Stavanger Bay Life happened.

It was late afternoon as Julooke sat atop the entrance of the den. The sun wasn't in a position to be shining on her, unfortunately, for she dearly liked to sun bathe. However, her large belly made her motivation to find a sunny spot nonexistent. For the past few days, she had been having pains and so she didn't really walk around much. They weren't bad pains, but they were there enough for her to notice them. Rest had seemed to make it better, but she was increasingly aware that the time for her pups to greet this world was fast approaching.

Idly, she wondered where her mate was. The more her pregnancy progressed, the more he seemed to be around her, and she was thankful for that. He got to experience all the wonderful things about her pregnancy, including feeling the pups move around in her belly. It was an incredible feeling, one she would miss when she finally gave birth to them. However, it would be one miracle giving way to another. She couldn't wait for the day she would finally get to see her babies.

With a startling yelp, Julooke was brought out of her day dreaming. A pang hit her side, one worse than the previous ones she had felt. She shifted her weight, thinking maybe she had been laying wrong. The pain went away, only to return a few minutes later. She whined in concern, stood, and started to pace around the den. Another pain. These were different. They were more regular than what she had been experiencing. Instinctively, she went into the den, laying down only to get up a moment later. She turned in circles a few times before laying down again, but she just couldn't seem to get comfortable. She stood once more, scratching at the den floor, whining as her contractions got closer and closer together. Her body was telling her it was time.

She turned toward the entrance of the den, intending to go out and call for Verrine, but another pain hit her abdomen. There was no time now. She turned in circles a few times before lying down once more. Her breathing was labored as her instincts took over. A few moments later, the first pup was being born. A boy. Charon, she said softly, before licking him clean and nudging him to her belly. It wasn't long before another pup came, this one a girl. Liyanì, she named her, from the names she and Verrine had picked out; a name to honor her father, Liyano. The next pup was another boy. Kevlyn, she said with a smile. The next was a boy, as well. Levi, she named him. She knew the pups would look mostly the same, and their adult colors would come with age. But, she could already tell that Charon was lighter in color and Liyanì was darker. Kevlyn and Levi looked remarkably the same as each other, and were a happy medium between Charon and Liyanì in color. She breathed a sigh of relief as they all suckled, seemingly healthy. She laid her head down, tired from the birthing.

From the very minute Kevlyn slid out onto the den floor, wrapped in a thin but strong capsule of flesh, he was whining. From his small, wet lungs, it was hardly more than a mumble of scratchy sounds, but on his level it was the shrieking of a scorned banshee. His throat felt raw not even five seconds out of the womb, but that didn't stop him from whining.

He kicked out with surprisingly strong little legs, striking something with one soft paw pad. He wriggled, eventually found his way to his stomach, and began to claw his way across the dirt.

Before he could get anywhere, he was named—Kevlyn, a handsome name—and placed alongside his mirror image. Some subtle link between them comforted the baby immediately, though every breath still loosed a faint whistle from his quivering nostrils. After a short while, he found his way to a teat and nursed vigorously, kneading Levi's side with one chubby paw and Julooke's belly with the other.

The small puppy squirmed into life, his breaths coming in short, shallow gasps as the warm coating was pulled away from him, replaced with the damp fur of his twin as they were placed beside each other. Levi yawned, turning toward his much more animated brother, and settled down next to him for a long, well-earned nap.

But it wasn't long before Levi jerked awake, this time with a strange sensation in his belly. What could it be? He had felt something like it before, in the womb, but nothing quite like this. It was soon after that the larger wolf, the one whom he would later call Mommy, scooped him up and laid him at her teat, neatly arranged next to Kevlyn, the last along the line of four pups.

The little grey worm found a teat and latched on, wrapping his lips around it and suckling heartily, droplets of warm, precious milk leaking onto his cheeks as he gorged himself for the first time. Then, after what seemed like a long feast, Levi curled against his brother and slept again.

Verrine was hunting when his children were born.

