Two Rivers Isle Except a memory, a distant Echo

She had to work hard to balance her new found weight. And the aches that colored her hips and her belly was hard to work around sometimes, but she needed to have a whelping den. These babies were coming so soon, and there wouldn't be much time. She sniffed along the ground, searching. A small shiver going across the thinning fur of her belly.

She had to stop moving every so often, when a kick would press against ribs or bladder. And frequent pee breaks were a major thing. If she wasn't so excited, she may find it absolutely annoying. Suddenly she realized she was absolutely ravenous. She may need to stop for a snack. She settled to her haunches warring with herself did she eat first and then start digging or dig first and eat later?

@Ulrich

Ulrich came across his wife that day, sniffing around as if searching for something. Food, perhaps? It was the beginning of spring, so he hoped prey would be easier to come by. Adylaide, he said, as he approached her. And then he saw the annoyance on her face. Are you all right? He glanced at her swelling belly. Are you... uncomfortable? Do you want to lie down? He had been trying so hard during her whole pregnancy not to hover and bother her, but his instinct to make her lay down and never move while he did everything in the world for her was almost too strong to resist.

Oh my gosh he's so cute. <3

Ady lifted he head and met his gaze and she shook her head and then sighed. No i'm just irritated, Ully. I wanted to dig a den, but now i'm hungry and i want to eat everything. But also there is this absolutely awful urge to dig and nest and make little baby sleep places. I can't take it.

She huffed, and patted her tiny paws against the dirt, as she thought of her current predicament. It was irritating and bittersweet and she knew she should enjoy all of this, but she also wanted to scream and these feelings she didn't understand. She felt to the brim with them. And on top of it all she felt wide and fat.

Ulrich wanted to smile and frown at the same time, which was a strange sensation. He ended up grimacing, which probably didn't make his face look great. His heart swelled with love for his wife and the unborn children she carried, and yet he was worried all the time. He thought of how he had feared for Adylaide's life when they had escaped and wandered the wilds for those first few weeks before coming across the Isle. Now he had that feeling all over again but it was so much stronger and worse. The thought of "little baby sleep places" made him feel like he was melting into a puddle in the grass.

I could go and get you something from one of the caches, he suggested, his voice soft and warm. Food first seems... like a good idea. You might be less irritated with a full stomach. He flinched as he said it, afraid he'd offended her by suggesting she was being somehow unreasonable because she was hungry, which is not what he'd meant at all. Or you could go and get the food and I could look around for a suitable den spot? Honestly, whatever worked for her was fine with him. She was the one carrying the children, after all, and would be the one to have to give birth to them. Her job was already hard enough.

Ady gave another sigh and leaned back, her little baby pouch pressing forward, rounded and firm there. She smiled softly at her husband, always always thinking of her. What an amazing male she married. There was so much love to give him. He deserved the moon and the stars and the sun, but she had no idea how to get them to him. Which just made her sad all over again, rather sillily so, given that she was an emotional mess, three movements from tears or tantrums almost always. It shamed her a little.

I would like food. Yes please. I can walk with you if you want, but um. she shifted. You may have to help me up.

Her tail wagged behind her and she moved again, trying to get to her feet, though her breathing was a little wonky. But she couldn't help it. There was a lot of extra wait to her and she still had a few weeks. 

Oh gods was she gonna be as big as a whale when this was over? What if she never lost the weight.

She sniffled a little, but tired to stay calm, knowing she was being rather ridiculous at the moment. What if i never get thin again, Ully?

Ulrich nodded and quickly moved forward and turned so that he and Adylaide were facing the same direction. He bent down and pushed his shoulder against hers so that she could lean against him as she stood up. His ear flicked as he heard her sniff, and as her small voice asked the question, he couldn't help but release a short laugh. Well, then, you'll be my... big, beautiful wife, he said. And then, more seriously, I haven't been around many pregnant women, but-- He hesitated, afraid to bring this up, but it was the only example he had. But I saw your mother, before she gave birth, and she quickly lost the baby weight afterwards. I can only assume you'll do the same. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, holding his breath, afraid that any mention of her parents might cause his pregnant, overemotional wife to burst into--what did she call them?--tears.

Ady used her husband as both an anchor and a push forward, so that she could get to her feet. She stumbled a little as she fought to get her weight evened out on the sides. Which just as she pressed against her husband, their children saw fit to kick as hard as they could on the side he was against. A small gasp left her maw, at both the proximity and the sharp pain. Though it quickly dissipated as they played drums on her ribcage.

She looked at him thinking. Okay maybe i'll lose it then.

She took a step forward, swinging her body a little to counteract the babies and finally she was comfortable enough to move more quickly. 

What kind of whelping den should we make?

Ulrich quietly breathed a sigh of relief that bringing up Adylaide's mother hadn't been a terrible idea. As she rose unsteadily to her paws, she released a gasp, and he looked at her sharply. And out of the corner of his eye, he saw her rounded belly roil in one spot, the kick of a pup visible against her pink skin where the fur was thinning to show the teats. He stopped, all thoughts of a whelping den gone out of his head. He did not even hear her question. Did one of them just kick? he asked, in a hushed tone, his eyes wide with wonder. And he lay on his haunches in front of her belly and stared at it.

Ulrich wasted no time getting eye level with her rounded sides. She chuckled softly and nodded. Yes, put your paw there.

She shifted so that he could put a paw there, she knew they would kick and tustle all around, because they always did. Honestly she didn't know how he hadn't noticed it a night. But then again, sometimes she didn't.

She traced his face with her eyes. Love rising ever higher. Honestly, sometimes she didn't think she could love him anymore and then he went and did something so adorable and so sweet, that it just grew ever larger.

