33 One Of Each (1/2)
Winter has hit hard. Instead of staying with Bass, Hyena and their children at Richy old house, Seal is staying at the estate so she can be of assistance if necessary when Talia gives birth and to be near her adoptive father, Walter, who lives at the estate now. Talia is due to give birth anytime now and Otter will be due in another month and a half. Richy comes home from work. He just beat the snow storm that just started and it's nasty outside. He finds Cougar in the game room playing pool with Greywolf.
”Hey Richy,” greets Cougar.
”Welcome home, Mist,” greets Wildcat.
”Mist,” Greywolf greets with a simple nod of acknowledgement.
”Guys,” Richy greets all three men at once. ”Where's everybody else?”
”Walter, Seal, Otter and Uncle Bob are in the kitchen with the kids,” answers Cougar, ”They're working on dinner… Talia said she needed to lie down. She took Will upstairs with her and Eli.”
”How long ago was that,” asks Richy.
”About an hour I think,” answers Cougar with a shrug.
”More like an hour and a half,” says Wildcat.
”She looked and smelled uncomfortable,” shares Greywolf. ”We should check on her.”
”Eli would come get us if something was wrong,” says Cougar.
”Not if he's afraid to leave her alone,” points out Greywolf. ”He's hardly left her side since that mob surrounded us in the city a month ago.”
Wildcat agrees with Greywolf, ”We should check on her.”
Cougar puts his pool stick up, ”Alright, let's check on our girl. I can finish beating Greywolf later.”
”How are you gonna beat me. I'm winnin',” states Greywolf putting up his pool stick.
”That's just part of my plan,” says Cougar grinning. ”You just think you're winning.”
”Sure,” says Richy smiling amused.
”You sound like you don't believe me, Richard,” says Cougar leading the way.
They get to the bedroom, but there's no Talia, Eli nor Will.
”Let's try the garden room,” suggest Cougar. But when they get there it's empty. They end up searching the whole mansion. It takes them nearly an hour. But Talia, Eli and the baby are not in the mansion.
”Mist, what made you asks where everyone was when you came in,” asks Wildcat.
”I smelled Talia and Eli in the mudroom,” shares Richy.
”The mudroom,” says Greywolf wondering out loud as he heads for the mudroom followed by the rest of the household.
”She was in here,” states Wildcat, ”Her and Eli.”
”Their coats and furs are gone,” says Greywolf concerned.
”Maybe she went to visit Roar,” suggest Uncle Bob.
”She always goes out the backdoor through the kitchen when she's going to visit Roar and her tribe,” states Otter.
”So where was she going,” asks Seal.
”She seemed to be having trouble relaxing,” notes Walter. ”She seemed tense.”
”She was uncomfortable,” recalls Greywolf, ”restless.”
”She's due,” reminds Wildcat. ”If her labor started that would be why she was uncomfortable, tense and unable to relax.”
”So she went off into a snow storm,” says Uncle Bob trying to understand. ”That's a blizzard out there.”
”A couple of hours ago,” reminds Wildcat, ”It wasn't snowing that badly. We have to remember, just a couple of months ago she went through a traumatic event. If she's in labor, her instincts have sent her to a place where she feels safe to give birth. Trouble is, none of us has ever spent any time walkin' about out there with her. I know where a couple of her caches are, but those are just along her frequently traveled routes. It doesn't tell me where she would go to give birth.”
”Well, you have to go find her,” states Walter.
”How will they find her in that,” asks Uncle Bob motioning out a window at the blizzard.
”We'll find her,” Richy states determinedly. Then he Cougar, Wildcat and Greywolf get dressed for the weather.
Talia and Eli's footprints are in the snow at the end of the shoveled walk leading up to the mudroom.
”The snow is quickly covering their prints and scents,” Greywolf shouts at the other three men through the deafening wind of the blizzard. ”We have to work quickly.” Then he turns into a wolf to better track Talia and Eli. He wriggles out of his clothes and Wildcat picks his clothes up. Then the other three men follow closely behind Greywolf-wolf as he tracks Talia and Eli.
The blizzard soon becomes white-out condition. Greywolf stands and Wildcat quickly helps him back into his clothes as he admits, ”I've lost them, too much snow has fallen. It's completely covered their scents and most of their footprints too.”
Cougar does his best to look at their surroundings in the white-out conditions of the blizzard. He tells the other men, ”I think I know where she went… Summer camp is usually that way,” he points with his fur lined leather mittened hand, ”And in the direction they seem to be headed, there's a cave by the falls.” Cougar takes the lead running the best they can in there snowshoe clad feet.
”Here,” Cougar finally says, ”Through here. You have to edge through these rocks sideways… And duck so you don't hit your heads.”
”They find themselves in a low ceilinged cave that's being kept cozy by a small fire. There's a damp spot on the floor just as the cave opens up. Talia is sitting on the other side of the cave with Eli holding her hand as she labors. Will is next to them sleeping on a bed of furs. It's been years since Cougar has set foot in this cave. Yet it's obvious to him that Talia has continued to use the cave regularly. There are candles providing light along with the fire in the shallow pit providing warmth. She has a nice stack of firewood against one wall and a cache of supplies by it. A pot with hot water hangs over the fire pit. He can almost stand upright in the cave, but not quite. Of course, the low ceiling is no problem for Talia. She has blankets and extra clothes stored here. At some point, she dragged in a twin-size foam mattress typically used for camping. The stool and small table, she must have brought in pieces and reassembled.
The four men move in close to Talia, Eli and the sleeping baby. Cougar crouches down between Talia's knees. Her fur lined leggings are still damp from her water breaking. Richy picks up Will and holds him so he can sit next to Talia.
”Hey, babe, how are ya doing,” Cougar asks Talia.
”Fine,” answers Talia with her voice tight and controlled.
”Looks like I got here just in time,” Cougar tells her, ”You're crowning.”
Talia nods her head as she squeaks out, ”It's coming.”
”Talia, what are you doing way out here,” asks Richy.
Talia looks at Richy sideways and states the obvious, ”Having our baby.”
”Dearest, I've been in these woods my whole life,” says Wildcat, ”and I didn't know this cave was here.”
”Cougar showed it to me when we were teenagers…” Talia informs Wildcat, ”This is our cave… Mmm… This is where we would go… after daddy gave him permission to do anything but touch my woman's channel…” She whimpers softly.