Sun Mote Copse you keep this up and this won't be the last plug i pull.

"Awwww fuck, Twig," Fin moaned just as the pair were settling down for the night, "I think it's baby time."

All the usual signs had been there that day. She was restless, she was uncomfortable, there was cramping, there was no possible way her stomach could get any larger, etc. She'd done the usual nesting bit where she spent hours arranging the bedding, then threw it all out, then threw it all back in, then went off to beat the crap out of a stick as a way of releasing some of her pent-up frustration, then spent another couple hours arranging. It had really been quite exhausting, so when she'd snuggled up beside her mate just now, she'd been really looking forward to getting some sleep.

But apparently this batch of kids were a bunch of assholes. They wanted out now, and they weren't giving Finley any choice in the matter.

"Yeah, yeah, happy joy joy... Wanna go grab @Eljay?" she asked as her mate showered her face with excited kisses, fighting against the smile he was causing. Fin didn't particularly think Eljay's services as midwife would be necessary here. I mean, after nine kids, these things would probably just fall out of her. She just knew that this was going to be painful and it was going to take a while. Having Jay around was more for her comfort than anything else. And it would be a comfort to him as well, seeing as he did like to worry about these things.

Finley stood as @Elwood left to fetch their eldest. Let the pacing begin... she thought to herself with a sigh. Giving birth sucked. These things better be real damn cute.

I'm bored so I'm starting the thread now lol Babies won't be born till after midnight though so we'll still have lil' Cinco de Mayo burritos!

Elwood had suspected this was coming; the signs had been obvious all day, and when Finley finally relented and admitted that it seemed like it was baby time, he wasn't surprised. He was excited -- and knew she would be too, once the physical demands of labor were done -- but they had both been through this rodeo many times before and he knew what the expectations were. Before long, she would kick him out of the den, and he would have to while away the time pacing anxiously outside.

Her suggestion to seek Eljay's assistance was met with immediate agreement. Although Fin had given birth to four other litters, she had already expressed concern before they had even conceived. She wasn't as young as she once was, and throughout her pregnancy Elwood had quietly fretted about her ability to successfully deliver what would likely be their last batch of puppies.

"Love you," he said, pressing one more kiss to Finley's cheek before retreating from the den. As he stepped into the cool night air, he took a deep breath to steady himself and then called for his son, knowing that @Eljay would want to be there not only as their eldest child but also as an experienced midwife.

I didn't tag everyone bc I don't know if everyone has accounts yet, BUT WELCOME TO THE PLANET

Fin had actually forgotten her misgivings about giving birth probably within about five minutes of deciding to go for it anyway. It was probably a good thing because a worried Fin was an unpleasant Fin, and a pregnant Fin was unpleasant enough already without worried Fin on top of it. As her stomach cramped with another contraction, not making it through this birth was just about the furthest thing from her mind. She was more concerned with getting these little bitches out of her so she could get some damn sleep.

Her ears twitched as the call for Eljay sounded. She knew they likely had a while before any puppies showed up, but still she hoped her son would hurry. She knew it was important to him to be part of this and didn't want him to miss it, so she would hold off as long as she could. But sometimes puppies didn't want to wait, and as the minutes wore on, it slowly became apparent to Finley that these puppies were some of the not-wanting-to-wait-inest things she'd ever birthed. Her contractions began to speed up like crazy, leading her to wonder if she was actually going to manage to drop these kids out of her in under an hour.

Three hours later, Fin understood completely that she had been very, very wrong about that. She'd begun offering the babies in her stomach bribes to come out of there and more recently had started swearing at them. She didn't know what was taking Eljay so long but could only assume it had something to do with his own kids, or maybe that bitch Legs had started popping out babies before her and had called dibs on him. But in any event, she couldn't wait anymore. She wanted these things out, so she went to work getting them out.

@Avery was first--a little wet ball of pale grey wool. Fin breathed through the pain as she went to work cleaning the little girl up and making sure she was as cozy and warm as possible before she had to abandon her to go have another one. The second came about thirty minutes later, although she was so tiny, Fin had barely even noticed. There just suddenly appeared another little grey thing on the ground, wriggling about with black-streaked arms and a bright pink nose. This one too was tended to, abeit a bit more frantically seeing as Fin wasn't sure just how long it'd been lying there and she wanted to make sure her most recent daughter didn't like suffocate or anything. Then, Sugar Glider was snuggled up beside her big sister, marveled at for a moment for how absurdly tiny she was, and then abandoned as well. There was more work to do apparently.

