The Hunt
(A collaboration between Wilson Kieran Kitsune and Fauna Greywolf)
"The Talk"
The entire Care Bear Family was roused in the middle of the night by Bedtime Bear, who was running around and shouting to get everyone up. The night patroller was clearly excited as he shouted repeatedly.
"Wake up everyone! True Heart's in labor, she's having her twins!"
Funshine's light flicked on and she sleepily opened her door, rubbing her eyes the whole time. "Are you *yawn* sure Bedtime? This is the 4th time this week she's gone into 'labor'." She put air quotes around the last word. True Heart had been having false contractions for awhile now.
Bedtime stopped and took a couple deep breaths, "It's not a false alarm this time, I asked Take Care to make sure, and he said it's for real, True Heart's having her kids tonight, trust me!" Bedtime then took off again, heading for the Forest of Feelings.
Funshine yawned again before calling over her shoulder, "Hear that Playful Heart. It's the real deal this time." Stumbling towards her in his night pants he rested his head on her shoulder, eyes closed.
"You walk, I'll sleep." Laughing slightly she began to walk to the hall of hearts, falling in with the other bears as they left their homes.
Eventually everyone gathered at the clinic, most of them half asleep, though a couple of them had fallen asleep where they were standing. Only Bedtime was fully awake on his own. Take Care had told them to wait in the waiting room while he was helping Noble and True Heart, letting the others carry on or sleep as they deemed fit.
Swift Heart who was curled up on the floor with her head resting in Grumpy's lap murmured sleepily, "Of course they couldn't decide to come at a convenient time of day."
"Oh hush," Proud Heart said, as she fed her son Trust Heart through a bottle, having weaned him since they had rebuilt their home, "If there's one piece of advice I can give you it's that babies don't wait for anything or anyone so you just have to learn to live with them."
"My lady is correct," Loyal Heart said, "I've been awakened countless times in the middle of the night to change our son Trust Heart's diapers and feed him now that he's taking bottles and solid food."
Not exactly in her most cheerful mood, Swift Heart sneered, "Price you pay for parenthood. Nobody's fault but your own. I'm happy to say I will be enjoying full night sleeps for a good long while."
Proud Heart just snorted, not bothering to counter Swift Heart's statements.
"Oh lay off them," Love-a-Lot said, "They're happy to have paid that price and I'm sure most of us will some day."
"Yeah, you tellzzzum," Valiant Heart said, half asleep and leaning on his girlfriend's shoulder.
In an attempt to change the subject, Illusion Heart spoke up, "Anyone know where Fauna an Renegade are?"
"Where do ya think!" Anger Heart said irritably, yawning, "They're probably sleeping in Pegasus Falls."
"Makes sense," Guidance Heart said, before nodding off with her head leaning backwards over the back of the chair.
Illusion just smiled at him, "Aww, you mean you din wanna go fetch dem for dis momentous occasion? Poor frer's are gonna be heart broken no?" He chuckled.
Swift Heart smirked, "You know some how I think they'll go on."
Grumpy groaned, wishing he too had stayed in bed, "How much longer is this going to take?"
"You can't rush this," Proud Heart said.
"I guess we should listen to her, she's the only one here who knows anything about this," Bright Heart said.
At that moment there was a cry of pain from the room where True Heart was giving birth. Everyone quieted down to listen to the voices coming from the back.
"The first one's coming, True Heart," Take Care said, "Just push again!" Another cry came from the back followed by some panting, "There you go, that's one True Heart."
"It's a boy, True Heart, Tugs," Noble Heart's voice was heard from the back.
"All right, deep breaths True Heart," Take Care said again. The rest of what was going on was now drowned out by the rest of the family.
"Ha! One down one to go!" Brave Heart exclaimed. "Thanks Brave Heart, I had forgotten just how many baby's twins were." Swift Heart snapped at him. Sitting up she continued, "Do you think it's a bear or a cousin though? That's what I want to know."
"I guess we'll find out soon, listen," Love-a-Lot said. they all listened as True Heart cried out in pain again and Take Care spoke up.
"There, that's it True Heart, it's a girl."
"That would be our Hugs," Noble Heart said.
Take Care then appeared in the waiting room to announce the news, "The twins are both bears, the boy is blue and named Tugs, the girl is pink and named Hugs," he said.
Tender Heart beamed widely, "It's about time we got two more for our side! How's True Heart?"
