Redhawk Caldera you are my sunshine

at the blackthorn den :)

Eljay was never far from the den where mommy @Finley rested and took care of the pups and where his baby siblings @Lucy , @Lagan and @Liffey were often wriggling around. Daddy @Elwood was also around often, though Eljay secretly kind of liked the moments he could steal away when daddy wasn't there and when mommy was sleeping. He could watch the pups by himself then. At first Eljay had been afraid mommy and daddy might love them more than him, but soon he realised that they would just always be together like a real family, and no one needed to feel or be left out. He'd quickly taken back the resentment he had felt towards the pups the moment he found out that mommy had survived the birthing after all.

Today was such a rare moment that daddy was out for the moment and mommy was asleep. Who knew when they might return or wake up, but for now it was just Eljay and the pups. Eljay had been guarding outside of the den for a little while and now decided it was time to check on his siblings. He turned around and popped his front into the den as he softly said, "Puppies? Are you awake?" not even considering that he left his butt open for anyone to attack.

The ink-spot was proving to be something of a trouble child. When she wasn’t wriggling about in her attempts to bother her equally-wiggly siblings, she was doing her best to try and wiggle away from her mother as she could. The little girl’s eyes had not yet opened and her limbs were still little strings that would flap wildly about with no real rhyme or reason.
 
There had been a lot of commotion in the den since their birth; visitors and family alike had come to see and marvel at the special little babies. While Lucy was not at all aware of her many relations, the vibrations that could be sensed from their voices had come to be comforting to her. When things grew quiet was when she found her youthful little body growing restless. With dad out of the den and mom sleeping peacefully alongside her babies, the inky Blackthorn began to worm her way from the warmth and safety of her mother’s stomach.
 
Once she had gotten more than a foot of distance on her stubby limbs, the ink-spot became quite chilled. She had not realized that wobbling about would pull her away from the warmth of her mother. With a pitiful little squeak, the pup attempted to adjust herself and ended up becoming very distressed. She was not aware of her older brother's happy face peering in on them. 

Lagan faintly heard his sister's angsty shouts, she was in distress. Wanting to see what the fuss was about, Lagan stopped nursing at his sleeping mom's side and rolled on his side, hoping to find Lucy there. It took his a moment, and a bit of kicking twin, Lagan found the source of the noise. He knew it was her because he could feel her body wriggling around. His hearing wasn't fully developed yet, but he could hear he outline of sounds emitting from the lump next to him. Also unaware of big bro Eljay watching them, Lagan put his head down and attempted to bulldoze under his sister. He liked being under things, so not knowing what part of her body he was at, he snuggled under her butt, enjoying the fuzzy warmth.

Just as he pulled his head in, he could see Lucy making a break for it and then crying out in distress. Her brother was soon to join by her side and started to wriggle his nose under her butt to try and push her aside. "Are you lost?" he asked Lucy and wriggled closer to her so that he could put his front paws on either side of her and her brother and pull them to his chest. Peter loved that, too.

"You guys should meet Peter. He's the best, you'd love him." Eljay sighed lightly as he pulled the bundle of pups to his chest, thinking of Peter. He hadn't seen the lil guy in a while; probably should check on him soon.

Without warning, the inky little spot felt someone prodding at her rear with the blunt of their nose. She squeaked in protest and began to kick her hind legs as hard as she could in hopes of pushing the unknown force away. Once Lagan had gotten little further, the dark Blackthorn began to realize that this was one of her fellow littermates, which did nothing to stop her from attempting to kick at him some more. Her little paws circled about, smacking against various parts of his body and the earth below her. His own warmth was not enough to keep them both at a decent temperature, however, and the ink-spot was still getting quite cold without the heat of her mother.
 
Eljay came to their rescue in a matter of moments. The boy’s larger paws were wrapped around the two pups and Lucy felt herself being tugged close to his chest. There was warmth there. Lucy breathed a tiny puppy sigh and nuzzled her nose into the chest of her silver-coated older brother, tucking herself into the tufts of his fur and feeling the beating of his heart against her inky little figure.

Lagan wailed loudly when Lucy's feet smashed into his face, battering him and flipping him over. The rolly bean boy cried as loud as he could as his littermate continue to hit him. Somebody help the child! He was beginning to get cold without his mother's warmth, so he stopped crying, instinct kicking in toi preserve his body heat. He waited, surely someone would be around to save him. Mommy, or not mommy, or that other one. 

