Redhawk Caldera You'll be always on my mind

While Fennec tucked into the duck, Towhee was all too happy to simply sit there and murmur sweet nothings against Killdeer's fuzzy forehead. As she cuddled him, she ached a little for her puppies as newborns. She had the presence of mind to think, Seriously? At this age, they'd absolutely overwhelmed her and she hadn't really had many moments like this. Although if she went back to last year, she could certainly recall many of them with Meerkat. That made her insides twist as she worried again about the missing yearling.

Fen captured her attention and Towhee looked up to read her lips. At first, her brow furrowed. Was Fen anticipating her son leaving the pack already? He was only a few days old! Then she realized what she actually must've meant and blamed her musings about Meerkat for the momentary mistunderstanding.

"They feed pretty constantly for the first couple of weeks. But I'd steal away at least once a day to stretch your legs and get some air, otherwise you'll go stir crazy. As long as you don't go far and come back within a couple minutes, he'll be okay. In a few weeks, you can probably start leaving him for a little longer, though since he's your one and only, I'd just make sure someone's around to keep an eye on him. Keep him warm too. I'm always happy to babysit." She wondered if Fennec could hear her smile.

"I'm glad you only had one," she said after a moment, "'cause with one, you can really focus on him and enjoy him without being totally overwhelmed. You and Fig were pretty easy, though raising Meerkat was just a different experience altogether, especially compared to my current bunch. I love all of you guys ridiculously," she continued, hoping this real "from one mom to another" talk didn't bother Fen, "but I wish we had control over how many. I'd always go with one at a time, maybe two... y'know, if I could pick."