"Sleeping," Take Care said, "the births took a lot out of her. I can let you guys in a couple at a time if you're quiet."
Grams stepped forward, "I'll go in now. I'd like to check on True Heart as well as seeing my grand kids."
Take Care stepped aside, "All right, come in."
Inside, Noble Heart was holding his new born son, Tugs, in his arms, who was slumbering peacefully, as was True Heart in the bed she had just given birth in and Hugs in a small medical cradle next to True Heart's bed.
Grams went to the small pink bear and lifted her out of the cradle, "Hello there my little Hugs. My goodness aren't you a little sweetie." Tucking her into the crook of her arm she beamed down at her.
"They are sweet aren't they," Noble Heart said, "And they're mine and True Heart's."
Grams laughed, "Don't worry Noble Heart, nobody is going to take them away from you." She rocked the pink cub in her arms.
"I hope not, it's just that a lot of things have happened recently that threaten to take our peaceful life away, and as happy as I am I can't help but worry, Grams," Noble Heart said, rocking his infant son in his arms.
Placing a hand on her son in laws shoulder she gave a gentle squeeze, "Do you think any of those kids waiting out there will let anything happen to these cubs? I certainly don't."
Noble Heart smiled, "Thanks Grams, I know they will, but I can't help but worry, they're my children after all."
Glancing to her daughter sleeping in the bed she came up with a better idea of introducing the cubs to the rest of the family, "Why don't we step out to the waiting room with them for just a moment so we don't disturb True Heart?"
"Good idea," Noble Heart said, standing up, "I'm sure they'll want to meet the newest members of our family too."
Grams Bear walked out ahead of Noble Heart, waiting till the door shut behind them before speaking, "All right gang, quietly come meet the newest members of our family. Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs." A few of the girls squealed softly as they gathered around the grandmother and father, the guys mostly held back for the moment.
"You'd think they'd never seen a cub before they way they carry on." Champ voiced as he watched Cheers eyes glaze over as she looked at her smaller pink counterpart.
"They did the same to me when they first saw Trust Heart," Proud Heart said, "They'll get over it eventually." Proud Heart stood up and carried her dozing son over to see the other too, "Say hello to your new playmates, in a year maybe," she said smiling.
Swift Heart stretched her arms over her head and unleashed a final yawn. "Well congrats again Noble Heart on two lovely munchkins. I'm hitting the sack." Waving quickly she made her retreat.
"We should probably go, com'on Love-a-Lot we were in the middle of something anyways," Valiant Heart said, taking her hand he almost had to drag her away from the cubs.
Soon enough, Tender Heart was the only one left in the waiting room with Noble Heart, Grams, and the cubs. He just couldn't bring himself to leave them. "How is it possible to love something so much when you just met them?"
Noble Heart sighed and placed a hand on Tenderheart's shoulder, "I keep telling you, you need to loosen up. Maybe if you find someone who can put up with you and you have kids someday, you'll understand. But for now you need to sleep and so do I."
Nodding, he reluctantly turned away from the newborns, sparing one last look in their direction. Grams took Tugs from his father, "I'll put him and Hugs in the other room and mind them for awhile, if you'd like to go in with True Heart."
"Thanks, Grams, I would," Noble Heart kissed his children's heads and then Grams' before going back to True Heart's room.
The next morning True Heart and Noble Heart, as well as most of Care-A-Lot were awakened by the hungry howls of the newborn cubs. The crying stopped abruptly as True Heart got to them, but the silence remained temporary. The crying continued on and off all morning, with intermittent periods of Noble Heart being sent running to get something or other. On one such occasion, a group consisting of Grumpy, Champ, Valiant Heart, Brave Heart, Playful Heart, and Bright Heart observed Noble Heart on his sprint. While the cousins hadn't been awoken early, due to the fact they were in the Forest of Feelings, the two bears spared no details on what they had missed.
"Good thing." Brave Heart watched Noble Heart running past with an armful of diapers. "My guess is poor Noble Heart will be suffering a long "dry spell" after this." He chuckled at his own comment.
Bright Heart nodded, "Makes sense, I'm guessing at the end of the day they would be too tired to do anything but sleep, or whenever they get a chance to rest."
"Cheer's usually too tired, and she doesn't even do much of anything." Champ told them, in agreement with what Bright Heart said.
