Phantom Hollow sampada

taking some liberties!

@Caracal had come back and told her of the meeting with his mother. she felt the sorrow of the moment, touching his shoulder as he spoke.
it changed the nature of their trajectory, and soon she grew thoughtful and quiet. 
the sickness had stopped and left in its wake a glowing. her waist was beginning its first stages of thickening, more noticeable given her athletic frame. "what would you like to do, then? shall we go to epoch anyway, to check on her? or, well, there's moonglow and i think another pack, on the coast? maybe they're related also," she smiled. "and then rhaegal visited. he and his wife vaire settled in a bay, oh, southwest of us, i believe. and then there's up the coast, sapphique. and then there's all the way west, down the beach, to see what we can find."
the possibilities were great and heda had regained all her energy, plus a little more.

Heda understood, just like he’d known she would. The only question she raised was whether they should proceed to Epoch anyway. Caracal pursed his lips and considered. His mother hadn’t seemed to want that, though something they’d failed to discuss at all was her own pups. He hadn’t even gotten their names, dammit. His jaw set and he slowly shook his head.

I don’t think she wants you to meet her in these circumstances, Caracal said quietly, an apology in his eyes as he nudged Heda’s cheek. I’m down for whatever you want to do and wherever you want to go next, he said a bit more cheerfully in the next breath. Maybe after we’ve hit every other place we want to, we can reconsider visiting her. I’d really like for you two to meet, plus I want to meet my baby sibs.

Take all the liberties you want! Can we date this for the 20th? :D

yes! how many days out from each destination should we plan?

"well. i want to see all of these places."
their trip would take longer than anticipated, but for once she reveled in it. "let's go to moonglow next, then the one on the plateau. we can go west after that, head back, find the bay, visit sapphique, and then try for epoch again."
heda did not yet know of hljóðrfell.
"we'll be gone a while," she mused.

Then we will, he promised, listening as she laid out an itinerary.

He did have some reservations about Heda overexerting herself. But so long as she had the energy, Caracal wouldn’t try to slow her down. This was their “babymoon,” likely her final days of freedom before the pups tethered her much closer to home.

I’ll be right beside you every step of the way, he crooned, that is, if I can keep up!

He gently pushed thoughts of Towhee’s plight from his mind as he began kissing all over Heda’s face, just little pecks at first then sloppier smooches. He really was so happy about their life together. It was a precious thing. He didn’t like to think about it but he now had something to lose, something huge.

You know, I thank God for you every day, he murmured in between smacks of his lips.

Since I feel like I hijacked your road trip, lol, I welcome whatever timetable makes the most sense! But I’ll slide into your DMs so we can hammer out the deets. :)

<3

"and i for you." her embrace tightened; deepened; she shed a few tears of exquisite happiness against his shoulder and realized she had not thought of bartholomew in some time.
the ache did not rise, not this time. instead, she looked at the world around them, at the warmth of spring as it overflowed, the winging of birds overhead, the tightlaced trees.
he could be here too, as god was. if god was each place, then why could her mentor not be also, wrapped in the spirit?
"we were brought together for a reason. and we have all our lives to discover it."

She started to cry and it startled him for a beat before he realized they were happy tears. Nonetheless, he smoothed them away with little passes of his tongue, pressing his smile against her damp white cheeks.

Mhm, he agreed, then gently pressed a paw against her middle. Maybe these guys are the reason. Well, part of it, Caracal said, imagining impossibly tiny puppies floating in his wife’s belly.

heda nodded quickly, putting her paw gently against his. "i think so. they're going to be what forms sweetharbor again." it was why she had held off regathering these past months; the foundation for her church must come from her.
their church.
and was he ready for it?
for a long moment, heda found herself in prayer.

He wondered if she felt them yet. If she sensed anything, she probably would’ve mentioned it to him. Caracal smiled when her paw closed over his and she declared their litter the foundation of Sweetharbor’s second rising.

Yes, he asserted faithfully before wondering, Hey, have you thought of any names? My family traditionally does animal names, lots of birds and stuff. But I don’t really feel married to that idea or anything. I’m married to you, he quipped, meaning that he would happily oblige her preferences when the time came.

a little quirk to her mouth denoted that heda was thinking. "names like isaiah. hezkekiah. isaac. jacob." strong. resonant. her golden eyes danced toward him again. "heron isaiah," she suggested, tail thumping. "zilpah wren."
"i always loved birds. i used to be able to tell anything about them." and now, even as he looked suddenly skyward for the gulls winging, heda wondered if she could again, if her love for them and caracal's familial connection to avians was meant to be.

Heda shared some of the names she had in mind. Caracal liked the simpler ones, though a name like Hezkekiah would really trip him up. Before he could make a joke about this, she proposed some middle name pairings that made his heart smile.

I like Isaac and Jacob, he told her, and I totally forgot about middle names! I like your suggestions. Maybe we could name one after my mom? Caracal thought aloud, voice going a bit soft.

I was thinking I could start the thread for the next stop on their journey, if you like? Where were they headed after Moonglow?

yes absolutely (if u still wanted to continue their road trip!)

"yes," she said, thinking of her own. "and maybe a tree, like — willow, or oaken." her lips curved into a pleased grin, and for a moment she only looked with great affection at caracal.
"will you miss them? your family, being here on the mainland while we're on an island?"

My mom’s middle name is Woodley! he shared when she mentioned an arboreal theme. What about Oakley? That’s kinda cute, isn’t it?

Heda shifted the conversation a little, asking him if he would miss his family. Caracal shook his head, though of course he needed to explain himself.

I love them and miss them when I’m not around them, he said, but I’ve been doing my own thing since I was pretty young, so it’s enough to visit them once in a while.

It probably went without saying that he felt very differently toward Heda and their unborn children. Should any of them leave his life for any reason, Caracal would be beside himself. In fact, the thought gave him a great deal of disquiet as it suddenly floated through his head.

As long as I have you, he said earnestly, and them, I’m exactly where I need to be. And I’m happy.

Aye, just let me know where they would head next and I’ll pop up a (backdated, perhaps?) thread!