"Oookay… C'mon dammit, just fit!" Brittany grunted, trying to bend a twig into its place beneath another few. She grit her teeth, growling a little as she managed to get it to budge… only for the twig to snap, sending her staggering back a little. Luckily, she was nestled up inside the hollow of their backyard tree, her back up against the "wall" She groaned, shaking her head as she threw the broken twig down. "Great! Ugh, I could do it on the dumb island but not here!" She shouted, only to double over, groaning.

Now was the time to start settling down. About a day or two ago, she suddenly found herself trying to… stay away from Alvin. Matter of fact, she was staying as far from anyone else as she could. Something in the back of her mind was telling her to find her own little place, and she heeded the call.

Her tail flicked side to side as she stared down at her creation. She didn't have any vines or flowers to decorate and really hold it together… All she had to a nest was a foundation of interwoven twigs, cushioned by blades of grass and leaves. She wanted to go back inside and find something to add to the pile. Just… anything to make it more comfortable. It wasn't working. She couldn't even find a single feather! And she certainly wasn't about to sacrifice her clothes to it neither.

Brittany stood up slowly, taking a deep breath. "Okay in there, don't make mommy throw up today. I gotta finish this nest." Brittany said as she rubbed along her stomach. It sent a little wave of relief through her… but she had to keep working.

She climbed out of the hollow, claws hooked to the trunk while she walked on down. With a huff, Brittany fought against the tugging instincts. She made her way back to the house, climbing through the doggy door and setting herself down on the floor. She sniffed the air a few times. No one was nearby… Good.

Brittany had to move quick. Just not enough to upset the pups. She was headed straight for the living room, trying to sneak her way around while she sniffed the air again to be sure. Still no signs of anyone else. Her tail curled around as she tiptoed along to the couch, hopping up on it to feel through each pillow. One of these had memory foam in it… which one was it again?

While she was searching, however, she kept her ears perked up. Her body kept saying she was being watched, but she kept to it anyway. Right as she found the right pillow, she released her claws and began to dig at it. However…

"Britt…? Hey! Brittany! Brittany, what're you doing?" Alvin's voice rang in the room. She didn't have time to react, her mate had cleared the distance between them in no time, slowing himself down enough to throw his arms around her. "Britt! What the heck is going on? I didn't see you at all yesteday, and the day before you were acting like you never knew me! But don't worry, I asked Simon and he knew the answer!"

Brittany squirmed in his hold. He had lifted her off of the couch. She wanted to hug him back, but that voice kept telling her she wasn't done yet. "Alviiiin, put me down!"

"Oh, right, right! Babies." Alvin set her down on the couch, swishing his tail. "Look! Si told me you girls would start being all distant and junk, over instincts or whatever, so I thought maybe I could at least help you out before you shut me out completely!" He reached into the pocket of his jacket and, somehow, produced a second jacket, holding it out to her.

"Alvin… I can handle this myself." Brittany said as she sniffed at the jacket. Oh… his scent was all over it… she wanted to snatch it from him. Badly "Honest. It'll be alri-"

"Brittany, they're gonna be my kids too, you know. I-If you're really gonna go and be off on your own, I at least wanna be there in some way!" Alvin blurted out, keeping the jacket out towards her. His voice was heavy, suddenly shaky. She could see it all in his face alone.

She swore at the inner voice, demanding it left her alone for now. Brittany threw her arms around Alvin, hugging his head to her chest, then she nudged him down towards her belly. Alvin sighed, gently pressing his ear up against her stomach then, closing his eyes. "You know, Alvin… I kinda liked that little hut you made on the island. You think you could help me make something?" She offered.

The look that came to Alvin's face made her smile. In his eyes was a spark of joy and excitement, that usual Alvin grin spreading out. "Tell me what you need! I'll get it, no problem!"

"How do you feel about a little destruction first?" She asked, gesturing to the memory foam pillow.

"Hehe… I thought you'd never ask~"

It took a while, but it was fun. Brittany would go through the house and point out what she'd need, and Alvin would help her tear it apart and bring it outside. First was the memory foam. They only needed half of it, and the two of them enjoyed tearing it down the middle. While they set it in the tree, Alvin tossed his jacket onto the nest as well.

The foam went on top of the actual nest, not having a single twig poke out from beneath. Alvin's jacket, however… Brittany decided just to keep it close to where she'd be laying. "For personal reasons." She explained.

Their second trip got them back to the shared bedroom. Shockingly, no one was in there either. Where was everyone else?

From there, they tore from the blankets on both of their beds. Alvin had to chew through it some to get a good tear going, but they eventually got enough material for a trip back.

They folded the blankets down as much as they could, and Alvin stuffed it inside of his jacket to carry. On the way to the tree, Alvin suddenly ducked off to the neighbor's house. Brittany watched him go over, waiting for him to come back. When he did, her tail started to wag. He swiped four lilies, two of them red and two of them pink. She would have scolded him for stealing, but the proud look he had on his face was priceless.

"Anything else you need?" He asked as he approached her, careful to not crush the flowers in his hold.

