Sorry about the long break. Please be patient with me. I intend to update more often. Feel free to comment your thoughts on this chapter below.


Horror seized Rainheart's stomach. Realistically, this was to be expected. Hadn't Auburnmist just said that morning that she was ready? But somehow, in all the chaos, Rainheart hadn't expected it to be right then.

Of course it would, he grumbled internally. Why would they wait until the snow is clear to come? That'd make sense!

Oh Gorsebreeze help me.

Auburnmist shoved past him. "Don't just stand there," she snapped at him. He was surprised to see how calm she was. "Help her out."

"How?" he asked, completely mystified. Birthing was something that queens and medicine cats did, not toms. How was he supposed to know what to do?

"Calm her down!" Auburnmist answered as if it were obvious. Rainheart felt a little stung that she would talk like that to him. After all, how was he supposed to know? "I have to pay attention to the kits."

Carefully, Rainheart padded to his mate's side. He noticed the other warriors, queens, and elders backing up, giving them room. Marjorie curled up alongside her daughter in the nest, stroking her tail down Blossomfrost's flank in long strokes.

"You're alright," Marjorie cooed soothingly. "Don't be worried."

"But it hurts," Blossomfrost whimpered as another cramp seized her whole body.

"That's normal," Bluedapple murmured, stepping forward. She and Auburnmist exchanged a long look that Rainheart thought might be the start of a fight. Instead, the medicine cat turned back to her work and Bluedapple sat down beside Rainheart, ignoring her. "Your body is just preparing you to birth the kits by moving them into the birthing position. It's perfectly normal."

"Yeah," Marjorie added warmly. "I remember it hurt when I had you. But I ended up fine, and so did you!"

Rainheart leaned down, licking the patch of fur between Blossomfrost's ears. They were warm, and so soft. He realized in that instant just how bad it'd hurt to lose her. This kitting was not going to be easy.

Did I make a mistake talking her into this?

But they had wanted this. And so far, only one cat he'd known had died in kitting, and that was Larchwing. Even Gorsebreeze had not died in the process. She had simply never made it that far.

Blossomfrost was a warrior though. He could see that she needed him when she looked at him. Her eyes were scared, beyond what he was familiar with. "Hey," he whispered. "You're doing great."

Somehow, his words effected her in ways that no others could. It was like her gaze softened. She leaned into him, butting his legs with her head.

It felt like it went on all night. Most of the Clan curled up in their nests, although Rainheart figured it was probably more of a privacy thing than it was that they were really sleeping. Certainly some of them were. Probably the apprentices, and maybe Smallscratch. But most of them were whispering to each other, talking quietly amongst themselves and not looking at the birthing.

Finally, at the crack of dawn, Blossomfrost's body convulsed in a way that felt final. She screamed her loudest then than she had, but then she quieted temporarily.

"Your first kit!" Auburnmist declared cheerfully. "A she-cat!"

"Let me see her!" Blossomfrost gasped, leaning over to get a look. Rainheart put his head next to hers to see for himself.

A slimy, white bundle was squirming in the nest next to her. Its eyes were closed, and no voice was coming out of it yet, but it was very much alive and well. Auburnmist nipped the sack the baby had been born in, spilling more slime onto the nest and bringing the kit tumbling onto the soft moss. It squealed loudly, catching the attention of most of the Clan.

"She's beautiful," Rainheart breathed. He could hardly stand to look away from his own daughter, but the look on Blossomfrost's face was more enticing. He had never seen anyone look as happy as that moment. "And strong," he added. "Just like you."

Blossomfrost's face screwed up and another ripple passed over her. She cried out in pain.

"Here comes another!" Bluedapple shouted. Another moment later, and Blossomfrost heaved one more time. A second bundle slid onto the nest beside its sister. This one the sack broke on impact. The kit began screaming immediately. Unlike its sister, who yelled once and then was quiet, this kit continued to scream at the top of its little lungs.

"Who knew something so small could be so loud?" Rainheart heard one of his Clanmates ask, but he couldn't identify who in the chaos before him.

"It's a tom!" chirped Auburnmist. "You," she pointed at Rainheart. "Lick. They need to get warm. Guide them towards her belly."

Doing as he was told, Rainheart leaned down and began to lick the kittens' fur, going against the grain as Auburnmist had told Leopardstripe and Hawkfall to do earlier. He breathed in the smell of the kits, strong despite the birthing smell. It was as beautiful a smell as he could imagine.

"What are we going to name them?" he asked between licks, smiling as his two kits latched onto their mother and began to suckle.

"That can wait," Auburnmist ordered. "You need to let her rest for now." Quietly, the medicine cat took the dirty bedding away, tossing it out into the blizzard outside. Rainheart looked down. Blossomfrost did look pretty tired.

"Okay," he agreed as she drifted off into sleep. "It can wait."

Rainheart couldn't sleep. Instead, he curled up next to Blossomfrost, so their two kits were in between them. The tom was a solid gray cat, his kitten fluff making him look fatter than he was. Even so, Rainheart could tell he was going to be broad-shouldered and muscular. A good tunneler.

The she-cat, on the other paw, was pure white, and skinny. Not in a bad way, but in a lean, muscular way. She would make quite the runner.

He tried to think of names, but none came to mind. The tom was anybody's game. But the she-cat had some promises.

Rainheart was still trying to think of some when he fitfully dozed off. He wasn't sure how long he was asleep, but he woke up to the feeling of Blossomfrost moving. Sitting up, he saw her bathing herself in long strokes. The kits were still curled up at her stomach.

"Good morning," she said softly as he blinked wearily. "How are you feeling?"

He leaned forward. "I should be asking you."

"I'm fine," she said. Looking around, Rainheart realized most of the Clan was asleep. Outside, he could still see snow falling.

"I was thinking about names," he said. "For the she-kit. I was thinking Snowkit, because of the storm."

Blossomfrost purred. "Snowkit is perfect. I love it."

Something in her voice caught, getting his attention. "What is it?" he asked, suddenly worried. "If you don't like it, you can tell me."

"No, I really like Snowkit," she said, not quite looking at him. "I was thinking…for the tom…how about Breezekit?"

Rainheart froze. The name struck with him in a way that didn't entirely feel right. It made him think of Gorsebreeze. Wouldn't Blossomfrost not want him to think of his previous mate at a time like this?

"I know you really loved her," Blossomfrost explained in a whisper. Her eyes bore into him, as if she were reading his thoughts. "And your kits with her never had a chance to live. Maybe…I don't know. It just…feels right to me."

He couldn't disagree with her sentiment. Love for Blossomfrost filled his heart in that moment. She understood him, she loved him It was beautiful to him, made him feel so much more alive. And why shouldn't he think of Gorsebreeze at a time like this? She had been his previous mate, would have been the mother of his kits. He had no reason not to be thinking about her at the birth of his first litter.

"Breezekit it is," he said, smiling at her.