Cherrypaw had met the patrol halfway back to camp. Applepaw told her nothing much had happened, and the rest of the patrol looked tired and bored. As they padded into camp she noticed Nightbird and Pebblefall rushing around outside of the nursery. Iceflower was outside, trying to handle all five of the kits by herself. Nutwing was probably inside the nursery somewhere.
"What's going on?" Cherrypaw asked her mother, Cherryfur, who was standing nearby.
"Raindapple's kits are coming." She responded excitedly. Raindapple was Cherryfur's first litter, and Cherrypaw's older sister.
Cherrypaw liked her mother, and was proud to be named after her, although they looked quite different, her mother's short tortoiseshell pelt not matching Cherrypaw's bright ginger fur in the slightest.
Raindapple had been Cherrypaw's favorite older sibling. She was fun and payed more attention to her than her other siblings, Stonesong and Dappledflame, had.
Nightbird popped out of the nursery, her eyes shining. "Three she-kits and a tom." She announced happily. She hadn't been a full medicine cat for long, this being her first kitting.
Shadewillow, the father, raced forwards. Cherrypaw glanced at the nursery entrance. "Can I go see the kits? Or will it be too crowded?" She whispered to her mother.
"You should leave Raindapple and Shadewillow alone for a bit. It's their first litter, so they'll be rather excited, and there'll be plenty of time tomorrow."
Cherrypaw nodded, walking over to where Iceflower was trying to keep the kits away from the nursery.
"Look, Frostkit, we can't go into the nursery yet. Raindapple needs to be left alone for a bit."
"But I wanna go inside!" Frostkit complained.
"Yeah! It's cold out here!" Snowkit was arguing.
"Shadewillow's allowed inside! Why aren't we!?"
There was a chorus of complaints and wails.
Iceflower pushed the kits against her with her fluffy tail. "We're going to leave Raindapple alone, and that's final. But," She began gently, "We can go to the elders den for now. Do you guys want to hear a story?"
Turtlekit, the smallest of them all, piped up. "Yeah! Spottedfern tells the best stories!"
The kits stampeded towards the elder's den. Iceflower looked relieved.
Cherrypaw padded over. "When will the kits be put back in the nursery?" She asked, curious.
"Oh, probably by sunhigh. Raindapple will need her space at first, but nothing was wrong with her kitting, and she should be fine."
"She had four kits. Won't the nursery be full?"
"Very. But Nutwing and Raindapple are both very talented at raising kits, and although the elders do grumble about them, they do enjoy having an audience of kits to listen to their stories."
Cherrypaw nodded. She was glad Raindapple had had her kits. She wondered if any of them looked like her. Although she really wanted to see, she didn't want to get in the way, so she padded over to the elder's den, just in case a kit tried to get into some mischief. The elders might now notice if a kit or two sneaked away, with five of them bouncing all over their paws.