Brittany paused to think. "Hmm… I dunno. But hey, you're strong aren't you? How about you be a good dad and gimme a hand building this nest?"

To that, Alvin poked his tongue out at her. "I hope that wasn't some sort of challenge, Britt. You know I don't lose."

"Oh, it was. It's just we're on the same team this time." Brittany says as she takes hold of his paw, taking the flowers from him. "Now come on. I wanna be done before the sun goes down."

Alvin, with a wagging tail, nodded and gave a playful bow of courtesy. "M'lady. Your room awaits. Would you like your luggage carried for you?" He asked, peeking up at her with a smile. Brittany snorted, playing along as she gave her best bow back. "Why thank you. But I'm afraid my room's on the next floor. How are you gonna get everything there in one go?"

In response, Alvin turned around, kneeling in the grass with his back to her. "All aboard~" He hummed, swishing his tail through the grass as he waited. "Oh, and don't worry about that tummy of yours. I've carried more weight than that~"

"Oh, now you're just showing off." Brittany gave his rear a little kick, but she climbed onto his back nonetheless, arms wrapped around his neck and legs lightly clinging to his waist. "Okay, let's see what you've got, Mr. Macho." She encouraged.

It took more effort than normal, but Alvin managed to stand up straight with a grunt, taking slow steps towards the tree, all while making sure he was leaning forward so Brittany wouldn't fall.

"Heh… Ya see? It's like nothin'!" Alvin boasted, smiling as he puffed his chest out some. "I bet I could carry you like this all the time!" He said proudly. Brittany just sighed and rubbed her nose into his fur, taking a few sniffs as he carried her to the tree. "Yeah… Keep telling yourself that and I'll make it happen."

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Britt. Watch!"

The rest of the trip was, for once, quiet. Alvin didn't say much when they reached the tree trunk, and Brittany didn't say anything as he climbed up for both of them. Not until they both were in the hollow again, overlooking Brittany's nest.

"Sooooo… It looks, uh… comfy." Alvin commented, shrugging his shoulders as he pulled the blanket from in his jacket. "I mean, yeah, it just looks like a memory foam bed, but those are good for sleeping!" He said, draping the first blanket out; some of his red one. Then he started to lay out the pink blanket they had gotten off of Brittany's bed.

Scoffing, Brittany rolled her eyes, going around the makeshift bed to set the flowers down, one at each corner. "Alvin… Thanks for helping. Really." She said. "I think that'll be enough."

Alvin's ears drooped down when she said that, his tail thumping lightly against the floor. "O-Oh. Right, right… uh, well, if that's all you needed then… I'll be on my way then. You c-can call me if you need me..." He told her, turning away to head for the hollow's exit.

As he turned around, Brittany pouted. She took a deep breath and, quickly rushing over to him, grabbed his paw. When he turned to face her, she quickly planted a kiss right on his lips, grasping his shoulders and pulling him as close to her as possible, not letting him go.

His eyes widened in surprise, taking a step back a little before he soon melted into the kiss as well, cupping Brittany's cheeks with both paws in the process. Brittany held him in their lip lock, sighing softly through her nose as she leaned into him, her paws going from his shoulders to his back.

By the time Brittany released him, they were both panting a little, staring down each other. "I d-don't get it… Britt, they're our kids, why would you wanna be off on your own? I know I can be a screw up and all, Britt, but I can try to change it!"

"Alvin..."

"I mean, I get why you'd w-want me to be away, but still! Britt, please don't make me stay away, I swear it I'll be good!"

"Alvin. Listen."

"Look, if I messed something up just say it already so I can fix it, will ya?! I'm trying my best here! And you're still just gonna- Hrf!"

"ALVIN!" Brittany covered his mouth with her paw, sighing. "It's not me that wants to be alone. I want you to be around! I want you to be here as much as possible! I don't know how I'll manage to do all this, but I want you to come around as much as you can." She said, looking right at him. "Look… if I say something… or do something different than how YOU know I'd act… it's not me. It's instincts, okay? I want you to keep me from always acting on them." She sighed, reaching to wipe his eyes on her sleeve. "Don't cry. Just… be there to help me out, okay?"

Sniffing, Alvin nodded his head. He moved from her paw, sitting down with a sigh. "I-I'm sorry for yelling. It's just... Everything's happening so fast, ya know? I mean, we aren't doing music anymore, you girls are pregnant, and we're all having all this stuff change. And it hasn't even been a whole month!" He pouted then. "Sometimes I think that... I shoulda stayed quiet. Just… jerked myself off instead of bringing all you guys into this mess."

Brittany sat down at his side then, taking his paw and putting it on her belly. "Alvin… it's alright. We'll get through it just fine, and our family's gonna be bigger. That's all that's gonna change." She said, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. "Besides. You can be pretty responsible when you need to be."

Alvin's tail wagged slowly from the compliment. "And you can be responsible, like, always. Guess there are something you do better than me." he said, starting to rub on her stomach again.

"Yeah yeah, hooray for you…" Brittany nuzzled up to him, letting out her own sigh as she just looked out to the yard.

"We'll be alright."