The third took a while. The third was apparently a little asshole because he decided to plug her up for an hour before Finley finally won the battle against him. Crow came squalling into the world to the sound of his mother crying out "FINALLY" in a weary, aggravated tone. She took care of him while grumbling and plotting her retribution. By the time he was placed alongside his sisters, she had decided on embarrassing the crap out of him in front of his first crush when he was six months old. That seemed like it would do, and in any event, she had no time to come up with anything better. It was number four's turn.

Number four was promptly deemed to be the good child. Not only did he come quickly, but she actually felt his arrival so she didn't have to worry she'd overlooked him and he'd died on her. @Penn was cleaned up without any plans for vengeance rolling around in her mind. In fact, she was feeling overwhelmed with gratitude by then for the fact that she knew that this one was her last. Her belly felt officially baby-free. She snuggled up beside them again knowing she wouldn't have to get back up--they could all just lay here for the next week and a half and not be in horrible pain.

Thank fuck.

Y'hear that people? Penn is the GOOD child. And it's not just because he's played by the same character who plays his mom (wait I'm a person, not a character... oh well). It's because he was legit the best one. Sure, Avery was the prettiest. Sugar was the cutest and Crow would probably be the strongest. But Penn or Pox or Foxegrine or whatever the crap they would end up calling him on any given day would always be the best.

Maybe it was his complete confidence in this fact that made him behave himself so well during his birth and in the days to follow. His confidence in being the best had placated him into being good, which had earned him the title of the good child, which had in turn made him the best. That's some self-fulfilling prophecy shit right there. But whatever the case, Penn was more than happy to exit the womb once his minutes-older brother got his obnoxious ass out of the way. And once he became part of the world, he was more than happy to be cleaned up, smushed against his siblings, smushed against his mother, and then smushed against his mother's teets for some noms.

Life was going to be good. Penn Blackthorn had complete confidence in that too.

She tumbled to earth,
crash landed as a wet sock,
then flopped to sleep.

It was Finley’s bribes that finally coaxed Avery to make her debut into the world, or so it seemed. Of course, she couldn’t actually hear her mother’s promises or curses, but the timing of her birth said otherwise. She somersaulted into existence without too much fanfare, and gave a few satisfied-sounding peeps as though she was analyzing her new surroundings.

Once she was tucked in against Finley’s stomach, she began to nurse. She was aware of the gradual arrival of each of her siblings as they were placed near her, but she had no complaints. As far as Avery Blackthorn was concerned, everything was peachy.

The hours ticked past slowly as Elwood waited outside the den. Eljay hadn't come yet, which worried him -- not for Eljay's safety, but for Finley's. If something went wrong, he wanted an experienced medic nearby. But she seemed to do it without too much trouble, and Elwood had even slipped into an uneasy doze when he heard her cry out triumphantly/tiredly.

He sat bolt upright and peered into the den, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness backlit by the moon over his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, his gaze sweeping first over Finley as he determined that she was, indeed, in one piece. "Does everyone have all their fingers and toes?" he queried next (even though wolves don't have fingers). He looked to the four little silver bodies at Fin's side and his heart swelled with pride.

Eljay was fiddling with @Weejay and @Elfie and watching them while Wiffle had a moment to herself when the call sounded. But he was all alone, so he couldn't exactly leave the pups to be. There was an urgency in the call that made Eljay immediately know what it was about. His heart lurched to his throat as he looked down at the poor defenseless pups and also thought of mommy being in pain. Yet she was experienced and while he wanted nothing more than to help, Eljay also knew he could not possibly leave his children here all alone. He, in turn, called quickly for @Wildfire, who eventually turned up.

Once he had the chance to get away, Eljay quickly kissed the pups and Wiffle good-bye and rushed his way towards the calls' origin. He arrived with breath caught in his throat. I'm here! Eljay shouted upon his approach. He saw daddy first and called out even before he reached the den: How is everything going? I came as fast as I could!

