Puppy!
Levent had said earlier on in her pregnancy that she could be the one to pick the names. Hotaru had accepted this, and had spent several hours mulling over suitable names. Yet, when the time came, she found herself drawing a blank. Hotaru could not recall a single name. She mentally hit herself, frustrated that she had forgotten something so important. Once again, Levent came through for her and picked out a beautiful name. Granted, it was in his native language, but Hotaru found herself liking the way it rolled off her tongue. "Aysun."
Gently, the new mother nudged her pup, licking the little female as she suckled. She was going to respond to Levent's question when another painful wave hit again. Over and over again the waves came, each one coming sooner and growing stronger. Hotaru growled softly, her ears pinned to her head and her unseeing eyes closed as she waited for the next pup to arrive.
The second pup was not as easy as Aysun, and took longer to arrive. After several minutes, Hotaru could feel herself relax as the pup slid out from her. She quickly reached over, severing the cord that connected them and proceeded to clean her pup. A little male, and larger than his sister. After several vigorous licks, he too began to wail. His cries echoed by his sister and he fought Hotaru's grip a lot more than Aysun. Smiling, Hotaru brought him closer to her. The new mother went through her list of names, although it was a lot shorter than she remembered. "Aiden, my little fire."
Just as before, Hotaru brought the struggling pup out from under her so that Levent could see. "What is he like?" The blind female could feel her body go into the last stages of birth, expending any extra fluids that remained inside her. There would be no more pups from this littler. Even so, two was more than enough.
The she wolf's thoughts strayed to Dalgina, how patient and understanding she had been. She didn't protest when Hotaru had snapped at her and had remained quiet throughout the ordeal. "Dalgina, you can come in now. I apologize for snapping at you earlier."
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