For days now, they had waited; the puppies were due any moment, and every time Julooke winced with discomfort, they waited with anticipation to see if that moment was the moment. Verrine's nerves were frayed. He found the waiting game to be nothing short of absolutely maddening, and his restlessness and fidgeting were probably irritating to Julooke. Finally, he had decided to hunt. Channeling some of his anxiety into something physical and challenging would help give him an outlet for all the energy that buzzed inside him with nowhere to go, and besides, Julooke would need food anyway. Her pregnancy and looming labor prevented her from hunting for herself now.

So he hunted, with little success. He managed to catch a sleek, summer-fattened groundhog, at least, which would make a good snack. He was approaching the den he shared with Julooke, the warm, limp groundhog clutched in his jaws, when the smell hit him.

It wasn't an unpleasant smell, but it was different. In it was a combination of blood, warm earth, wet fur, and something else he couldn't identify. That something, however, made his heart leap into his throat and begin to flutter and race like a hummingbird. At last, the puppies were here! For the briefest of moments he was disappointed that he had missed their birth, but it was only a fleeting thought, for he knew that it was the natural way of things for the father not to witness the birth of his young. The most ancient instincts of the wolf forbade it.

He dropped the groundhog several yards from the entrance to their den, his prize forgotten as he quickly ducked into the dimness. In the seconds it took for his eyes to adjust to the low light, the smell of puppies and birth overwhelmed him, and he couldn't contain the giddy delight that set his heart afire. He saw Julooke, his sweet, beautiful companion, exhausted and bedraggled, and nestled against the soft white curve of her belly were four tiny, fuzzy lumps. Their children. He approached Julooke, kissing her tenderly on the head. His heart swelled with so much love for her that he thought it might burst. "Oh, Jules," he whispered, his voice full of tenderness. "They're so beautiful. I love you so much." He settled beside her, watching his babies nurse and fumble about with a mixture of shock and awe on his face.

She came into the world as a tiny dark bundle wrapped in an assortment of goo. The infant had no understanding of what “wet” and “dry” were until the cold air of the den met her body. Crying out in protest against the unpleasant sensation, Liyanì squirmed and wriggled helplessly on the floor until her mother’s tongue was felt against her back. A gurgling coo escaped the babe’s toothless mouth as she welcomed the warmth. Her caregiver’s presence would quickly become a soothing source of comfort.

The second-born was soon nestled between two other furry bundles. Liyanì felt small alongside them, but was calmed by their scents that her bitty nostrils drew in. Despite her teeny size, the whelp nursed hungrily. She latched onto one of her mother’s teats for dear life and suckled away until the fullness of her belly lulled her into a dreamless slumber.

It had been a long journey, but he had finally arrived. He came to life ready to fight whatever demons and dragons needed fighting but, in lack of the aforementioned, Charon enjoyed a bath instead. Not that he wouldn’t have been able to free himself from the goo that encased him at his birthing moment, of course. As he wriggled himself to the place of food – the nudges helped, of course, a little, maybe – and found a teat to suck on. Charon breathed in the scent of the one who had cleaned him, identifying her as his mother and knowing that she was important to his life.

Soon Charon was forced to share the food with his siblings, though he did not let go of his particular space of belly and milk.

After a while, another wolf appeared to disturb the peace, but Charon paid him little mind, for the appearance of this stranger did not seem to disturb the peace, and therefore, he was not truly a stranger. Charon did not sense unease, sensed very little but the delightful warmth that surrounded him and the softness of his mother and his siblings. He was where he was supposed to be, at peace, and ready for the adventure of life.

Verrine arrived not long after the last pup had graced them with their presence. At least, Julooke was pretty sure there would be no more. The contractions had subsided, giving her a good indication that they had been blessed with no more than four beautiful, healthy puppies. Julooke would have been ecstatic with just one puppy; the fact she and Verrine had four was simply off the charts for her. Her tail wagged briefly upon her mate coming in; she didn't want to send too much dust into the air, knowing it would not be good for the newborn pups to inhale. She smiled, stretching her neck out to nuzzle him. I love you, too, Verrine, she responded softly. Do you want to announce it to the rest of the pack? she asked, figuring he would like to be the one to tell everyone that their new pack mates had arrived, finally.