Sure enough he was saved. Large paws wrapped themselves around Tiarnach, pulling him closer. He was very happy when he was brought next to something warm. This experience reminded him a lot of when not mommy had played the forehead tapping game with him. Maybe this big wolf would play with him too. Lagan pushed away from his sister, giving her a good face smack, then rolled over onto his back sticking up his head to whoever was above him. He fully expected Eljay would understand what this meant. He expected for Eljay to boop him on the forehead. He was already excited, for he found it very funny.

For whatever reason, Liffey had been chosen that day to be scooped into her mother's arms and snuggled in the crook of space between Finley's chest and neck. It was an incredibly warm and cozy spot and much coveted by the infant. Yet it quickly became a burden when she felt a commotion nearby. She squirmed for a while in an effort to escape from her mother's clutches, but it took some time before Finley rolled away and Liffey was free to roam.

Liffey managed only about a foot of distance with her squirming before she stopped and whined loudly for help. She could sense that her the other fleshy lumps she liked to snuggle with were nearby (aka her siblings), but having no real sense of distance or direction left her feeling hopelessly lost and wanting. With a slap of her paw upon the ground, she huffed and squeaked and would continue to do so until she got attention. It usually worked.

"Aww," Eljay whispered softly to himself as Lucy snuggled herself against his chest, nestling herself into his fur. It was so great having baby siblings, especially now that mommy had survived, and already Eljay could not imagine life without them. His tail wagged as he watched Lucy, but his attention was then drawn to Lagan, who looked like wanted something.

He didn't really understand what Lagan wanted, but since he was laying on his back, his head pushed up wantingly, Eljay decided to move his nose down to snuggle (or tickle, if he was ticklish) Lagan's belly. "Haa-pfffr," Eljay nonsensically shared with the boy as he did so.

That was when number three came crawling from mommy's side and was throwing a miniature tantrum. "Ohh, no, it's okay sweety, shh!" he crooned at her, unaware he might be teaching her bad manners in the process. Eljay left Lagan's belly alone for a moment and he reached out a paw to try and scoop Liffey in closer, so she could snuggle with Lucy and Lagan.

Lucy was content. If it were not for the pleading cries of her sister, the inky little soot spot would have remained so. The warmth of her older brother was a strange comfort to her, and she could not help but to feel as though she could drift happily into slumber. When Eljay stirred to gather up Liffey, the darkest pup let out a squeak of protest and buried her nose further into his thick fur. It was not that Lucy did not enjoy the tiny snuggles provided by her twin siblings – because she did – but she was a girl who found herself inviting to the new that crossed into the daily routine of her life. Eljay was not necessarily a new thing, but the thrum of his heart and the feeling of his coat against her small body was.
 
The dark girl’s eyes were growing thick with the need to sleep, and though she wanted to peep at her siblings to hush, all she could manage was a very puppy-eque yawn in the tufts of chest fur; her tiny pink tongue curled with the action. Blinking heavy eyes, Lucy found the warmth of happiness bubbling up inside of her.

What? This was not a head boop? Not papa! Lagan was about to start crying, when he realized tummy tickle was ok too. He giggled happily, the reaction he'd gotten from his big brother was almost as exciting as head boops. Another! He did the same motion, hoping to get another tummy tickle when suddenly the whole ground began to move. He tumbled over as Eljay reached for his twin, squeaking loudly. That was uncomfortable and definitely not a tummy tickle. Soon Liffey was squished in between Eljay's paws alongside Lagan and Lucy. Snuggling together like sardines in a can.

Lagan wriggled around, hoping to sit up. Lucy was digging into their big brother's chest fur, Liffey was moving around as usual. The little silver and white blob flopped onto Liffey, and let out a short chuff as he draped himself over her. She made a good pillow.

i'll fade since liffey's ppc now and this is old. :)

Eljay tried keeping all the pups together and not bothering each other too much — a task that was more difficult than he had anticipated before his baby siblings were born. He'd had some practise on Peregrine and Fox' brood, luckily, for the four boys had been difficult and wriggly too, but it was still somehow different with his own baby siblings.

For some time they stayed together, playing and eventually napping by each other's sides.