Zaria's pants filled the air. She resurfaced from the den she was digging, and she had been quite far. She shook out her pelt, sand flying everywhere before she walked the few steps to the mountain stream that ran past the entrance. She lapped up the water, sitting down afterwards. Her pants kept going. There little monsters made her quite tired but she was not giving up. This was going to be her den. The heavily pregnant female was due in two weeks, and she felt like the end was near. At least she hoped so. Her back was starting to ache and her sleep at night was often interrupted by light cramps and kicking.
She looked at the den, quite idyllic place for a birthing den. She followed the stream until she found a nicely rooted tree. She started to dig at its roots so she would have a structure to hold the den. There were piles of dirt before the den because the inside was not as she liked it yet. The female looked around while catching her breath, having a brief break. What pleased her to see was that the horrible snow was getting less. She would finally have her warm summer again. She couldn't wait to enjoy the sun and dry grounds once more.
Mason had not had a chance to speak to his Step-Mother about her imminent pregnancy. He had the feeling she may have been avoiding him (and everyone else) for lack of wanting to talk about it. She wasn’t the sort of woman who he had expected to have children. He should have known his dad would knock her up though – Fitz had never made it a secret he wanted more children.
Mason had suffered the usual fit of jealousy and rage an older sibling suffers, but he had kept it to himself. He had chewed through a thick log of wood to vent his frustration, and he had come out of the other side with no scars this time. He was learning to grow up.
Mason followed her scent – cloyed with the unusual hormones of pregnancy – and eventually spotted her catching her breath amidst mounds of dirt. Mason frowned in mild confusion, then shook off the expression and pressed onwards to meet her. “Hiya.” He spoke, his tone uncertain as he tested the water and hypothetically prodded the porcupine. Would she fire a quill or was she in a good mood? He could never tell.
Mason’s orange eyes took in her petite frame, one that he no longer found quite as alluring now that his puppy love had faded. They lingered on the very definite bulge that now adorned her belly – she looked like she had swallowed a barrel. The rest of her seemed un-bloated, and he hoped that she was looking after herself. He didn’t dare ask her that yet, until he ascertained her mood. Instead he smiled, wagged his tail, and approached her carefully with his posture low and respectful. “I’m excited for my new brothers and sisters” he admitted.
Zaria was wheezing and puffing out quite a bit. In this moment she was actually glad that it wasn't full blow summer yet seeing she might have a heatstroke if she had to dig this den. Zaria hated to ask for help, she was independent from a very young age, always wanting to prove herself. She closed her eyes briefly, wishing that this pups were out of her body. She needed this. Her eyes opened when she heard someone approach, when she saw Mason close to her pup birthing den she bared her teeth a bit, a little tremor of her upper lip. Yet when she realized Mason was actually being really respectful and nice to her Zaria let out a long sigh. Her ears fell back and looked a bit uncertain for once at Mason. Not because of his presence but the presence of her pups that were coming.
Secretly she was happy they Mason was excited about his new siblings. June was only hanging around faintly and Zaria could imagine that the young male missed her. It also meant she could tell Mason to be on baby sit duty. "I'm glad you are," she spoke, but on a slight tone that she didn't sound too excited for the pups herself. She would never admit this but she didn't know how to mother or how to deal with pups. She was a harsh woman that often dealt with her own moods and cycles. She didn't need four tiny monsters to watch over too. She looked at the den to then look back at Mason. She let out a soft huff. "Me... A mother. Truly Mason... This never should have happened," Zaria spoke to him, seeing that she kind of wanted to hear for some reason that she was going to suck as this. Maybe it was just the reversed psychologically she needed to hear. Just like how her father said she couldn't fight and she worked so hard to be a fighter.
She looked at first like she might chew his face off, but the moment passed. Mason breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then he noticed that she still didn’t look happy – she looked sort of confused, or nervous. It was hard to gauge because Zaria usually looking nothing other than confident. Her next words sounded careful, but he wagged his tail at their sentiment- gradually they appeared to be mending the weird rift that had formed between them. Mason was growing up and Zaria was growing… softer? She was having puppies, after all.
Mason listened as she spoke – clearly she was thinking of the same subject as he was. The Beta noticed her glance towards her project, and he realised it was probably a birthing den. She seemed to be doing okay so far. For all Mason knew, Zaria would be the best mother ever. But then he thought of his own mother, or lack-of. Raissa hadn’t managed it for long, and Dad had admitted in the few times he spoke of Raissa that she had definitely loved them.
