Stone Circle Round and Round

AW! :D tag for visibility or feel free to join! More the merrier!

It was clear that Valette was getting rounder. Now she passed the four-week mark it was clear that the alpha female would have pups this year. Valette was extremely excited. She had already told @Stark a week ago that she was 80% sure she was pregnant. She had wanted to keep that news for themselves. What if the symptoms meant something else? What Valette did know was that she was extremely hungry.

The alpha female moved to one of the more recent caches. She hoped that there was still a decent meal in it. Though as she came to the location she realized someone else had been there before her. It didn't matter, Valette decided to just go to the next one, otherwise, she would hunt something herself.

The only child who hasn't had the talk (:

She'd tried hunting this morning, to little avail. The waterfowl along the river seemed fiercer than normal, as if they suddenly realized all the things they had to lose by having wolves living close. Her head hurt from where one of their beaks had bruised her, even after she'd tried to numb her scalp by burrowing into one of the lingering banks of snow. But her head still hurt, the duck was still alive, and all she had to show for her efforts was a twisting of fur along her cheeks where the moisture still dripped from her.

Clary decided she would handle this like a big girl, but seeing the familiar shadow of her mother just beyond her made her forget she had been trying not to cry. A small lump rose in her throat and she leapt, gangly and deer-like, across the stretches of grass between them. "Mom!" she called out to catch Valette's attention, and neared with the intent of pressing herself into her mother's sturdy body. But something looked weird and she stopped before she came too close. She didn't need to look long; her gaze fell to where her mother's belly distended beneath her, and her eyes widened. "Mom - you're fat!" and she quickly covered with a shy turn of her ears, "But - not that that's a bad thing. You're still the prettiest to me."

Instead of finding a cache the female found her daughter Clary. It seemed that she had been hunting as well. But hadn't really succeeded. Valette greeted her but it seemed that greeting was stopped when Clary stepped back and called her fat. Valette chuckled, she saw it as a compliment really. She only had ever seen fat wolves when they were pregnant.

"Aww, thank you, Clary. However the reason why I am fat is because I am pregnant. You are going to be a big sister! It is a good thing I am fat since that means the babies are getting bigger," she hummed excitedly. She was excited that Starkw as going to be helping her and be a dad for these pups. "I will become even fatter over the next coming weeks," she chuckled.

Hahahah poor Clary!!! I think she would make an amazing mom in the future haha

Her mother met her blunt words with a laugh, and Clary's nerves melted to a smile. Truly, the girl couldn't ever remember a time when her mother got upset with her, even when she'd confessed to sneaking out with Steph.

Valette's words, however, came as absolute garbley-gook, and Clary somehow bit her tongue, probably a by-product of the confusion from the sheer weirdness of what her mom was trying to tell her. Her thoughts fired as she rapidly tried to process. Pregnant? The heck was that? Big sister? But she had always been the youngest. Babies?? Clary sure didn't remember ever making mother fat, nor did she remember Steph and Ezra doing that, either. But - what mom had said - this meant the babies were getting bigger? No, no, getting fat only meant you were getting bigger - though Clary gave a quick glance down to check her own belly, and felt relief when she saw only her same old spindly limbs beneath her - but what babies? As far as she could see, Easthollow was completely void of those. So she plopped back on her haunches and splayed her ears with a simple confession, "I'm confused."

Hahaha I would love to see her become a mother some day! And if she's a good one, it'll come as no surprise to me - she's learning from the best, after all! (:

Awww oh stop it! Haha. I Must have grandma Valette.

Valette chuckled as she watched the confused expression of Clary. She seemed quite lost to then even admit that she was lost. Valette had to chuckle because it was so adorable. She was not laughing at her daughter, of course. "I am getting baby wolves, puppies. So you will get new siblings. Tiny ones, they are growing in my belly, that is why I look fatter,' she explained to her daughter. Valette had already explained this to Steph even before she would go in heat.

"Once you are 2 years old you can have pups yourself. You will know this when your scent changes. We call it 'heat'. But it is totally okay if you don't want babies when you are two years old," she explained. She wanted them so badly. "Plus, it is handy when you have a pack to help you and most of all a mate." Valette then blinked in surprise. "Oh! But you don't know yet! When you were away with your aunt I mated with Stark. I kind of fancied him for awhile... and then I found out he fancied me back."

