Emberwood clutch

The family who dodges the checker together, stays together?

@Victoria and @Sophia were two weeks old. He’d had fourteen days—yes, he was counting—to acclimate to their existence and yet Cambria still felt completely overwhelmed. It might be more accurate to say he was terrified. Not of his baby girls, but for them. They were so teeny and fragile. So vulnerable. Should anything happen to them, the Dragonling knew it would absolutely devastate him.

He spent most of his time hunting for @Odessia, contributing to their health and longevity in the only way he knew how. He returned from just such a venture now, carrying a moose’s shinbone in his teeth. There wasn’t much flesh left on it, yet it should tide over his mate for now. The marrow would be good for nourishing her and, by proxy, the pups. It would help them grow bigger, stronger, less breakable.

He halted just outside the den’s door, gently setting his scavenging at his feet. Cambria swallowed thickly, his heart and stomach seemingly dueling with one another to leap into his throat. He tentatively thrust his pale snout inside the cozy space, too worried about somehow hurting them to so much as breathe.

Victoria had been able to maintain the round, well fed belly she popped out with. Feeding regularly, sleeping soundly, and doing very little else as the days passed. She was fat and happy.

Her eyesight was not yet clear and likely would not be for several more weeks, but blurry white fur and a familiar scent alerted her to the return of her father all the same. It was the time for first attempts, and as such Victoria took the opportunity to begin pushing to a first stand - slowly but surely.

Short tail wagging along, shaky and unexperienced little legs held her up. What had he brought home for her mother today?

Sophia was impatient to be a wolf.

A real wolf, with functioning legs and eyes that could perceive more than blurred shapes and vibrations. There was more – she knew it,  but had no idea how to transition from potato to predator.

She was aware of her sister shuffling around beside her, and the sudden waft of something acrid. ManGuy. The little bundle dislodged from boobie, briefly fought her sister's tail, and wobbled into an upright position. She bared her very scary gums in a growl.

Gonna keep this moving, though feel free to toss in Dess anytime!

Nobody spoke. Odessia’s blue eyes fixed on the meat, so Cambria swiftly nudged it closer. She looked a little careworn. No wonder. She was doing the lion’s share of the child-rearing at this point. Even if he hadn’t been so damned afraid, there wasn’t a whole lot he could offer the puppies at this point in their little lives.

His tail stirred gently as he watched a wobbly Victoria find her feet. Good girl, he thought toward her, not daring to impede on the quiet of the den broken only by the sound of Odessia tearing flesh from bone—and, suddenly, a very squeaky growl. Cambria’s two-toned eyes flicked to Sophia to see her freshly detached from the teat, a bubble at the corner of her mouth as she bared her gums.

So foshes, Cambria said, surprising himself not only by talking but talking in babyspeak, apparently. Daddy’s not very dignified, is he? he crooned, unashamed, but still keeping his voice low as if its usual rumble might somehow harm the girls.

A sudden growl from her sister sent Victoria into a full freeze, looking into the direction of Sophia as though waiting for further instruction. Victoria was a bit more approving of her father, simply because her mother seemed to like him if nothing else.

She was much less eager to grow up. This was all she knew, and it was perfectly comfortable! Of course, the downside was that it was confusing. Cambria's unbothered response prompted a whine from her, confused but not quite upset.

Sophia responded to her sister's whine my "walking" (it looked like a drunken goose step) protectively in front of her, aiming her eyes at the larger of the blurry white shapes.

ManGuy made the air vibrate. Sophia squared up to him.

"Uh!" she said - commanded, and managed to look expectant despite her poor control of limbs and expressions. If you're going to barge in here,  do something entertaining!

Boobie was great, but it was getting a bit.. one-note. Perhaps dad could help.

His mismatched eyes darted to Victoria when she whined. Cambria immediately slung his belly to the ground and crawled toward both of his daughters. He felt so huge and unwieldy around them. He lowered his head so it hovered just over his outstretched forepaws, hoping to avoid intimidating the girls. Neither one seemed upset by his proximity, especially when Sophia stepped in between him and Victoria.

Awww, what’s wrong, lil’ Vicky? She didn’t mean anything by it. Did you, Soph? Cambria said, eyes flitting from one little face to the other. Good god, you two are so cute, it hurts me to look at you. My cute, sweet, tiny babies… he murmured, nuzzling toward them.

