Lost Creek Hollow like the first bird.

Come to mama! :D @Larkspur @Silas @Pippin

While time passed steadily along outside of the den, Harlyn found herself unable to to say how many days it had been since she'd given birth.  It seemed time had now been split into just two eras - Before pups and after pups.  Somewhere in that time frame, her anxiety had lessened and she'd allowed Mordecai to return home and meet his children.  Other than that, time was measured in soft mewls and tiny movements for the new mother, and she was perfectly content that it was so.

Harlyn awoke to the sound of quiet in her home.  She might have been worried, but the kneading of little paws on her belly and the thrum of tiny heartbeats against her chest let her know that her babies were safe and happy still.  She smiled to herself as she lifted her head and stretched, accidently pulling a nipple from the grasp of at least one of her kids if not more.  She knew that her adjustment was likely to be met with cries of protest from the greedy little Ostregas, but she wasn't too worried about it.  She knew how to quiet them again and would do so just as soon as her back paws stopped tingling.

And cries of protest there were. Her mother's teat had been pulled straight out of her pursed mouth and into the cold air so suddenly milk gushed down Larkspur's chin. Her tongue was conflicted, lashing out to grab what was spilled but wanting to make air for the long cries that emitted from her throat. She had learned fast already that if she made noise and protest and cries, she would definitely get the attention that she deserved. 

Light had begin to filter to the beady black eyes of the newborn, and so she was able to distinguish how to follow the missing source of nutrients. Her little brain working overtime, she figured a very complex algorithm that forced her little body to squirm forward, using her front legs to army crawl towards the nipples. Furthermore, she was learning fast how to multi-task, because as she worked she whined, and whined loudly.

Opening her mouth, she pushed forward to latch back on, letting her paws rest on her mother's warm skin.

Other babies are always welcome!  Papa too :P 

Yep, they were pissed.  Harlyn couldn't help but chuckle at the chorus of unhappy mewls they began to pitch at her.  It was like an adorable little symphony, and though their hearts were breaking over a loss they didn't realize was not nearly as devastating as they thought it was, Harlyn beamed with amusement as they squawked and wriggled about.

Fortunately for the Ostrega babies, Harlyn was not so cruel as to deny them their hearts desires for too long.  She settled back against them and nosed them each back towards a teet so that they could resume their suckling.  One little babe caught her attention, having successfully reattached herself on her own.  Harlyn watched her for a couple minutes before finally leaning down to scoop her little girl up.  She planted the blonde pup between her outstretched arms to study her, her dark head canting lightly to the side to see how she would react being so far from the only world she'd known thus far - the side of her stomach.

So far, being a relatively easy-going puppy (not that he had been here very long yet though), he'd been just fine to suckle and doze away the hour. When his plans were upset and his mouth clamped shut around nothing at all suddenly, he let out a surprised mewl but was otherwise too close to milk-coma mode to really actively complain about this too much. Much unlike his sister, he sat there like a disappointed lump and only slowly mouthed at the air nearest his wobbly head, with some tired squeaks to suggest that he was actually upset about this.

But it seemed that these minimal efforts did pay off because he was nudged right back into place, mouth lined up to a nip and all. He suckled more greedily this time, with the feeling of losing it still fresh, and a warm contentment followed.

I'm just gonna PP Larkspur

Harlyn grinned down at her baby girl as she continued to squirm restlessly in her arms. "such a fussy baby, huh..." she murmured through her smile, leaning down to fondle the feather soft fur behind her tiny ears with her nose. Larkspur twitched her head eagerly to locate the source of the touch, which Harlyn keenly avoided with very little effort. The girl's squawks grew louder as her needs continued to be ignored until finally, Harlan didn't have the heart to deny her any longer. Giggling, she lifted her pup and returned her snugly to her side, her attention shifting to the boys.

One had peeped, she was sure of it. And though both appeared to be sleeping, Harlan wanted attention. It was the darker of the babes she decided to take away fro the comfort of her belly. She dropped Silas right where Lark had been and began to study him with an eager cant of her head.

sounds good!

