Visiting the queens

[Kitty]

The sun was about to rise, so the cats from the Gathering should be back soon. The Gathering had been an interesting one - the gray tom could feel it. But the news could wait. Right now, he had a greater desire.

Crowstripe retrieved two fish from the fresh-kill pile and padded towards the nursery, where his mate, Sootwhisker, was currently staying. Just half a moon before the kits, he thought enthusiastically. Just a halfmoon before he would be a father.

He poked his head into the den, with a greeting mumbled around the fish in his mouth. His eyes sought out the one cat he wanted to see right now, and he let out a purr when he saw he and pushed his way in all the way.

[Amber]

The feeling of it becoming slightly warmer made the smile on the she-cat widen. Her black and orange pelt sensed the sun was soon to appear in the sky. She stretched a little, awakening from her short slumber. The queen had fallen asleep right before the cats had left for the gathering, unable to hold her eyes open anymore. And now she felt so much relief, that she had gotten more sleep than she usually did. It was just so exciting to be in the nursery once again. This time, she was going to be sure it was different.

Sootwhisker's ears perked up at the sound of pawsteps entering the nursery. Seeing the cat who had entered, her day had instantly become even better. "Please tell me one of those are for me." she said, feeling her mouth water at the sight of the fish. And her stomach seemed to agree with her, rumbling as if on cue. "Sorry." she muttered softly, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I'm glad you came, I was starting to miss you and was about to come see where you were." Sootwhisker purred sitting up awaiting the arrival of the fish.

[Kitty]

Crowstripe laughed, dropping the fish on the nursery ground. He smiled. Seeing his mate always made his day better. "Of course! You don't think they're both for me, do you?" He nudged one over to his mate. "I'll always bring you rey," he purred as he went to sit next to her, carrying his own fish. He licked her ears affectionately. "You shouldn't do any more walkign then you have to." He was probably being over-cautious, over-protective even, but he figured she'd understand. "Not when our kits are so close to being born." He pressed his pelt against her. "Are you feeling okay?"

[Amber]

Sootwhisker wasn't sure, they both could have been for him, but she was glad they weren't. It meant that the growling feeling would soon be relieved. "I know, you are so good to me, I don't deserve you." she said watching him with careful eyes. The moment he sat down next to her, and felt his pelt against her own, a sigh of contentment escaped from her mouth.

At the mentioning of being careful she instantly knew what he had meant. "I know, and that is exactly what I have been doing. I have hardly moved since we found out." she murmered taking a hungry bite from the fish, enjoying the flavor. "Just what I needed." she purred. "I'm actually feeling better than I thought I would, now that I have food, and you with me, I couldn't feel any better." her eyes drifted from her demolished fish that had been eaten quickly to her mate.

"I know you are concerned, but I think this time nothing will go wrong. We will have our kits and see their faces in less than a moon. This time it will be different, I'm feeling much better than when..." Sootwhisker couldn't bring herself to mention the dead kits, and her eyes drifted back toward the ground.

[Kitty]

Crowstripe murmured in agreement. He knew what she meant. The first kits still made him sad, too. He pressed himself up against his mate, trying to comfort her. Thinking about their first ktis always seemed to upset her.

"These will be fine." he promised. He hoped that he promise was true. "I'm certain of it. With you astheir mother, nothing wrong can happen again." He licked her ears a couple more times.

[Amber]

"I just hope you are right. I don't think I could live through seeing more kits die." Sootwhisker's voice had become shaken at the thought of losing another litter of kits. The normally full of happy she-cat had finally met her match as she thought of the dead kits. "They would almost be apprentice age now." she thought outloud, her mind visualizing the two dead kits running around the camp. Feeling her mate pressed against her made the thought go away, and made her feel much better.

"Maybe you will finally get a son to teach how to do everything." she purred her mind completly gone from the sad thoughts about her previous kits and now thinking about the new litter. Sootwhisker got onto all four paws and stretched. It felt good to be on her paws. "I can't wait to see their faces and to hear that they are healthy and nothing is wrong. Just normal kits." she said softly.