*shamelessly blames kids for being late*

Was giving birth always this exhausting? As Finley laid beside her batch of burritos, she was finding it very difficult to even keep her eyes open. She laid with her head and body sagged against the floor, breathing heavy and slow. She forced her eyes open when she heard someone slipping into the den, but not even her immediate, instinctual motherly alarm could get her to lift her head. Fortunately, it turned out to be Elwood and not some homicidal vagrant (because the Copse had a ton of those, obviously). She smiled at him as the tip of her tail twitched to show her happiness, which she was attempting to use to cover up her mild alarm.

"I dunno, are they even wolves? I forgot to check," she quipped breathlessly, her smile faltering as she realized how difficult it was to even speak, and the thought randomly spasmed across her mind that if it had been a vagrant, Finley wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing to protect her newborns.

When Eljay arrived, she made the worst move she could have in an attempt to hide her weakness from her anxious son. By trying to roll and lift her head/appear to be okay, she managed to cause the world to shift around her in a violently dizzying way. She collapsed back onto the ground (which wasn't exactly dramatic, seeing as she had been laying down still) as her stomach rolled from the flash of vertigo. Everything went briefly black, but returned to her far blurrier than it had been a moment ago. She shut her eyes against the still spinning world and shortly found herself fighting to even stay conscious.

On first glance, Finley's exhaustion had been evident, but it hadn't been alarming to Elwood. However, when it became evident over the next few seconds that she was having trouble staying upright and speaking, he began to worry. "Fin?" he said, dropping all of the playfulness that had previously colored his tone. Behind him, Eljay arrived, and Elwood backed up and turned to face him.

"The puppies are good I think -- there are four of them," he said, and then continued on the next breath. "It took a lot out of your mom, though -- can you check on her?" He spoke calmly despite the fact that his heart was beginning to race in his chest. Surely she would be fine, but his mind kept returning to their conversation before they had even conceived. He stepped aside to allow Eljay more space to enter the den and approach his mother.

Eljay couldn't quite see into the den, though he heard mommy shift a little. With worry in his eyes he looked at daddy, who said that everything was probably just fine. Eljay nodded and he was glad that he got permission to enter the den so that he could check. Mommy? It's me, he said as he entered the den. Are you okay? Was the labour long? Did -- does anything hurt right now? Eljay waited patiently, though it was clearly written on his face that he didn't feel very patient at all. He wanted to be sure that mommy was safe, stat.

There were voices around her. Fin heard them, but she didn't understand them fully. There were bits and pieces in there that she tried to grab and cling to. Elwood. Eljay. Babies. Elwood. Eljay. They were asking things, weren't they? Fin felt swoony, but not in the way she had when she and Elwood had first begun courting. Swoony as in she was pretty sure she was about to fall off of the earth if she stopped clutching onto it as hard as she was able.

"Iflrrrrr...." she mumbled, shifting again to ease her head against the ground. It had begun pounding as though she'd pounded a fifth of tequila the night before. Were baby hangovers a thing? She should ask Eljay. How does speaking work?

When Fin proved to be unable to articulately answer Eljay's query, Elwood felt a jolt of fear. It didn't prevent him from assisting, though. He took a deep breath and edged slightly closer to his mate and son, glancing at the four puppies to make sure they looked okay; they were all either sleeping or eating. At least they seemed to be fine and Eljay could dedicate his attention to Finley.

"Stay with us, Fin," he urged from over Eljay's shoulder, then did his best to respond to the medic's questions. "I don't know if she's in any pain, but it seemed like a longer labor than usual," he said, although he had lost track of time and couldn't tell exactly how long it had been.

Eljay's face furrowed into a frown as mommy didn't even seem able to respond eloquently. He swallowed thickly and nosed the side of her face, hoping he could make her stay here. Daddy filled in some blanks and Eljay nodded, looking very focused on his task.

Eljay licked mommy's cheek and said, I'm going to make sure it's not bleeding anymore, okay..? It would've been super weird under any other circumstance, but under the circumstances Eljay just carefully glanced under mommy's tail to check if everything seemed in order and mostly, if there wasn't too much blood.