Valette paused. "I feel like I am bombing you with so much information. Uh.. but yeah. Stark will be the father of the pups, so technically they will be half siblings but... I feel that is silly, they will be your siblings, simple," she spoke with a firm nod. She saw her first three children as hers only anyhow. "Feel free to ask me any questions. I already explained Steph so maybe, I don't know, if you rather talk to her about this then that is fine too."

<3 haha well the possibilities of that happening grow by every child she has, so... don't stop. haha

Clary tried to follow, she really did, but the deeper her mother plunged into the explanation of her pregnancy, this stuff about smelling funny and all of a sudden having tiny wolves growing inside of you... it really made no sense. Enough to make it hard for her mother's mateship to Stark to really settle in. If it had, she would have been bouncing off the walls with excitement, but as it stood, she was just trying to wrap her mind around, well. Everything else.

The young girl shook her head but kept listening, despite the barricade of questions building castles in her mind. Thankfully she'd learned how to keep quiet and wait her turn by hanging out with Aunt Nanook (granted, she sometimes didn't talk at all), but she couldn't help the strained laugh that pushed from her lips at her mother's admittance to all this being an information bomb, nor the quivered agreement of, "Yeah, a little."

Though going to Steph for understanding would have probably provided her with explanations she could grasp, Clary shook her head. "No! No, you're okay." She tried to remind herself the pain her skull was still only from the waterfowl, and not from the headache of information she was trying to grasp. If Steph could understand enough for mother to trust her with explaining this to her, then surely she could get it, too. "So - okay - so what you're saying is, there are wolves, and they're growing inside you, and they're in your stomach. Did you like - wait..." her face screwed up as the pieces clicked, and what she considered made her eyes grow wide. She gasped,  "Are the babies growing in you like trees? Are there, like - no, are there like, tiny seeds that plant them there?" Oh gosh. The assurance about this not happening until she was two flew right to the deepest recess of her mind; all she could think of now was what she could do to avoid this from happening. "Did Stark give them to you?? I'm not gonna get pregerganant just by breathing, am I???"

The army Scarlett wanted Valette will get haha!

Valette watched as Clary tried to understand. Steph had accepted the fact that there would be wolves growing in her belly quite quick. However, Clary seemed rather shocked for a moment. Valette went to sit down. It was tiring to stand the whole time. Valette could tell her daughter had a lot of questions. Valette herself was a bit surprised what Clary was telling her. Valette assumed Stark was giving her some sort of seeds? That might be what he would give her during her heat.

"Yes, sort of. They are very small to start with, and once they are a certain time in my belly it is time to birth them. You were in my belly as well, Clary," she explained. "I guess you gave the answer yourself. Stark did give me them, the seeds as you would say. But they are only useful when you plant them at the right time," Valette spoke, surprised how much nicer that sounded and perhaps more logical.

Valette smiled. "No, you won't. You always need a male and female, and... the very special act of the male giving the female the seeds," she explained with a more firm nod. "And it is pregnant," Valette hummed. The mother hoped things were a bit more clear, however, in a way Clary taught Valette something new as well. It must be what Stark would give her during sex. "Trees don't grow in bellies though, but you get the point, I think?"

Hahaha Teekon Wilds, brace yourselves!

"I was in your belly?!" she gawked, jaw slack before she promptly shut her mouth with a quick, "Oh! Sorry." And she let her mother continue without further interruption.

So puppies did grow like trees, but luckily not in the way Clary was thinking. Great branches filled with tiny wolves skewering out of her mother's belly and dangling from the twigs like leaves - that was a mental image she was relieved to do away with.

By the end, she found she was nodding, though her eyes had narrowed to a pensive squint. "I think I get it. Most of it." Her mother's explanation did reassure her, and made much more sense. At least, Clary thought she understood a little bit better. "Pregger - Preg - Preee-geeer-nant." No, that wasn't it. She shook her head and decided to nail that one later. "Sooo, like, anyway. How did Stark find the seeds? Did he collect them from somewhere? And why does a boy only get to give the seeds? If I found some, why can't I give them to a boy, and why can't he have puppies instead of me?" Because she sure liked the idea of having little wolves and little siblings and all that stuff, but having them grow inside her?