[Kitty]

"They'll be beautiful," he promised, rasping his tongue gently over her shoulder. He prayed to StarClan that he was right. "They will be absolutely un-normal, too, Sootwhisker. They with be the greatest kits in the forest."

He smiled. "Are you tired of sitting still?" Crowstripe teased quietly when his mate stood. He stood, too, and stretched, twining his tail with the black and ginger she-cat.

[Amber]

Sootwhisker was lost in a daydream, imagining what her kits would look like. She remembered exactly what the previous two had looked like. The she-kit of the litter had looked quite similar to Crowstripe, having his gray fur, but with orange patches. She had thought the kit was strange looking, yet cute. The tom had been orange with gray patches, the complete opposite of his sister. Aspenkit and Applekit, the two kits were gone, but not forgotten by her. When she snapped out of her daydream, she heard her mate mentioning something about them being the greatest kits in the forest. "With the praise you are giving them now, they better be or they will have a hard time later in life." she said, the smile returning to her face.

"You know good and well I am tired of sitting still." Sootwhisker mewed pawing at his ear. "Although if I stand too long your children don't like that and decide to become very heavy. Being still is something they are not good at either." she purred as she leaned against Crowstripe. "But I will do whatever they want me to. I will do whatever I can to keep them from ending up like the others." she murmered.

"Since I am pretty much confined to the nursery, you are my eyes and ears for the outside world. Anything interesting happen lately?" she queried.

[Kitty]

Crowstripe whispered, "They will not end up like the others." StarClan must be cruel, if they do. It was horrible last time - both he nd Sootwhisker were upset, because they'd both been looking forward to having healthy kits of their own. This time would e different.

Crowstripe shrugged. "Not much. The Gathering patrol left last night, and by the sound of it, they're just getting back. I'll find out what happened later and tell you about it." Honestly, not much had happened at all. "Hmm, let's see...I think that's it."

"Anything interesting happen in here?" he asked.

[Amber]

"Maybe if we keep saying that nothing will be wrong with them over and over it will eventually become true." Sootwhisker suggested. Well at this point it was more or less a hope than a suggestion. "Our kits will be loved, there is no doubt about that." she added. No matter what happened, she would be there for all of the kits, just as long as they were healthy.

"I'm glad to not be completely out of the loop then. But I'm glad you didn't have to go to the gathering, I feel better when you are nearby. If you had gone and something would have happened to you, I don't know what I would have done." her voice quieted. Great, here Crowstripe was alive and well and she was acting like he was dead. "Sorry, I need to stop thinking so negatively. I don't know why I'm like this lately, usually I keep on the positive side." she admitted.

"Did you seriously just ask me if anything interesting is going on in here? It's a nursery with kits, of course there is always going to be something interesting." Sootwhisker laughed.

[Kitty]

Crowstripe laughed. "No argument there," he agreed, nudging his mate gently. He didn't want to hurt her or the kits in her belly. "I'm fine. I would've been fine," he purred. "Don't worry about me. All you need to worry about is yourself and the kits." A father. He was going to be a daddy, finally. He'd already been through this happiness once, but this time it would really happen.

"So, have any of the kits gotten into much trouble recently?"

[Amber]

Sootwhisker rubbed up against Crowstripe feeling a slight breeze. Or maybe it was just her imagination. But she felt warmer closer to him, she always had. She felt a slight pain in her side as she moved around a little more, but took it as nothing. Shifting some more, she was back comfortable again. "Me not worry about you? That's almost impossible. I worry about you everyday." she said laying back down. Everything felt much better now. "Even though I know worrying probably doesn't do anything for any of us, and causes the kits stress, I can't help it."

"Any trouble?" Sootwhisker asked thinking about the kits in the nursery. "No, I don't think so, they are just all so active. They will be perfect playmates for our kits." she purred.

[Kitty]

Crowstripe laughed. "You can try to not worry about me, at least. I'll be fine," he promised with a purr, pressing his nose against his mate's side and twining his tail with her's. Hopefully this was a promise he could keep.

"Our kits will love it here," he agreed happily. "They will be very welcome, that's for sure!"