A Moon’s Tiny Blessing [Birth Topic]

Moonlight was looking at the moon and the stars surrounding it, resting near the nursery’s entrance with a huge smile in her muzzle. Unlike most queens, she had decided to take a spot near to the entrance just to be able to see the night sky instead of the roof of the nursery all the time. Most cats were already asleep, but she was known for staying up for somewhat longer, a habit that many thought to be bad, but in the end was what got her and Tinylegs to confess their love for each other.

With a soft purr she looked at her swollen belly, her kits should be arriving soon, as they had become fairly active. Oh, she still could remember the white tom’s face when she told him that she was carrying his kits, the memory being more than enough to cause her to let out a small chuckle.

Stretching a bit and closing her eyes, she decided that it was a good time to go to sleep at least, no need to worry her mate or the medicine cat by not sleeping long enough. However, apparently destiny had other plans for the she-cat.

She opened her eyes and let out a yowl with a mix of pain and surprise as he felt the muscles of her belly starting to work on their own “T-Tinylegs!” Moonlight, dug her claws in her nest as she called for her mate before anyone else, even before the medicine cat. Right then and there, she could only think that she wanted to have him around.

Tinylegs had spent a majority of the day hunting, knowing that Moonlight's kits were coming soon. His mate had been growing bigger and bigger every passing day and the short tom knew the time was near. Waddling into camp and dragging two squirrels by the tail, he dropped them near the edge of the freshkill pile. It'd taken him way too long to hunt just those two pieces of prey, but he was glad that he was able to bring something back, even though it took him till later in the night to return to camp.

The white cat was about grab a piece of prey for beloved mate, when he hear her yowl. Suddenly panicking, Tinylegs ran to the den as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. "I'm here!" he meowed in a worried tone, arriving at Moonlight's side and nudging her cheek his muzzle. He was still so happy and overwhelmed with joy that he had a mate like her and prayed to StarClan that no lives would be lost during the kitting. If he lost Moonlight or either of their kits, he didn't know what he'd do without them.

"Wait what's happening?!" Rabbitpaw jumped out of the medicine den at the sound of Moonlight's cry. What a coincidence that Oceanlight was out when this happened. Spotted Moonlight across the clearing, she immediately saw what was going on. "Oh, no... Oh Starclan, um..." The medicine cat apprentice muttered to herself as she raced back in her den for a minute to grab what she needed. Looking around, she tried her best to remember exactly what everything was. Oceanlight hadn't quite trained her with birth. With a defeated sigh that turned into a panic, she finally decided to disregard the herbs and ran to Moonlight. "Okay, Moonlight, I'm here!" With a anxious movements, the apprentice began to feel the queen's stomach. The funny part was that she wasn't quite sure what she was searching for. There were definitely kits and they were certainly alive. "Well, you uh... You have some kits in there!" she said sheepishly. "You need to, um, control your breathing... and-and push for me, okay?" Poor Rabbitpaw was just about as nervous as the queen herself was.

OOC: Originally I was planning to post each birth individually, but I decided to just do both at once to help the thread to move faster and not keep you waiting, hope you don’t mind.

Moonlight’s ears bolted up as soon as her mate’s voice reached them, her eyes landing on his as a smile formed on her muzzle, his sole presence giving her a short time of relief before the pain returned as the muscles of her abdomen became tense once more. The young voice of the apprentice didn’t took long to reach her ears, Rabbitpaw was still really new to the whole thing, so her lack of experience was understandable, but regardless of that she was still a medicine cat and that was enough to make Moonlight feel somewhat safer, putting her trust on her young paws as she did her best to follow the instructions.

Clenching her teeth and digging her claws in the dirt, Moonlight pushed as Rabbitpaw asked her to do, lowering her ears as she gave birth to a tom, resting for just a couple of seconds before pushing once more, this time giving birth to a she-cat. Panting, the new mother turned to face her newborn kits as soon as her muscles relaxed, making it highly improbable that she still had any kits in her, though she would immediately change her mind if Rabbitpaw told her so and asked her to push again.

Guided by her motherly instincts, she gently pulled the two kits closer to her belly, licking them clean before turning to face Rabbitpaw, giving her a tankful yet tired nod of gratitude, and then looking at Tinylegs once more “How…How should we…name them?” The silver queen was clearly tired, worn out by the kitting, but she didn’t want to just close her eyes and fall asleep before naming her kits.

The soon to be named Cherrykit struggled towards her mother's belly, her eyes still closed. The truth that the olderncats did not know was that she could not use them in any way forever.

The diluted calico tom let out a tiny mew, fumbling beneath his paws. The world was so new and chilly to the tiny kit, and he found warmth against the fur of his mother and sister. The soon-to-be-named Sagekit began to suckle.

As soon as two kits were born, Rabbitpaw breathed a sigh of relief. As they came to the world, their cries were almost too much to bear from how happy the she-cat was that they were alive and healthy looking. When everything seemed to calm down, the apprentice took one more moment to press down on the queen's belly to check for more kits. When there was no more movement, she finally relaxed. "Okay, I think you're good now. Um, congratulations!" she mewed. "I'll leave you both to take care of them."

Tinylegs watched as Moonlight started giving birth and a somewhat panicked feeling overwhelmed him. He dug his small claws into the ground, praying with all his might that his mate and the kits would be alright when this was all over. For most cats, birth was a normal part of life, but to Tinylegs, he honestly didn't know what to think of it. Rabbitpaw seemed to doubt herself a little, which worried him, but in the end, he knew that he could trust his niece.

Directing his gaze to the ground, the tom waited for it all to be over and after what felt like ages of listening to Moonlight pant in pain, everything went silent. Looking from the dirt to his mate, the small tom spotted two small bundles of fur huddled against the she-cat's belly. Making his way to his mate, he gave a respectful nod to Rabbitpaw and sat down by Moonlight, giving her a lick on the forehead. The kits were so small and helpless, not to mention how adorable they were. With a soft smile upon his muzzle, Tinylegs let out a purr. "How about Cherrykit and Sagekit?" he meowed, hoping those were suitable names. The tom had the color of sage in his pelt, and although the she-cat didn't really look like a cherry per-say, it just kinda fit her.

Moonlight smiled at Rabbitpaw as she left, purring as she hear her mate’s words, nuzzling his cheek lovingly before her attention returned to her newly named kits, she never had felt so happy in her whole life “Cherrykit” As she repeated the name that her mate had proposed she licked the small she-cat’s head gently “Sagekit” She repeated the process with the tom, her voice reflecting how tired she felt, but also her happiness and newfound love for her kits “Such perfect names…Thank you for being at my side, Tinylegs”.

With a content sigh, she placed her head on the nest as her muscles relaxed and she allowed her tired body to get the rest that it needed after the exhausting experience, closing her eyes and falling into a deep slumber, her lovingly smile never fading from her muzzle.