"it" LOL

It was a good thing Fin was just about passed out, otherwise she might've been a little freaked out about her son checking "it" out for her. But then again, Eljay had been present for the birth of his siblings before, so maybe it would've been more normal to her than I think it would. But anyway, her eyes fluttered as Elwood spoke. She lifted her gaze to his face and held onto the sight, using it to keep her grounded while things happened around her.

"I'mjuss... tired..." Fin murmured while the pups at her side squirmed and smushed into her belly. She had stopped losing blood, but there was still more in the bedding around her than there ought to have been. Not that I would know, but it seems like something Eljay might notice. This post is a mess.

LOL

Eljay was a very sensitive, emotional wolf -- but he was also a dedicated caretaker. It would have been easy for him to melt at the sight of his mother struggling after giving birth, but instead, he was strong, calm and -- dare I say? -- confident. Elwood didn't really have time to think about it right then, but later, he would look back and be impressed by his son's focus.

Fin insisted in her slurred speech that she was just tired, and Elwood hoped that was all it was; he waited impatiently (although on the outside, he looked pretty patient, of course) for Eljay's verdict once the boy had finished his examination.

lmao most awkward eljay ever

also me: tries to google if it is normal to fall asleep after giving birth. internet: gives information on postpartum insomnia.
that's not what i asked for, damn it :') *wings it*

Mommy seemed to be losing consciousness which worried Eljay a bit, but then again, she had also worked hard to produce a bunch of pups so maybe it was normal. He found it hard to tell if it was normal to fall asleep so soon but he was also loathe to wake mommy up and keep her awake -- and if so, for how long? -- after she had been up and working on giving birth for so long. Eljay bit his lip, worried and getting all sorts of flashbacks to the time mommy almost died giving birth. He didn't quite understand why she wanted to have more pups after that, but he couldn't exactly stop her even if he wanted anyway.

Anyway -- though everything seemed in order as far as he could see (apart from Eljay feeling incredibly awkward), there was quite some blood in the den. It seems like she bled a lot, but it seems to have stopped, so, uhm... I'm not sure there's much I can do for now. Eljay frowned, happy that the bleeding stopped at least but wishing there was more he could do for mommy. I think she just needs rest. I hope she just needs rest. Eljay would never forgive herself if tomorrow he would get a call mommy had died, but he didn't know how else to help right now.

Fin did her best to remain conscious, to stay with them as her mate had requested of her. She was so tired, though. And so weak. How was she supposed to stay with them when she was so exhausted? What did they even want her here for? Man, her mind was going. She shut her eyes against her will and tried to listen to their voices, but they were growing muted, and before she knew it, she was out like a light. Apparently closing her eyes had been a bad idea.

But! She'll be fine, folks, I promise. After all, that would be real messed up if she died right now because it'd mean you've all been threading with a ghost for like a month.

do we wanna go ahead and wrap?

My last post! <3

When Eljay finished his examination and gave his professional opinion, Elwood nodded. He felt reassured; he trusted his son's expertise, and while Fin's slurred speech and finicky consciousness were troublesome, he was glad to hear that the bleeding had stopped. Likely her behavior was simply the result of extreme exhaustion. Whatever the case, he wouldn't be leaving her side, and would stay vigilant throughout the night and over the next few days to make sure she made a full recovery.

"Thanks, Eljay," he said, his tone and expression earnest. He meant it. "I'll call for you if we need anything else," he added, then slipped past his son to lower himself to the ground near Finley and the pups.

Eljay nodded at daddy, hoping dearly that he was right. Honestly, Eljay didn't really want to leave mommy like this, but he also knew she needed space right now, and he also had his own little ones at home so he couldn't just stay here for a long time. The latter was the thing that made him choose in the end that he should really head home. Please do, he said with a smile. Congratulations. I'll come play with them later. He was sure his own would like to, as well, and maybe Eljay could help a little bit with babysitting the whole bunch of them when it was necessary.

And so Eljay headed back home, feeling ominous but knowing that the feeling would go away eventually, hopefully the next day when he would receive word that mommy was doing better.

i'll wrap <3 ty guys! :)