It had been two days since Alfrun had passed and only a handful of days since Ballad had passed. Jupiter was exhausted. He'd thought he'd been tired when it was just him, Alfrun, and the kids, but no. This was so much worse. He'd gone from being an overwhelmed new parent to a drowning single new father in a matter of days. In trying to process all that had happened he'd only gotten mired further. To make matters worse it seemed as though his grandfather took every opportunity to lambast him. Nothing was good enough. In fact that was what had inspired the current soul-searching walk Jupiter was on. Valentine had stopped by the family den Jupiter once shared with Alfrun, taken one look at his face, and kicked him out. It was probably for the better that he was on a forced break from childcare, but the callous tossing hadn't done much for his already low morale.

If he stopped to think about it Jupiter was confronted with the feeling that everything was his fault. Perhaps if he hadn't done what he done, acted the way he'd acted, maybe both Alfrun and Ballad would still be alive. He was cursed, wasn't he? How else could he explain it? He'd tried to game the system; to get everything he wanted while shirking the responsibility he'd signed up for. And Alfrun's gods were punishing him for it. They'd poisoned his cock. There was no other plausible explanation.

The curse didn't end there, no. The horde of children he was responsible for was staggering. He hadn't wanted to be a parent in the first place and now here he was, a single father drowning in puppies. This was nightmare, worst case scenario stuff right here and he didn't think it could get any worse.

And yet somehow he found himself at Motif's den waffling over whether or not to knock. As much as he didn't want to be a father, a worst fate, in his mind, was being a deadbeat one. Jupiter hated the idea of being the sort of father he'd had. He had to do better than that. It was time he saw his younger litter. If he was going to make this work - and selfish son of a bitch or not, he was - then he needed to start somewhere.

He took a deep breath and tentatively scratched at the entrance. "Motif?"

Motif knew she was hiding her trauma behind a thin curtain of responsibilities. The need of the tiny little lives curled up against her was absolute. If she hadn’t been here, these babies would have had a much slimmer chance of survival. It was easier to keep it together when she cuddled a colourful little one, and crooned gently to them. A reason to eat and take care of herself, knowing how badly they needed her milk. So the wound on her body slowly began to heal, as the healer took careful care of herself for the sake of them.

A scratch sounded on the door, and Jupiter’s voice followed shortly after. She raised her head, speaking softly. “Come in, Jupiter. They’ve just had a feed so they are sleepy and cuddly if you want to say hello” she said, assuming he was here to see the children she had already guessed as his.


"Motif Destruction"