Whitefish River To make you feel my love

@Malila @Mohe @Emrik @Spica @Syrma
others are welcome once emrik and the pups have all posted at least once
some pp with emrik, lmk if i need to change anything
set for 6/10, early morning, just before sunrise

The last few days had been spent resting and preparing thanks to Hieronymous generously helping with Ira. She still made sure to stop by once every couple days just to make sure everything was still going well, but mostly, she had tried to finally listen to everyone and rest as much as she was able. She had taken a lot of naps, often with her mate who also seemed very happy to see her finally taking it easy. She really had no choice this last week as she had almost no energy. Preparing their den for the arrival of their children had taken her the better part of the last week since she took frequent breaks to eat or sleep, but last night, she finally felt like things were ready. Emrik had helped her make a bed of leaves and pine needles that they had been sleeping in, so now it was soft and broken in and would be perfect for delivering the puppies. She had plenty of plants nearby in case she needed them, and she had taken to eating borage leaves the last couple days to make sure she had plenty of milk. So now all she had to do was wait, which was far more difficult than it seemed. Without tasks to take her mind off things, her thoughts would often turn anxious as they drifted to the upcoming delivery. She tried to take her own advice and not worry about the things she had no control over, but it was difficult. 

What made things even more difficult for the healer was the fact that her daughters were still so angry with her. She honestly hadn't expected such a reaction from them; she thought they would be excited to have little brothers and sisters to help take care of and teach things when they were older. Now she had no idea what to do about it and often found herself reduced to tears over the whole thing. It only made things worse that Acheron left. He told them before he left that he was already planning to leave because he wanted to explore the world on his own, which she definitely understood, but deep down, she couldn't help but think it was all her fault. First with the stuff about their father and then with the news that there would be new additions to their family—it was hard not to think she was to to blame. She could only hope that the girls would eventually come around and that Acheron would visit soon like he promised. But until then, her daughters' anger was like a storm cloud over any happiness she felt as the family neared the puppie's due date. 

Still she managed to sleep most of the night, sprawled out on her side against Emrik; it was the only way she could sleep and still be able to breath. She had felt some contractions the day before that were far more intense than the cramps that were normal with late pregnancy, and so she was expecting the puppies any day now. So when she woke in the early morning darkness to a squeezing pain in her abdomen, she wasn't at all surprised. She hadn't quite remembered how painful the contractions were until now, strangely enough. The one currently working its way down her abdomen made her sit up and suck in a breath. She held the breath for a few seconds before remembering to let it out and draw in a deeper one as she rode out the pain. When the pain subsided, she reached over and nuzzled her mate to wake him if he wasn't already awake. Emrik? she said softly. The babies. She gave him a look mixed with excitement and fear; she had done this before and knew what to expect, but fear still lingered in her mind—she worried about them all being delivered safely, and she worried there might be problems, but she tried not to focus on those things, something that would be made easier once the labor progressed. 

It was an hour or so before the contractions became more steady and frequent. She had gotten up and lay down multiple times, sometimes preferring to pace the den and sometimes preferring to half lay down with her front half propped up against her mate. She was immensely grateful for his presence. 

It wasn't much longer before the pain and instinct guided her to push. She braced herself against Emrik and did as her body urged, pushing with the contraction. She repeated this many times (she was too focused and in too much pain to really count) until finally their first child was born. Speedy immediately reached over and cleaned away the sac and bit through the umbilical cord that attached the little puppy to her placenta, which she promptly took care of as well. The first was a little girl, delicate and cream colored and perfect. Speedy pulled her close and waited for her to start feeding before collapsing back against her mate. She knew she wasn't finished, so she savored the break while she had it, the tiny sounds of their first born warming her heart and bringing tears to her eyes. 

It was maybe half an hour at the most when the pain started again, and she shifted forward again, bracing against the contraction and breathing through it. The need to push came more quickly this time, and she leaned back a little against her mate again as she began to bring their second child into the world. She had to push a little longer with this one, but with one big, final push they were born. She repeated the same process—clean and detach from the placenta. When the puppy was clean and everything taken care of, she pulled him to her as well. Their second was a boy; he was a rich dark brown and just as perfect as his sister. Once she felt him start to feed, she relaxed against her mate once more. Her weary gaze drifted to the den opening where the soft light had just started to illuminate the floor of the den, and then they closed as she took the time to rest. 

She ended up falling asleep, exhausted from what the birth had taken out of her, but she woke with a start only an hour later. She looked down to the children, and they were nestled against her, content and sleeping. She released a soft sigh and lay back against her mate once more. I think it's just these two, she told him quietly. Malila and Mohe? she asked him with a yawn. She was still exhausted but she wanted to watch them sleep for a bit—admire them with her husband next to her presumably doing the same. They were so small and she already loved them more than she could bear. The tears came again, but she didn't care; she just rested her head against her mate and continued to watch their son and daughter sleep. Maybe once Spica and Syrma saw how perfect their new brother and sister were, they would have a change of heart. Speedy held on to that hope for now.