Blacktail Deer Plateau Take this feeling and make it grow

If he'd had misgivings about his rank just a week ago, it didn't show now. Peregrine walked boldly and proudly across the plateau, his neck arched and his tail held high. Everyone goes through phases, he told himself, sucking in a deep breath. With that, he put it behind him. Right now, Peregrine hadn't a doubt about his place in the world; he was the Alpha male, he was Hawkeye's mate and, pretty soon now, he would be a father.

The two of them had mused about their pups, of course, but only now, as he strolled through the wood, did the reality of the situation really hit him. He stopped in a shaft of sunlight, his breath catching in his throat. Would he really have a son and a daughter rolling at his feet in just a few weeks? He tried to picture them. Would they be black? White? Gray? Rainbow? His lips twitched.

Turning to face the direction of the den, Peregrine spoke aloud as if addressing Hawkeye's uterus from across the territory. "I don't care if you're boys or girls or how many of you are really in there... I just want you to be health and happy, okay? Is that a deal?" Realizing his own silliness, Peregrine smirked to himself and resumed walking, his head now filling up with all sorts of dreams and plans for his coming offspring.