Wheeling Gull Isle lasnat

night fell in brilliant streaks across the dome of blued sky which encircled sweetharbor.
at last heda had settled into the strides of motherhood; @Caracal supported her while manea and everett hunted for them. and it had been pleasant to have towhee here; she had gotten a good deal of strengthening sleep.
the children slumbered; heda sought her mate, motioning him just a little ways from the den, up into the deep emerald waving grass. "hey," she said, lips becoming a smile as she leaned into him, happy to be just two as they waited for the stars to arrive.

The kids were all asleep at once. It was a miracle. And Caracal fully intended to take advantage of the unprecedented peace and quiet to catch a few winks himself. It would probably take him years to catch up on sleep at this point, though he thrilled at the idea of paying down even the smallest amount of his sleep debt.

But Heda summoned him and he would never refuse her. Decidedly careworn, he trundled after her and plopped to his haunches beside her just a little ways uphill of their den. This way, they would see if any of their children attempted to abscond into the dusk. But hopefully, Caracal thought as he looked enviously in that direction, they would stay fast asleep.

Hey, he echoed his wife, pressing his shoulder against hers in an affectionate nudge.

Reading your post reminded me of something: I reached out to Melee and they said that Vesper would stick with Manea, in case we want to include her with our NPCs. :)

noted! <3

in communion they rested; at length heda laid her head against caracal's shoulder and sighed into the flowerscent of the air. "do you ever think we are too alone here?" she did not; she had faith in sweetharbor and god's plan for them all, but her mate's exhaustion and her own as they tried valiantly to keep up with the growing demands of four young children made heda want to ask.
she shifted, kissed his cheek, touched his paw with her own. somehow it felt like such a long time had passed since they had been alone, and the islandwolf was pleased for it, delighted in the nearness and love of her husband.

He gazed at the side of her face as he pondered her question. Caracal’s sleepy brain needed some extra time to process his thoughts and, besides, he didn’t want to shoot from the hip with this one. He sensed a certain weight in his wife’s question that he wanted to respect.

No, he eventually said. I think it’s been harder than we expected, with the babies. But God wouldn’t give us anything we couldn’t handle, right? And I feel as though it’s brought us closer together, toiling side by side.

Caracal smiled gently, pressing it to Heda’s cheek. Did that make sense? He was pretty sure his brain was firing at something like half capacity. He slid his head down to rest on her shoulder, in part because he wanted the intimacy but mostly because he really needed a pillow right now.

caracal echoed all her thoughts, and heda drew a breath, and stroked a gentle paw along the side of his tired jawline as he sank against her. 
she contemplated what it would mean as the children grew; she wanted to take them to the mainland and visit caracal's family before the snows came.
and how would sweetharbor fare with the winter? she hadn't ever seen snow here before, but heda knew she must trust god and in his word, his plan for she and her family.
and so she only lightly hummed, hoping caracal would sleep even as she devoted her own mind to prayer, to dreaming.

My mother had four in my litter, you know, he burred quietly on a yawn, head still resting on Heda’s shoulder. One didn’t make it but the three of us were total pills. I never really got along with the twins. Luckily, I had Killer. But I’m getting off-topic. It just makes me really grateful for my mom. Like, raising this many kids is hard work. She did at least some of it singlehandedly too. Friggin’ crazy…

His voice grew quieter throughout his sleepy soliloquy before he fell quiet entirely. Caracal meant to make the most of this time with Heda but at some point, his breath deepened and he began to snore in his wife’s ear.

in honor of mass archival, shall we?

one didn't make it
this stabbed in a harsh way at heda's gut, caused her to glance back along her shoulderblade toward where the kids slept.
but she must not fear. she must trust god.
before heda could ask another question, she heard the blur in her husband's voice and then his soft breaths of sleep. "we won't have to do it alone," heda said, kissing his cheek before she too closed her eyes, settling against him for what she intended only to be a small catnap.
the stars glowed down over sweetharbor.