If The Sun Also Rises craned his head further left when he awoke before the sun had quite risen, he would have observed his lady love, his lifemate of seven years, Moonfrost-like-Ashes very uncharacteristically up before dawn, staring sourly down at a spare patch of bushes.
"Oh, you're awake," she would have said, sourly, if he'd been craning his head when she'd looked over, "have I got some bad news for you.
"Well," she'd have paused, thoughtfully, "I guess it's probably good news for you, but I never meant to go through this again, I can tell you that much. Guess I've got more work to do on the formulation."
The Sun Also Rises' head merely tilted to a side, with a characteristically vacuous smile at his lady love. She was so interesting when she talked science. "What news is it?"
"You've done gone and knocked me up again, that's what," she huffed, crawling back to their little nest and unceremoniously curling back into a ball, "just so we're clear, I'm not getting up for these kids, either."
"OH!" He exclaimed, rather a bit too excitedly, then toned it down into a more carefully surprised "oh," watching her shuffle back in. "Shall - shall we go get a blessing from Cue right now?" There was still an edge of delight in his voice. He was never very good at hiding these things.
"Eh," she made a face, "a blessing. I don't care about that mystical mumbo-jumbo. Didn't need one then, don't see why we need one now."
"Oh," this one sounded slightly more confused, "but we had so many kids then."
"Science," she shrugged, "a good diet. You can go get a blessing if you want, I'm going back to sleep.
"But -" she momentarily raised her head again, staring him in the eye, "you'd better keep it on the downlow. I am not feeling up to explaining this to our pre-existing kids."
He leaned down for a quick peck on her forehead, "got it. We'll keep it quiet."
*******
Rise waited patiently at the edge of the shop, pelt in mouth, trying not to look like he was waiting. Cue would come. Any moment now.
Cue was coming, Cue was coming. Cue came in with the sun, so she could damn get her Coughing Bean fix before she had to face the wretched day. Here Cue Queue came, with the breaking sun, looking like she really friggin' needed a Coughing Bean fix.
"Cue," he said urgently, ignoring her meaningful stride, "Cue Cue Cue Cue," he said it in a whisper this time. "Cue I need a blessing. Keep it quiet, but Grey is pregnant," he paused briefly, "again."
Normally, she would never. Nothing fazed her. She was a font of professionalism. This was no different from any other pair. Except. It was Rise and Grey. They were ancient. (Ed note: No they're not.) Old, like her parent. Older than her parent. They were, sort of, like her parents.
"GREY," her voice hit a stratospheric pitch she was not proud of, "IS PREGNANT?!?!?!?!!?!"
For a terrible moment, Cue and Rise stared, frozen, at each other.
At a slight distance away, Come Running dropped the bale of grass in her mouth, before she came running. Thundering, even. She was really fast when she wanted to be.
"WHAT???????????" she screamed at both parties, "WHAT HAPPENED. I MEAN, OTHER THAN THE OBVIOUS?!?!"
Beloved pooled out of the shadows and said, somewhat more leisurely but also more urgently, "If that birth control doesn't work you have to tell me now."
Rise's head whipped over to his beloved daughter, staring at her with a horror subtly different from the previous.
Best had casually strolled over, chest puffed with a deep breath. "Come on, be more mature," he said with a slight edge of hysteria. "You're all such children. It doesn't matter if...if...we have more siblings....when we're all so...fully grown..."
Come Running did not get the memo. Her voice was still on full volume. "I'M OLD ENOUGH TO BE THEIR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT -" a moment of silence as she calculated anew, "GREAT-GRANDMOTHER HOW CAN I HAVE MORE SIBLINGS"
Left rose from the ground just to take three steps closer to dramatically collapse onto the ground again, "Swamp, just take me now. I'm not ready to not be an only child."
Best's eyebrows shot up immediately. "If you haven't noticed, you're most definitely not the only child."
"You guys don't count," Left said, morosely draped over his hooves, "we were the only clutch. Now we're just has-beens. And, by the way, I think Fell has just fainted."
At this moment, Rise realised this was, indeed, bad news.
Above all of this hubbub, the silvery figure of his lifemate shambled out of their little alcove to stare, dead-eyed, at Rise from across the store.
The buck's head whipped back to Cue, looking desperate, shaming, and pleading.
"Um," Cue said, for once in her life, sheepish, "bless your kids."
END