Morningside Cuesta the british are coming! (they might be a while)

With a deep exhale through her mouth, Khoe couldn't help but release a sputtering chuckle herself. It started off small, and slowly grew until it was all that she could hear. The mixture of joy and excitement, but anxiety and fear, had left her with nothing left to expel but a heart filled with laughter. And besides, she figured keeping the humor alive in the situation was all she could do to keep herself from falling beneath the weight of her own terror. Thank you. This isn't how I remember it being the last time I was in this situation.

In fact, her first birth had been nothing like this. 

Khoe was Akuti then, surrounded by her sisters in a small patch of marsh bells with a running creek near enough to her ears that she could hear the current whispering to her with each rush. One of the women sang hymns and preened the fur on her neck while her mate paced impatiently some yards away. She remembered feeling a pain so strong that she thought she might've split in half at least twice. And then they were there in front of her, and just as quickly, they were gone.

I just can't wait to see them.