Redhawk Caldera This summer's gonna hurt like a motherf***er

There were always many things on his to-do list, especially as a reinstated Alpha, but there was only one thing on Peregrine's agenda this morning: he wanted to visit @Finley. First, he rose early in the morning and spent a few hours hunting rabbits at one of the local warrens. He dropped off most of his catch for his family's breakfast, saving the largest, fattest rabbit for the pregnant Beta female.

"Knock, knock," he announced when he arrived at the den Finley and Elwood shared. His voice was muffled by the thick rabbit, so he spat it out on his paws and peeked inside. "Hey—ohhh, someone looks hungry," he commented when he saw Finley's adorably rotund sides. Yes, she was definitely eating for two... or three... or four...

As grateful as Finley was to still be pregnant after all she'd gone through, she was extremely ready for it to be over.  Pregnancy was a bitch.  Being all fat and tired and constantly hungry was just miserable.  The worst of it though was the fact that she was utterly and completely useless in this state.  Not only had she been unable to do anything to prevent her own sister's death, but now there were things happening like crazy about the Caldera what with Peregrine's sleep-walking right into the arms killer coyotes, all of the firebirds and everyone else learning how to be warriors with no Finley to teach them, and now the freakin' ALPHAS out there trying to recruit more members when she was the only outrider the pack even had?


ADSLKFHASKD;LFHDSAK THE FRUSTRATION.

But, at least she would have her little Elwood and company soon, then it would be all worth it.  Or so big Elwood kept reassuring her.  She believed him every once in a while, but it really got in the way of being a whiny bitch so she did her best to ignore him.

Fin stirred from yet another nap (since napping and bitching were all she was capable of) to the sound of a verbal knocking upon her eardrums.  She gave a wide yawn as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, turning to spy the newly reinstated Alpha's face grinning at her through a mouthful of bunny.  Thankfully he dropped that rabbit right at her paws (thankful since otherwise she would have had to rip it out of his mouth - mama bear needs food).  Her ears twitched at his comment just as she was reaching for the rabbit.  She paused, recognizing the fat joke for what it was.  It didn't stop her from snatching the rabbit away from him, but it did illicit a frown and a threat, "Don't make me eat you."

She was quick to snatch the rabbit. Peregrine smirked, staying just out of reach in the den's mouth as she threatened to eat him. By the look of it, she could possibly fit him in there. Of course, he knew better than to say this out loud. He was already pushing his luck and pregnant women were notoriously moody. It was best if he didn't tempt fate, not when things were finally getting to be okay again.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, folding himself to the ground just outside, his muzzle pointing into the dim den. "Don't take this the wrong way..." He paused, giving her a teasingly wary look. "But it really looks like it won't be long." She had really ballooned up lately. He guessed she would deliver within a week, two at most, which just meant... "The sooner they're out, the sooner you can get back out there to kick all the bears' asses."

Fin replied to his first question with a non-committal grunt as she tore into the rabbit's tender flesh.  The only thing she could think of to describe how she felt was 'pregnant', and seeing as Fox was the only one in the pack that understood exactly what they meant, Fin saw no need to pause her feast to use her words for Peregrine.  She did give him a wary look when he asked her to not take something the wrong way, which was kind of him to say because it gave her a moment to prep herself to be offended.  What he said wasn't all too bad, though, so instead of getting pissed, she gave a hopeful whine.


"God I hope it's soon," Fin admitted, "Being pregnant sucks ass.  I'm all about the having kids thing, but dear god I hate brewing them.  I feel so freaking useless.  I might just eat you out of sheer boredom." 

It appeared he'd said the right thing. Peregrine tilted his head, happy to let her vent. He could only imagine how difficult it was, sacrificing one's body like this. Of course, Finley wasn't anywhere near useless. Now that he'd had some time to process and come around, he was fully invested in the Beta pair's litter (not that he'd ever been opposed—just caught off guard). The caldera was strong enough to support more pups. Each wolf born into their ranks would strengthen the Redhawk name.

"You're not useless. You're doing the most important job of all," Peregrine reassured her. "If you're that bored and hungry, why don't you eat Elwood? Isn't he the one responsible for all this?" the Alpha wolf asked, jokingly waving a broad paw in the direction of her belly.

Peregrine reassured her that she wasn't useless, which Fin wasn't exactly in the mood to argue with, though she was even less in the mood to believe.  Admittedly, the feisty Blackthorn felt rather cheated even when she hunted an animal that couldn't just as easily kill her as she did it, so she did have rather high standards for what it meant to be "useful".  In the state she was in now, she would have loved to get into a tangle with a mouse.  It would be a pathetic opponent, but it was more than what she was doing now all knocked up and laid up from the knocked up.