Mason took a couple of steps towards Zaria, keeping himself low and unthreatening. He wondered whether she was going to give in to self-pity. “Why shouldn’t it have happened? It’s a natural thing. Pups carry on the pack when you get old.” Mason spoke matter-of-factly, hoping not to anger Zaria but hoping she didn’t try and do something stupid (like infanticide as soon as they were born).
“What do you think will happen?” He probed gently – to her, to the puppies, to Fitz, to the Pack, to the family dynamic. He was happy to listen to her concerns and try to help her overcome them. But he knew Zaria, and he knew should would not ‘admit’ her concerns if he asked a direct question – she was too stubborn for that.
It seemed that they were doing better. Zaria was still somewhat acting the same, but it seemed Mason matured more. The slender female looked at the other as he tried to comfort her, or at least to assure her. Zaria gritted his teeth, Mason did know a bit about her. After all he had seen her breakdown after her father's khalas had left the area. She had been nothing, or so she thought. She had changed her name. He did not think much about her past anymore, how she was Zhavvi before. Still the female had to live with her past and now she was pregnant she was only reminded more about her mother she had never known. "I never had a mother. She died hours after I was born. My father raised me, and not the right way as you might know. I drank the milk from pregnant slaves, going to meat as soon as possible. Basically I don't know how to be a mother. I can't deal with kids! I am not some sweet loving mother that will give them kissed and hug them. You know me, Mason," she pointed out to him, sounding a bit bitter.
Frankly she was only sweet and affectionate towards Fitz, and that was mostly displayed in private moments. She was also doing this for him, knowing how much he wanted children. She rather not have children. She had no clue how to handle them, or even raise a pup. She let out a sigh at his question. Zaria was a perfectionist and what she thought would happen was that she would fail and not be perfect at it. But she was not telling Mason that, or maybe... She let out a huff, not liking all this personal talking. But if there was one person who would understand a bit of her dynamic is was Mason. She wanted to tell how she would probably hurt them on accident or be too rough and how Fitz would hate her for hurting them, and then her perfect world would fall apart and she would be alone again. How she didn't care for there young in her belly, or so she thought. "It is just going to suck okay?!," she let out with a grunt. Clearly there was more than that.
Mason watched Zaria with some distress evident on his face when she let out a tirade of information. Sometimes she seemed so normal, he forgot her past. Mason had been infatuated with Zaria, but Fitz seemed to truly love her. Sometimes Mason wondered why. She was correct - she wasn’t sweet and loving. He hoped it would change once she had the puppies, but he could not gauge that at all. Even Fitz wasn’t the most affectionate – he tended more towards the stoic leader father.
All Mason could ensure was that these brothers and sisters would have kisses and cuddles and love from him. They would not grow up into unloving psycopaths through family dysfunction, Mason wouldn’t let them. He had managed without a mother’s love, even if he had received some milk for a few months.
“Well you don’t know it’s gonna suck. You’ve never had puppies before, and maybe they’ll surprise you. Maybe some of them will be just like you,” Mason realised as he said it that they might have four or five stubborn Zaria-types walking around the mountain soon. Mason eyed her critically, listening to her huffs and puffs but not holding much stock in them. She was clearly knackered by pregnancy which wouldn’t help. “Anyway, you’re stuck with them now, and your body will give out the milk itself.”
He thought of small puppies wriggling against a mother’s warm belly and he hoped they would receive some sort of love. Mason’s tone softened “I’ll be there to help Zari.” Using her nickname for the first time in a long time, but it no longer held connotations of love for her, but for the beings inside her.
Zaria looked at Mason with a scowl on her face, which was probably not leaving very soon. The woman was very skeptical about this. Mason tried to comfort her but it wasn't really helping so far. "But I'm ----" She stopped in mid sentence because she was going to say that she was not nice, but then it would have sounded like she would be saying something negative over herself and that she was not going to do. "It would probably be better if they were like Fitz," she pointed out then, sounding more collected.
Zaria popped his ears forward when he used her nickname. It reminded her of a time when Mason was younger and in love with him. It did show her a bit of a reflection of how Mason was before. She was about to give him a mean comment but she only glared a bit. She decided not to comment on it. "You better help me. You have that caretaker trade thing," she pointed out to him.
Mason agreed wholeheartedly with her first sentiment but he was careful to keep his expression neutral when he nodded softly. He didn’t want mini-Zarias. But then again, perhaps it would be refreshing to see her own offspring putting her in her place when they went through their testy stages. Mason stifled a grin.
