"They are so cute and so tiny." I hold my three cubs in the warm water. After hours of hard work, I finally did. "Thank you for your help Nobu."
"Of course, it helps when you can hear everything." He smiles and holds out a towel. "May I?"
"Of course, I didn't realize there were towels." I hand him the pups one at a time.
"Only at the bathhouses. Even then there isn't many around."
"Why not?" I ask curiously.
"The sheep Clan doesn't make very much. They don't have the tools to properly sheer themselves in the summer."
"I see, maybe we can help them."
He smiles as he dries the last pup. "You have ideas?"
"Sometimes."
My pups whine and cry as they're wrapped in a clean towel.
Damien helps me out of the tub and dries me. "Comac gets the bedding ready, Fae needs to rest."
He skitters away quickly.
Nobu holds my pups as Damien carries me back to our room.
"How are you feeling?" Damien asks.
"I'm sore, but I'll be alright. How are the pups?" I look over at Nobu.
He smiles. "They look healthy, eager to snuggle with their mother."
We get back to our room and we are set up in the bedroom. The pups are set up in a basket and I can finally relax a little.
Damien kisses me passionately. "You rest, Nobu and I are going to have a late-night hunt. Comae is just in the other room if you need anything."
"Thank you."
With that, he leaves.
The basket is right next to me and I look at my pups. Two are gray just like Damien, and the other is brown and white. It looks like a husky pup, but still cute. Their fur is super soft and brown and white. One nuzzles my hand as I finally feel the exhaustion settle in and I fall asleep.
The next few days pass by and the house is finally finished.
We are all excited to move. And after a day or two of rest, I can finally walk around and do things.
We pack what little we have and move into the new house. It's spacious, the main room has a deep fire pit and open windows. A few chests line the wall and there's already a pile of fine wood in the corner.
Damien hangs our hides on the back wall. I look at the chests and think of what to put in them. Maybe we can use them to store food. I walk through the doorway into the back. I found the two rooms, one has a bath in the ground and the other is a bedroom. The bedroom is huge! There are multiple beds for spouses, and each one is big enough for two.
I sigh. "I see I'm expected to have a lot of spouses."
"With females being so rare, you kind of have to." Comae puts his hand on my shoulder.
We go back into the main room and start a fire. "Do you know the genders of the pups yet?" Comac asks curiously.
I shake my head. "No, but I can look when I feed them next." My chest has been a bit sore since I started breastfeeding. I'm sure it'll go away soon, I fill up rather fast since I have triplets.
The brown pup whines for attention while the other two sleep.
"Awe, you are a momma's pup aren't you?" I pick it up and hold it close to my chest.
It nuzzles my breast, looking for food.
"You're always hungry." I start to feed it and notice that it's a boy. I smile. "Your name is Nordan, my little momma's boy."
Comac smiles. "I like that name." He pulls at some fruit for me as a snack.
"Thank you, Comae." I put my head on his shoulder.
He blushes and hands it to me.
Damien finishes putting everything away and lies next to the pups. "Nordan, huh? That's unique, I like it." He gently strokes one of the gray babies. "What about them?"
I pick them up and check. "They're both girls."
"Are you sure?" Damien asks.
I nod. "Yes, you have two daughters and one son."
They look at each other in fear.
I look at them both, confused. "Is that bad?"
Comac shakes his head. "No, it's amazing! There are just going to be a lot more males that are going to try and get your attention. One female is rare enough, but two? That's a miracle."
Damien nods. "Yeah, we can only keep this quiet for so long."
"Hey, let's just be happy that we have healthy children. I don't care if word gets out. Shout it from the rooftops for all I care." I put the girls down in the basket. "Let's think about names again. We only had one girl's name picked, we need a second."
"Okay, so we have Lyra." Damien thinks.
"Oh, what about Kali?" Comac chimes in.
We think for a moment or two and decide on it.
I sigh. "Comac, can you get some water please?"
He nods and leaves the room. I feed the girls and lay them back down for a nap. I rub my forehead. "I swear, you guys worry too much."
Damien laughs. "You're probably right."
I get up and stretch. "Let's all go for a walk when Comae comes back. I've been cooped up for too long."
"Okay, I'll carry the pups."
Once he comes back we get a drink and head into town. Everyone that sees the pups loves them to death. We are given congrats and a few shopkeepers even give us gifts. Some ask if we had any girls and the shock is priceless. Comae was right when he said I would get more male attention. Even some other females are asking me to take their sons as spouses. I agree to spend time with some of them, but the others are way too young for me.
We get back to the house to find gifts at the door.
"Word always travels faster than wildfire." I look through the gifts and most are rather useful.
"Why would someone give grain? It's rather useless." Damien says.
My eyes light up. "Finally, I can make pasta!"
"What's that?"
"You'll see, first we need to grind this into flour." I help them make a big grinder and by nightfall we have flour. "I'll show you tomorrow, but we will need eggs to finish it."
They nod and we all cuddle together.
In the morning, Damien goes out with our hides to look for chickens while we build a coop for them.
"Ow!" I accidentally cut myself on some of the wood.
"Are you alright?" Comae takes my finger and quickly bandages it. He kisses my hand gently.
I see his eyes sparkle when he looks out at me and my heart skips a beat. I gently brush his hair out of his face. Our faces get closer and suddenly we are inches apart. His breath caresses my cheek, sending a shiver up my back. My lips brush his, and then we kiss. His lips are soft against mine. He pulls me close and keeps a firm grip on my lower back. We finally pull apart and it feels like he took my breath away. I can see in his eyes that he wants more.
I gently push him back. "We can't do this here, not now."
He nods. "Okay, I understand."
We quickly finish the coop and rest inside the house. I have a snack and put some meat on the fire.
"I got chickens!" Damien comes in with a basket of chickens and one rooster.
"That's awesome!" We finished the coop, it's in the backyard.
He runs to the back and puts the chickens in the coop. Once he comes back he sits down next to me. "There are more gifts at the door."
I sigh. "It's what I get for showing off the pups." I go to the door and bring all the gifts inside.
We go through them and it's mostly food, and a few attempted love notes.
I sit back and take a deep breath. "I think once the pups are weened, I might go on a few dates.
"No," Damien says.
I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Not unless you let one of us accompany you. I don't trust males on their own."
"Fair, alright." I watch the pups as they waddle around in the basket. I smile, already trying to walk.