Fin smirked at Peregrine's suggestion, but quickly shook her head.  "Nah, I'll need him around if we have a boy," she explained with a wag of her tail, "I figure it'll be easier to explain to baby Elwood that he's named after grown-up Elwood when I have a grown-up Elwood there to reference."

In that brief moment in between his question and her response, Peregrine's mind went to a strange place. He began thinking of the mechanics of reproduction. As a wolf, he didn't know the minute details like a human might. He just knew that mating with a she-wolf in heat resulted in pups. What exactly happened in between the boning and birthing? His head tilted, though Finley's voice effectively scattered his thoughts.

"You're gonna have an Elwood the Remix?" he asked, a little delighted laugh escaping him. "That's cool." But then it occurred to him: that would make the little boy Elwood Jr. He felt a strange tightening in his chest. He didn't really believe in curses, yet it would be a lie to say he didn't sort of despise the name Junior these days. It was the alias of a would-be baby killer, after all.

But Peregrine wouldn't let his internal misgivings spoil this moment. "And what if you have a girl?" he asked. "Finley the Remix?" he quipped.

Fin nodded proudly to confirm. "Yup, Elwood Rebooted," she answered with a small chuckle. Her mind went right to their plan to name a girl after Tiger when Peregrine asked, but Fin found herself unwilling to talk about it at that moment, she was still in pain over the loss of her sister and in her current mood she didn't really want to discuss it at the moment. "Nah, I'm not as self-centered as Twig," she insisted with a grin, "But speaking of self-centered! Elwood and I decided to both be Blackthorns. I give him an Elwood Jr and he'll take my last name." She gave a grin. She was actually quite thrilled about it. She had never had a problem with leaving her family's pack, but she had not liked the idea Of losing her last connection to them, especially now that Tiger was gone.

Peregrine snorted at Finley's playful jab about Elwood. His ears quivered forward at her next exclamation. The newly mated pair was going to take a shit on tradition by taking her surname instead of his. The Alpha male chuckled at this. He would have taken Fox's name in a heartbeat, though she hadn't had one until tying the knot with him. Sometimes he thought about asking her to take the pack's name as their own—and he would invite all of the other members to do the same if they wished—but for now it was just an idea floating around in his head.

"Well, congratulations to you, Mr. and Mrs. Blackthorn. Look at you, Fin, all domestic and shit." He grinned teasingly at her. "Of course, we redefine domesticity here. I'd venture to guess we're the least conventional pack when it comes to that stuff." Just look at both the Alpha and Beta pairs: the former were into same-sex extramarital affairs and the latter hadn't committed until getting knocked up. Peregrine smirked. Somehow, they were still the most tightly-knit family he had ever known, even closer than the Flightless Falcons.

"You ate that rabbit pretty quick. If you're still hungry, I can go rustle up some more grub," Peregrine offered, pushing himself into an upright position, head brushing the ceiling of the den's foyer.

Fin smirked at Peregrine's response.  Redefining domesticity was a pretty fair way of putting it, even if it didn't fully allude to the depth of just how badly they'd trashed the traditional concept.  She would have happily pointed out that Peregrine and Fox took bigger dumps on it than she and Elwood - at least they were truly monogamous and her mate wasn't running around trying to find butts to poke at with his wiener.


"I can only hope we're setting a good example for the future leaders of the Caldera," Fin said sagely, "If we don't get a bisexual polygamist out of at least one of these kids, I'll be highly disappointed in them."  She giggled at the thought, momentarily thinking of how nice it would be to have herself a little lesbian in the family again.  For all she knew, homosexuality was an inherited trait and if that was the case, there was every chance her own children might inherit it from her Blackthorn genes.  Turq would be so proud.  And Carp, for that matter.

Fin snapped out of her inner monologue quickly when Peregrine offered to go fetch more num nums for her.  She wagged her tail and gave him an eager nod.  "Oh yes please!" she replied, watching him stand, "I'll take two mustangs and an ox, if you please kay thanks, and make it snappy - I'm growin' a baby here!"

<3

"Okay, okay!" Peregrine replied. "I'm going! Two mustangs and an ox coming right up." He made a show of scrambling to his feet and ducking out of the den, only to swivel and poke his head back in for a last look at Finley. His jade eyes dropped specifically to her belly. "Yup... I believe you could fit all of the above in there," he jested, them backpedaled hastily before she could thwap him.

Laughing under his breath, Peregrine chirped, "I'll be back soon, Finmummy!" and then trotted away, happy for the opportunity to flex his Gamekeeper muscles for his Beta and her unborn babies.