The woman knew it was time, she could not hide it from him for long and nor did she want too. Recluse knew she had to tell Eraithus what she knew. It was finally time to put his promise to her to the test, to see if he could step up to be the husband he'd promised even when she had managed to get herself pregnant without him. She did not know who the father was, though she suspected she would learn it soon enough once they were born, but they weren't yet. Her stomach hadn't even really started rounding out yet but the symptoms were starting and that was enough for her. So the pale woman laid in their den, the moon's light long since disappeared from the hole in the roof as the pale yellow of dawn started to creep up from the Horizon. She suspected he would return soon, and the woman would wait, patiently if not with some minor anxiety. Recluse would never apologize for who she was but she also genuinely felt for Eraithus and the idea of jeopardizing that, it spooked her. speech think action

A PILLAR FOR ALL

He had to say that things had made him happy. He had no sign of the illness he had been scared to come back. Just a cough that had vanished just before the training he held. Eraithus hadn't realized how much his life had changed. How much Recluse and Habari meant to him. His tail twitched a hawk dangling from his jaws as he came to approach on the caved den. The moon had set and the early going of dawn were making their works. He had finished patrolling for the night and had brought her a piece of prey. Though his nose twitched, something was eating at his belly. Eraithus entered looking at Recluse nestled within these walls. He was happy that he had found a place for her to watch the sunrise. A safe place for her to enjoy the sun without it harming her due to the white pelt and pink eyes. She was as beautiful as ever.

"I brought you this." He placed the plump hawk at her paws and sat in front of her. His eyes glittered with affection for the wolf. His first mate and he considered himself lucky. Eraithus had been trying harder to concentrate himself on the pack and her. His tail twitched as he looked over her form, he had no way of knowing what she was going to tell him. Though he had been happy just to be in her presence. "The borders look okay for the time being. No predators or other wolves trying to cross into the lands." Eraithus settled himself then. Perhaps his nerves were what kept him talking. Regardless he let his gaze settle on her.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Eraithus would arrive soon enough, dinner dangling from his jaws and the woman would give him a small smile watching him as he approached and dropped his catch. Recluse reached up to plant a kiss on his face before she leaned back to her resting position on her side. She listened as he spoke and she nodded thoughtfully. His work for the pack had certainly helped to relieve some of her own work and that would never be unappreciated. He settled in front of her and the woman considered for a moment how to proceed. She reached out to gently place her forepaw on that of her husband, then gently, ever so gently began to guide his paw to her stomach. "I had no plans for it, but I suppose you ought to know you'll be a father before long." She doubted he'd be able to feel much, but maybe, just maybe the little lives she knew were inside her would deem it correct to squirm even just a little, though her stomach was only just beginning to bulge, hardly even noticeable if you weren't looking for it but the slight curve was there. "I do not know who fathered them, there were admittedly two men I met in short succession... But if you'll permit, I'd like for us to raise them together. Their blood does not matter as much to me as getting to do this together." speech think action

A PILLAR FOR ALL

Eraithus admired these moments of silence between them. He liked to see the way she moved his eyes tracing over her body language. She seemed... nervous at first and it made him curious. Feeling the warmth of her paw as she tugged his own fore-paw towards her stomach for a moment his eyes widened in shock. Then she spoke and what she told him almost brought tears to his eyes. "You're just so strong and beautiful." he whispered to her for a small moment. His eyes glistened with excitement and his heart seemed to flutter rapidly. Adrenaline pushed him but he knew well enough how to contain his own excitement.

For a moment he chuckled softly, "Leave it up to you to get busy that quickly." he joked, hoping that it wouldn't offend her. "You have no idea how honored I am for you to want me to raise a litter with you. Biological or not your children are my children. At least should they want that." he tried to think for a moment. Slowly his heart began to return to normal. Finding himself gently rubbing against Recluse's stomach.

"This is all I ever dreamed of in my life, I will always stand by your side Recluse. No matter the path you choose or who you decide to bring into your life." his gaze was serious. After all being a father had been his dream from a start. What his fathers and mothers had taught him to be proud of. Besides Recluse had never had a partner stand by her side with her pups. Perhaps her third time she needed a bit of help. Eraithus had always been good with pups this wouldn't be much different.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

He was amazing. Recluse had never really understood romance, at least not the way others seemed too. Her aunt had been destroyed by the loss of her first husband and her abandonment at the hands of her next two, and Venom herself had recently been dealt a rather harsh blow from her own former partner's leaving. And while Recluse could understand it in theory she'd never really understood how a woman could be laid so low by something like that... That was until this moment, as she looked at Eraithus and listened to his words she suddenly understood that if he ever left she would be hurt. It was a terrifying thought, the part of her that she'd shunted off since she'd been a young child, the part of her that believed deep down that she'd one day be abandoned by everyone reared its ugly head but it was being drowned out by the giddiness that flooded through her. She hadn't thought she could feel happier with him but it seemed that he was always surprising her. "I love you." She said softly, she reached out to try and pull him in, the meal he'd gotten was already forgotten in her mind. She wanted to hold her Husband, to be held. "I love you and I want them to love you as I do, I do not wish to lie to them about their parentage but those men do not have a claim to their lives. I cannot say I know what a good father is, I never had one myself but I want them to get to have that, and I want it to be you!" speech think action