Arrow Lake Will you be my breath through the deep, deep water

In the much needed moments of quiet, she stole glances at the three healthy, nursing children, smiling a little at Mahler's words of praise. She, too, was drawn to the movement at the den opening, tensing a little before realizing it was Stigmata. Her tail sluggishly thumped against the ground a few times in response to his presence. She also wondered why he remained outside, but she was too tired to dwell much on it as she rested her head on her paws once more. She was beginning to think she might be done. She was sore and exhausted, but the pain had not returned yet, and she hoped that meant this part was over. Almost immediately after the thought had crossed her mind, the now familiar squeezing pain moved down her sides and across her abdomen again. Taki lifted her head, closing her eyes as her breathing quickened in response to the hurting. The pain passed, and she released a harsh breath. She wasn't sure she had the energy to do this again, but she didn't really have a choice. Tapping into some hidden energy store not even she knew she had, she managed to sit up again as the pain returned. She leaned against Mahler once more as the waves came and went, each time closer together. She knew it would soon be time for the even more painful act of pushing. 

This pup turned out to be the most difficult to deliver so far, made even harder by the fact that she was very quickly losing steam. Taki pushed harder and longer than she had needed to with the first three, and she began to worry that something was wrong. Panic crossed her face, replacing the exhaustion and agony that had surely been there before. She had no way of knowing if this was normal. Again she pushed, a whine slipping from her as she fought to bring her child into the world where it was meant to be. She paused to catch her breath for only a few seconds and one more long, hard push would finally deliver her fourth. She thought she might cry from relief. A bit sluggishly, she moved to clean the bear of a puppy, freeing him a little more slowly than she had the pups before him. She managed fine, though, and his cries soon filled the den. Taki brought him close to her, marveling at how large he was, and once she was sure he was nursing and that the others seemed fine still, she fell back to the ground, her breathing still fast as she attempted to recover from the arduous delivery. After a few minutes, she lifted her head from the ground to rest in on her front paws again so that she could watch the four of them as she waited, praying that she was finally done.