Phoenix Maplewood Grace under pressure

Reek finally spoke, and she was surprised to know that he too was in favour of a smaller litter. Once more she found herself considering her discussion with Wildfire about the pups. It was difficult to imagine Reek being in favour of Saena eating any extra puppies she might give birth to, but maybe she could still manage it in secret...

No, that was crazy. Even Saena knew that. She pressed the thought out of her mind and told her husband, "Good. A small litter would be good to start". She shifted, trying to imagine how their future would look and finding she was unable to. Her own family had been a pretty poor example of the way parenting should be, and Saena had left the plateau before getting much exposure to Blue Willow's style. She wished she'd taken her time a bit more, put her ambitions aside temporarily to learn... but then she wouldn't be here now.

"I'd like a boy and a girl", she admitted quietly. Just like her and Pura, minus the mother dying in childbirth bit. She didn't want any of that.