Redhawk Caldera hold onto your heart.

It felt like hours before daddy came, even though it was probably minutes, if not seconds. Eljay looked at daddy briefly before he buried his face in mommy's fur again. The only trigger that made a difference was when daddy said that they had to take care of the children.

His ears pinned backwards and Eljay vehemently said, "No! Mommy will take care of them!" It was at that exact moment that mommy started to stir ever so gently, that she came back to the frays of life. Had she truly gone, who knew what might have happened; Eljay would have been convinced not to take the pups from her, might've even killed them to make sure mommy survived, and wouldn't have let anyone take mommy from him. It would've been a tragedy -- yet it was doubtful if mommy realised the full extent of her importance this situation as she spluttered back to life.

Eljay's ears pinned forward again as mommy spoke, his tail wagging softly, and he said, "They're okay, mommy. Everything is okay now." Eljay crawled a bit closer (if such a thing was even possible) and cradled his head against mommy's neck, like before, while a peaceful smile started to spread across his face. He had his back on the new pups because he wanted to look at mommy's face. "Should I watch the puppies while you sleep, mommy?" he whispered softly, but no answer came. Yet the soft rise and fall of mommy's chest told him everything was okay.

Slowly the largest puppy of the bunch felt exhaustion take him, too, and unless daddy woke him he, too, would drift to sleep.