Moonspear rosehips

Less than a day after losing little Narwhal, the pains returned. This time, they came in the familiar ebb and flow of labor. Compared to yesterday, this felt right, though the timing still frightened Meerkat. She paced across the ulaq, fretting that the other babies were also arriving too early and wouldn’t make it.

There was nothing to fear, in the end. Just after midday, Meerkat delivered a baby girl, then another a short while later. They were both on the smaller side, though not nearly as tiny as their brother. The one could’ve passed for Narwhal’s twin. Perhaps because of this resemblance, she found herself fussing over the youngest in particular, making sure she could breathe.

Eventually, Meerkat tucked her newborn daughters against her belly to feed and turned to @Njord with a bittersweet smile on her lips. She reached for him, her pale snout sliding along his cheekbone as she nuzzled against him. She was still sad about their loss, though these two little girls restored her hope and joy.

Can you announce the good news? Then I suppose we should pick names for introductions, the proud but tired mama murmured.

I wasn’t going to post this for a few more days but then I realized it’s International Women’s Day and this felt like a great way to commemorate that. Welcome to the world, @Orca II and @Seal! Please allow babies and dad to post first, then this is open to everyone.