Sun Mote Copse Take me home where I belong

@Niamh @Colt - set on the 31st of May - eye-opening! :DD

Life had been peaceful. Like honestly, Nellie couldn't complain - but she did. She was a loud little girl. Itchy? Crying. Hungry? Crying. Brother accidentally touched her? Act like he fractured your entire spine and then killed everyone you ever loved. A bit dramatic, sure, but it got the point across. However, today she felt less fussy than usual. You could say she had woken up on the right side of the den.

She had grown a bit too. Not a lot, but let's just say if she had to go back the way she came from, Mother would be in a hell of a lot more trouble than before. She would probably not remember it as she grew older, all this nursing and doing nothing all day, but for now it was all Nellie knew. Eat, sleep, shit yourself, get cleaned, repeat. It was the most boring cycle ever, so she felt like exploring a bit. She looked around the den and... now wait a sickity sackity second...

God, kids were... a lot.  But shit, they were great too.  Colt would never get tired of looking at them, he thought, though he hadn't expected to be so damn worried all the time along with. If @Niamh wasn't around to keep him in check, likely Colt would have been an even worse helicopter parent than Fin ever was, at least in these early weeks.

He was kept pretty busy otherwise anyway, since they'd given him the conn.  Firebirds wasn't a high maintenance pack and he didn't intend to change much about how Wildfire ran things; the come and go mentality suited him just fine.  But it did mean he had to be there, present, for anyone who might need him.  

That could wait an hour.  He'd been up for an early patrol and now was lazing in the den, watching the kids for a bit.  At first he didn't realize it, but as he glanced at Nellie, it became clear that she was watching back.

Oh sh.... congrats kid, he said, laughing and tousling her soft puppy fur with his muzzle.  How's it lookin?

Niamh rarely left the den for long. With Colt taking on the extra responsibility of becoming the pack's Sovereign (a word that still made her laugh when she tried to apply it to her mate), she was often left with the pups, which was fine by her. It was by no means alright by her for any others to come in the den yet- but Colt seemed to understand, so for the brief periods of time when Niamh left to relieve herself or get something to drink, Colt stayed put and stood guard. 

She'd gone out to do both, and had more or less avoided seeing anyone else in the process by listening and sniffing for their scents. Fortunately, their den seemed to have been given a good amount of space, so she didn't bump into anyone who would see her in that state. She hated the way she looked- and wanted to pull off a Kate Middleton and look amazing immediately prior to giving birth to her two children, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen...So she kept herself stowed away, and only made straight trips in and out to do what she needed to do. 

When she came back into the den, Colt was looking down at little Nellie, whose head was tilted up, and even in the darkness of the den she could see the faint glimmer of two little eyes peering up at her father. "Well dang- so because she saw you first, does she now think you're her Momma?" Niamh teased.

Everything was so blurry. Not cool. She frowned at the vague shapes, seeing one moving and then feeling the soft touch of Father upon her little body. She swallowed the desire to cry, instead focusing on what she could see. There was black, brown, white... Then came the gold of Mother. She was better to make out against the muddy backdrop of the den and baby Nellie crawled her way over to her.

Colt laughed at Niamh's comment, but shook his head as little Nellie began to crawl the opposite direction, towards her.  She knows her momma, look.  Couldn't mix up her gorgeous mamma with her ruggedly handsome pops.  He smiled and stepped carefully around Nellie to give Niamh a kiss hello.  He quickly turned back though to watch their daughter make determined progress.  Wonder what that's like, to be blind and then just bam, everything.  Had to be a crazy trip, seein the world for the first time.

Almost as soon as she'd spoken, her little girl turned her head to look at her, and Niamh melted, sinking to the ground so that she could be accessible to her little, darling lookalike once she made her way over. She beamed down at her sweet little daughter, and crooned to her. "Come to Momma, little Nellie, yes, that's right," She said, smiling from ear to ear. "Yes, I'm your Momma! Yes! The pretty one!" She said with a soft laugh, reaching forward to greet her daughter with a souft lick to the top of her fine little head. 

She simply grinned at her daughter for a few moments, as though she hadn't heard what Colt had just said. She shrugged, though, eventually. "I don't know. I don't remember- so I don't suspect they will, either," She said. "I think we kinda become their everything, as soon as they can see," She said. And they would forget about the darkness that had once been everything in their life, as soon as they caught sight of all that the world around them had to offer.

The words of encouragement flew right over little Nellie's head, but somehow she got filled with determination. Waddling much like a demented duck, she made her way through the den. The reward for all her hard work came from Mother's kiss and the fact she could now plop to the ground without being judged. Walking and seeing at the same time was pretty exhausting, how did the bigger ones do it so effortlessly?

Poor kids, he responded with a small chuckle when she mentioned their parents being their everything.  Suppose we should take advantage of it while it lasts.  He watched as little Nellie cuddled up with her mom and wondered for probably the millionth time how the fuck he'd gotten so damn lucky.

Even with a good relationship with his parents, they'd been everything alright... everything standing between him and having a good time.  He'd peaced out of that place fast as he could manage and hoped his kids wouldn't do the same.

Just going to archive this since it's a bit old <3

Niamh laughed softly at Colt's comment and leaned against him as Nellie snuggled against her, having found her way toward her using her newfound ability to see. They would do their best, she was sure, to make sure that they would be not only their children's everything- but to be everything that they needed and wanted as well. She felt proud and warm, snuggled together with her mate and her children, and couldn't recall a time when she'd been happier. While the whole idea of 'settling down' had seemed somewhat lame to her, when she'd been younger- she now fully understood why others did this. It was paradise.