Cas rolled uncomfortably outside of her den, then sat up to stare accusingly at the remains of the porcupine she'd managed to procure earlier that day. Porcupines were a hard catch, so she'd been quite proud of the meal, but the manky little bastard was getting his revenge after all. Her stomach felt uncomfortably tight, she was queasy, and worse, she was cramping up painfully. With a growl she rose to pace the area before her den, but her steps slowed as she had a sudden thought. The weirdly rhythmic nature of the cramps was like a sense of deja vu, and it had just clicked. Oh no. Really?

She'd been getting sick quite a lot in the last couple weeks, come to think of it. Those stomach pains, the little flutters that she'd blamed on illness... that wasn't illness at all was it?

The timing was about right from when she and Valen had fooled around on Sonticus' territory.

Oh geez.

She'd been pregnant this whole time?

Her glare at the porcupine had turned to chagrin. How could she have been pregnant? She hadn't been showing at all really, and she knew what being pregnant felt like, and she hadn't felt anything like that... up until now.

Well, this changed things.

She resumed her pacing as the contractions - which were most definitely contractions at this point - intensified. She considered calling for Valen... but no, Rhythm had very recently had pups. Though she was largely indifferent to Rhythm herself, she didn't want to pull Valen away from his new children. She knew he doted on them, and didn't want to interrupt what time he could get with them between his duties as alpha. It wasn't like she needed his help in this anyway - she had managed last time just fine, and he had been distinctly squeamish about it if she remembered correctly, so she'd save him the distress and let him cuddle his pups.

Her pacing continued for some time - it felt like and might actually have been hours - before instinct told her it was time. Like generations of bitches before her, Cascade retired to her den to let nature take its course. Despite her abdomen being considerably smaller than the year before, it seemed like this birth was somehow so much more difficult. Maybe it was because she'd had no time to prepare herself mentally, and she found her body fighting it rather than accepting it as she had before.

Muttering grumpily at her own stupid body, she crawled her way over to her very basic herb stash and stared at them. She didn't have shit here for giving birth; she wasn't a healer, all she ever treated was battle wounds. Finally in lieu of anything more healer-y she pulled out the cannabis she'd once shared with Valen - having finally learned the word for the drug that had led to so much fun for them. Careful to eat much less than she had that time, she chewed and swallowed the dried plant matter and sat back to wait for it to take effect - just enough to relax her and ease the pain of her contractions.

With her eyes closed, she endured the long, long moments before she could finally feel the pain begin to fade away, for her body to relax. Finally, finally, she could feel the little body of a single pup slip free. Little was relative - this pup was no smaller than her other three had been, but she'd grown so used to their greater size now that they were grown that this boy seemed so terribly tiny and fragile. Just one pup, no more. She carefully cleaned the limp infant - unmoving other than the rise and fall of his chest that told her he was alive - nudging him around with her nose and licking him roughly to induce him to move. Finally, after a long moment of panic that pumped fear through her to overwhelm even the forced calm of the drugs, he stirred and flailed, his mouth opening in tiny mewling squeaks of protest. Cascade relaxed, then tilted her head to the side. Hello... what was this? Had she taken more of the drug than she'd meant to? She was sure that it couldn't cause actual hallucinations, but... The wet little bundle of grayish fur didn't look quite right. While other puppies... or at least, her older three, the only three newborns she had experience with... didn't grow their milk teeth in until just before they started solid food, this pup had two little fangs, weirdly flattened, that poked out just beneath the bottom of his upper lip even when his mouth was closed.

She studied him closely and came to the realization that it wasn't the drugs at all - his entire mouth structure was... deformed. It was a realization that sobered her very, very quickly and made her pulse race. Was this the sort of deformity that was a death sentence for a pup? She wasn't a healer; she didn't know. She'd fumbled her way through raising her first three and had been lucky that they'd all been so healthy. She didn't know what to do. For someone who only one year ago had been extremely casual about the idea of parenting she had come a long, long way to be so very heartbroken over the idea of losing a pup she'd only just birthed, but there it was. She didn't know if this pup would live even a day, an hour, let alone grow to a year old, and as she stared down at him it broke her heart.

But she couldn't just not try at all. Setting her chin in determination she set the strange little boy at her belly. The little pup rooted around a moment before finally finding what he was looking for and seeking to latch on. Her heart sank - that wasn't right. Most of what he was sucking was air - the odd formation of his mouth and the weird little fangs were keeping him from latching on properly. He wasn't going to be able to get enough milk to survive, was he?

