Bearclaw Valley you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down

i'm fast forward / fading this since various are gone / ppc / etc nad it's high time for the birth. i'll leave it up for another week or so for anyone who wants to pop in another post! :)

Laurel frowned as @Indra was left outside the den. She didn't want to be without her sister now and felt cornered not knowing how close her sister was. She kept an eye on the den's entrance where she occasionally saw a flash of red fur in the form of Indra. Laurel murmured for her sister but in the mess of it all her words fell on deaf ears and the medic told her to focus on finding her breath and steadying, focussing, so that she could get the children out safely. Laurel eventually managed to focus on her children and their health, allowing herself to leave her worries about not having Indra by her side away. This was all Xan's fault, for if he had not treated her like a second rank citizen and had cared for her then she would not have gone here and all would be alright.

After a long and painful labouring Laurel was left with four pups. The first remained still after coming out. Laurel nudged it, licked it and tried to get it to work but before she could fully process that the pup was not normal or healthy the next pup came out. @Lucas was next and she cleaned him, too, put him and the dead pup by her belly so they could curse. Again she nudged the first pup but it was unresponsive still while the second one seemed so alive in contrast. The third came and @Piper was placed by her side too after being cleaned. The last was @Wyatt, a black pup that caused her a short pause as she was reminded of their father but she reminded herself that this was her child and she would make sure he would not be anything like Reek.

When they were all out Laurel nosed the first pup again but no response came. Laurel called for @Xan and Indra, asking them to help move the pups to her own den for she did not want to intrude here any longer. A brief glance was given to Annasiak, one that was difficult to tell -- was it gratitude or simply more envy? -- because she was so tired, before she departed the den with the pups. The dead pup was taken too, and Laurel did not want to depart with it until they were well settled in the den. She asked for it to be placed with her at first but eventually realised that it would never get healthy, no matter how much it was groomed, and allowed Indra to take care of it, bury it somewhere.

It was hard to be grief-struck when she had such beautiful babies by her side however and soon she forgot about the dead baby and allowed herself to rest while the three surviving pups lay by her side to drink their fill and rest with her, if only for a little while.