She couldn't describe how happy she had been this past season. By some miracle, she and Greed had fallen pregnant, and the new parents-to-be were ecstatic. She was very careful this time around. Taking good care of herself and ensuring everything she did wouldn't put her pregnancy at risk. Greed watched over her despite not needing to, but after their first loss, he was unwilling to leave her side for longer than he needed to. Claire spent a lot of her time in or around the castle, not leaving the pack lands, and tending to what needed tending. Light duties, of course. Greed would hardly let her lift a paw as a worried partner. He too, wanted to make sure things happened right this time. Though she reassured him time and time again that despite their previous loss, it hadn't been their fault. It took a long time for her to believe that herself, and while she'd never forget, they had to move forward. It was today that things started to go into motion. She woke up with labor cramps, a soft gasp escaping her as she stirred. It was early, but by this time, she was sure everyone in the castle was already stirring. Greed, it seemed, had gone out to get breakfast. He wasn't in the room, so she turned to her faithful companion as she stood and waddled over to her. "Go find Greed, and a healer. Tell them they're coming please," With a ruffle of feathers and a nod, Tan took off out the window and did as she was asked. Claire returned to the soft furs of their bed, lying down as she did her best to work through the pains that began to intensify. She hoped to whatever gods were out there that things would go right this time. "Speak

Gwynevere sat back with a little smile as she watched Solaire tend to some of the more hardy herbs and plants within the greenhouse. Solaire was the first of her many nieces and nephews to take a real interest in the plants and how they were utilized so she was thrilled to finally have someone to begin passing her knowledge onto. Much of her own knowledge was learned from trial, error, and experience–and the tutelage of her companion Eilwen. It had made the growth of her skills when she was young very slow so she hoped that Solaire would have a bit of an easier time with her as a mentor. Surely she could manage to be a better teacher than a raven with a bit of an attitude problem. She didn't quite trust her young nephew to tend to some of the more delicate plants or the ones that could be dangerous for him if not handled properly, but things like dandelion greens and marigolds were certainly fair game for a studying healer to be.

Her observation and occasional comments were interrupted, however, by the persistent tapping on the glass of the greenhouse. Her ears perked curiously and she looked up, spotting the bird that seemed to be insistent on getting her attention. With a tip of her head she went to open the door and immediately the avian rushed in, quickly informing her about Claire's labor. "I'll be right there," she told the companion, watching briefly as it took off again and she looked to Solaire uncertainly for a moment. It wasn't as if births happened consistently all the time so this could be a rare opportunity to show him the ropes for something that was difficult to teach without an example. While she didn't know Claire extremely well, she was at least aware of the pregnancy and got the sense that she was a kind woman. Hopefully she wouldn't mind her bringing Solaire along. "Duty calls!" she told her nephew with a smile. This was what the life of a healer was like so it was good for him to get a feel for it now.

She hurried out of the greenhouse with a nod for him to follow, moving swiftly toward the infirmary to pick up a bundle of preprepared herbs and supplies that she always kept packed and at the ready whenever there was a pregnancy in the pack. "Come on, lets hurry," she said to Solaire, grabbing the tied up bundle and loping through the castle to Claire and Greed's room. Pausing outside the room, she gave the door a quick knock before she began pushing it open, spotting Claire and giving her a reassuring smile. "I heard we have some puppies on the way?" she questioned after she had put the supplies down and began to untie the fabric that held it all together. Making a small nod toward Solaire she added, "Do you mind if my nephew sits in on the birth with me? I was in the middle of giving him a lesson when your companion found us."

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Solaire made his best attempt at snipping free some of the dandelion greens as delicately and carefully as his aunt always did, but it always looked way easier than it actually was! Slowly it was getting easier though and he was learning a ton about what each of the herbs he was gathering did as he went. The lesson and gathering was interupted by a sharp tapping at the glass and he looked up just as Aunt Gwyn did, watching with the pruning sheers dangling between his teeth as she went to greet the unexpected bird. Once he heard that there was a wolf giving birth that Gwyn needed to go tend to he just assumed their lessons were done for the day, but instead his aunt surprised him by motioning for him to follow and he looked at her with surprise for a moment before he scrambled to his paws and hurried to catch up with her.

