Hushed Willows these are the days of our lives

no worries dear! <3

Khali arrived first, and while she was grateful for her mate's company, he wasn't a midwife. Still, she leaned into his touch, for some reason or another lacking the normal aggression that marked new mothers. Maybe it was because she had already given up, with two pups dead in front of her? If there was nothing to protect, then why bristle?

Just stay with me, Lily blubbered, trembling like a leaf in autumn. I-- She was racked with another contraction and dipped her head, groaning, only for Olive to arrive on the scene seconds later. The sylph's sweet voice filled the air, a balm to her broken heart, and herbs were placed before her. Without hesitation, she gulped them down, wondering what intestinal price she'd pay for the calming tendencies they'd offer.

The pain just kept increasing; it was relentless, and she laid down, sobbing, trying to imagine herself anywhere else but this. A blinding set of contractions, then, and Khali and Olive blurred in her vision. . .and then relief, as another babe left her body.

Lily turned, utterly fearful, using teeth gentle as anything to tear the sac and begin to clean the pup--which promptly began to wail. She burst into fresh tears, murmuring wordless endearments to the child and laving the tissues of an old world from its perfect newborn flesh. A girl, fiery cream like Khali. @Lana, she whispered, her friend's face coming suddenly to mind. With Olive's help, she nestled the little pup close to her belly, heaving a sigh of relief the suckling began.

Oh, Khali, we have a little girl, Lily bawled, pressing her forehead against his nearby form. There was only a short respite before the ripples started again, but it was easier, now--as if the chamomile had started to work. A feeling of serenity had come over her, a connection to the ground beneath her, and the daughter at her teat.

Soon, a second squalling child was born: a pale boy who struck her as unfamiliar thus far, but whom she would later name @Ziggy, after the first sounds the lad would make. He was ushered close to Lana, and the storm clouds that had closed in around her began to clear. It would be all right. The hunchback had been wrong.

Lily turned to the pair assembled with an exhausted but exuberant smile that could rival the sun for its brightness. . .and a dull ache in her womb suggested that there was more to come.