Sun Mote Copse Better hit the deck like the card dealer

She rested her cheek on Towhee's ankle bone, happy to just splat for a moment, when some more sounds issued from the den. Meerkat perked up immediately, her one functioning ear quivering as she heard her Neema's familiar voice. The tone was strange, pitched higher and louder than usual. The puppy squinted again, squeezing her body all the way through her mother's forelegs and plopping on her haunches to gaze up at her.

-"MAMA!"- she chirped while simultaneously making the sign. As with everything the half-deaf pup said, it came out overly loudly, not that Towhee could tell. -"MAMA!"- she repeated, then dropped the signing as she added, "WUH DAH?" She pointed her little snout toward the den again, body language hopefully filling in any remaining gaps in communication.

Of course, Towhee could scarcely read the child's clumsy lips, though she'd finally picked up on the way Meerkat kept looking over at the den, one ear twitching. The Regent swept onto all fours, nudging the child's cheek, then loped over to the doorway. She hesitated, hovering about a foot outside as she called, -"Hey, is everything okay in there?"-

Meerkat trailed after her mother, sidling up alongside her and winding through her forelegs again, much like a kitten. When she peeked into the den too, she made out Neema's familiar golden figure, accompanied by three squirming bundles: two dark, one pale. The pup gasped and repeated, "WUH DAH?!" One of the darker blobs was much twitchier than the other and it seemed to be the source of the strange noises.