He didn't have a clue what to expect from a birth but he knew it was a big important moment and it was something really important for healers to know so he stuck right behind his aunt as she rushed from one part of the castle to another, feeling nervous and excited all at the same time. They got to someone's room and as she let herself in he tentatively followed, peeking around Gwynevere shyly at his aunt's patient who was very pregnant and waiting for them to get there. As Gwyn asked about him being able to stay, he offered Claire a smile and dipped his head respectfully. "I'll stay out of the way, I promise!"

"Solaire Carpathius"

She took deep, slow breaths. She was trusting that Tan would be able to find them soon. She listened to the beat of her heart, closing her eyes as she kept control of her breath. This was different than last time. Last time...last time there had been a lot of pain, more than she had ever felt before. Last time there had been an intense feeling of dread as things quickly went wrong. She glanced back, worried suddenly as she remembered all of the blood that had pooled out of her last time. But when she looked, there was nothing there. Not yet at least. Swallowing back the worry, and keeping herself calm, she didn't feel any of the dread she had felt last time. This would be the day...she was both excited and afraid. Was she finally going to be a mother this time? She closed her eyes and prayed for everything to go right this time... A soft knock at her door alerted her, and she opened her eyes and looked up to find one of the Hallows healers. She didn't know the woman personally, but she had seen her in passing and at the very least had a name. She nodded gently, gaze shifting to the young boy that followed behind Gwyn. She couldn't even say she was hesitant, because honestly at this point, she just wanted to make sure everything went smoothly and safely. "Hello, and yes, that is fine. The more paws to help, the better, I imagine." She offered a smile. She didn't know if the healer had known about her previous loss, and that time Claire hadn't sought the help of a healer. So this time? She was happy to have all the help they could get. "The contractions are not very far apart now. They've started up a little bit ago..." She was nervous. And she hoped Greed would arrive soon. "Speak

It was only once Claire gave them the okay for Solaire to be in the room that she motioned for him to come through the door and had him close the door behind him. She set to work, bringing over her supplies and pulling them out so they would be at the ready while also putting together a dose of the medicines she had pre-prepared. She glanced up as she worked to Claire as she shared the closeness of the contractions and the time since the contractions started. "Won't be too long now then," she said with a reassuring smile. She scooped out a dose of the medicine she had created–the appearance of it looking more like a scoop of honey with a greenish hue and a few specks of leaves suspended in the mixture. "This has the Motherwort and Trillium extracts we were working on the other day in it," she shared with Solaire, showing him the mixture before holding the small wooden spoon up to Claire. After giving the laboring mother two doses of the honeyed mixture, she put the lid back on the jar and moving to Claire's side.

"Whenever you start to feel like you have to push let me know," she added as she placed her forepaws gently on Claire's rounded belly, feeling lightly for the pups and for the feeling of her muscles rippling with her contractions. Luckily for everyone involved it seemed like this was a far smaller litter than she was used to delivering with Briar and Artorias' litter. She was glad that this would be Solaire's first experience since it had all the makings of an easier birth than he would have seen from a larger litter. She gestured for Solaire to come closer and took one of his paws, placing it where hers had just been. "Feel that? That's the pup moving into place to be born," she explained and waited for another contraction to come to add, "And that's how the muscles flex during a contraction. The closer together those contractions are the closer we are to welcome a pup. Stay here and help me count how long it is between contractions, okay?" After giving Solaire a task she went to start preparing some towels and getting into position to clean up the pups as they came.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Once he was given permission to help with the brith, he grinned and moved further into the room while still being very careful to be out of the way and just stay where he could still see what all was going on. "Hi, I'm Solaire," he said to Claire as he took a seat to watch Aunt Gwyn get her supplies and stuff ready. He recognized the kind of medicine that she portioned out from the various times he had helped her craft them, but he still nodded with understanding as she share that it had the motherwort and trillium they had worked on together in it. Because motherwort helps with contractions and trillium helps with pain, right?" he recited, reinforcing his lessons and making sure he was thinking of the correct herbs. He really thought he would just be watching it all happen so when his aunt gestured for him to come closer he blinked with surprise, but did as she wished. He shyly followed her lead and started to feel at Claire's rounded belly, a touch of awe crossing his face when he realized he could feel the pups moving and could easily tell when she had another contraction from how her muscles clenched. "Wow..." he breathed softly and nodded with agreement when he was told to stay there and count the time between her contractions, putting all of his attention onto the task and watching closely so he wouldn't miss anything.

"Solaire Carpathius"