Sun Mote Copse we're not weird, we just seem like we are.

It seemed every time the need for her to travel arose, she was pregnant. Why did these things only happen in the damn Spring? Couldn't Tegan have waited till like... July to take off on his grand adventure? Finley huffed with frustration as she finished pulling the last bits of meat free of the rabbit's bones. She wanted to go. She wanted to find him. How many trips had she promised to take with him and she'd never done a damn one of them? This was all her fault. She was the worst mother ever. And now she was pregnant again with more little babies she could fuck up and disappoint. 

DAMNIT TEGAN.

Fin took a deep breath to steady herself. Tegan was Tegan. He would be fine. Whatever emotional drama he was going through that had driven him to take off on the Redhawks was what it was. He would survive that, and he would survive whatever the Wilds had to throw at him. He had to. Finley had no choice but to trust that.

And now, she needed to distract herself. Which is where the rabbit came in. With a sharp twist of her head, she snapped the leg bone in two and stood, heading off to visit Wildfire and Eljay and her grandbabies with a fluffy brown foot sticking out of her mouth like a lollipop.

When she arrived, only @Wildfire was home - who seemed more than happy to let Fin play babysitter for a little while. She slipped in as her daughter-in-law slipped out and took up the mom pose with Weejay and @Elfie squirming a bit indignantly over the switch-a-roo. She dropped their toy beside them as she nudged and prodded Weejay into submission, then turned her attention to her grandson.

"Quit your fussing, you little things," she murmured with a conspiratorial grin, "I'm way cooler than your mom. You should be thrilled that I volunteered to be your chew toy, and you should totally misbehave for your mommy for the rest of the day once she gets back so then maybe she'll just let me keep you guys."

When Elfie was not sleeping or complaining loudly about his digestive tantrums, he was keenly exploring the world around him. Things had changed surprisingly quickly for a puppy, who just two weeks ago was stuck... well... without going in too many details between this world and the other one. Eyes had opened and offered a daily blurry view of the dark den, he had begun to hear some things, which, frankly speaking, had come as a complete shock, when it had happened for the first time. But best of all - his limbs had outgrown the helplessly wriggling state and could, though still somewhat awkwardly support the unproportional weight of the baby. 

Between the parents he showed a strong preference to the resident milk-tank - one failed attempt to find the promising teats on that other person had taught him... well... not much. Or he was a perpetual optimist and, whenever Wildfire happened not to be around, Elfie was exploring the geography of Eljay's belly very thoroughly. Every time, hoping that one day he would get to his Eldorado. 

Now and then there was a whiff of smells, flashes of foreign forms and noise, that would momentarily catch Elfie's attention, but then he would turn to more useful activities - all of the ones mentioned above AND munching on his sister. He was doing exactly that, when his grandmother barged in and his mother hastily left. "EEEEP!" he squeaked after her and waited with mouth agape, completely ignoring Finley. "EEP! EEP! EEP! EEEEEEEP!!!!" his wails became more and more desperate with every passing moment.

Weejay was clearly the good child, or so Finley asserted within thirty seconds of being their primary caretaker. While she obediently snuggled up, the other one went off like a siren. Fin cringed at the noise - another unwelcome reminder of how being a mom sucked sometimes. But he was awful cute - all dressed up like Eljay but with his mother's paint bucket splashed over him. So, she decided not to smush him under a paw. Besides, if she had, she'd have to explain that one to her kids and she wasn't sure how to manage that without coming off as the bad guy.

"Oh, that's enough of that you little button," she said, glancing around. She found the rabbit's leg near Weejay's bum and picked it up. Reaching over, the began to gently bop Elfie on the nose with it, trying to take his attention away from his lost feed bag and switch it to the new, undiscovered toy she'd brought for them.

In the days to come, particularly, when the little guy began teething, the rabbit's foot would become his favourite toy and the saviour of his parents' limbs and skin. But at this point the boy had yet no teeth to boast with and the smell of cold meat and skin hardly interested him at all. He pushed away the offered toy, intensified his squeaking to a full-fledged, high-pitched, non-stop wailing and began to crawl towards the light at the end of the dark tunnel. He was in no way fast or elegant in doing this, but you could give him credit for his determination. He needed his mommy and he needed her RIGH NOW!!!

Geez, this kid. What a damn Blackthorn.

"You're really starting to act like my grandson, young man," Fin commented with a smirk, "You're being very needy, very demanding, and very stubborn about getting over yourself. You are sooooo my bloodline." She reached for him then and gently plucked him up from the ground. She deposited him in between her forelegs and nudged him around until he was facing her, at which point she poked her nose right up against his.

"Now you are gonna hang out with me whether you like it or not, you wriggling fire alarm," Fin informed him, "So cry all you want, but you need to remember that I am bigger than you. And I will give you all the cuddles I damn well please. Now c'mere." And with that, she began to groom him. Take that, child!

Maybe it was a little too quick to make assumptions on Elfie's personality, based on his screaming-fit, but I will not argue with Finley, who had had many children in her life and thus was more accurate in her predictions. Besides it is hard to continue to howl for mommy, if you are held firmly and you are facing your granny from a very close proximity. It was even more scary, because he realized that the whole of him was just as big as Finley's head. He stared wide-eyed at the big nose, which was in the immediate vicinity, and would have done it for a very long time were it not for his least favourite activity of the day. Grooming time! "Eugh," Elfie scrunched his nose and turned his head away with little success. "Au-au-a-umpf-au-au-aua-umpf," he attempted to protest, but over time there were more "umpf"s than "auaua"s and he gave up to the inevitable fate of being slick and clean.

