Redsand Canyon Stars are born in litters.

This time, he signed as well as spoke, so Towhee caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and stopped to catch her partner’s words. He told her they could stop and find shelter closer at hand. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to turn around again and locate the thicket she’d found. She even arched her head, gazing back in its direction.

While she stood there, deliberating, Maxim stepped closer, his taut flank pressing against her swelling side. He probably felt it when the kicking began again, only Towhee was beginning to realize what she was feeling wasn’t quickening. As pain seared through her abdomen and she practically ground her teeth to dust, she suddenly realized she was having contractions.

It was like the knowledge actually hit her upside the head. Feeling a bit woozy, she suddenly sank to the ground, panting, right as the rain really picked up and began pelting down from the darkling skies. Thunder clapped, the noise of it lost to her but the vibrations shivering through the earth beneath her, a strange and powerful echo of her labor pains.