Leafpool felt like she couldn't breathe.
Just two months earlier, she'd tried to run away from home with her boyfriend, Crowfeather, in an effort to escape her stifling duties as a medical student. She was the one who was supposed to make their parents proud by becoming a doctor, the first woman in their family to do so. She was the level-headed one who didn't make rash decisions. She was the elder sister. She was supposed to set a good example for Squirrelflight. She was supposed to help her mentor during rough times.
All of that was down the drain now. Cinderpelt was dead, murdered by a psychopath who'd wanted to kill pregnant women giving birth and seen Cinderpelt as an obstacle. Squirrelflight was growing up, falling in love and finding emotional stability in her now-fiancé, Brambleclaw. Her parents were busy dealing with the fallout from a recent attempt to assassinate her father and the psycho who'd killed Cinderpelt. And now… well, it seemed that the level-headed medical student, the one who didn't make rash decisions, the one who was supposed to set a good example… had run away with her boyfriend in the middle of the night. It had been a glorious two days of no responsibilities before she felt like something was wrong.
They'd returned to the hospital just in time to see the psycho who'd killed Cinderpelt being arrested by Brambleclaw. He'd informed them of what happened and she'd been overcome with grief. As a result of the emotional turmoil they'd been thrown into, she and Crowfeather had broken up. Recently, she'd heard that he'd found a new girlfriend. For her, however, things weren't nearly as smooth. Especially not now. Not with what she'd just found out. Tears rolled down her face as she glanced down at the plastic in her hand.
She was pregnant.
"Leafpool?" called Squirrelflight through the bathroom door. "You in there?"
The brunette stood up and opened the door, letting her sister inside. Squirrelflight noticed Leafpool's tears and immediately swept her twin into a hug.
"What's wrong?" she whispered.
"I… are Mom and Dad here?"
"No, it's just me. Dad had to give a speech at the hospital and Mom went with him. Why?"
"I'm pregnant." Squirrelflight backed away, a look of confusion on her face.
"You're what?"
"Pregnant. I'm going to have a baby." The redhead took a deep breath and kicked the bathtub, unsurprisingly hurting her foot in the process.
"Damn Crowfeather, getting his filthy hands all over my sister…" she cursed under her breath, holding her injury.
"I don't know what I'm going to do…" Squirrelflight thought for a second, then grabbed her sister's hands.
"I do." There was a wide grin on her face. "It's going to sound completely stupid, but… what if we say that I'm pregnant instead?"
"What?! Why?!"
"Because you have your whole life ahead of you! I'm the one who this was supposed to happen to, and I'll raise your kids as my own. That way, you can still see them and focus on school!"
"Have you and Brambleclaw… um…"
"Had sex? Yeah. We were actually hate-fucking long before we started dating."
"Squirrelflight!"
"What? It's true! It's fully possible that I could've gotten pregnant." Squirrelflight gripped her sister's hands. "Leafpool, this is going to work out for both of us. I can have a family with the person I love, and you… you can still see your children and have the career you always wanted!"
Leafpool blinked. Squirrelflight actually had a decent plan.
And then her sister picked up the fallen pregnancy test.
"I'll just say this is mine. In the meantime, when you start to show, just wear baggier clothes to hide your belly. I'll do the same unless I can figure out a way to make myself look pregnant."
"What about doctor's appointments? Ultrasounds? Things like that?"
"Pssh. I'll just say that I want to go through this with as little fanfare as possible." Squirrelflight seemed very excited at the prospect of pulling this off.
That was what gave Leafpool the courage to consent to the crazy idea.
"Push, Leafpool!"
The two sisters were alone again, this time at a cabin in the dead of winter. Their parents and Brambleclaw had gone out to get supplies, confident that Leafpool and Squirrelflight would be fine. They had each other, after all, and Leafpool was a medical student. A blizzard had sprung up, making it impossible for the rest of the group to return. On top of that, the baby had decided to send Leafpool into labor.
"I'm pushing!" snapped Leafpool as a contraction rippled through her belly. She screamed as the baby was born.
"It's a boy!" announced Squirrelflight, smiling. She wrapped the poor kid in a towel then frowned. "Uh, Leafpool, there's another one."
"Oh, God!" Leafpool wailed. The second baby was pushed into the world, screaming just as loudly as its brother.
"Girl!" Squirrelflight furrowed her brow. "There's one more!"
"I'm going to murder Crowfeather!" screamed Leafpool, as she pushed her final child into the world. She was gasping for breath, the last of her labor pains subsiding.
