Stone Circle how rare and beautiful it is to even exist

Welcome kids! :D I did not proof read this so you have my deepest apologies if there are any ridiculous mistakes hahaha Tagging in birth order: @Selamuit @Kallik @Taktuq @Ikiaq  (@Siarut @Valette I imagine you would both be nearby haha) And anyone else in the pack who wants to hang around outside the den outside is a-okay to do so, please feel free to hop in! <3

The contractions began shorly before sunrise, and carried on through the day. She welcomed dawn with a nice puddle of vomit, and preceeded through the morning with the most pitiful bouts of shivering she'd experienced since she'd been a child. Nanook had considered calling in her sister, or Siarut -- but her independent streak won out. She pressed deeper into the recess of the whelping den, where the ground was just a little bit cooler, and where the sticky air outside couldn't reach her.

Around noon, her panting ebbed, and her body felt... ehh, relatively normal again. Yet in this time, the first child pushed through. Nanook had watched enough births to know what to do, and even if she hadn't, her response came almost instinctively. She contorted around, reached out, and bit the cord and sac, and the child -- her firstborn -- breathed.

How curious. Even in the pain that shot through the naturalist's body, she took mental notes for later. Very different, very different indeed, to be the one giving birth, rather than one watching on. It almost felt surreal -- but with every lick she meted out to this here child of hers, who looked as dusky as any newborn pup ever did and ever would, she knew this moment was very much real. Nanook placed the child by her belly, and let him do whatever work little goobers like him would do. Another contraction told her that her second was on their way.

This one came out butt first, and Nanook tried to help them come out with the slightest tug to their tail. Which, seemed to do the trick -- she cleaned this one up like the first, and flipped him over -- yup, another boy, oh boy -- and plopped him down next to his older brother to hopefully behave themselves while she tried to get the others out as swiftly as she could manage.

The third took a little longer in coming, and Nanook was starting to wonder if she would have as many kids as her sister after just her first litter. It was a good thing she and Siarut were both well in years -- may this be her first, and last delivery -- yet this thought tempered when she looked to her sons, and now, as she bit the cord, and cleaned the mouth, and warmed the body, of her seemingly only daughter.

A smile pricked her lips, and she put her daughter between the two boys.

And then, nothing. Nothing, for a very long while. Noon slipped away. The sun shifted, and she waited, and long shadows harkened the approach of the evening. The three children suckled away, or slept at her belly, but the mercenary felt tense, even as her body sought to rest. Someone still kicked inside her, and they weren't coming out.

Were they ever coming? Nanook knew that life wasn't always promised, even to children. That death could come swift, before their eyes had even seen the light. This one hadn't died -- she knew by the occasional thump against her abdomen wall -- but she felt thick worry cloud her mind. The silence felt excruciating, and she wished nothing more than for someone to be there with her.

Sometime in the waiting, she let her panting voice break out. "Val -- "

Yet as she spoke, the final contraction came. The mercenary pushed, and pushed, and the little sucker broke loose. She gave them the same treatment as their siblings, cleaning them up, flipping them over real quick to check -- yup, a third boy, good luck daughter -- but she lingered on this little one's face and smirked through the residual pain. He would either be a homebody or a troublemaker, she decided, and she put her final child, and final son, to nestle between her second-born and herself.

With a giant sigh, she flopped back to the earth and closed her eyes, happy all that was over. With a quiet word, she lulled out her voice, "Siarut. Come." They would name them together.

Things began to shift around him—strong, rhythmic pulses moved his tiny body along a path he had no idea had been there. It was a force he had no control over; he was just moved down and down until coldness seeped through to his lower half. The sensation was uncomfortable and unsettling, and his weak legs paddled against the soft sides of the fleshy force field that had encompassed him for as long as he could remember. Suddenly, another force clamped onto his tail and pulled. He writhed against the feeling but again, he had no control over anything that was happening currently. He was already stubborn, though, and so he tried his hardest to buck against whatever was pulling him farther into the cold. 

But he was helpless against it all. Soon the warm barrier around him was pulled away and he emitted soft, needy cries against the discomfort. Then he was flipped over on his back, his legs flapping against the icy air, his cries seeming to go unanswered. When he was flipped back over, he felt the hard surface beneath him suddenly disappear, and he cried out again until he was placed next to something warm. And then the sweetest, most inviting smell made him stop his complaining. The scent promised warmth and comfort, and he rooted around until he found the source. Ancient instinct guided him to open his mouth and latch on and then to drink in the life source provided by large figure who had dictated everything until this point. He drank until his belly was so full it might burst and then quickly fell asleep still attached. Any jostling or movement near him would only elicit a soft, unconscious squeak from then on. The only thing that would eventually wake him was the emptiness of his stomach hours later. Until then, he would be lost in slumber, already working on forgetting his alarming start to life.

Cameo :) Don't take me in the posting order

Ever since she found out her sister was pregnant, the sister was keen on checking upon her sibling. She knew Nanook would be new to all of it and she wanted to help as she had experience. When she noticed that Nanook was becoming a bit more of a recluse, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before the female would deliver new Easthollow's generation.

She made it to Nanook and noticed that she was already starting with her labor. The went to lie close to the entrance of the den. She could tell her sister was doing a fine job with the delivery, so she would be quiet and wait till she was called. She knew that she disliked it as well when others were poking their faces inside the den while she was trying to deliver some pups. She hoped she would be carrying by now as well but that was another matter.

