Modesty was pissed. Gil had returned from his little jaunt with Grammy with a broken ankle, and with her sides heavy and pups due any day now she was more than freshly out of patience. She hated the way they squirmed inside her, feet finding her lungs and bladder at every opportunity. The back of her throat burned from endless reflux and even taking a short stroll was enough to leave her out of breath. All she wanted was for someone to take a damn knife and cut them out of her so she could breathe again. Was that really so much to ask?

The young wolf had no idea what the rippling waves of pain down her flanks signified, but she had an idea of what might take the pain away. It was stashed in a bundle inside the cavern, so she made her way there with gritted teeth and low grumbles about all the different ways she was going to turn her future husband into a blanket for their babies. Wetness pooling at the back of her legs was unpleasantly timed with a kick from inside and another sharp wave so she assumed she had simply finally progressed to pissing herself in public. How charming. When she finally made it home she’d be sure to sit on Gil first.

The next wave knocked her back legs out from beneath her and she stumbled, pure horror clear on her face as her first child was born, A dark child with flecks of colour just like hers. She panicked. What the fuck was she meant to do with it? It seemed to be struggling to breath through the sack that still surrounded it so with more care than she had ever shown another living being, she moved to break it open, and started to nudge at it with her nose and lick the wetness away from it’s body, curling around the small form reflexively to protect it from the cold winter breeze coming in through the opening of the cave. The next to come had a dark head, but the back half looked just like his father. She suppressed the indignant huff that wanted to leave her chest and cleaned that one off too, nuzzling it towards her chest just like the first. The third was white, grey and brown patches, the fourth as black as night, though once the small body saw daylight, the small hints of purple would shine through more evidently. The last was the largest of all, another patched child, with pink instead of tan. It wasn’t very fair so many of them came out looking like their father after she sacrificed her body to carry them.

She was exhausted, and now they were out of her they weren’t any less squirmy than they had been within. She groaned a frustrated groan, body aching and exhausted. When would it end?

“Speech.”

They said that I got to keep it sweet

GILGAMESH

He had turned around for one second. His little jaunt with Pyralis hadn't taken too long, having returned with ample time to help Modesty with the birth of their pups. Yet, here he was now, looking around with a nearly frantic expression on his face. Where the hell did that woman run off to? More like waddle, but still, she'd disappeared. Limping as best he could down the beach, Gilgamesh finally picked up her scent. Nose twitching with the twinge of Modesty's hormones, he attempted to pick up his pace as best as he could. Thankfully Pyralis had been able to help him splint the broken ankle so he could at least walk, but running was out of the question.

Reaching the cavern and slowly walking in as the first pup was born, he couldn't help but smile. Sure, Modesty was furious with him. He would take the beating later about the stupidity of his little adventure down south with Pyr, but for now, he was going to celebrate the birth of their pups. Keeping a small distance while he listened to her struggle and successfully birth five pups who surprisingly looked a lot like him, save for two of them, he waited a moment to look them over. If there had been something more he could have done to help, he would have. He knew Modesty knew that. She had him wrapped around her delicate fingers.

Inching forward, Gil moved around toward the backside of Modesty before plopping down and scooting forward to curl up next to her. Moving his chin to rest on her shoulder as gently as he could, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I know you're furious with me, but we made those. I'm so proud of you," his deep voice is a whisper as he looked over at the squirming bundle piled up in front of her stomach. Watching them for a few moments, he let out a content sigh. "I love you, Modesty," he wanted so badly to reach forward and touch them but knew better than to do that. He might actually lose a leg if he were that stupid. "What are we naming them?" Gil asked curiously, eyes once more turning to glance over at her.

Speech

It probably wasn't a huge secret and no one seemed to be covering it up. Since Sparrow made a habit of keeping out of her packmate's personal lives, she didn't pry on the specifics. New pups, however, were more of her concern. Pups were something the whole pack needed to agree on protecting. Not that they had a choice. She'd never force her packmates to like pups, but they were going to be expected to be kind to them, to help where they could, even if begrudgingly, and protect them at all costs lest they walk the planks later. Sparrow wasn't going to give them a lecture unless they needed it, but she hoped their instincts would fill in the gaps.

Coming more into the den's proximity, Sparrow made her presence known, "Well, I wouldn't have chosen winter of all seasons," she mused, gesturing friar away to grab some things she had prepped for this occasion if she had guessed right about what was happening- which she had. "But they're here either way, so what can we do to help?"