Elfie didn't seem willing to be placated by her grooming, but Fin was not easy to deter. She'd raised enough troublesome little Blackthorns to have earned the iron will of a mother wolf when it came to caring for creatures that would rather she take a hike. Partnered with the stubbornness that came from simply being a Blackthorn, Elfie's fate was sealed. He was going to be cleaned into submission, like it or not.

She grinned to herself when his grumbles weakened into half-hearted, mumbled protests. "There we go," she cooed between strokes, "Now you belong to me, my newest little minion." Fin's tail wagged with amusement at her own humor. She slowed her ministrations, though kept him firmly snuggled in her arms. "Now tell me, which nickname do you prefer? Elwoofwoof? Or Eljayjay? Go 'Ermmaflghhrrr' if you like Elwoofwoof or 'Grrmmrrrmrrrflrrr' for Eljayjay."

The grooming part stopped eventually, but Elfie's granny was in no hurry to let her minion go anywhere. The kid shot an almost mournful glance in Weejay's direction, as if asking, why wasn't she exposed to the same kind of abuse, because in his mind she was just as deserving and it was not fair. But here again Finley did not give him the slightest option to voice his protest, talking to him in such a strange and funny way, that at the end of it the boy burst out in set of merry giggles. Finley was funny, even if she had been evil mastermind moments earlier.

The boy seemed pleased with her now, which brought a smile to Fin's face and a happy wag to her tail. She always cracked 'em in the end. It was her gift--one that came with having a mind that worked on the same level as an infant's about 86% of the time.

"Hmm... I don't recall 'geeghehehgeeheeee' being one of the options, but I think I get where you're going," she said, fixing a thoughtful expression onto her face, "Elwoofjay it is!" Her face brightened and she opened her mouth in a wide, happy grin.

Elfie's grin grew even wider in response and he leaned up a little to have a curious sniff at his grandmother's mouth. Her breath smelled different from that of Weejay's - no milk there. In fact, a myriad of smells and for a moment he was lost in trying to wrap his mind around them - as a kid, who is looking at a book that he is yet unable to read yet. 

And then he decided to try again to break free and began to wriggle, until he managed this, only to tumble on his back and remain there lying helplessly just like an upturned beetle. "EEP, eeep-eeeep," he began to wail, though this time the tone was soft and pleading. He was in trouble that he could not get himself out of.

Elfie politely stuck his face right up into her grill. Fin considered giving his nose a good nip for the intrusion, but she appreciated his curiosity. It reminded her a bit of Liffey when she'd been a curious little puppy, sticking her nose into everything she could. She wondered what her eldest daughter was up to. She'd just been through her heat the last time Fin had seen her and was certain she'd gotten pregnant. That had been around Wildfire's time too. Was she a grandmother again again again?

Her grandson's eeping stole her attention back and she grinned at him. "What's wrong Woofie?" Fin asked, already changing his nickname for what was not the first, nor would it be the last, time, "Use your words now. I need you to explain to me in exact detail what's troubling you and what you'd like for me to do to help."

"EEEEEP!!!!!" Elfie yelled in response. A direct translation would be: "Stop lying around and DO something, lady!" But he was unable to word it out as Finley had kindly requested him to do. In his vocabulary there were three sound - "eeps" of various tones and modulations, melodic, smelly, but very content toots and belches, after he had had his meal. 

Somehow he managed to roll over and remained lying there on the den floor, looking around in a confused manner. However, this lasted only for a moment. Elfie saw the road to freedom (or the light at the end of the tunnel, where mommy had gone), got on his feet and began to wobble slowly, but determinedly towards the exit of the den.

Fin watched as the little boy continued to struggle. Another mother or sitter probably would've helped him get back to his feet, but she wasn't one of those. She raised fighters, and she wanted Elwood Junior Junior to get there on his own. Which he did, after only a bit of struggle.

She grinned proudly as he wobbled to his feet and began stumbling once again towards the mouth of the den. "Your brother is a determined little honeybee," she commented with a glance down at the still sleeping Weejay, "You might need some work if you're gonna keep up." The little girl stretched sleepily in response, rolled a little, and snuggled back into her side. Fin shrugged and looked back at her grandson as he made his escape. She'd let him get a little further before she intervened. Seemed like a good reward for his mischievous behavior.

No further intervention was necessary, because Elfie was taken down by a different enemy. Right about the time he thought he had reached the mouth of the den (with the poor eyesight of his, he was bad at judging distances; with that said - nowhere close), his movements had become slower, until they ceased alltogether. 

He whined half-heartedly against the protest, but that was soon drowned out by a cosy sounding puppy-snores. On his way to freedom, the little warrior had fallen victim to the sleep itself.

Last one from me! Thanks!

Fin watched with amusement as Elfie's batteries ran dry and he slowed to a complete stop. He fell asleep right where he was and with a happy sigh, she stood to go scoop him gently up and put him back beside his sister where she could snuggle them both until Wildfire returned to relieve her.

Unfortunately, the movement awoke Weejay, whom promptly picked up the fussing right where her brother had left off. Fin chuckled gently, shook her head, and went to placating grandchild number two. Apparently they were all Blackthorns in this den. And that suited Finley just fine.

<3<3<3