The female turned her ear to the den when she heard her name. "I'm here," she spoke as she poked her head inside. But it seemed that she had another contraction. "You did a good job," she complimented, so strange to see another female giving birth. She was really drawn to those little noises but she had to remind that these were not her own. She watched the mother with her four pups and realized that this would probably a good time to fade in the background. Valette smiled at Siarut. "Congrats," she smiled and then stepped back and decided to sit guard a little further away to give them privacy.

Taktuq was quick to overlook the unpleasantries of the birthing process, as life outside the womb proved to be much more enjoyable. Warmed, groomed, and milk-drunk—the only daughter of Siarut and Nanook relished in the sensation of satisfaction. Tiredness soon overcame the child, and she succame to the temptation almost immediately; she was asleep within a blink of an eye. Had it not been for her snores, which were gentle wheezings, one might question whether or not she was alive—she was out like and light, and sleeping like a rock. 

She would only wake up once her stomach began to grumble, and the new parents would discover a new side to their daughter—one which was less temperate and more hangry than before.

Unbeknownst to him the time had come, not that he could have predicted such a turn of events. But finally the little northern prince made his way into the world, his mother a warm and gently greeting. Even with her soft caress he was most upset to be disturbed, preferring to stay in what he knew. Not one to welcome change easily it would seem. So as soon as he could gather air into his tiny lungs the still unnamed child voiced his discomfort in the only way he knew how. With tiny squeaks and whimpers. He squirmed as best he could, seeking the warmth he had always known.

Even with his fusing he was delicately placed alongside his mother belly, where he buried his face amongst her fur. Instinctually comforted by her scent, until his hunger won out and he followed the smell. Tucking in to his first meal.

The woman tensed, and immediately the boy quieted. As if knowing something else was coming. Although he could not truly understand the other blobs that were placed alongside him, he remained quiet after his initial squawking. Taking his time drinking his fill, before promptly falling asleep.

Change was not something that the youngest Ateneq was a fan of, and that showed even before he was born. Resisting the tug that had his other siblings tumbling out into the world hours before and settling himself within the warmth of his mother's womb, where he intended to stay for the rest of eternity. 

However, as defiant and determined as Ikiaq was, nature had the final say, and eventually the brown blob flopped out onto the floor of the den. 

It was an outrage, pure and simple. Where his siblings had either emitted soft squeaks and whimpers - or snores, in his sister's case - Ikiaq was far louder, at least by puppy standards. How dare this woman eject him into such a cold and dry place! Oh, the humanity! Was there no goodness that remained in this world? Of course, as time would pass, little Iki would learn that he adored his mother, but now? Whatever the cause of his discomfort was the subject of the wrath of the tiny Ateneq.

But soon, he was next to his siblings at his dam's stomach, writhing bodies that he'd been beside in the womb, and he was marginally less furious at his lot in life. Still, like his late entrance into the world, he would take his sweet time in nursing. As in, he would refuse to drink for the first hour or two of his existence. It would become a running theme in the tiny boy's life, where he would take a bit more time than his siblings to partake in life.

The little creature's entrance to the world had been slow and dramatic, but he was contented - albeit still slightly put-off by his new surroundings - to lay alongside his siblings, warm and safe.

The anxiety of fatherhood loomed over the man, especially over the last couple of days. A pit of dread settling heavy in his stomach, leading to sleepless nights and an irritable disposition. Not wanting to disturb his heavily pregnant wife, Siarut had taken to sleeping outside, his restless mind only offering him a couple hours sleep at the most. Other times he spent the night wandering the immediate area, double and triple checking nearby caches.

This morning was different though, as he returned just as the sun was awakening to find Nanook amidst her contractions. Worry grasped his heart once again, and he paced back and forth across the entrance of the den. So caught up he hadn’t noticed Valette’s arrival until he heard the faint sounds of his firstborn. The tiny whimpers that reached his straining ears, froze him mid step. Sia’s breath caught in his throat as he turned toward the sound. He was officially a father.

As much as that thought warmed him it also terrified him. His own father hadn’t been perfect (arguable he was a bastard) and Siarut had no intention of raising his children in the manner he himself had been raised. But how could he know! He was terrified of messing something up, of saying or doing the wrong thing. What if in the end, he was just like his father.

Glancing at the sky he realized the day was half gone. But still he waited, this was his wife’s time. Only she could grant him permission to come closer, he had no intention of stressing her. Despite his desire to come closer.

It was still many hours before he heard his name on Nanook’s lips. He offered Valette a small smile, and a ’thank you’ with the tip of his head. She took up his spot outside the den, and he was extremely grateful. Even though he wished his own siblings could be here, he was finding a surrogate sister in the dedicated woman.

Siarut approaches slowly, afraid to disturb the tiny bundles. His olive gaze flicked between them and his exhausted wife. “Nanook.” his voice was gentle as he finally reached her. His head bowed, and he pressed his forehead to her own. “Are you alright? Are-are they alright?” It wasn’t often that his emotions got the better of him. But this, this was the happiest he had been in far to long. She nodded gently at his questions. And Siarut was content. They had only to name them.

He had been thinking of names they could give them. They had already decided on their middle name. Although it was a slight bend in his family traditions, they had decided to give the litter their middle name rather than let them come to one on their own. Of course if they choose to add another when they were yearlings, Siarut would have no qualms about it.

"Selamuit." — the northern lights.
"Kallik." — lightning.
"Taktuq." — fog.
"Ikiaq." — red spruce.

Siarut glanced at his wife wondering if she held any objections. Finding none. He smiled softly, and gave each of the them a gentle nose goodnight, just as he would every singly night of their lives until they told him to stop. Life was perfect. A true happy ending...