Banking on a dream

Avacyn's breath caught and she blinked with surprise as she continued to look down at the ground when Sara's forelegs suddenly wrapped around her once more, snapping her out of the panic that was starting to grip her chest and causing her thoughts to spiral. She didn't immediately relax into his embrace as she reeled with the sudden shift from his criticism and hurt to this comfort and support, but as soon as his paw gently pulled her head into his chest she crumbled and wrapped her forelegs around him in return as she pressed her face into his chest. Saracyn was her tether and for a moment she had been adrift–a taste of a feeling she never wanted to come near again. She knew that this side of her brother wasn't one that he shared with anyone else, but neither was this vulnerability that she shared with him. She listened to his reassurances and hung on every word as she sniffed back her tears with shallow, hiccuping breaths, letting herself believe that he was right.

She closed her eyes as he nuzzled and kissed the top of her head, squeezing him a little tighter as she nuzzled into the fur on his chest with a slow sigh, slowly finding her equilibrium now that she had her tether once more. This was why she had chosen to defy the laws and traditions that she had been taught from such a young age, the ones that she had grown up knowing that one day she would be enforcing and teaching to future generations. He made her believe that anything was possible and that she could face anything that was put in front of her–including having his pups and being their mother. The feeling of his paw coming to rest on her belly pulled a hint of a smile across her lips as she lifted her head enough to meet his gaze. She hadn't even had a chance to think about what it would be like or what it would mean to be a mother, much less worry about if she would be a good one. She couldn't share in his nervousness about being a parent when her nerves were already so high about simply being able to become a mother at all, but it was so nice to just pretend that being a good parent was all they had to worry about.

"You're going to be such a good father," she assured him softly in return as one of her paws slipped away from his side to rest on top of his on her belly. Tipping her muzzle up to his, she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips as she continued to unwind the knots that had formed in her core and managed to make herself take a full breath. She was pregnant and it was all going to be okay. Everything had to happen for a reason and it felt good to just believe that Saracyn was right–that this was meant to be and that their children would be the next, wonderful generation of Mendacium wolves. "I love you," she told him after a moment. "I never want you to think that I don't or that I don't want this future for us. I'm just afraid of what could happen. But I know you're right. We're soul mates. This is how it's supposed to be."

"Avacyn & Saracyn"