Heck to the no.

Valette laughed and then nodded at Clary. "Yes you were in my belly," Valette confirmed verbally. The female listened to hear Clary say pregnant. She had to laugh at her daughter. So eager for information. "I don't think he found the seeds," she spoke. Valette hummed softly. "It all has to do with the fact that you are a girl. Your brother is a male. Males will have the seeds and the females will grow them in their bellies. Deer do the same as well, and bison, and hares and foxes," she explained.

"They have the seeds in their penis. We don't have them. Did you ever realize that your brother is different from you?," she asked. She wasn't sure if Clary ever paid attention to it. "I don't know why females only can grow pups but nature decided that it is so," she explained. Valette hoped that the things she said were true but in a way, it made sense to her.

She understood what her mother told her, about the seeds and the growing and stuff, and of the roles being special to the boy and the girl. That didn't mean she liked it, but at least everything was starting to make some semblance of sense.

Clary quirked her brow and snuffed a laugh through her nostrils when Valette asked if she'd noticed Ezra was different than her. "Well yeah." Was this some kind of trick question? The answer seemed too easy. "'Course he's different. He's Ezra." And that was who he was to her - the same brother she'd grown up with and known and loved ever since they'd slithered out into this world together. Of course, she knew he was a boy, but that had never seemed all too important to her. He knew how to wrestle, he knew how to listen, he knew how to love - and that was what mattered.

Valette laughed softly. "Okay well that is why there are boys and girls. Only that is different," she spoke to Clary. She then nudged her daughter and smiled "So, do you have more questions?," she asked teasingly. Clary was always curious and Valette would always encourage that curiosity by answering all her questions as best as possible.

"So there will be baby wolves in a few weeks. I might need your help a bit as a big sister," she pointed out to her. "Perhaps grab some meals or meet new people at the border. Important stuff like that," she explained to her daughter.

Clary hadn't realized how tight her face had stitched until her mother nudged her, and the tension in her brow unravelled from the surprise of her touch. The girl laughed, and she returned her mother's affection with a bump of her own while she sifted through the new curiosities this conversation had stirred. Clary still didn't know how the boys got the seeds, only where they kept them, but maybe she'd just find Ezra later and ask him what he thought was different between them. That seemed like a solid plan, and she decided that's what she would do.

For now, her attention diverted to the responsibility her mother offered her, and she felt herself glowing with every word from Valette's mouth. Her first adult mission! Not outside the territories, sure, but if she proved herself worthy to attend the borders without help from anyone else, maybe Valette would see how much she'd grown and would let her venture out further than day-trips once the pups were born. "You can count on me, mom!" she let her tail wave freely, "We'll all make sure you're good and fed and protected, and safe! You, and Stark, and all our baby brothers and sisters!" but the sentiment soured with a question, and suddenly she felt her brow furrow and her whole body sink with a pensive frown from the thought that occurred. "But once you have your pups... does that mean Stark has to leave?" She didn't know the man, but she knew her mother was happy with him. Yet leaving was what Ezekiel had done, and maybe that was just part of the natural part of having kids, just like the boys had the seeds. Maybe they had to do the leaving, too.

Valette smiled. She didn't even need that confirmation from her daughter that she would be there for her. She knew that Clary would be there. She grinned and wanted to give her daughter a nuzzle of affection when she asked the strangest question. "Stark, leaving? Why?," Valette let out and frowned slightly. Valette then realized that Clary probably thought about Ezekiel and how he had left them. Valette then instantly shook her head.

