The Sunspire my dove, my lamb

getting this show on the road :D

Olive watched the other woman she perused the stores of herbs and petals that most certainly did line the walls of their statuesque shelter. Olive was proud to say that only some of her reaping had to be foraged — most had been grown under thine own watchful, diligent eye. Those crops that needed to grow wild were the ones simply too large to successfully domesticate. Berry bushes, for one, tended to grown taller than she did… but those could be found in abundance in the sunspire’s lower reaches, and she loved them so! So the misted druid foraged anyways, even in the late days of her pregnancy, to indulge in spring’s delight. In fact, a small pile of blueberries sat next to the lavender petals; nothing if not a fragrant snack for later.

The babies within her seemed to like them too, for they danced and kicked the very second the saccharine sweetness graced her tongue. Briefly, the midwife wondered if berries could be used to quicken the womb, or to induce labor — but Olive came to the conclusion that, no, this was a part of the enchanting bond between she and her babies, and she and her babies alone. It was an amazing thing, to be able to make them happy and learn their spirits before they entered physical reality — and how she already doted upon them with songs and sweets and lots and lots of naps, so that her body and health could play host to her little parasites as best it could.

The mother to be only hoped things would remain as pure and whole as they had been those last few, mirthful days.

Olive turned her attention back to Seabreeze as her body fought against the pains, ebbing and flowing quite freely and growing more frequent. It was nice to listen to her comrade speak of her eagerness, for the shakti woman shared such emotions, and it kept the woman’s full attention off labor’s vice grip as it grew tighter across her abdomen. Later she would focus entirely on the task at hand, when her body demanded action and attention, but for now, there was no need to tire herself by struggling against nature’s natural processes when it could proceed just fine on its own. “I am glad you are excited,” chirped the fae, eyeing the gentle swell of Seabreeze’s sides fondly — a litter, with a father.

a complete family.

“You will do so well.” she lauded sincerely, lowering her body to the earth beneath the awning — half in the sun and half out of it, not willing to sacrifice the afternoon’s gentle sun entirely. She laid on her side; it was the only way she could, anymore.

Another contraction struck; but this one was different. The dull pain turned sharp and her body bore down in a way that was immediately familiar. Olive found it hard to speak as her womb churned, hard to breathe, but Olive dug her claws into the earthen, thatched floor and forced herself to inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, turning one of her body’s most autonomic responsibilities into something more effortful. A doleful whine, finespun yet pained, eeked from her maw. When it passed, and Olive regained her senses, she found her sides heaving with the effort. The fae allowed her tongue to loll out the side of her mouth most ungracefully, and trusted that Seabreeze would not think any less of her for breaking composure. ”It is important to breathe…” she stated, although she was not entirely succeeding in this endeavor herself.

“Otherwise, the pain is greater.”

It was knowledge that had first been told to her by her mother, who was very open about these things to both she and her brothers, and confirmed by yours truly through rigorous testing, during the birth of her first litter. Her mother had also been a naturalist and a midwife — and rather quite beautiful. Olive had never truly seen her mother’s skills in action, but her lessons were told through stories and lessons and always seems to apply to regular life as well; always pertaining to whatever particular situation was at hand. Her mother’s wise words rang as true then as ever, to turn inward and to be the passenger of this experience, not the driver, and the druid could hear her gentle voice as clearly as if she was right next to her — or what that Seabreeze? Well, she would never be truly sure, for was Olive focused solely on the moment at hand, paying attention to nothing but the workings of her body, suspended somewhere between heaven and earth.The laboring fae did not move from where she lay, but rested her chin on the ground between her paws and rocked her head methodically, uttering guttural moans and gasping whines as her body bade her. She grit her teeth and leaned into the urge to push —

— and, before she could believe it, there were three little babes suckling at her breast.

Olive peered at her brood, heavy-lidded and somewhat delirious from her undertaking. Yet another easy birth, though not without its torment, with all babies alive and accounted for. The mother literally could not ask for better. Olive lapsed in her words — there was nothing that could appropriately accommodate the emotions she felt at that moment. The babes were even more perfect in their physical forms than they were as spirits growing within her.

The first was a squalling little boy of pale fur and butterscotch highlights. The second, a filly the color of muted ash, and the third, another boy, calico with a perfect smattering of the other two. Two boys and a girl: it seemed a ratio that her body was satisfied with and deigned to gift her with yet again. Olive stared, wide-eyed and awe-struck, much the same way she marveled at the gods and the universe and all creation. For the first time in a long time, Olive looked up at Seabreeze, completely astounded as new-mommy hormones flushed her body and her fragile, newborn babies drank deeply and threw their pinkish limbs about and let out soft baby noises as if simply existing was just too much. Olive looked back down to the nascent trio, then back at Seabreeze, then back at her litter as if to say do you see? do you see?

She wished for the nameless man to meet his children, but she had a vague premonition that would never happen. The stars had hinted at it, almost an entire moon ago, but that reading hadn’t given her pause until that very moment — but then it struck her then, and it struck hard. She wasn’t alone in this, not even close, but no man should be cheated out of fatherhood, she believed — oh, how lovely being that experience truly was!