You'll Blow Us All Away

Briar was given only a few moments to celebrate their first born son with Artorias while Gwyn hurried around a bit to clean up in the meantime, the two already infatuated parents doting over their son. "We do...!" she agreed quietly, giving Artorias a joyous—if slightly tired—grin. Seeing this little boy covered in shades of blue, gray, and black at her belly made every single moment of pain and discomfort feel like nothing. This pup and all the other pups to come were more than worth it and now she was just eager to bring the rest of them into the world so they could meet them all. She settled back into Artorias again after giving there son several loving nuzzles, giving his paw a squeeze while she took a breath and prepared herself. Now that she knew more or less what to expect she wasn't as anxious as the contractions began to pick back up and her body started to prepare for the next pup to be born.

The next pup didn't prove itself to be any easier to contend with. As the contractions began to build again and Gwyn continued to coach her through the process, Briar could already tell that this one was going to be just as big as the first. She knew that big pups were an inevitablity considering Artorias' height and the many larger wolves that were in her own family as well, but of course she had hoped that they might spare her at least a little bit. The contractions and the movement of the pup through her body were not any more pleasant than the first. If anything it was worse since her muscles had the previous strain to contend with as well. Still, she gripped onto Artorias' paw, settling into a rhythm of short panting breaths and gritting her teeth through each rippling contraction, the pain of the process quickly building and causing her to whine each time. She relied on Gwyn's lead and when her sister-in-law told her to push she put her all into bringing this pup into the world. Each push brought a pained groan through gritted teeth until the very end as Gwyn encouraged her to give a few extra strong pushes to get the pup the last bit of the way. After a couple of panting breaths Briar bore down, that groan turning into another scream as she finally pushed the second pup into the world.

Briar flopped back into Artorias again, panting hard for several moments while she used him for support and Gwyn quickly went to work cleaning up the pup and drying off their puppy fur. There was just a moment of silence before more squeaking puppy cries filled the room again and a smile pulled at Briar's lips as she blinked open her eyes and managed to lift her head to look at their second pup. Another boy, Gwynevere told them, and the perfect blending of the two parents was very evident in this little boy as well, again taking after Artorias' colors and her markings. This one was far darker though with a mostly black coat that was striped with blue. There had been no doubt in her mind that their pups would be the most handsome and beautiful pups there ever were, but seeing them for the first time even blew her expectations out of the water. "Two big, handsome boys..." she said breathlessly with a little chuckle while she lifted a paw to lightly stroke over the second boy's back for a moment since the thought of curling around to reach him at her belly felt like a slightly daunting task.

There was less of a pause for her to rest this time, the contractions almost catching her off guard with how quickly they gripped her again. She gasped softly at the first one, grimacing a bit as she eased herself back into Artorias' frame with a whine. Their pups were obviously just as eager to get out into the world and certainly weren't waiting for her to recover before the next one wanted out. Thankfully, the next was slightly easier, clearly not as large as their older siblings. Finding that rhythm of breathing, contractions, and pushing was even easier to find this time and even though she was very quickly burning through her energy she was determined to make it though this for their beautiful family. She struggled with her contractions for a bit, pushing hard with pained, muffled screams through gritted teeth while she gripped onto Artorias' foreleg for support. At first it had felt like she was making progress fairly quickly, but right at the end it felt like she was at a stand still. She soon found out why as Gwyn told her to wait, telling them the pup was turned around just a bit, and she felt the healer move her hind leg a bit with careful paws. Gwynevere was quiet and focused as she worked and Briar took the moment to catch her breath even a little bit, panting hard while she rested her head on the upper part of Artoras' foreleg, grimacing and whining when the contractions gripped her and she had to resist the natural urge to push through them until Gwyn told her she could. She felt Gwyn's paw and then there was a shifting and tugging that was not at all pleasant until finally there was relief and she felt her healer pull the little pup the rest of the way free.

Briar breathed a heavy sigh of relief, laying there for a moment with Artorias and blinking open her eyes to look up into his with a little smile. She gave a breathless chuckle as the pup was cleaned up and immediately started crying, this pup very much the loudest of the bunch. It somehow felt fitting for the one that gave them a little trouble would also come into the world screaming. Her ears perked when Gwyn told them that this one was a girl and Briar lifted her head so she could see the little pup that looked like she was made entirely of pitch blackness. She blinked with surprise and smiled as she lifted a paw to gently pet the little girl's back while she settled in with her brothers. "It looks like she got a lot of your mom..." Briar mentioned with another chuckle before leaning back into Artorias again. Gwynevere came over to her with a bit more of the sweetened, herbal paste and a bit of another herb that she was told was to help give her a bit of energy. Briar of course took them without question and got a small drink of water to wash it down in the small reprieve she was given before she continued on to finish this long, toiling labor.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"