Hello World! [Birthing Thread]

Zee allowed Iolaire room to work at her pup, her heart hammering hard as she wondered whether the healer could help him. She knew very little of birthing, having been present for more than a few litters in her youth but always outside the den while her healer mother worked. Whatever was happening to her firstborn didn't seem normal, and she gritted her teeth while she waited impatiently to hear that first cry. Belle's paw came upon her own and Zee put her second one on top of the Empress' own. Sirius still held her tightly and it was good thing, because some instinctual part of Zee wanted to knock Iolaire over and try to see to her unbreathing child herself.

At long last the child cried and Zee let out a sigh of relief with her sister. Her head flopped back onto Sirius heavily, exhausted now not just physically but mentally too. "I don't want to go through that again." She whispered to her husband, eyes squeezing shut. The pup was placed against her belly and for a short moment her fatigue was forgotten. She lifted her head off the direwolf and curled it in to look at the pup, leaning forward to place a small lick upon his back as he rooted for milk. "He is beautiful." She agreed softly, lifting her eyes from the child long enough to give a smile to both her sisters.

Her period of respite did not last long, and with the same intensity of the first Zee felt the sharp clenching pain start up once more. She focused hard upon the child, willing his presence to wash away her pain. Unfortunately it did little to dull it, though the boy she'd birthed already cleared the path to a slightly less painful second-born. She cried out once more, and with another hard push felt the second bundle slide from her. Instantly her ears perked to listen for the cry, her body curling protectively around him as she vigorously worked to clean him with hopes that his entrance into the world be less dangerous. It took very little time for him to squeal, and she pressed her nose into him to let out a shaken sigh of relief.

She'd seen what Iolaire did for the first, and swiftly moved to crush the cord with her teeth. Gently she moved the pup to her belly beside his brother, resting her head over both their bodies protectively as they fed. After a few moments of holding them like this, she pulled back so that the others could see. "He's alright, I think." Though regardless she leaned away back into Sirius so that if they wished the healers could look over him. Her head angled upwards to look up at her husband. "Mortis, and Azure?" She confirmed softly. They'd had the discussion of names, but she wanted to be sure the direwolf was still happy with their selection.