Blacktail Deer Plateau Sweater weather

When Hawkeye made fun of herself, Pied shook her head. "You're not fat!" she protested. "You're carrying pups. Besides, you carry extra weight well. You look..." The Gamma stuck her tongue in her cheek, searching for just the right word. "Fierce," she concluded after a moment.

"My litter is due around the middle of April, I think. Perry says you're due late March or early April. So they'll be right around the same age. We can get together for play dates as soon as they're all old enough. I mean, the territories are close enough that we could all just meet in the middle," the Gamma gushed in a way she really only did with Hawkeye.

The Alpha female's smile was infectious and Pied found herself beaming from ear to ear too. "How is the pregnancy so far? You mentioned mood swings... have you gotten sick or had heartburn or anything like that?" she queried, wondering if her experiences would be similar to her sister's.

A thought struck her, spurred in part by Hawkeye's teasing about Pied's complicated relationship to the pups. "I'll be related to your pups by blood, you know. I was just thinking that I think of you as a sister, not an adopted sister. I feel like this makes that bond all the more real," she mused softly and happily. Aunt, sister, whatever... they were really and truly family.