The pups whimpered here and there, and Julooke was diligent in bathing and licking them to hopefully provide some comfort to them. Her motherly instincts were kicking in quite well, and she was already doting on them. They had her wrapped around their paws already, and they didn't even know it.

All attempts to soothe the nursing Kevlyn ended in disappointment, for the disruption of his feasting earned nothing short of unbridled fury. He abruptly let go of his new favourite teat, aiming his wide and clumsy jaws at the tongue Julooke ran over him. He was much too new to the world and slow to actually catch her, but he wavered like some kind of menacing cobra nonetheless, his head wobbling side to side at the mercy of his weak, spindly neck.

Scents bombarded him from all sides now that his head was propped unsteadily up, and his nose, still wet with amniotic fluid and unable to discern much more than the strong odours of the two adult wolves, worked furiously in the air. Every sharp inhale was punctuated with a soft whimper as he instinctively memorized the scent of Julooke, which was something between salt and rich milk (not that he knew it) and of Verrine, who smelled more like testicles masculine, with a distinct musk that spoke to Kevlyn's inner wild spirit, as well as dust, salt, and something yummy.

Having already forgotten about the offensive bathing, and quickly growing bored of his olfactory exploration, Kevlyn sighed loudly through his nostrils and latched back onto the teat, sucking hard and whining between each pull of milk.

Sorry about the delay here. <3

Levi whined at his brother's loud and obnoxious disturbance woke him. How dare he wake the youngest of the brood?! The small grey pup let out a mewl that was meant to be a fierce growl, but was more pathetic baby-sound than anything threatening. Levi was exhausted, but hungry again! He rolled over, trying to find a comfortable spot, and quickly found his teat and began suckling the thick, warm liquid.

Though his brother kept whining between each sip of milk, they were all finally able to enjoy their dinner without Kevlyn's wailing. It was a fleeting thought, but he hoped his brother would calm down as he aged.

Sleep came in intervals for the tiny girl. Her brothers made it difficult for her to snooze for any long period of time. Whenever she woke, Liyaní would issue her own set of protesting whines, squirm around for a moment, and then slip into another slumber.

Life was good for the smallest member of the Ostrega quartet. Although she could not see or hear, she could sense that all was well. She felt warm and secure in the company of her immediate family. She was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Charon was alone for a bit, contently suckling on the teat that he had conquered, but after a while others followed and the den became busier, bustling with activity (or so it felt). Charon continued to suckle on the teat that he had first found, ignoring — for now — the activity all around him, and contently inhaled the scent of his mother.

For now, this was enough for the tiny Ostrega — it was all he knew, and all he needed until he grew bigger, to have a safe place where he was surrounded with family as he got the chance to grow.

Making a last post so it counts for EXP. :) Sorry for posting out of turn!

Soon, the whiny pup's belly was round with milk, and his body began to feel sluggish. He fought valiantly against it, struggling futilely to escape the grasp of exhaustion, but ultimately fell further and further toward a lack of consciousness he comprehended instinctually.

He settled in cozily next to Levi, yawned loudly, and drifted into a deep sleep.

same here! hope that it's okay to post out of turn, considering the puppies aren't really doing anything yet anyway so it doesn't have much impact on anything. (: also my last post here.

When Charon's stomach was filled, he stopped drinking and settled down on the floor next to his mother. He mewled softly as he leaned against his mother's soft fur. Charon didn't really want to go to sleep — he had so much left to discover! — but he found that he didn't have much say in these things.

With the safe watch of his parents, Charon Ostrega soon drifted off to sleep, letting the world pass him by while he prepared for the rest of his life with a good nap.