It began with a sudden surge of pain. The Frenchwoman woke up from her afternoon nap, surprised by the strange feeling. She was quiet for a moment, waiting for the return of the feeling. Minutes passed, then the ripple of pain came again. It was time.

Her instincts were telling her to lay down and let nature take its course. To be silent, so as to not attract predators. But she wanted to inform Ferdie, her pups' surrogate father and her protector, that it was time. They were "his" pups after all. And besides, it wasn't like he was leagues away. For the most part, the alpha lingered outside her den, protecting her. She whined, loud enough to get his attention, before feeling another wave of pain, forcing her into silence again.

She writhed, the pain becoming more frequent and stronger. Unbeknownest to her, the day was slowly turning towards night, from high noon to dusk. All she was focused on was the rippling pain inside her as her body began pushing her children out. Occasionally she whined, but it was low in her throat. Silence was a necessity.

Erika was a naturally skinny wolf. Her frame was not very good for producing children; her hips were not wide enough. As her first child came closer to being born, she felt the size of him/her. The first pup was big, a bit larger than average, enough to give her some challenge. As she squeezed the pup out, straining in effort, a sudden, frightening thought came to mind. What if it gets stuck? The marred woman whined as it became harder to push, but the thought dissapaited once she could feel it slipping out into the world.

With her first child out of her womb, she paused for a moment, catching her breath before turning towards the still creature. She lapped the birthing sack off of her son, revealing the black fur he gained from his mother. He squealed then, lungs filling with air, proudly proclaiming his arrival. Erika's heart swelled with pride and she guided her little boy to her stomach where he started to feed.

As soon as her son latched onto one of her teats, another ripple of pain made her shudder. The second child was impatient to be born it seemed. This one was a lot easier than the first. Erika could already feel that it was smaller. A lot smaller. The Frenchwoman easily pushed her smallest out without any trouble and lapped the birthing fluids off of her fur. She had Majesty's fur, a thick chocolate brown color reminisent of her biological father.

Erika's ears pressed back when her daughter made no squeal like her brother had. The frightened mother licked her runt harder, trying to bring some life into her smallest. To her relief, she was rewarded with an ear-piercing scream, her daughter outmatching her brother by a longshot. Satisfied, she brought her to her babe's first meal. This one seemed to be the more vigourous of the pair, suckling strongly and battering her paws onto her mother's stomach and her brother's body.

The pain did not return this time. There were only two pups in this litter, but she loved them all the same. While she was desperate for sleep, her first one tiring her immensely, she simply laid her head down, curling around her feeding children. She murmured softly in French, towards her missing mate. "Majesté, si seulement vous pourriez les voir."

It was time.
It was time to leave the comfort of the ebony mother's womb and head out to the unknown world outside. His only taste of it so far were the murmuring and distant voices that made no sense to the young Fantôme's mind. The gentle rocking and the one voice that always provided comfort to the young creature, filled with soft, gentle whispers.

He had always been the more active and aggressive one in the womb, squirming around and kicking. And today was no different. The young Fantôme squirmed and struggled as the home that it had known was changing, ushering him towards the wonderful world waiting for him outside, towards the unknown destiny that awaited him.

A warmth ran over the little Fantôme, a strange and unknown feeling that provided him warmth and comfort. He squirmed as strange, barely detectable smells reached him, a loud piercing cry escaped him, announcing his arrival into this extraordinary new world. Another gentle force guided him towards a soft wall where instinctively, he latched his small mouth around the teat and began eating his first meal in this new world.

Moments later, he felt another body next to him. The young Fantôme did not like the jostling body at his side, but he stood his ground and nursed with vengeance.

With her babes nursing vigourously at her side, the new mother took the time to relax and recover. She felt split open; her first child was the one that pained her the most, though she forgave him the moment he cried out. Motherly love overruled pain and frustration; pain was temporary, love was eternal.

The last true part of her birth arrived after a few moments of rest as the placenta slithered out of her. In the wild, mothers would eat the placenta to regain their strength in order to nurse their children better. Erika did so, it only made practical sense. After swiping the last of the afterbirth from her lips, she opened her lips to call for @Ferdie Von Pelt . Her children had to be named and why not name them in front of her alpha and her childrens' surrogate father? "Ferdie...." She croaked hoarsely. The Frenchwoman coughed before calling out again. "Ferdie!"

The young Fantôme carried on feeding, the creamy food going into his small mouth and down his throat. And yet he did not stop, battering his paws against the warm soft body in front of him trying to get a firm grip so he could drink probably. The small jostling body next to him did not help at all, his mouth gripped the source of food as he was kicked by the other body. As soon as he found his paws, one of his limbs kicked out at the other body, accidentally of course.

