The Sentinels To the lepers in your head

It was a few weeks, since Osprey had returned from her journey, the latter part of it fighting with morning sickness and puking in the bushes or wherever along the path she happened to be. Either this was a sign of pregnancy or she had caught a bad case of flu - both options were possible. She had also noticed herself tiring easily and, where hunting and gathering had taken less effort previously, now had become a harder task. 

Therefore she had decided to take as much rest as her body required and do stuff, when she really felt well. As the days went by there were visible changes to her shape - it became more round and her teats began to swell. So did the behaviour change too, from the number of times she had to go outside from the den to relieve herself to the growing restlessness. The den that had served as their humble and comfy home so far, didn't give her the sense of security that she wanted and now one of the daily tasks was going through the territories, seeking for the appropriate place for whelping.

This was she doing now, inspecting a hallow nested under the exposed roots of a large tree.