"Chaos Saxe you will not go down without a fight," she murmured with an odd mix of gentleness and ferocity. She wasn't sure where she'd plucked the name from for a moment before she realized. Her father - Kaios. Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Valen... her desire to make something more of her name. To be more than the last Saxe. Well, why not? Why not reclaim her family name? Why not give this boy every opportunity he could have to become something great? To erase the stigma that tarnished the name of Saxe, to make Chaos Saxe mean something more than insanity. Her smile faded as she glanced down at the struggling babe. That is... if he survived that long. Sighing, she cuddled around him, constantly nuzzling and touching him. Reassuring him - and herself - that she was there.



OOC: Anyone in the pack is welcome at this point if they want to show up.

The sudden shock of air that set most infants to squalling in protest went unnoticed by the indistinctly gray toned ball of slimy fur that would soon bear the name of Chaos. He'd fallen unconscious, prey to the difficult passage through the birth canal that had squeezed him wrong and cut off the blood supply for long enough that he'd lapsed from what little self-awareness an unborn pup possessed. It was the rough warmth of a tongue's incessant lathing that stimulated him to consciousness. Hunger. Cold. This was not right he did not want this. He flailed about him in confusion, squeaking. This was not what he wanted! But then he was nestled in something warm, not womb-warm but a different, fluffy warm, and the warmth allowed him to concentrate on what instinct told him he needed, bumping around with his mouth until he suddenly found what he sought. But when instinct prompted him to suckle, it didn't feel... right, that warm liquid that he craved barely made it into his mouth and he squalled in indignant frustration between attempts. He didn't know that it was his oddly shaped mouth that was the problem. He just knew that it wasn't working the way instinct told him it was supposed to and he was hungry. Finally he settled into some semblance of a rhythm and suckled furiously, though he still gave the occasional indignant squeak as he nursed.

Fog hung delicately around Integra as she maneuvered back towards her den her mouth oddly herb free. She'd been out to check the borders and to clear her mind but for once she left the plants alone. Her mind whirling in it's sluggish whirlpool rather than the driven forward force that had been pushing her for so long. Darker dreams had been clawing at her mind and it seemed to be taking longer and longer to ease the wounds they opened. Somber and quiet she paused to sniff at a a whispy white dandelion cloaked in dew. As she did she caught the scent of a porcupine carcass as well as the scent of Cascade. Oh… she must be near the woman's den. Had she gotten turned around in the fog? Integra stood for a moment trying to decide what to do. Part of her wanted to walk away and leave the woman in peace but another part was yearning for a task. Yearning to be of some use. She wasn't where she wanted to be. Nowhere good enough. It was almost like she plateau'd and had no idea how to get higher. Drashiel had spoken once of the importance of little things. How doing everyday tasks or tasks unrelated to leadership could clear his mind and spark new ideas. She'd assumed it was an excuse to spend time with his children but perhaps there was some wisdom in that. "Cascade?" she called out gently. "I'm heading out to the Orchard. Do you need anything?" Suddenly she froze. This close to the densite she caught the scent of lingering afterbirth. Cascade had given birth? Her heart hammered but the mix of scents told her the birthing was already over and there wasn't an overly strong smell of blood that might indicate a very serious problem. Even so her voice stuttered from her lips. "A-are you alright?" The question was painfully simple. She couldn't find words. Was this a happy occasion? Should she say congratulations? The air was still and heavy, pressing in tight.

Valentine needed a break, something he felt rather guilty about since he was doing the least amount of work. He wasn't necessarily feeling overwhelmed, but he did feel like the walls of Rhythm's den were slowly closing in on him. Their babies were gorgeous but so very, very small and while they appeared well there was a certain amount of uncertainty that seemed to hang over them. That worried him a little. More than a little, maybe, because he was having a hard time sleeping. It was the need for one such break that had made him excuse himself from the den under the guise of needing to patrol. For awhile he did travel the border, but he kept finding himself wandering off the beaten path and after some time passed Valentine quit fighting the pull and allowed himself to simply wander. For whatever reason his paws began to carry him in the direction of Cascade's den. Arriving there he was immediately assaulted and stunned by the smells that permeated the air. Frozen in place he could only stare at the entrance for many long moments, not even registering Integra's presence, as his mind tried to fix its stalled state. Finally, as if he were approaching a dangerous creature, he slowly crept closer and tentatively calling out, "Cascade?" ""

Cascade was curled around Chaos, watching him with worry as he struggled to suckle, when a voice called out from outside her den. She whipped her head around fast enough to flatten her ear for a moment, causing the tiny pup to squeak angrily. She blinked, feeling very unfocused just now with the drugs already in her system and the exhaustion of a hard birth both catching up to her at the same time. "Yeah, don't worry about me, I'm good, everything's good! You uhhh... you go ahead to the orchard, I'll catch you anoth - Actually," her stomach had given a rumble of protest. The porcupine seemed like five years ago. "Actually I could use something to eat if you don't mind? A squirrel or... or maybe a moose... yeah a moose would be cool..."

