Everyone knows that she-cats expecting kits can seem bothersome. Cloudstep, however, was the perfect queen. She graciously accepted every little bit of prey that the warriors brought back, and she was always smiling. The warriors loved her.

Cloudstep also seemed to become better looking the larger her belly got. Toms whispered to each other, only able to feel disappointment because they had no chance. Only Fernstalk could be her mate. Thistlebranch told her daughter that that was what had happened when she'd grown round, and yet she'd believed in someone like Antshadow, whom the two she-cats still felt was a traitor to their family. Like Cloudstep's brother, Ivysnarl. He had fallen prey to their father's words and listened to him, and thus the mother and daughter isolated themselves. 

Not that Cloudstep really cared. Especially since she was a model warrior, had a perfect mate, was expecting kits, and was frequently regarded as a flawless queen. Cloudstep was everything her mother wanted to be and more, and that was something Cloudstep continually celebrated about herself.

"Look at my precious daughter. You'll give birth any day now."

She peered towards the voice. It was her mother coming to sit beside her, in a patch of sunshine just outside the nursery. She laid her tail over Cloudstep's shoulder, the plump queen only glancing up briefly before returning her head to the soft ground that had almost lulled her to sleep. Now that Thistlebranch had made her appearance, Cloudstep wouldn't be getting rest at any given moment.

"Where is your mate?" Thistlebranch glanced down, and Cloudstep could feel her eyes boring into her skull, and down on her figure. She didn't really know the answer to that question, since Fernstalk was making up for Cloudstep's absence during warrior duties and kept extremely busy. That's what happened when the best warriors are taken from the available choices, right? That's what Thistlebranch had always taught her, that those who lacked in experience and favor were given higher expectations once their shields were gone. Not that Cloudstep didn't think Fernstalk was an excellent warrior, because Cloudstep only believed in raising kits with a cat on par with her in terms of experience and favor. Cloudstep had been taught that the best raise excellent warriors, and that was exactly what she and Fernstalk were going to do, no matter how many kits she had.

Although, she was counting the days until she could be rid of the discomfort. She could only ever sleep on her side, her stomach too large to sleep on because she only ever felt pressure and pain. If Cloudstep had had any prior idea as to what it meant to be having kits, she would've pushed the duty to Fernstalk and kept moving on her paws, kept contributing to the Clan. 

But this was what she was stuck with, and she found that she was also dreading the kits' arrival. A few queens had given birth throughout her apprenticeship as well as her recent time in the nursery, and listening to them brought the knowledge that birth must not be the most pleasant, if not the worst, thing to come into a she-cat's life. Which is why Cloudstep didn't blame the she-cats who decided not to have kits, much less take a mate. Still, Cloudstep had been taught that if she were to be as perfect a warrior as her mother is, then she should benefit the Clan by having kits that would prove to be as strong and talented as their ancestors. That's how the Clan had stayed strong, and how the Clan would continue to stay strong.

"Apparently your littermate has a mate of his own," Thistlebranch commented, her cold tone only mirroring the resentment that often echoed and lingered in Cloudstep's mind and heart. Not that Cloudstep really cared what her littermate did. Ivysnarl had chosen his own path. If he'd kept by her and their mother, then maybe she'd be more supportive of whatever choices he made.

"Does that mean I'll be raising my lovely kits beside his?" Cloudstep dared to ask, not bothering to hide her jaded tone, the bitter taste of the idea coating her tongue in an unhappy thought. She knew that no matter who ended up in the nursery, Ivysnarl would be in and out to see his kits, because Ivysnarl believed in kits having a decent family and having a decent father. 

Since they hadn't gotten that, of course. 

Cloudstep just prayed that Ivysnarl didn't try to come visit her kits. She wasn't in the mood to even allow him to lay his eyes on them.

"Don't know yet, but you know I will keep you informed on the situation."

"Thank you, mother."

"Are you tired?"

Cloudstep groaned in reply, wanting to push herself up on her paws but finding that she had no energy to do so. Not that she had any reason to get up, but the idea of getting up and shaking out her limbs seemed like a good one. Yet the energy was not there, so the she-cat remained on her side, laying her cheek on the dirt and letting the sun slowly warm her one exposed side. She could feel her mother staring at her, still awaiting an answer to her question, to which she wouldn't move until she got one. Thistlebranch was persistent that way, but Cloudstep knew that she meant it in good faith, in genuine care and concern for her daughter's wellbeing, as she struggled to even move with her stomach so large.

"I'm exhausted, if that's a reasonable answer."

"Of course it is, especially since you have a physical excuse at the moment."

Cloudstep snorted, finally forcing her paws underneath her and getting her body off the ground. The sun had finally put her in a more comfortable state, but the ache in her joints needed her to move, to at least stretch. Thistlebranch watched her especially closely, since Cloudstep was carrying her kin, and Thistlebranch wouldn't let anything happen to her kin. She would have done the same for Ivysnarl, before he snapped at her and chose to disconnect from the family himself, leaving Thistlebranch to mourn the loss of her son, even if he still glared at her from across the clearing at times.

Cloudstep knew that her mother had always taken care of her kits first and foremost, so it certainly didn't surprise her now that Thistlebranch was taking off time from her warrior duties, focusing on her daughter as she got closer to giving birth.

It made Cloudstep feel better. It reminded her of when she was a kit, when Thistlebranch would watch her play in the camp, making sure she didn't tear a claw or step on anything that would hurt her. The only time Cloudstep had ever encountered a thorn in her pad as a kit had been when her brother had thought to climb the nursery wall, which was constructed of brambles between sticks to deter any intruders from attacking the queens and kits, although the kits had not known that. Cloudstep had cried to her mother, who had been there while the medicine cat took the thorn out and wrapped her paw, sending her off to burrow in her mother's fur and fall asleep.

Her brother had always teased her for never leaving their mother's side, but the insult had never been that effective against her. Or rather, it had never bothered her at least, especially since she acknowledged the fact. She recognized that her brother wasn't wrong. She loved her mother, and she knew that her mother would turn everything in the Clan upside down, and tear whoever she needed to apart, all for her kits. For her daughter.

"Do you want to move into the nursery?"

"No, I'm fine out here. I'm waiting for Fernstalk to get back from her patrol."

"How long has she been gone?"

Cloudstep glanced at the entrance to the camp, thinking about her mother's question. Fernstalk had been on the newest patrol, hunting because the Clan's store was low. Not that the season was bad for hunting, but the Clan certainly wasn't having fruitful expeditions. Luckily, the season was only going to get better. At the very least, Cloudstep thought so.

"She'll be back soon. I know it."

Thistlebranch's ears twitched, glancing at her daughter in genuine worry, skepticism eating at her insides. Cloudstep knew that Thistlebranch didn't like Fernstalk, especially since the she-cat always seemed to be gone on patrols whenever the former came to see her, but Cloudstep knew that her mate was just trying to do her duties.

Though Cloudstep neglected to tell Thistlebranch that Fernstalk barely visited anymore, she knew that her mother noticed that. That was why she had asked Cloudstep the question.

Cloudstep just hoped that when their kits were born, Fernstalk would be around more.

Written by Lilli

Edited by Solace