The wolfess stayed as she was for a long time, with her face cast toward the sky and her eyes closed. Occasionally she would shift and wriggle in her discomfort, but mostly she just stayed in that spot. There was a moment where she considered eating the meat – it surely would have cooled off enough by now – but then another contraction rolled through her body and she decided she did not want to even think about eating. Finally she heard the sound of the heavy hooves as Nana plodded through Thornbury. Orin's eyes shot open, and she peered across the square to see a mounted angel galloping through the clouds towards her!
Okay, Orin admitted, that was a little dramatic, even for her. Still a smile spread from ear to ear as the graceful apothecary slipped off of her mount and, without breaking stride, hurried over to her. Excited, she clapped her hands together once, then held her arms up to Alaine, though she was reluctant to do the work to get herself off the ground and out of the snow.
Alaine had the same confounded look that Shawchert had when he discovered the Tundra girl sitting in the snow, but Alaine knew better, and the look of 'have you lost your mind??' quickly melted into a compassionate smile of understanding. Unfortunately, completely naive to the business of having children, Orin knew nothing about the terminology Alaine used. “Labor? I don't think so. I think I'm about to have the pups.”
She was grateful for Alaine's help, and accepted it in getting herself off of the ground and standing, but as she straightened another wave overcame her and she bent over slightly. Her hand moved to her stomach as though she could alleviate the pain, though she could not. They had gotten stronger since she first settled herself in the snow. She gritted her teeth for a second, but though it was stronger, it was still short, and soon the wave passed.
She stood up straight and looked at Alaine pleadingly. “Oh my god, but it's just so hot inside. I don't even know how it got that way, I don't even have a fireplace. Are you sure? They're full wolves, you know, I think they can handle a little snow.” She almost sounded a little indignant, though she never would be rude to Alaine. But really, the little ones were half Tundra wolf, for the moon's sake! They should be alright. But Orin trusted Alaine completely, and at her insistance, she began walking towards the stairs to go inside.
“Oh, him,” she grumbled darkly when Alaine mentioned the father. “I just got done chasing him off. But knowing his nosy ass-” that was some of the sailor jargon she had learned “-he's probably just stalking me around the corner or something.” She waved her hand in Shawchert's general direction. “He went off that way.”
Orin climbed the stairs, careful to hold onto the banister as she went. Then, once on the porch, she looked in Shawchert's direction and could have sworn she saw a tell tale shadow. At this, she laughed heartily, then shook her head and, in a tone that implied she knew she was acting crazy, said, “Shawchert, it's okay... Alaine says I'm done with the snow.” This was a joke, and she laughed as she said it. “I'm sorry I said 'shit' and 'fuck' and 'don't you have any brains?'” She spared a glance at Alaine, wondering if her friend would diagnose her a loony.
Her golden eyes returned to the shadow – or at least, the shadow she thought might be Shawchert, but could have been anything – and she waited a moment to see if the man would come back. While she waited, she spoke to Alaine, “I was completely unprepared up until a couple days ago. Then all of a sudden I had this urge and I got the whole store cleaned up, and the floor cleared. I want to keep them downstairs – no way do I want to be climbing stairs in the next few weeks.” Her hands idly moved to her round belly. “I made a bed... Well, it's kind of more than a bed... on the floor that's ten times more comfortable than my cot upstairs. I don't know what else I'll need, though.” She was slightly worried until she looked at the mare that milled around the yard, saddlebags apparently packed with provisions. She hoped that it was all the things Alaine needed.
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