Grumpy scowled at them, "What are you guys talking about?"
"What else would we be talking about?" Valiant Heart said, "Sex. I mean we all have girlfriends and we've probably all got that far right?"
"Not me and Funshine," Playful Heart said, "We have too much fun doing other things. Sure we sleep in the same bed a lot these days but that's as far as things go."
"Swift Heart and I aren't even sleeping in the same bed yet." Grumpy told them.
Brave Hearts eyebrows raised, "You're kidding."
"No. Why is that such a big deal?"
"Well, the way you and Swift Heart carry on all the time, we all thought that you all had made it that far," Bright Heart said, "Plus the way she dresses, so provocatively, the belly ring, maximum legal fur exposure, it seemed obvious to us that you two had made it that far by now."
He rubbed the back of his neck, "No we haven't. She says she's not ready yet. I think she wants to take it slow, since this is our first real relationship." He wasn't sure he liked the comments about how the others saw his girlfriends fashion choice.
Champ covered a laugh, "Slow. Swift Heart? Yeah right."
"Yeah remember the Christmas party a couple years ago," Playful Heart said, "She snuck in some beer I think and she kissed Brave Heart."
Grumpy glared at the lion cousin, "She what?" He had always thought he had been her first kiss. Why had she kept this from him?
Brave Heart attempted to placate him, "Obviously we didn't go further then that night right? No harm no fowl. All though I do have to say, she is a pretty good kisser.
Bright Heart and Champ managed to grab Grumpy before he could get at Brave Heart. "Bro calm down, we're only teasing you." Champ offered.
"Doesn't matter. It still happened and she never mentioned it to me. She gave up her first kiss to you for no reason and I had to rescue her from a dire situation just to get her to admit how she feels." He shrugged his captors off.
"Why are you talking to us about this, sounds like you need to talk with your girlfriend," Valiant Heart said.
"Where do you think I'm going." He growled at Valiant Heart before stomping away. Champ watched him leave, "So is it just me who thinks its weird Swifty has been shooting him down?"
"No, you're not the only one," Valiant Heart said, "What about you two, Playful Heart, Funshine been shooting you down too or have you been shooting her down?"
"Nothing like that," Playful Heart did a handstand so he was looking at them upside down, "We just don't want too yet, I mean the whole thing with Loyal and Proud Heart has us a bit spooked, plus we have more fun planning ways to prank you guys and then actually doing it," Playful Heart giggled before standing up again.
Brave Heart let his mind wander dreaming up all the different pranks he thought they were thinking of. Dropping to his knees in front of Playful Heart he proceeded to beg. "Please try getting laid! Please! I promise you'll like it! I don't want to be painted polka dots and have feathers glued to my mane."
"Aww, still sore from last April Fool's Day?" he asked, jokingly, "We'll do it when we're ready, until then, you guys will just have to suck it up and deal with it," Playful Heart took off back to the Forest of Feelings.
Champ clapped a hand on Brave Hearts shoulder, "Sucks to be you man."
"Swift Heart open up! My hands are full." Grumpy hefted the paper bag he was holding, lifting it clear of the flowers in his other hand. After his talk with the guys he was determined to move his relationship with Swift Heart to the next level, especially after hearing about her kiss with Brave Heart.
Opening her door Swift Heart smiled at Grumpy, "What's all this? I thought we were just watching a movie."
Moving past her he set the bag down on the table in her living room and handed her the flowers, "These are for you."
"Aww Grumpy, they're beautiful. Thank you!" Taking the bouquet she kissed his cheek before moving into the kitchen. "Let me just get them in water then I'll help you pick out a movie."
Grabbing a vase from under the sink, she put it under the tap to fill it up with water before setting the flowers inside. Arranging them and pulling a few dead petals off, she almost knocked them over when she felt Grumpy's arms slip around her waist from behind.
"Don't tell me I snuck up on you." He murmured huskily in her ear. Swift Heart shuddered, "First time for everything." Grumpy's mouth began to plant soft kisses under her ear and onto her jaw line. Her head rolled sideways to give him better access to her neck, "Your feeling good."
"Very good." Swift Heart felt her knees go weak as his kisses traveled further down her neck. She thought she would melt all together when he pushed the strap of her tank top off to the side so he could move seamlessly onto her shoulder. Spinning around she pulled his head up from her shoulder and redirected his administrations to he lips. He felt his body warm as Swift Heart's lips moved against his. Slipping her arms around his neck she ran her tongue over his mouth.