He continued feeding as he heard the same comforting murmurings sounds he had heard before. He squirmed again, trying to get a more secure hold, he felt a slight bulging in his stomach but couldn't seem to stop. He didn't even know how to stop.

Another sound came which was followed by an unfamiliar voice that the dark pup did not know. But he did not stop, instead continued nursing greedily. The voice was deeper than his mother's and without the familiar comfort that the other voice gave. Suddenly there was a squeal from the other figure beside him, then another sound, then a squeal again.

As if trying to challenge whoever was beside him, the dark pup released his hold on his mother's teat and a loud piercing cry escaped him, louder than the squeal. He squirmed, his stomach bulging.

The alpha slipped half of his body into the den after she called him, examining her litter. His gaze looked almost disappointed at something. Was he expecting more pups? She could only have so many; if her body produced two, then that was all she was having. "Oui. Just the two."

The new mother curled tighter around her pups, feeling content as they fed. "I would like to name zem now, zat's why I called you in 'ere..." She began only to be cut off by the soft squeal of her runt. Erika's ears pressed back in worry when she had spat up milk, only to cry again. Her son, as if to challenge her, stopped his meal and cried louder. The Frenchwoman nudged them gently away from her teats with her nose. They had had enough; she didn't want anymore accidents by her.

"Ze black one iz Alphonse and ze small brown one iz Serena." She had thought about the names as she travelled to the mountains. Alphonse was the name Erika would have been given, had she been a boy. Serena was the name of Majesty's mother, and she thought it the best way to honor her missing mate.

The young Fantôme was once again pushed, but this time not because of the other thing next to him but something else. He whined softly as he was pushed away from the food source but was comforted by the sound overhead again. He was slowly placing the puzzle pieces together and determining that this sound came from the thing that provided the creamy food.

Suddenly something nudged him again, he squirmed as warm air was blown upon him and squealed. What was happening? The form next to him started emitting loud squeals and yelps and didn't stop though it slowly became slightly muffled. The tiny black Fantôme squealed louder than the form beside him for no apparent reason.

The young boy was then dragged away from the soft fur, a squishy thick thing rolled him around and he screeched loudly trying his best to roll and scramble away from the attacking thing but he was always rolled back by the wet squishy attacker. A series of loud squeals, screeches and yelps emitted off the tiny black Fantôme.

He tried his best to move away, hopefully towards the warm soft fur again but was continuously attacked by the wet squishy object. And as the licking continued, so did the cries, growing louder and louder by the second.

She sensed that Ferdie was displeased with her naming the babes so quickly. He would have named Serena Citrine, the french word for orange, the name of a gemstone. It was true that was a good name for her, but she already had her mind set on Serena. It was, in her opinion, a prettier name. "Citrine? It could always be a pet name..." She said as Ferdie groomed her smallest.

Serena did not like the bath, or she was just caught off guard by it. Either way, her baby yipped and squealed until Ferdie pushed her into Erika's warmth. The Frenchwoman bent down and nuzzled her baby, snuggling her and attempting to calm her down. She would get used to licks, eventually. Next was Alphonse, who reacted in a similar manner, all squeals and screeches, even louder than his sister. Erika put her nose by Ferdie's, attempting to nudge him away. "Zat iz enough, I zink." She murmured, grabbing Alphonse gently and tucking him by his sister. "It iz just zat it frightened zem, and I do not like to 'ear zem squeal like zat."

The young Fantôme struggled for a bit more before he was pushed into the soft warm fur, away from his attacker and near the form that had squealed just before him. He snuggled in, pushing his tiny body into the thick warm body, curling up as he did so. The nursing, squealing and the brutal attack was too much for the young boy, tiring him greatly.

He shifted for a few more moments, the unfamiliar and harsh murmurs were lost to the dark Fantôme as he drifted off, snuggled beside his mother and sister's body. It was a tiring and strange day for him and he needed to rest. Stubby tail twitched as he finally fell asleep.

Her pups relaxed, free from Ferdie's grasp and snuggled into her fur. Though Ferdie looked annoyed after she stole away her children, he relaxed and curled around her. He offered to tell her a story. Erika only nodded, head resting by her pups.

The story Ferdie told was a melancholy one at best. It was a sad romance, of a wolf who woman who did not love him back. The words droned on as Erika relaxed in Ferdie's warmth, eyes slowly closing until she drifted off into sleep. She did not dream; the new mother was exhausted by the day's effort, but it was a pleasant and deep sleep nonetheless.