first, then she gathered her courage and started rubbing more confident. In the process her eyes were moving from the mother to her newborn. She was still fascinated by what she just witnessed.

This... reminded him a lot of things back at his Dad's clinic. Except things were a little bit more gruesome and the animals were a bit more sad and sick-looking than the mother cow here. Although... she wasn't sad, right? Alec tilted his head and looked over at her face. ... How... were you even meant to tell? Did Firth know? ... Probably. People could tell when their own pets were upset. And other people's pets too, sometimes. Alec wasn't one of the latter people, though. Pity.

The sixteen year old moved forwards towards the Groundskeeper, rolling up the sleeves of his robes as he went. He grabbed a pair of gloves and stropped them on, doing that little finger wiggle as well. There. And the newborn calf was a girl, yeah? Okay. That would help with pet name reasons.

Alec bent down and smiled at the calf, reaching out a hand. "Hey you!" he whispered, gently rubbing the calf's back, "Congrats on making it!" Was this helping to stimulate the calf's breathing? Yeah? ... He hoped so!

"Yeah, I do," Mo agreed just a bit louder as Alice tugged him along in her wake. He stood back and let people take their turn with the cow rubbing, especially Alices who were suddenly looking much less glum. He nodded along at Alice's suggestion for a name.

Not Annie, though. That was too obviously pointed. "We can call her Truebee. That's a cow sort of name, I think, but not obviously named after Truebridge." He knelt carefully beside the cow as he tugged on the proffered gloves. Now... was it possible to do this wrong? To be too rough or ineffectual? Mo rubbed gently and made soft noises at baby Truebee-cow, letting her know she was a good girl and a sweet girl and a special girl.

No, frankly. No to both of those girls, one of which was a Ravenclaw and knew better. Mo gave both Bee and Sarah a flat look before turning back to his turn at cow rubbing. "That's stupid, actually, and you should know better than to be so imprecise. If a miracle is by definition a highly improbable or extraordinary event, then you're wrong. So either I'm unclear on the word, which I'm not, or you're all using the word wrong. Which you are. It's easy to fix. Find a more precise word."

He gave Truebee-cow a last pat before shoving back to his feet and offering gloves to the next person in line.

Continuing to stay far, far away from the birth area, Asher happily looked all around the room. Any place that was free of cow was great for his eyes. He was thankful for the student who wanted to touch the calf, if they didn't it was possible he'd be called upon. That was not a happy thought for him.

Hearing that the professor would soon have another task for them, Asher hoped it would be something that didn't concern the calf. He would be happy to go out and gather things for the baby and mother, but he didn't want the task of cleaning up the birthing area. That would be too close for comfort.

Hearing Firth's call for a task being assigned, Peyton checked the time and realized they'd been here long enough. Class was minutes from being over per schedule, and she knew they had other classes to get to. "Actually, we better save that for another time and another time," she said. "You lot have your next class to get to."

"Mr. Firth and I will be here if you still haven't had a chance to interact with the new baby calf," she said, "but once you've finished up, dispose of the gloves and then you may be dismissed." She gestured toward a bin near the side of the barn. "I'm thrilled you got to experience the birth of a precious baby creature, and although it wasn't the lesson I originally had in mind, there's always a second chance."

With that, and since the class was now dismissed, Peyton put on her own set of gloves and knelt next to the calf.

Still standing at the side of the room, Asher hollered "Thanks Professor and Mr. Firth." He did as he was instructed and placed his gloves in the bin at the side of the barn. Asher was so ready to get out of there and on with the rest of his day. Hopefully no more babies were in his near future.

With one last wave, he skipped off towards the castle, thankful that he survived the class.

Oh, they were done? Firth glanced at his watch. Great Scot! Yes, it was indeed time for their next lesson. Seeing Peyton come over, he felt alright to get up and bid the students farewell. "I'm glad yeh all could come an' experience this. I reckon the new family will be up fer visits in a few days if yeh'd like ter come pat th' newborn once she's clean." Speaking of which, it was definitely time to whip out the wand and clean this little girl up.

They were done already? Frown. Couldn't Ella just...stay with the baby a while longer? She was rather enjoying helping the little calf and it was a bit sad that she'd need to leave so soon. Sighhhh.

Removing her gloves and disposing of them, the blonde glanced back at the mother and baby and smiled a little. This had definitely been an unexpected thing to witness and yeah, not something she'd soon forget.

Gathering her things, she waved to Professor Barlow and Mr. Firth. "Thank you for the lesson. It was very...interesting." Nodnod. And she'd definitely come and visit the two when they were feeling a bit better. Definitely.

Oh? The class was over so long as they didn't want to pet the baby cow? Well why didn't anyone say so? Yeeaaaah, she didn't have any gloves to dispose of, she was just LEAVING.

"An odd lesson Professor." Was all she really said.

Odd. That was the only way to describe it. Births and babies. Next time, warn a girl! The kitchen was just as nice and had many flavours of ice-cream, plus, it didn't go popping babies. Though ice-cream machine babies wouldn't have been so bad. More ice-cream for her.

She walked back to get her things, not bothering to linger. If she was fast enough she could still stop by the kitchen before her next class and get the whole birthing thing out of her mind.

Lex slung her bag over her shoulder and left without so much as looking back.