A mixture of emotions coursed through Ambertail's pelt, as she gazed down at her four kits.
Her first born, the biggest, was a white she-kit with golden brown patches.
"I'll name you Pearkit," she whispered to the kit, feeling a bit foolish after the fact. Of course she couldn't hear her, all kits were born blind and deaf.
Maybe she can sense what I named her, she thought, as she turned her attention to her second born kit. This one was also a she-kit, a tortoiseshell.
"You will be Prunekit," she meowed.
"Are you naming your kits?" meowed Sootspeckle, the nosiest queen in the nursery.
"Yes, so far I've named Pearkit and Prunekit," meowed Ambertail, pointing her tail at each kit, as she said their names.
"Those are nice names, my kits are named Splinterkit and Thornkit."
"Yes, I know, they're almost six moons old aren't they?"
The mottled grey she-cat nodded.
"Yep! Then they'll be apprentices, I hope they get good mentors, not someone like Emberthistle."
"What's wrong with Emberthistle?" demanded Ambertail, that was her littermate that she was talking about!
"He's a male tortoiseshell," meowed Sootspeckle simply, as though that explained everything.
"So?"
"So what? I'm glad that tortoiseshell kit of yours is she-kit, anyway, what are the names of your other two kits?"
Ambertail turned her attention back to her kits, and rested her eyes on the third born, a tom, the color of a pistachio shell, who was slightly bigger than Prunekit.
"This one is Pistachiokit," she meowed, once again indicating the kit in question with her tail.
The last kit was the obvious runt of the litter, being only about half the size of his littermates. He was a black tom, with white paws, and white surrounding his eyes.
"And the little one is Raisinkit."
Sootspeckle narrowed her eyes, and shook her head.
"I think Fleakit would work better, or Deadkit, kits that small don't usually last long."
Both fear and anger spiked through Ambertail's pelt.
"Don't say that about my kit!" she spat, "His name is Raisinkit, and that's final!"
The other queen shook her head.
"I'm just being honest, anyway, who's the father? Is it Flintblaze? he's my brother you know."
"No, it's not Flintblaze," meowed Ambertail, 'and thank StarClan for that,' she added silently.
Flintblaze wasn't nosy like his sister, but he was a huge show off, who always thought he was right about everything. She wasn't surprised at all, that he didn't have a mate or kits yet, she figured that any she-cat would have to be full of catmint and poppy seeds to have any interest in a tom like Flintblaze.
As much as she disliked the tom though, part of her wished he was the father, it would be much simpler that way.
But no, the father wasn't Flintblaze, he was a cat from another clan.
Not only was he from another clan, but he was also from another forest.
She hadn't meant to get so close to him, and she figured he hadn't either. They were both mourning the loss of someone close to them, for her, it was her mother, Goldenshine, and for him, it was his ex-mate, Leafpool.
He had asked her to return to his clan with him, but she refused, knowing that SeedClan was where she belonged, and that she couldn't leave her brother, she couldn't do that to him, not so soon after losing Goldenshine.
The feelings of her kits nuzzling against her belly brought her back to the present.
One day, she'd take the kits to meet their father, but today, was not that day.