"Stark won't leave. If mates have pups they won't leave. But when you aren't mated to a male then they might leave like Ezekiel did. No, this time, I am sure of it, Stark will stay," Valette spoke with a smile. Though her heart beat a little faster with worry. What if Stark had an accident like Steady? Valette didn't want to think of that. Stark would be fine. He would be a wonderful dad. She knew it. "I only mated once before with Steady, as you know. The only reason I mated again was because Steady died. I plan to stay with Stark until I am old," she assured Clary.[/b]

It surprised and confused her that mom wouldn't know why she'd asked about Stark, but before she could open her mouth to explain herself, Valette's understanding seemed to click. The answer made Clary ease and smile bright, because she hardly found a prettier sight than when mom's face glowed the way it did when she spoke of Stark. "Good."

Yet the answer also left her feeling strangely wanting, and she knew the reason why. Clary just didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer, and she rolled her tongue across her teeth and glance at the sky to think. "So, um. Ezekiel, then..." she clicked her heels together, for once not sure where her words would take her. "Why, uh... why did he leave?" Clearly it wasn't because of Valette - and that left only a trio behind. "Was it because of us?"

Valette instantly shook her head when Clary asked about Ezekiel. She knew that one day this question would be asked. Valette often thought that it was him freaking out over the pups that made him vanish. But perhaps that wasn't the case. The mother definitely didn't want her daughter to think that it was her fault. "He has vanished before, for a long time," Valette explained. "When he returned he wasn't really the same." However, it could just be that she had matured and didn't realize this.

"One day he was there and the other he was not. I don't know what made him leave but you cannot think it was your fault since he barely even met you or your siblings," Valette explained. "Perhaps it was me because I didn't love him as I did before he left. We will only know the real answer as to why he left if we ask him and I don't think that is going to happen," she admitted.

One more post from each? <3

Even though she hadn't known Ezekiel beyond a meeting or two, Clary's memories of him weren't bad. They simply weren't much of anything. Yet for some reason, she still cared a surprising deal about what her mother would say to her now.

The shake of Valette's head brought instant relief, and Clary felt her shoulders unwind from the tension wrought by asking. Her face, however, remained thoughtful. "Okay." Her mother's answer brought speculation, but nothing concrete. For once, Clary realized Valette didn't have an answer - and the only one she proposed didn't settle well. Even if her mother hadn't loved him as before, surely she had still loved him, in some sort of way. And for the first time, she doubted Valette; maybe his leaving was all their faults. Steph hadn't been very nice to him, and though Clary had tried her hardest to welcome him in, she wondered now if there was more she could have done to have keep him around.

The thoughts were a maze at best, and wouldn't be sorted in a minute, or even a day. Overwhelmed enough, Clary leaned in to press her face against Valette's neck. She could reach higher on her mother now than ever before, and though that surprised her, she smiled, for that made her feel strong. "For the record, I don't think I've met anyone who loves like you. Maybe I'll find him on one of my travels, and then I can ask him why." A wave of genuine sorrow swelled within her. "He must be so sad, knowing how much good he left. I hope he's happy like you are, wherever he is."

Valette watched her daughter closely for her facial expressions. Often Clary was an open book with that. She seemed to relax a bit more. Valette didn't feel much about seeing Ezekiel again. She would be willing to talk with him but she was not going to accept him back into the pack that easily. Valette slowly smiled when her daughter made a compliment. "You are too sweet. My own mother taught me about having a big heart," she spoke with a nod.

"If you ever run into him you can ask him. Hopefully, he is happy. I wouldn't want him to be miserable." Valette really didn't want to wish him anything bad. "Let's go find something to eat. You like that?," she then offered. Valette was rather hungry and she could have a meal. Now with her daughter being back she would love to have a meal together once more.

The smile on Clary's lips only grew at her mother's words. Like her grandmother and mother before her, she hoped that one day, wolves would look back on her and remember her, too, for a heart so big she could find nothing beyond its limits. And if she found Ezekiel, she hoped he would see that even though he'd left, there was still an untouched room prepared there for him, too.

But for today, she had her mother, and that was enough. Though Clary had grown up without a father, Valette more than filled the gap he had left, and there was no other wolf Clary wanted in her stead. "I'd love that," her face brightened and she brushed her shoulder against Valette just for her mother's touch. If only she had caught that pesky waterfowl - but no point dwelling there. Any food would do for her, even the plainest hare. The thing that made this the meal special was the company she shared it with.