"And a boy. You had triplets!" Squirrelflight was smiling as if she'd just given birth. Leafpool wanted to smack her.
"I feel like I'm going to die."
"Oh, nonsense." The younger of the twins handed her sister the small knife and clips she'd requested. "You said you'd need these after the birth."
"Yeah." Leafpool cut the cords of her three babies before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "We need to clean them."
"Rest. The blizzard's not supposed to clear up until tomorrow, and they won't send out the snowplows until tomorrow afternoon. That's plenty of time for you to recover and me to make it look like I gave birth."
"They need names, at least."
"True. Let's wait until Brambleclaw, Mom, and Dad get back for that."
Leafpool began instructing her sister on how to clean the blood from the babies and properly swaddle them, which Squirrelflight did with relish. The oldest boy—who had golden fuzz on his head—was squirming already, hungry. His birth mother, for what she knew would be one of the few times she'd be able to, lifted him to her breast and let him nurse. His sister followed suit, and the youngest was allowed to nurse once his older siblings finished.
The next day, their family returned to see the two sisters caring for the triplets. Brambleclaw was both upset that they'd been alone for the delivery and happy to be a father. Leafpool stood quietly in the background, watching the babies be fussed over. The oldest was named Lionblaze. His sister was named Hollyleaf. And the youngest was named Jayfeather.
As night fell, Leafpool went to bed and felt nothing but pain in her heart. Her triplets were sleeping in the room between hers and their 'parents', and the heartbroken mother was alone. There was so much that she wanted to say. She wanted to claim the three as her own, take credit for the labor that had brought them into the world, be their mother.
But she couldn't.
She owed it to Cinderpelt, to Sandstorm, to Firestar, to be the good girl and follow her path. Finish school. Focus on her career for a while. The triplets would derail all of that, she knew, but at least she'd be a part of their lives. She couldn't say the same for their father, but he was in a new relationship. From what she'd heard, he'd gotten married and his wife was expecting a son. Her heart ached.
For her children, who would never be raised by their birth parents.
For her sister, who'd been so loyal to her.
For her parents, not knowing their daughters had lied.
For her future brother-in-law, not knowing that they weren't his children.
For her lover, who would never know his children.
And…
For herself, who was giving up so much to follow a path she wasn't sure she wanted.
Crying alerted her and shook her from her thoughts. She got out of bed and headed into the babies' room, where she discovered Jayfeather crying and sniffling. On instinct, she picked him up and began humming. He calmed at her touch, but he was still crying. Her son was hungry, so she took a chance to feed him. He suckled at her breast and she felt a sense of bittersweet joy. Once he'd had his fill, she burped him and laid him back down as he fell back asleep.
"I had a feeling."
She whirled around to see her mother standing in the doorway. Sandstorm was a beautiful woman despite her age, and she had an expression of pity.
"What feeling?" Leafpool asked, nervous.
"I was pregnant once, too, you know. I could tell something was up with you and your sister."
"Nothing was up."
"Why are you lying? They're your children." Leafpool's jaw dropped, horrified that her mother had figured it out.
"How did you figure it out?"
"Your sister isn't quite the master of deception she fancies herself as. Her act was enough to fool your father and her fiancé, but not me. Why the lies, Leafpool?"
"I want to focus on my career, to carry on what Cinderpelt did. I can't do that with children. I have a gift that I have to harness and focus, to share with the world. It was Squirrelflight's idea to pass them off as hers."
"Ah." Sandstorm crossed the room and hugged her eldest. "This must be so difficult for you."
"It is. But it's the right thing. I can't do this by myself, and Squirrelflight has Brambleclaw."
"What about your children's father?"
"He's not able to be with us." Sandstorm sighed and gripped her daughter's shoulders. "Are you going to tell Brambleclaw or Dad?"
"No. I'll help keep the secret for your sake and your sister's. I'm afraid this could tear her relationship apart if her fiancé finds out. And your father doesn't need to know."
"Thanks, Mom." The two women hugged again and Hollyleaf chose that moment to start screaming to be fed.
And so the young mother fed her daughter for the last time.
It has been five years since I wrote for this fandom. In that time, a lot has happened in the series, but since I'm a better writer now, I decided to write this.
Small side-note: I feel like Squirrelflight would definitely swear a lot, mostly because she doesn't want to have a filter. Sandstorm is aware of the plan, but she's going to keep her mouth shut for the sake of her daughters.
So long and thanks for all the fish!