Walk | Talk | Think
The past few days had impatiently crawled past, each one prolonging the inevitable that Tahlia had long since been hoping for. She was done being pregnant. The joyous, exciting miracle had lost its appeal weeks ago, and she was looking forward to finally being done with it. Her body ached from carrying the excess weight the pups had packed on, as if in a constant state of fatigue. Her mind yearned for more stimulating activities than merely watching the forest around her fade from autumn to winter, and it only seemed to influence the dreadful physical sensations that bothered her. Not wanting to cause unnecessary stress on the children that she carried, she tried her best not to let the thoughts and feelings consume her, but overall she was tired of the waiting games.
So that morning, when the first pangs of warning began to present themselves, the eager mother was nearly giddy with relief. At last! It was finally time! Soon - incredibly soon now - she and Bane would have the family they so longed for, and she would no longer be burdened with carrying it physically herself.
She was grateful that by chance she had stuck close to the den that had once been solely occupied by Bane, having moved to join him at his residency as had been the custom from her upbringing. Despite the peculiarities about it, she had taken to the new arrangements quite readily, and spotted it quickly now as she hurriedly trotted through the woods in its direction. Dark golden eyes alighted on the trees that surrounded their home, the telltale markings referred to by Bane as the "Talutah" situated upon their trunks. They were strange to her, finding less significance in them than he did, but it was an easy enough to quirk to her husband's character that she could live with.
Excitement coursed through Tahlia's veins as she crossed the short open space between the treeline and the den, pausing just outside the opening of the welcoming shelter to glance back over one shoulder. Surely Bane must have been nearby, knowing too that the day of their children's birth was swiftly approaching. Happily she tilted her muzzle in the air and called out to him, beckoning him to her side. He had stuck by her through everything so far; she could hardly imagine going through this very last stretch of her pregnancy without him.
The sound of her call was cut somewhat short as another painful spasm from within was set off, much more forceful than the last few she had felt during her journey here. And it has only just begun, she thought, a sudden wariness rising within. In all her excitement about finally reaching the end of her pregnancy, she had allowed herself to forget a rather important detail: birth was not pretty, nor was it pleasant. The expectant expression about her face suddenly slipped away as the painful sense dissipated, her heart beginning to beat more rapidly with its passing. This was only the beginning.
Praying that her husband might turn up soon, she moved into the den to situate herself within, restlessly moving about as the pains worsened and the birth of her children neared ever closer.
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