She glared at him when he offered her his help. Then she merely returned his words as an accusation. Used to her like almost no one else was, Mason did grin this time. “I just said I would. I promise, I’ll always be around. Unless Dad sends me on a scouting trip.”/b] With Alastor gone, Mason was aware that the onus fell on him to obtain other pack news. Steady was more of the guardian Beta – Mason was the informant.
[b]“Do they hurt you, or is it like they are just sitting there waiting to come out?” He asked with interest, although he doubted midwifery was really something he wanted to delve into. He would prefer to deal with puppies when they emerged (he guessed, given that he hadn’t seen a puppy since he was one!)
Mason agreed wholeheartedly with her first sentiment but he was careful to keep his expression neutral when he nodded softly. He didn’t want mini-Zarias. But then again, perhaps it would be refreshing to see her own offspring putting her in her place when they went through their testy stages. Mason stifled a grin.
She glared at him when he offered her his help. Then she merely returned his words as an accusation. Used to her like almost no one else was, Mason did grin this time. “I just said I would. I promise, I’ll always be around. Unless Dad sends me on a scouting trip.”/b] With Alastor gone, Mason was aware that the onus fell on him to obtain other pack news. Steady was more of the guardian Beta – Mason was the informant.
[b]“Do they hurt you, or is it like they are just sitting there waiting to come out?” He asked with interest, although he doubted midwifery was really something he wanted to delve into. He would prefer to deal with puppies when they emerged (he guessed, given that he hadn’t seen a puppy since he was one!)
Zaria nodded to Mason. She knew he would be there for her. "Ofcourse," she spoke courtly. She did not expect Mason to be there always, she had the feeling Fitz would fawn over them too. The girl raised her muzzle a bit. "Their weight hurts my back sometimes, usually when I am standing. When they kick it is uncomfortable but not painful. Only the cramps are, and they are getting worse," she pointed out to him. "But the females gave me a thing. A herb for it," she assured.
Mason gazed at her. He knew that she was not overly fond of him since their… altercation. Their relationship had been a rollercoaster so far, raising up on a high friendship, only to descend down through a serious of loops and turns that left him feeling constantly off-kilter in her presence. He knew she didn’t think much of his leadership, preferring to incline her opinions towards Steady, but she was at least attempting to give him a chance. Lucky he had Dad on his side.
“I’m glad they managed to find something for the pain. I can’t say I envy you.” But really, he did. If being a girl was what it took to carry small squealing puppies and bring them into the world, he would have done it if he could. Perhaps he had romantic views, and would have changed his mind once the pups were inside him. It could never happen though.
“Do you think they’ll be boys or girls?” Mason asked, interested. He wondered whether Zaria cared. Perhaps if he made her think about them as real wolves, not just squirming blobs in her belly, she would feel more favourable to them.
Zaria looked forward into the forest ahead, she did listen to Mason but she was just briefly sunken in through. The slender female snapped her head up in attention after he was done speaking. "I can't look into my belly Mason. I don't know what they will be gender wise. frankly I just want them out of me and do things again. Now even walking hurts my back," she let out with a huff.
Her green eyes fell on Mason. "No one wants to be in my place. Trust me. Be glad you can enjoy the fun things," she huffed. Zaria then moved to her den and started digging again. "I should really finish this, otherwise I have no where to deliver them...," she pointed to Mason. She loved to say and sit in the sun but that was not something that would favor her in the end.
We can fade this as it’s a bit outdated now? <3
Mason sighed softly at her words, more an exhale to remind him that she was snappy at the best of times, and she was in the late stages of pregnancy. Mason took her admonishments with a pinch of salt, and then moved closer to her when she began to dig again. He buffeted her very gently, herding her back out of the way. “I’ll do that.” He stated, not allowing for arguments. She could be as stubborn as she wanted, but there were some things that a pregnant lady should definitely not be doing. Mason set his muddy & white paws to work, scooping at the earth with vigour.
“Just let me know how wide and deep you want it.” He panted.
Zaria was butted away from the entrance but accepted it because she felt tired. She plopped down and closed her eyes a bit while Mason dug the den for her. "Just what you see fit. At least me and my belly need to go in there," she pointed out, secretly grateful that he was digging this for her. She was a bit anxious if this was even going to work out. She had no clue what to do with herself, truly.
- end-