Moving his hands to her hips he helped her to lift her legs over his hips, which was their preferred position of kissing.
Slowly, hoping she wouldn't notice he moved towards her bedroom. His kisses grew warmer as their breath shortened and it was all Swift Heart could do to keep from ripping his shirt off him.
Reaching the bed, he lay her on her back, kissing her urgently, as if it would be their last. Feeling Grumpy's hands slide under her shirt she squirmed pleasantly beneath him. Soon enough he had grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Smiling down at her, Grumpy bent to plant kisses on her abdomen, moving slowly down from her bra towards her pierced belly button. Reaching the ball on the end of the piercing, he took it in his mouth, pulling gently and kissing at the same time, knowing it drove Swift Heart wild. Hearing her happy whimper he moved his hands up and began to undo the button on her jeans.
Able to breath sufficiently for the past minute, Swift Heart began to come to her senses, "Grumpy…wait."
He was instantly back up by her mouth, pressing his lips hard against hers. "No more waiting Swift. It's time we did this."
She pushed on his chest gently to get his attention, "I…I'm not ready. We need to talk about this."
Scowling he moved off her and sat on the edge of the bed, back facing her. "I don't get it. What's there to talk about?"
"Sex changes people Grumpy. It's a big step in a relationship. Especially your first time. It's supposed to be special and-."
"Why should that matter to you," He snapped at her cutting her off, "you didn't care who your first kiss was with." .
Scowling she moved towards him, "What do you mean Grumpy?"
"I heard about how you and Brave Heart kissed a couple years ago at the Christmas gathering."
"I was 14 and there was mistletoe. It's tradition." She placed her hand on his arm, which he promptly shrugged off. That got her mad, "What has got you so upset?"
He stood and turned on her, brow furrowed in his anger, "We've been together for awhile now. We both love each other and I'm ready to take our relationship to the next level. But you keep pushing me away and I don't get it. Obviously you have no problem with stuff like this so I have to think it's just you don't want to do it with me."
"I don't have a problem with stuff like what?" She too was on her feet, glaring up at him.
"Oh please Swift Heart. The way you dress, all those midriff tops and tight pants. How you are so flirty with EVERYONE. It's not exactly like you're parading around in a chastity belt."
She felt like she'd been slapped. Her boyfriend had basically told her she acted like a slut. "I'm proud of my body, that's why I dress the way I do. And if I come off as flirty well that's too bad because it's just the way I am. But I'm not going to jump into bed just because you think it's time. Loyal Heart and Proud Heart thought it was time too and now they have a kid. I am not going to let that happen with me."
Pushing him out of the way she went back into the kitchen. Grumpy wasn't about to let up on this however, "You won't get pregnant. Ever heard of condoms?"
She smacked her forehead, "Oh I forgot what a good handyman you were. You didn't tell me that you had made it so rubbers were 100% effective. Of course I should have taken your previous track record of fixing things into consideration. After all, none of those things ever broke right?"
He leaned in close to her, "You shouldn't be going after my reputation. When they refer to you being the fastest cousin, they aren't just talking about speed Swift Heart. So now which one of us has the spotless record?"
Eyes steely she glared back at him, "Well I think you can be the first to know that isn't the case since I won't put out for you. So maybe you should see if all those other girls lineing up around the block to go out with you want a chance. I don't see how with your winning personality you'll have any problems."
For a moment all they did is stare at each other, neither wanting to be the first to look away. Grumpy was the first to speak, "You were right, sex does change people. I don't know what I ever saw in a self centered, promiscuous, little hooch like you."
"And obviously I'm better off without a bitter, jealous, ego maniac who thinks I should just spread my legs because of flowers and a few sweet words." She fought to keep the quiver out of her voice."
Turning he stomped towards the door, grabbing the bag on the way, "Consider yourself dumped!" He slammed the door behind him, but not before Swift Heart's yell reached his ears, "Best idea I've heard today!" As soon as he was gone she snatched the flowers out of the vase and shoved them into the trashcan. The rough treatment caused petals and leaves to fall off and scatter on the floor. Looking at them, Swift Heart found her vision getting blurry and felt her lip begin to tremble. Sinking to the floor among the petals she put her hand over her face and cried.