Eyes wide, Ulrich carefully placed a paw on his wife's belly and soon felt another kick under his touch. His eyes watered of their own accord, and he squeezed them shut for a moment in confusion. He released a choked laugh. I think I'm... what do you call it? Crying? He had never thought he would love anyone more than Adylaide, but the thought of his children made his heart ache so.

A soft giggle at his words, and she tucked her head into his shoulder to hid her own tears. They do tend to bring a tear to your eye. They're so busy in there all the time. I barely get any sleep, but I also love it cause i know they are just fine.

She curled her tail around her toes and smiled to herself. They had made something beautiful together.

We made something beautiful together, Ully.

I'm sorry you're not sleeping well, Ulrich said, though he couldn't help but smile. But the babes will be born soon, and... well... you probably won't get much sleep then, either. He grimaced, but still could not help but feel overjoyed.

Speaking of making something, we've gotten very distracted, he said. We need to build that den or we'll be out here all day! He pulled away from Adylaide's belly and looked around. But first, food. Come. He began to walk again, heading towards the nearest cache.

As always his directness and his honesty was refreshing and it pulled a small chuckle from her again. There was no lie in his words. It would be hard to sleep going forward at least at first. If she remembered correctly from some of the servants. They would eat many hours a day and sleep the rest. She could rest then, but it would only be in short spurts.

Yes Please! She chirruped. She wasn't even going to pretend she wasn't hungry. She was ravenous, but they did need to get the den dug. So maybe just something quick. Then digging time. She was so excited her tail happily weaving as she tried to keep up with Ully's paces though her breathing was a little harder than normal. So much weight gain.

Ulrich dug into the cache when he found it and pulled up a hare, clamped between his jaws. He padded over to Adylaide, who was struggling to keep up with him, waddling along, and dropped it between her front paws. There you are, he said, smiling, and sat down to watch her eat. As she dug in, he furrowed his brows, thinking, and said, Have you thought of names... for the pups? A thrill went through him once again at the thought of his impending fatherhood.

She tucked into her meal with a gusto, that wasn't normally present, and only after half of it was gone that she realized Ulrich hadn't gotten any for himself. Ears to her skull and she looked to him. 

I'm sorry Ully. Would you like some? It seems pregnancy makes me forget my manners.

She wagged her tail at him with a small smile, a little disappointed she had forgotten, but she was forgetting a lot of simple things as the weeks loomed. She hoped this was only a temporary thing.

I would like names from our homeland. The only one that i've come up with thus far, is for a girl. I'm rather partial to Everarda. What about you? Have you thought of any?

Ulrich watched his wife eat, a little surprised at her ferocity, but she was pregnant, so he wasn't going to judge her. At her apology and question about food, smiled at his paws and then looked up at her, giving her an indulgent look. No, I'm... not hungry. Besides, I enjoy watching you eat. He paused. Is that strange?

She began to speak of baby names, wanting names from their homeland. He didn't know quite how to feel about this because he had such negative memories associated with that place. However... He did like his own name, and Adylaide's. Yes, he mused, slowly. Perhaps we can... take back our naming conventions, use them here, in this place. Reclaim some of our customs. That felt right. He repeated the girl's name, Everarda, to himself, shaping it in his mouth. And when she asked if he had any names in mind, one popped out his mouth before he was even aware of it. Manias. He blinked at himself, surprised.

Manias had been the name of a soldier he had been friends with back home. He had not had many friends, and he had not thought of Manias in months, pushing all thoughts of that place far from his mind in an attempt to distance himself from his trauma. Manias, he repeated, thinking now of his friend, a soldier younger than himself, with a much more hopeful outlook on the world than he'd ever had... Ulrich wondered if he was still alive, after the chaos that had erupted that night... Oh, Manias...

Ady laughed genuinely happy and surprised. I certainly don't think it's strange. I think it's sweet.

Ady had thought long and hard about the names for their children and though her homeland had been fraught with chaos and general awfulness. It had good things too and she wanted her children to have something at least from what they left behind, because there wasn't much good to be had from there, but the names. 

Ady heard the softness in her husbands tone and she moved closer to him and leaned against him, preening gently at his ruff. Her meal forgotten for the moment. She hadn't known many of the soldiers, but those she had met. She had tried to remember their names, because someone had too, if they never came home and her family surely wouldn't. She remembered Manias. Didn't know him well, but enough to see him. And she felt it a fitting name and an honor to have one of their children named after someone her darling had cared for.

Ulrich cleared his throat, a little embarrassed at his sudden show of emotion. He knew he shouldn't be embarrassed, that this was simply a holdover from his days as a soldier, working for a tyrant king, but he couldn't easily ignore five years of brainwashing. So, he said, leaning into Adylaide, Everarda for a girl and Manias for a boy. We need to come up with some other names, though. We could have more than two pups, after all. He hoped they'd have more than two pups, although even just one would be enough for him. Just one to dote upon and love. Just one to whom to pass on his wisdom and knowledge. He just wanted children, period. To prove... something. That he had truly moved on from his old life? That he and Adylaide had finally made it? Something like that.

Ady knew that Ulrich had a lot of trauma to work through from his times as a soldier. She too had moments to work through. Perhaps not as many as him. Her life ad been rose compared to the life he had been forced to endure. It honestly made her ill.

Ady nibbled at his ruff as her mind moved through the names she knew. There had been the matrona in the kitchen whom she had loved possibly more than her own mother, but honestly she couldn't even remember her name. Everyone had simply called her cookie.

But. What about Ines for a girl. There was a peasant girl that I used to play with before father disallowed me. She was so kind Ully.