My c o l d desire
to hear the boom, boom,
b o o m of your heart

Come spring, Caligula had abandoned the den that they had first occupied in the winter as soon as the ground had become softer. She wanted a new start, a new den. Tesseract, as always, went along with it, knowing that the desires of a pregnant female would not be placated until fulfilled. She moved their den to a slight hill that was not far from where the river met the sea and overlooked the beach. The water there was a little saltier but it was drinkable. At least there was not any sort of beast in the river that she needed to worry about. It was not Iromar that they had resided in. Caligula had dug out the den plenty big enough for her and Tesseract. They had always shared a den, from birth onwards.

She was lay on the beach, her stomach full from a couple of dead fish that had washed up this morning. The waves brought a fair amount of random things that were turning out delicious to eat. She wondered if Glorall every really went to hunt mammals. She lounged in the sand, eyes half closed contentedly as she soaked up the sun and was lulled by the laughing of gulls. She was not sure how much time had passed but when the first contraction rippled over her abdomen she sighed and got up. She stretched out to release her muscles. She moved up the dunes, panting and then another ripples across it. Clearly those within her were demanding to be born. She managed a smile and a noiseless chuckle in amusement. Though the birth of her daughters was difficult, she had survived and she knew what to expect this time. She was decidedly more relaxed and took her time getting to their den. The inside was lined with pine needles, moss and anything else she thought was soft enough to birth the potential heirs of Glorall. Tesseract had yet to name any of the girls his heir, and she hoped that someone that was coming would be worthy enough.

Caligula moved into the den and settled down. Her conscious mind drifted into something decidedly more primal. As contractions came, she grunted and bore down. She would stay in that position for a while before getting up, stretching, circling and settling back down. Finally, her water broke, and she pushed with a contraction. A pup slide out from her, and she moved him towards her cleaning him and nudging him harshly till she heard him cry out. It was important for her to make sure that her children had a voice. When he had, she allows him to nurse while she waits for more contractions to come.

There was a lull in it, still she knew that she was not yet done bringing life into this world. The contractions came again, and by this time she was tired but not exhausted. Again, she pushed another pup slide from her. She brought it between her front paws and licked it clean. The girl was smaller than her voracious brother, and looked so much like her mother that she wondered if she would have the same eyes as her mother. She licked the girl clean, nudging her repeatedly as she tried to make the girl make a noise. She wanted her children healthy without any hindrances. She breathed a sigh of relief as the girl finally squealed in annoyance at her mother's nudging. She picked up the wailing pup by her scruff and then placing her by her brother. She licked the pup to sooth the girl.

She laid her head around her two children, noting that the contractions were lessening. Still, she did not feel as if the labor was still done. She allowed them to suckle for a moment but as the contractions quickened and intensified once more she got up, stretching, licking the children quickly before laying back down. She pushed as the contractions came but she was exhausted. Finally, the hopefully last puppy was born. He was bigger than his siblings but she knew that all of them were healthy as he immediately protested being born. She was exhausted but at least everyone was healthy and there wasn't the amount of blood that there was last time. She was certain that Tesseract would be much less stressed this time.