Redhawk Caldera the rocky road to dublin

It was her second day of living, and this day was as productive as the last. She was content and at peace, suckling away, snoozing, and whenever she seemed to be at unease a tongue was always present to aid her before she could even think to protest. She was a happy newborn, snuggled up beside her siblings. She had forgotten about her time of confinement within the womb and decided that this, right here, was the life. 

At present, she woke from a snooze and decided she was hungry. Clover latched onto her mother and was quick to solve her own problem, grinning as she drank.

MY BABY! <3 I'm leaving to go out of town tomorrow so I will be slow but I still wanted to pop in here!

The newborns' routine was delightfully ordinary, and Elwood couldn't be happier. Boring was better, in his opinion; it just meant that things were progressing as they should, and he had little to worry about. Instead, he was able to enjoy his time with his infants.

He watched as they alternated between squirming and sleeping, with eating and pooping thrown into the mix occasionally. He still was not quite sure who was who all of the time because of their similar coloration, but Clover's birthmark at least made her easy to identify. He watched as the little girl latched on to her mother's stomach for a snack; he exchanged a happy smirk with Finley, then laid his chin down on his paws and waited patiently for Clover to finish eating and notice his presence behind her.

The girl named for a boy was content to suckle away to her hearts delight. And that she did. She ate and ate, even when she felt a little full... a sensation she did not recognize. When her stomach felt like it might explode she paused, feeling a wave of nausea—and then she expelled some of the contents she had ingested. Not liking how it felt, Clover had immediately learned to never overeat again. But she lay there in her own sickness, a little confused. She squirmed—she also did not like feeling this wet for this long... her first mewl of discontent came then, but it was a simple, tentative sound. Clover did not know what to do to amend this.

Life had been simplistic for the second born. Spending a majority of her time in a cycle of eating, sleeping, and relieving herself, Fiadh had merely existed in her first hours alive. But as time aged her, the Blackthorn had found herself waking as Clover stirred. Though her world was dark, there was still much that she could decipher about her surroundings. The ever-present aroma of her mother's milk and her siblings were prominent, but, there was also two stranger scents: the more masculine musk of Elwood and the puetrid accent of Clover's reguritated meal. This wasn't to say that her father was an absent figure in her life, just the opposite; actually, it was just that she never happened to be awake when he was around. So with curiosity present in her wrinkled features, the babe turned blindly towards Elwood and sniffed the air while her head tipped heavily to the side as she followed the wraith of her sister's scent and the more calming one of her father.

As Elwood watched, Clover continued to eat...and eat...and eat. His eyes widened and his brows raised as he commented to Finley, "That one's a good eater." Eventually, though, the pup seemed to finally be sated -- but not for long. Before she could do anything else, a burp erupted from her intestines and she spilled the majority of what she had eaten onto herself and the ground.

With a chuckle, Elwood reached out to began to clean her with his tongue, ignoring the smell and taste of the regurgitated milk. He licked her face first, then her tiny paws, and when he was satisfied that she was clean he withdrew. All the commotion seemed to have drawn the attention of her sibling; the one they called Fiadh was scenting the air, little nostrils wiggling as she "peered" at him curiously. "Hi there," he said, although she couldn't hear him, and offered her his forepaw to investigate.

Fortunately, she needed to do nothing else. Her mewl got her the exact attention she required and soon she was cleaned. The vibrations her parents caused when speaking were of interest to Clover now that she roused, and she shifted left to attempt to find the source. Her sense of direction was quite off, which was to be expected when one was blind, deaf and dumb, and she bumped right into her sister. This gave her some pause, and Clover began to idly mouth at her sisters side. She realized quickly that this was not food, and stopped with a sniff. This was something that she knew and liked, so she simply pressed her face against Fiadh for comfort.

Late to the party!

the third born — and one of two boys of the litter — did what he did best during his second day of life: he slept. 

and he slept in a manner that only puppies can assume; entirely, wholly, completely consumed by the act. His body would remain in repose for hours upon hours, little chest rising and falling in time with the shallow puff puff puff of his breath. His mind would not dream, his body would not twitch, his mouth would not emit no sounds.  The world outside his mind hadn’t been too entertaining anyways since he was both blind and deaf and, for all intents and purposes, mute. His mewling was without meaning, but somehow his parents seemed to understand that he either wanted to be fed or cleaned or wanted their endless cosseting to end. Those were Lucca's only wants in life.

So the small blackthorn remained inert, consumed by unconsciousness.

Fiadh was steady in her "gazing" and kept her head erect as her father spoke. He had her attention at that moment, and she leaned forward to sniff lightly at the air to acquaint herself with the odd mixture that hung in the air. It was in this investigative moment that Clover stole her attention and caused Elwood's offering to go unnoticed. 

Like her sister, Fiadh was comforted by the sensation of having a face pressed onto her side. Suddenly soothed, Fiadh lowered her head onto her outstretched forelimbs and yawned with apparent happiness in the sudden change in her situation.

Despite her young age, the concentration in Fiadh's face was apparent as she kept her head turned in her father's direction. Elwood opened his mouth to coax her on -- fully aware that she wouldn't hear his words -- when Clover suddenly bumped into her. The collision was almost in slow motion, and it was a gentle sort of crash that resulted in Clover's face being buried in Fiadh's fur. Rather than protest the sudden touch, Fiadh seemed to accept it and leaned into it.

In this position, sleep seemed eminent, but Elwood still watched the puppies carefully to see if they would become as unconscious and still as their brother -- whose napping skills were enviable -- or if they would stay awake a little longer.

The warmth and scent of Fiadh was quite enough to send Clover off to dreamland. Her daily debut of wakefulness was brief this time, and she snuggled into her sister as Fiadh snuggled into her. One rearleg kicked out, perhaps hitting @Tegan or @Lucca—as she became all too comfortable being utterly surrounded. Cuddled up and happily in her element, Clovers breathing became deeper. A true sign of sleep.

Like Clover, Fiadh was also comforted by her sister's presence. With her head in position, Fiadh drifted off to sleep as her sister did. As her sense of consciousness slipped away, her breathing synced with Clover's. If there were no further distractions, it would not take long for the second-born to be back within her dreams.

While this particular interaction with his children didn't last very long, Elwood was still content to watch them peacefully as they slipped into slumber. They grew still, and the only movement to even indicate that they were alive -- aside from the rise and fall of their chests -- was one last twitch of Clover's leg. Her paw connected with one of her siblings in a kick, but none of them roused.

Repositioning his chin on his paws once more, he decided to join their naptime and closed his eyes.