But then Valentine's voice reached her ears, and she froze in place. Her brain came to a grinding halt. She hadn't even begun to consider how to explain her unexpected pregnancy to the unsuspecting father, let alone Chaos'... oddities. She coughed. "Uh... heyyyy Valen. You remember that time we went trespassing in Sonticus...?" She nervously licked at Chaos, who blatted at her in protest and immediately went back to the super serious task of trying to suckle.

"Uh... heyyyy Valen. You remember that time we went trespassing in Sonticus...?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion and he crept closer. "I do..." If not for the smells in the air and the ah, intriguing way Cascade had delivered those words Valentine would have asked permission to enter her den first, but, given his rising confusion (...and alarm? Maybe? Just a little? He couldn't decide) and the odd circumstances that brought him to that feeling, manners and whatnot never once plagued him as he moved closer. Poking his head into the den, Valentine's gaze locked onto the newborn immediately. Quizzically he stared at it, his brain - still thawing - having a hard time putting two and two together. What was really hard about the process was just how sudden all of this was. One day not even the thought of a baby and the next...TADA! a baby? Firing on all cylinders now, he quipped, "Are you trying to tell me you stole a baby?" Clearly that wasn't the case since it appeared that the baby was nursing quite happily. But...how? Just how? How was it possible that an entire pack of wolves with working noses could miss such a thing? Had she hidden her pregnancy from him? If so, why? He didn't understand. ""

Integra offered a nod of greeting to Valentine as he approached but it was clear that his attention was focused solely on Cascade. Cascade didn't sound quite… right and while she attempted to assure Integra she was the younger femme would hesitate for a moment before glancing at Valentine. He could handle this and there were other healers nearby if something happened. Nostrils would flare again as Integra delicately sifted through the scents in the air. Reassured that there was no thick scent of blood she spoke. "Ok, I'll see what I can catch. I'll be back as soon as I can." Integra took off on her hunt all the while wondering what exactly a moose was.

Cascade gave a nervous laugh at Valentine's words, then immediately gave an internal wince. Ok let's not do that again, you sound like a crazy person. "So it turns out..." she cleared her throat, trying to modulate her voice to something more normal instead of a high pitched squeak. "So it turns out that having sex while in heat makes babies..."

She stared down at Chaos as he did, then back up at him with an expression equal parts confusion and slightly-manic grin. "I didn't want to call for you when I realized what was happening... the babies and everything..." Her gaze drifted over his shoulder and she frowned distantly. "Where'd Integra go...?" Her movement as she leaned forward in an attempt to see caused Chaos to let go and squeak angrily, flailing his tiny limbs and surprisingly heavy head around in indignant protest. She looked down at him, then... shyly... back up at Valen and moved so that Valen could see his son without all her fluff in the way. "I named him Chaos. I don't even know what happened... I didn't feel pregnant and then he was ready to be born. Hey!" she swung her head up to peer blearily at him, brain finally catching up on what he'd said. "I did not steal a baby. I only steal girlfriends. That's the way it works."

She felt great. Just great. Her and Valen and Chaos. So cozy. She just wanted to scoop them both up and snuggle them. Big fuzzy Valentine and teeny squeaky Chaos. Yep.

"So it turns out..." He eyed her and resisted the urge to eye the baby. "So it turns out that having sex while in heat makes babies..." His browspots rose as if this was news to him.  "Oh, really? Huh. Who'da thunk it." If they could have risen any higher, Valentine's eyebrows would have shot up into his ears as he noted Cascade's off-kilter demeanor. He wracked his brain trying to remember if she'd been this way after their first litter. Mostly he just remembered her being tired. He didn't think any mania had been involved. "I didn't want to call for you when I realized what was happening... the babies and everything..." And just as suddenly as they'd risen, Valentine's eyebrows fell and knit together as his brow furrowed. That stung, honestly. Did she really think he'd be too busy to be there for the birth of their son? If he'd been given the opportunity he'd have come running. "You should have called anyway." "Where'd Integra go...?" Valentine blinked. Who? Where? OH. Whoops. His head snapped around and his eyes settled on...no one. He'd been so engrossed in Cascade and the baby that he'd forgotten the young healer was there. "I...guess she went to go get that moose." Her explanation squashed the small, nagging voice that had wondered whether or not she'd hidden her pregnancy from him. "I did not steal a baby. I only steal girlfriends. That's the way it works." Her final words, on the heels of what he thought was the beginnings of a serious conversation, pulled a surprised snort of laughter from him. "Fair enough. So..Chaos, huh?" He crept closer so he could see the newborn better. ""