Copper Ginger (birth topic)

She knew when she had asked Gingerstripe if he wanted to have kits the price of staying in camp as a round ball of kitten carrieer. Copperfang huffed and she shifted from her spot for the millionth time. Trying to lay down and rest while kicking kits moved about inside you was torture. The kits had been kicking rather harshly the last couple of hours and when a few particularly sharp kicks hit her she gasped in pain and furrowed her brows. Was it time already? “Gingerstripe!! Get your furry butt in here your about to be a father!!” She growled out. “And get Honeydrop while your at it!!” The fiery orange bengal meowed her blue eyes glazed over in pain.

Oh, StarClan! Gingerstripe raced into the nursery at his mate's yowl, the medicine cat on his heels with a mouthful of herbs. Honeydrop was calm and collected; this wasn't the first time she'd helped a she-cat give birth. And of course, she was better suited to help than most medicine cats would be, as she had given birth herself- in fact, one of her own kits would be the father of this newest litter. As the golden she-cat gave Copperfang a stick to grip in her jaws for the pain, the tabby tom started to panic, anxiety overcoming the normally confident warrior. "What should I do? Is everything okay? How many kits will there be? Oh StarClan, is she going to die?! Will she-"

"Get out or shut up, Gingerstripe," the medicine cat snapped uncharacteristically, under a large amount of stress. As much as she lived her son, she did not need any distractions. Generally, the new father's were always like this- Flamestrike wasn't- and the neyst thing to do was send them away. A little startled, the young warrior backed out of the nursery, veins flowing with adrenaline. Honeydrop turned back to the matter at paw. "All right, Copperfang. Everything's fine. You'll be okay. Now, when I say 'push,' I want you to push as hard as you can, all right?... Now, push!"

Copperfang gripped th wstick at it was given to her but let go to eat the herbs Honeydrop have her then grabbed the stick again. She heard her mate panicking and then he was out of the den. She listened to Honeydrop speak before she pushed and soon had two little kits next to her. She licked them both gently until they meowed before calling Gingerstripe into the den. “Gingerstripe? You can come in and meet your daughters now.” She meowed.

The little orange she-cat mewed surprised when she felt the tongue of her mother. With clumsy paws, she slowly approached the queen, following the scent of the milk and feeling the warm of the bigger she-cat.

The other tiny kit tumbled over as she followed her sister. As she reached her mother, she snuggled up against her belly alongside her littermate.

Gingerstripe was pacing nervously outside the nursery until he heard his mate calling for him. He immediately rushed inside, heart pounding so loud he was sure that they could hear it in WindClan. At the sight of the two small bundles of fur lying at Copperfang's side, he stopped in his tracks. Those were his kits. My kits. I... I'm a father now. The thought raced through his minds a couple times before he could grasp it completely. He could only imagine that this was what Flamestrike must have felt like, sitting at Littlebrook's side and gazing at his own posterity. A big, lopsided grin broke out on the ginger tabby's face as he gazed at the two tiny she-kits. He went and sat down by his mate's side, his tail draped lovingly over her shoulders as he watched the little scraps of fur. "They're perfect," he whispered to the bengal she-cat. "Just like you."

Honeydrop watched with no small degree of wistfulness in her eyes as her son and his mate looked at their kits. If only it could have been this way with her and Flamestrike... if only they hadn't had to hide their love. If only Gingerstripe and Firestone knew who their real mother was. Doing her best to shake off the thought, the golden medicine cat allowed a small smile onto her face. She would let herself enjoy this, for her son's sake. "They're beautiful, Copperfang. What will you name them?"

Copperfang smiled gently down at their kits. “I think Sparkkit and Tansykit. What do you think Gingerstripe?” She meowed.