The kids were all asleep at once. It was a miracle. And Caracal fully intended to take advantage of the unprecedented peace and quiet to catch a few winks himself. It would probably take him years to catch up on sleep at this point, though he thrilled at the idea of paying down even the smallest amount of his sleep debt.
But Heda summoned him and he would never refuse her. Decidedly careworn, he trundled after her and plopped to his haunches beside her just a little ways uphill of their den. This way, they would see if any of their children attempted to abscond into the dusk. But hopefully, Caracal thought as he looked enviously in that direction, they would stay fast asleep.
Hey,
he echoed his wife, pressing his shoulder against hers in an affectionate nudge.
Reading your post reminded me of something: I reached out to Melee and they said that Vesper would stick with Manea, in case we want to include her with our NPCs. :)
He gazed at the side of her face as he pondered her question. Caracal’s sleepy brain needed some extra time to process his thoughts and, besides, he didn’t want to shoot from the hip with this one. He sensed a certain weight in his wife’s question that he wanted to respect.
No,
he eventually said. I think it’s been harder than we expected, with the babies. But God wouldn’t give us anything we couldn’t handle, right? And I feel as though it’s brought us closer together, toiling side by side.
Caracal smiled gently, pressing it to Heda’s cheek. Did that make sense? He was pretty sure his brain was firing at something like half capacity. He slid his head down to rest on her shoulder, in part because he wanted the intimacy but mostly because he really needed a pillow right now.
My mother had four in my litter, you know,
he burred quietly on a yawn, head still resting on Heda’s shoulder. One didn’t make it but the three of us were total pills. I never really got along with the twins. Luckily, I had Killer. But I’m getting off-topic. It just makes me really grateful for my mom. Like, raising this many kids is hard work. She did at least some of it singlehandedly too. Friggin’ crazy…
His voice grew quieter throughout his sleepy soliloquy before he fell quiet entirely. Caracal meant to make the most of this time with Heda but at some point, his breath deepened and he began to snore in his wife’s ear.
in honor of mass archival, shall we?
one didn't make it
this stabbed in a harsh way at heda's gut, caused her to glance back along her shoulderblade toward where the kids slept.
but she must not fear. she must trust god.
before heda could ask another question, she heard the blur in her husband's voice and then his soft breaths of sleep. "we won't have to do it alone," heda said, kissing his cheek before she too closed her eyes, settling against him for what she intended only to be a small catnap.
the stars glowed down over sweetharbor.