His moist nose bumped Sophia’s chest as delicately as he dared. She smelled like heaven. Cambria inhaled, then slid backward before he could chance doing any sort of incidental harm. But what was worse was the thought that Victoria might felt left out, so he wormed his neck around and over Soph to snuffle oh-so-carefully in Vicky’s ear.

Their father was quick to rectify the situation, comforting both girls and (lightly) smothering them with love. He of course had gotten it wrong that Sophia had upset her, Victoria could never be upset by her sister! Except that one time in the womb, but we don't talk about that anymore.

She gave what could only be a side-eye to her sister as Cambria snuffled deaf ears. He was acting weirder than usual today, and she wanted to know her littermate's thoughts on it.

Dad didn’t seem to understand her request for entertainment - or if he did, his response was only to flap his lips.  Sophia had expected movement, or a display of color - like the slice of vibrant green through the den door that was sometimes illuminated, sometimes not. Maybe a joke?

The pup gasped slightly when pleasantly warm breath hit her chest. The wet snoot moved on to Victoria before Sophia could give it an experimental pat. Her sister's blurry white face turned to her - she could sense it, two questioning eyes in the half dark.

Perhaps there was more to dad than a penchant for interrupting boobie. Sophia gave her sister an I'll-take-care-of-it look, wobbled toward Cambria's broad paw, and flung herself bodily on top of it. With one of his toes squeezed between her forelegs, she began to headbutt his wrist like a tiny, entirely ineffectual jackhammer.

His whole body froze when Sophia waddled closer to him, then promptly assaulted his paw. It didn’t hurt—if anything, it tickled—and he began to relax when he realized she was only playing around. Then she rammed her tiny skull against the protrusion of bone near his dewclaw, causing him to wince. Cambria wanted to yank his paw away from her, though he checked himself, withdrawing it slowly. He tucked both forelegs under his body like a loafing cat.

Okay, he said, trying to reassure himself as much as address the girls, if you really wanna headbutt me, go for the chest. At least it’s soft. But don’t go too fast, he cautioned (or more like pleaded). I don’t want you to hurt yourself, Soph. He nuzzled toward both daughters, then raised his head, took a deep breath and said, Okay. Come at me, bro.

Maybe Sophia was onto something with her whole 'this guy is a weirdo' idea. Was he inviting them to attack him? Didn't he know they were very vicious beasts? Not so much Victoria, but just the other day Sophia had stepped on a bug. So, they would hurt a fly.

Well, he was asking for it. Literally. Victoria, deciding to be brave, wobbled forward and took a clump of hair in her mouth. She had got him! She won!

Victoria's triumphant joy only lasted for about two tail wags before she let go with a look of pure disgust. Turns out that hair doesn't feel too nice in your mouth.

The paw disappeared, and Sophia looked up to see the blurry shape of dad move its mouth and make gentle bloo blee blah noises. Victoria seemed to understand what that meant - a taunt? A challenge? - because she toddled towards Cambria and launched a gummy assault. Not to be outdone, her sister half rolled, half crawled until she hit chest - and resumed her hammering with fearsome warcry squeak.

Mere minutes later, suddenly and in the midst of battle, she fell asleep.

Last post!

The battle scene was a little anticlimactic, not that the nervous new father minded. He held very still as Victoria approached and tried to take a chomp out of his pectoral muscle. He wasn’t sure how long he could resist the urge to squirm at the ticklish touch, though Vicky quickly let go with a look of disgust.

If you were looking for a nipple, he began to say, prepared to nose her in her mother’s direction when Sophia’s little cranium slammed into him.

He winced for her sake rather than his own, mistaking her small war cry as a cry of pain. But when he reached to help her, she just hammered at him again. Although he had ostensibly welcomed this, it took Cambria a moment to relax and reassure himself that she wasn’t doing any harm to herself.

He returned his attention to Vicky, quickly nudging her toward Odessia to nurse. And then when Sophia collapsed—his heart stopped for a second or two—he gently scooped her up and placed her in Dess’s care too before settling back and taking several long, deep breaths.

He’d dadded with his daughters. And nobody had gotten hurt. He smiled tremulously.