Arrow Lake first sight, she made me look twice,

The corner of a scarred lip curled minutely at the assumption of tired. Compared to the great exhaustion she felt, being tired would be a blessing. She kept quiet when the inquiry came, and went even quieter still on the subject of pregnancy and its aftermath; her eyes went to the alpine lake, so different from the coastal one of the cliffs. "There is pain, and much of it. I spent ze wake of it lost among my own dreams, and while it was muted, I... I felt it. Ebbing through me. Not enough to push me into void, but not enough, either, to give me relief from ze fever." If only epidurals were a common practice here, lmao.

Perhaps it may have been a blessing that delirium had taken Aure when she was delivering. It may have been what had saved her and allowed her to keep breathing in the end. "You are... big. Strong," she continued, clumsy and contemplative, her distant gaze returning to Kazimir. "You have a better chance of conquering that pain than I ever did," a rueful little laugh. "Afterwards, though, it... it is worth it, to know that my children and I survived through such a severity. Seeing them, falling for them as dragostea fell for them has been worth it. Even ze morning sickness has been worth it."

Pale cheeks stung with blood, then, as she remembered how her introduction with Lily had went. "Never did I think I would ever have children of my own, I... I thought my life would be nothing but wandering. And perhaps I may always wander; but ze children will forever be home in my heart, now." Ears flicking a bit sheepishly, Aure refocused to the burly she-wolf. "It will not be perfect, but it will be happy."