Three plus two makes five

Just as she got settled into the furs, Ikigai presented her with a concoction of herbs and honey with the simple explanation of them being for pain and to ease what her body was going through. She nodded and took them without fuss, appreciating that the bitterness of the leaves was at least masked by the sweetness of the honey. She had forgone the herbs when she gave birth to Avacyn and Saracyn, but after that she very quickly learned there was nothing wrong with accepting a bit of help from those that knew what they were doing. Fia's birth had been far easier because of them so she knew better now than to refuse them when Ikigai offered them now. She leaned back into Alastor as her husband came to lay behind her, glancing back at him with a little grin before she settled in with a sigh to go through the now familiar motions of bringing these pups into the world.

Luckily, neither of the two pups caused much issue or complications. The first pup was a boy, mostly cloaked in swirling shades of purple like herself, with a splash of his father's red right around one eye. He wasn't quite as big as his siblings had been when they were born, but still a sizable pup with squeaking cries that filled the den as he came into the world. Panting from the exertion, Manea lifted her head to see the boy as Ikigai cleaned him up and brought him to her stomach after declaring that the pup was in fact male, and a proud smile pulled at Manea's lips, nuzzling the little boy and sharing a small moment with Alastor over their newest child before the contractions interrupted their celebrations and signaled that the second wasn't far behind.

The second and last pup of their third litter came even more easily, noticeably smaller than any of their other children. Oh, but she was beautiful with deep colors of black and red with delicate hints of light gray accenting her eyes and paws. Her natural instincts as a mother flared a bit as the tiny girl was placed next to her brother and she saw the noticeable lack of the usual puppy fat and squish that she was used to seeing, but her cries were just as strong and she immediately began to eat just like her brother so that eased some of her initial concerns. She kissed each of their heads as she began to catch her breath, giving Ikigai plenty of room to do her work or examinations that she felt were necessary before she left them to rest.

"Manea & Alastor Mendacium"