Redhawk Caldera meadowlarks

"daddy!" chickadee flung herself into his arms, though with a good deal more restraint. she had noticed his gait, and it evoked some deep fear in her, something she refused to think about now. 
jay next; she reached to tug him into a hug, then stopped stiff. "pups? mom! oh my god!" and her face filled with a huge smile. "more brothers and sister?" a long exhale; she turned to kivaluk, processing too late what her brother had asked!
and then taking in more swiftly that her packmate had not denied this at all. "we're friends but we live tog-- hey! dwin!" her belly too was warm, thinking of that minute, the same second flitting through kivaluk's head.
but something was terribly, horribly wrong, and chickadee's face fell the closer her sister approached.
and then;
hurt blossomed over her features, mixed with a good deal of confusion. and then knowing.
chickadee stood there a long time after dwin left, trembling; she forced herself not to cry and turned back to the audience, wiping a tear angrily from her face and avoiding kivaluk's eye. "well, um, c-can someone take me to mom?" she asked. "maybe dad? and jay, can you stay here? uncool of me to leave you alone like this," she apologized to her companion. "i'll be quick. don't let jay dare you to do anything," chickadee added, trying to inject humour into a situation quickly deflated by her sister's angry shout.