Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Poppyseed padded into Cloud Spot's den, purring happily, the pink and gray she-cat took off her cloak and laid it next to her. A few heartbeats later, Cloud Spots came in, his jaws full of coltsfoot, Poppyseed flicked her tail-tip happily at the sight of her fellow medicine cat. Cloud Spots carefully put away his coltsfoot and turned to the hairless she-cat sitting next to him.
"Good morning Poppyseed, how are you feeling?" he asked happily.
"Morning Cloud Spots! I'm alright, do you think it worked?" Poppyseed asked, barely able to contain her purring enough to mew out an answer. Cloud Spots helped her to lay on her side,
"Well, we might as well find out." The black and white tom answered, looking over Poppyseed's belly. "Definitely looks like it, but I'm gonna check one more thing." Cloud Spots pressed his ear to Poppyseed's belly, "I think I can hear something, looks like you're pregnant Poppyseed, congratulations!" Cloud Spots meowed. Poppyseed let out an excited mew, picking up her cloak, she slipped it on.
"I can't wait to tell Tall Shadow! She'll be so excited, we're gonna be mothers!" She looked over to Cloud Spot's again, "You and Dappled Pelt are gonna be ok when I'm nursing right?" the hairless queen asked, dipping her head nervously. The black and white tom lifted his head up from the herbs he was wrapping up and nodded.
"Of course we will, it's not like you'll be off medicine cat work forever, and you can help while in the first bit of pregnancy if you'd like." he responded, going back to his work. Poppyseed nodded, leaving the den, she ran to tell her mate the good news. Tall Shadow was up on her rock, as usual. Poppyseed skidded to a halt and lovingly pushed her head to Tall Shadow's shoulder.
"What's got you so happy?" Tall Shadow asked, looking lovingly down at Poppyseed. Poppyseed looked up at her mate.
"I'm pregnant Tall Shadow!" The medicine cat meowed excitedly, practically vibrating from how much she was purring. Tall Shadow's eyes lit up at the news of her mate's pregnancy.
"Wait, you're serious?" the black she-cat asked, looking shocked and excited. Poppyseed nodded, giving Tall Shadow's shoulder a lick. "That's amazing! Oh wow...you're seriously gonna have my kits, we'll be mothers..." Tall Shadow had a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke. Poppyseed cocked her head at her mate,
"Are you ok Tall Shadow?" Poppyseed asked, leaning her head on the black she-cat's fluffy fur. Tall Shadow let out a small breath, turned to the smaller cat, and gave a happy look.
"I'm more than ok. I just can't believe it!" Tall Shadow Sprang to paws, rubbing her face against Poppyseed's. "I need to inform the rest of the camp of the good news." Tall Shadow said, padding up to the front of her rock. "Everyone! I have great news to share with all of you!" Poppyseed carefully padded up next to her mate, sitting next to her, watching as the cats flowed in, sitting in front of the rock. She spotted Hawk Swoop at the entrance to the nursery, Poppyseed's heart swelled knowing that the queen, though having kitted just days ago, wanted to hear about this. "As you know, Poppyseed and I have been trying to have kits for the last moon," Tall Shadow began, "Today Cloud Spots confirmed that Poppyseed is now pregnant with my kits!" Excited mewls came from the crowd, Poppyseed felt slightly embarrassed but the feeling faded when she looked to her mate.
When the chatter calmed down, Shattered Ice's voice could be heard, "Will we be ok with one of our medicine cats out of work for at least 2 moons, then new mouths to feed?!" He sounded annoyed when he asked, staring daggers at Poppyseed. The pink and gray cat wanted to disappear at that moment, Shattered Ice never liked her, even when they were kits he used to bully her for having no fur, and the harassment only got worse when Poppyseed lost her leg. She silently hoped someone else would answer as her words got stuck in her throat.
When Shattered Ice opened his jaws to speak again, Cloud Spots piped up, "We'll be fine Shattered Ice, Dappled Pelt and I have enough herbs for 2 seasons with how good growth has been lately, Poppyseed can come back to work when her kits wean." the medicine cat stated firmly, Shattered Ice shut his jaws, looking satisfied with the response. Poppyseed looked gratefully at Cloud Spots, who simply nodded. Tall Shadow ushered the cats back to their activities, then returned to help Poppyseed off the rock.
"Jagged Peak, can you take over watching the moor?" Tall Shadow asked him, Jagged Peak turned to her, nodded, and hobbled over to the rock. "Thank you!" Tall Shadow called over to him. The two she-cats walked into their shared den in comfortable silence. "You know, I never thought that if I did have kits, that Moon Shadow wouldn't be here to hear the news, now that Clear Sky won't let us visit, I don't think he'll ever meet them." Tall Shadow mewed, her tone unreadable. She's so hard to read most of the time Poppyseed thought, wrapping her forelegs over Tall Shadow's chest as they lay together.
Poppyseed nuzzled her face into the top of her mate's head, "He'll meet them, I promise." She stated in a gentle voice. Tall Shadow untensed and pressed herself closer to Poppyseed, a noticeably sad look in her eyes.
"I hope you're right."