Sundays are my Suicide Days - BIRTHING [Zayn]

[Kodaline]

Kodaline

Sundays are my suicide days

The contractions that ravaged her came every few minutes and gave her no mercy. She had been drinking from a creek not too far from the cave Zayn had presented her when they came, and hadn’t been expecting labor for another few weeks. At first they were only mild annoyances that made her grit her teeth and toss her head, but with each passing contraction the pain grew. And so she began to pick at the sparse vegetation that grew to try and take her mind off the pain. Her belly had swelled to twice the size of some of the other mares she had seen going about their day. During her pregnancy she had not put much thought into it, but now that it was nearing time to birth the youngster she was worried about the size of the foal that would be exiting her womb. Another contraction wracks her body and she decides that it would be best to head back to her cave with the view.
 
By the time she reaches the cavern entrance her legs are shaking and she is weak from the labor that has begun. The contractions are seemingly endless even as she lies down in a somewhat comfortable position on the loose fluffy dirt floor of the cave. A thin sheen of sweat covers her body and she heaves with every cramp that rattles her. Unknowing to her, her water had broken on the trek to her cave and the time to begin pushing now arrives.

For her first foal, the birth was surprisingly easy. With a few hard pushes the sun kissed colt was on the ground and collecting dirt on his wet golden fur. Koda is surprised at the size of the colt; she had expected him to be the size of a draft horse with the way her stomach had grown. She stares at her son in confusion when another contraction catches her off guard. The innocent maiden had not even thought of the possibility of twins, and so she grows anxious at the prospect of birthing a second foal. 

Yet the filly she births is smaller than her brother, and so she comes even easier.
Kodaline take a moment to clean her children before really looking at them for the first time. They are both roans like their mother and sabinos like their father. Her firstborn, the colt, is the bigger of the two and has a thicker appearance than his delicate looking sister. When she looks back at her son, she notes how much he looks like Zayn with his golden sabino coat and blood red eyes. A smile touches her lips as she stands up and begins to encourage her kin to do the same. If luck would have it, it would not be long before Zayn made his appearance; and in the meantime the blue mare would ponder their names.

Mother to Freyr and Ferox (x.Zayn)

[Zayn]

He’s been eagerly anticipating the birth of his children all winter.

The red eyed stallion has watched his mares all winter, revelling in how quickly their bellies have swelled, showing the children within. Kodaline in particular has been of considerable interest - though Zayn has not had many children yet, he’s seen enough to realize that the mare has become rather larger than the pregnant mare.

It’s only helped to increase his anticipation and curiosity. Perhaps the roan is carrying a large, strapping son to carry on his line. He certainly hopes so. The possibility of twins doesn’t even cross his mind - they are rare (though less rare in Beqanna than in other places), and he’s completely unaware of the fact that twins actually run in his family. But he could care less about his family history anyway.

When the day finally does arrive, Zayn makes sure to give Kodaline her space until he’s sure the whole process is finished. Becca had been particualry feisty after giving birth to Waylan, and he’s not entirely sure where Kodaline stands on having stallions close to her young. Not to mention the fact that’s he’s not eager to get mixed up in the whole messy business.

But when he’s fairly certain she’s done (she’s stopped grunting in effort anyhow), he makes his way to the mouth of the cave. And when he does, he’s more than a little surprised by what he sees.

Twins?! She’d been carrying TWINS?!

“My, my, what a surprise!” Zayn steps forward, nuzzling briefly at Kodaline before stepping back. He still doesn’t know what she’s like after giving birth - her mother bear hormones could be raging. But he can’t help but crane his head about to get a look at the twins. The pale gold one is a colt, with bright red eyes to match his father’s. And the dark one is a little filly! His first daughter! Zayn smiles at them, then turns his head to try and meet Kodaline’s eyes. “Two beautiful and healthy foals. Have you named them?”

ZAYN

I'm an ugly mess

[Kodaline]

Kodaline

Sundays are my suicide days

Kodaline gets a moment’s respite during Zayn’s absence. In the time it takes him to come to the cave the two healthy babes had stood up on their own and begun nursing. Their personalities would slowly begin to show over the course of their first few weeks in the world, but as of now Koda only had a notion of what they might be like. The familiar voice of Zayn’s echoes in the cave and she looks at the entrance with a pleased smile on her lips. “What a surprise indeed!” She returns his nuzzle, the birth had been unexpectedly easy and it had not been able to foul her mood. If anything Zayn’s appearance only enlightened her further.

She watches as he tries to get a better look at the youngsters so Kodaline nudges them closer. Their golden colt is first to investigate his father for the first time, his smaller sister lingering behind him, clearly the more cautious of the two but never straying far from her brother. The two had shared a womb together; it only seemed natural that they share a bond as well. Her emerald orbs flicker up to meet Zayn’s and another smile promptly finds its way on her lips. “I have…Ferox for your daughter and Freyr for your son.” As if he already knew his name Freyr turns his head and finds her with his blood stained eyes but promptly turns back to his father, still curious about the male who looked like a larger version of himself. 

mother to Freyr & Ferox (x.Zayn)

[Zayn]

Kodaline appears almost delighted at the sight of him, and a strange, warm sensation burns in his chest. If he’d been anyone else, he would have recognized it as affection and pride. But he is Zayn, and such emotions are more than a little foreign to him. He feels awkward suddenly, made uncomfortable by feelings that he cannot describe, and does not understand.

He covers his sudden awkwardness by stepping forward and reaching towards the twins. Kodaline has been completely amiable so far, so he does not expect the hostility he’s used to receiving from Becca. He nuzzles at the little colt first (as the boy reaches out to him first), overjoyed at the thought of how much the boy resembles him in appearance - with that golden coat and those red eyes, it’s more than a little apparent who the boy’s father is. The boy’s evident boldness pleases him as well.

Next he turns to the little girl as she approaches, reaching out with a gentle muzzle. As he’d already noted, the girl is much darker than the boy, having clearly inherited some of their mother’s colouration. It will certainly be interesting to actually have a daughter running about the little territory … though he’s definitely going to leave most of the actual job of raising her to Kodaline in this case. He knows little of girls.

Kodaline names them both and he spares her a glance, smiling. “Fine names.” Both have a ring of strength to them. They will do.

He turns back to look at the twins, who are still looking at him. “Freyr, Ferox, I am your father.”

ZAYN

I'm an ugly mess

Sorry for the wait!