Lights of my Life [Birthing]

Red had gone out hunting for Aurielle, who was much too far along to risk on any sort of hunt, even for small game. Besides, hares and rabbits were far too lean for her condition, when she most needed the nourishing fats for the young growing within her.

Pups!

The thought still filled him with wonder and awe. That she would have chosen him... that he would have a wife... that they would have children together. A family. When circumstances had forced him to leave his homeland, he had been content to remain always in the background of the world, a crafter, perhaps a mentor. He had never expected to find love in this foreign land and a family to replace the one he'd lost. No, not replace. He still missed his brother and their family and the land he'd grown up in, and he would never stop loving them. But somehow Aurielle and the lives they had created together had drawn depths of emotion for him that he had never known was possible.

Pups.

He would be a father. The thought should have filled him with terror - they were still young, still new to their relationship, were they ready to build a family? But Red didn't feel that fear, only joy, and Aurielle seemed to be as confident in their family as he felt. He wanted nothing more than to give all he could to her, and to their pups. So he'd gone out hunting, after letting Paladin know where he'd gone just in case, and gone out looking for something suitable for his wife and unborn children.

He'd failed to turn up anything that particularly satisfied what he was looking for, and while he took the pair of prairie chickens without a qualm he decided to turn a paw to fishing for a while, to better provide Aurielle with the healthy fats he knew she'd need. It wasn't his strongest hunting skill, but eventually he managed to flip a large catfish out of the watering hole it had been lurking in, and throwing it into a loosely woven reed basket along with the prairie chickens, he returned for home.

Just in time, as it turned out, he realized as he caught the excited chatter when he ducked into the cave system. A thrill of excitement and alarm shot through him. It was time? He stopped there in the entrance to orient himself, closing his eyes and taking a slow, deep breath, and releasing it. Twice, until he was fully calm, then he opened his eyes again. All right. It was time.

He set the basket aside in an unused alcove. Aurielle wouldn't need it now, but the energy-replacing meats would surely be welcome after the birth. Gently, he slipped past the tiny Adravendi healer at the entrance to the alcove where his children would be born. He sent the younger wolf a kindly, if abstracted, smile as he did, before turning his attention completely to Aurielle and Paladin, leaning down and brushing a kiss over Aurielle's forehead. "You started without me, my love?" he teased with a chuckle. "After waiting so long, I am glad our children were willing to wait until I got back to come into the world."