It had been an… interesting winter. Of course he wouldn’t tell Haven that, if she asked it would have been the best winter in the history of ever. In truth he missed his carefree, playful mate, the one who had run with him haphazardly through the trees and chased fireflies nearly every night. He knew why of course, you only had to look at her to see that (another thing he wouldn’t be telling her), and he wouldn’t trade this new adventure that they are on but he was excited for the days when he got his mate back. The one thing he loved more than anything else were the cold nights when he could still wrap his dark, lanky form around his petite mate, feeling her warmth radiating into his and on rare occasions the kicks and squirming of their children.

All these thoughts ran through his head as he lazed just outside the entrance of their den, his large ears flicking at the sounds of her rustling restlessly within. He knew she was irritated, hormonal, and just plain tired, and he did everything he could think of to make her happy and comfortable. This included being at her every beck and call, so when her quiet voice called his name his bright aqua and golden eyes flew open and he was on his feet in an instant. Small paws carried him quickly inside, ducking his white-patched head so he didn’t bump it as he so often did in the mornings. “Yes, my dear?” he answered with his light voice as he reached her size.

Without a second though his slender head lowers, nosing her check gently before licking the spot that her black dorsal stripe ended on her forehead. “You are looking particularly radiant today, love,” he murmured before allowing his nose to trail down to her large, round stomach. “And how is our child, it could only be one pup with how small you are!” His voice was purely serious, he had learned early on that flattery was the best weapon in his arsenal. Secretly he hoped there were quite a few pups to come this spring, he was overjoyed at the thought of pups, his pups, crawling all over him soon, but he was too smart a man to say that to her.