He nursed in that bliss that came with such cozy company, oblivious to his sister's fussing since it didn't occur to him to mind much. For now, she wasn't really among his concerns. He may have even begun to drift from this plane of awareness entirely, the meal was that good.

But the motion his little body soon found itself being carried through brought him back. When he was put back down, he grunted out a milky burp and settled soon after, feeling better without that bubble of air trapped inside.

With only his short legs for feelers, he tried to understand his new location and why it was that was here. He didn't immediately find siblings, as was the usual for him, so there was a vaguely worried little grunt before he mouthed the nearest bit of his mother's legs that he could find.

This one seemed far more okay with being displaced. The most he did was grumble a bit, but instead of squalling at the top of his lungs, Silas turned his attention to exploring his surroundings. Harlyn watched thoughtfully as his tiny nose jerked this way and that until finally landing upon her toes, which he quickly took between his little jaws.

"You find your own way, don't you," she commented fondly, "Your sister likes to scream until the world bends for her. You bend for the world." It was far too early to make assumptions about what they would one day be, but the new mother couldn't help herself. Stretching out her toes, she wriggled her claws to see how he handled this new obstacle.

Compared to his sister, he was certainly very mild. Silas wasn't hard to impress and relatively difficult to earnestly disturb. He mostly was content to just wriggled himself through a simple existence so far because he didn't know any better. But, his senses would unfurl more and more by the day and the growth that would follow would be rapid and significant enough to perhaps alter his course. There was still very little of that now, though. He was just happy to sniff toes, and evidently, pretty devoted to that cause suddenly.

It was all so very much. Even his dialed-down sense of smell was having a time here and the sensation of her wiggling the toes was an added, unexpected twist. He unclasped his gummy jaws and tilted back his head in a futile effort to get a better look at whatever was happening here then gaped his tiny mouth wide in surprise. To him, he hadn't even registered his little nubs as being the same as these -- such dexterity, scent, and size all went well over him. Silas cooed something indecipherable, seemingly pleased by this now that he had taken it in, and tried to put both his tiny paws over one of hers.

Harlyn watched as her son fidgeted and squirmed, reaching with paws and mouth for her wriggling digits. He could do so little, and yet he was absolutely fascinating. Was it possible that she too had once been this tiny? That Mordecai had once been some tiny flailing bean suckling on his mother's toes? The thought of it made her grin, though she knew it was true. This Tony puppy one day would grow up to be just like his father. Tall, strong and handsome.

When Silas lifted his paws and places them firmly upon hers, Harlyn paused in wonder. They were so tiny and barely covered her own. It was so insignificant a move, but the gesture took her breath away. She paused a moment, marveling at him, then reached put to swoop him up against her chest where she set to affectionately grooming the fur upon his back.

His senses were firing at their best capacity, and the dark boy is overcome far easily. It's all so much and now that by the day, his awareness improves, he's learning more about himself and the world he's occupying. His starts are small but progress remains steady as he eyeballs his tiny paws in comparison to his mothers. One day he'd get there too, and maybe even with bigger toes than her if he was lucky. But, he didn't have it in him to contemplate the future. He just.. was, and was happy to be just that.

He's along for the ride when his mother moves him and tucks him against her chest. The dark brown puppy pokes around a bit before his explorations catch up with him and a sudden tiredness overwhelms him. Paired with soothing grooming on his back and a very cozy place to be at his mother's chest (draped happily in her love no less), it does not take him long before he's dozing off.

wrapping this up <3 I shall soon bombard you with new bwahahaha!

Silas settled after a moment of fidgeting in her arms, and Harlyn smiled as he slipped off to sleep. It never took them very long to doze off. Even Larkspur in all of her fits could conk right out seconds after a tantrum. She had actually just done so not long after Harlyn had swapped her out for Silas. Smiling, the mother finished her grooming, but she was not quite ready to return her boy to her side. Instead, she shifted him slightly, then rested her head upon the earth beside him, thinking it would be quite nice to doze off herself with his little body warm in her arms.