Swiftcurrent Creek beta hamara aisa kaam karega

dated a couple of days after puppy birth -- @Dawn, @Stone, @Brook

aditya couldn't stop looking at them. he'd lay as close as he was permitted, not wanting to crowd dawn. . .but unable to rip himself away. they were hers, sure, and would always be hers. . .but in a small measure (and since DNA had a say, but of course he didn't know that) they were his, as well.

a brown boy so dark as to be almost black, and an agouti girl of multiple hues. they both were beautiful, blessed, perfect. how could he ever leave?

he could never leave again. he thought of vidya, suddenly—but those had been different circumstances; her litter would have a father. dawn's would not. and though she was more than capable of single-parenting even the most strong-willed of pups, he wanted—needed—to be here for her, and for them. there was no choice in it. he was rooted here, and he was glad of it.

adi crept on his belly closer to the whelping den, laying his head just inside, his nose pointed toward the pups at her belly. how are they doing? he whispered, smiling.