[ti]Open[/ti]A Troubling Motherhood

[Ava]

Leafeyes was peacefully napping in the nursery, tired from staying up the night before from her four nuisances that seemed to cling to her pelt at every moment. Her kits might not have the scariest of names, thanks to their father, or even be scary at all, but they were very annoying. She felt a lump on her head, weighing her head down, along with more bodies sprawled all over her pelt. There was so much room on the warm moss nest, and yet they only seemed to want to sleep right on her. Leafeyes's green eyes popped open, and she felt the kit on her head awaken too. She discovered that it was Softkit, the small tortoiseshell she-kit that looked much like her mother, and the she-kit giggled a little bit.

"Good morning, mommy!" the kit practically shrieked in her mother's ear. Leafeyes wrinkled her nose in disgust and shook off Softkit, her ears still ringing. The other kits along her body, however, were still clung against her fur and did not seem to be budging. Heaving herself to her paws, the lumps of bodies across her pelt still didn't move. Ugh. Now, however, Softkit's eyes widened in excitement. That was not good. Oh, StarClan. "Badger ride!" the she-kit squealed in her squeaky voice, almost making Leafeyes's ears hurt again. Softkit sprang up, clinging to her mother's pelt as Leafeyes rolled her eyes but gave in, gradually beginning to lumber around. 

"I don't know how I'm going to survive motherhood for another five moons" Leafeyes grumbled to herself, eyes narrowed as she made her first circle around the den.

LupTacco Mama Broadwaykat

[Mama]

Honeykit was much more mellow compared to his siblings. Yes, he had little bursts of energy when playing with other kittens, but otherwise he was completely silent and was just happy listening along. The tom was curled against his mother,occasionally moving his head to nudge her belly gently before slowing to a stop. Out of all the kits, he appeared to be the only one inheriting his father's tabby stripes, but not quite ginger and instead a soft brown with golden spots. Thus, his name. It was quite fitting for his coloring, and matched the other's name themes.

As he felt the faint warmth leave his side, and he heard a loud screech, Honeykit drowsily blinked his eyes open. He saw his mother trotting around the den... with Softkit on her back? He didn't think it was a good idea, especially with the height. And his mother looked very, very unamused. Honeykit was not a fan of that, and wanted to cheer her up of course! So, the tom sat up, his kitten fur a big downy mess, as he lapped his tongue down his pelt with confusion, making the attempt to clean up just a bit.

[bits]

Sootkit was vaguely familiar with a couple queens in the nursery; she lost her mother, after all, so she was mostly a 'community child' at this juncture. She certainly didn't mind; the kittens with mothers seemed to be restricted in what they could do and when. They were more likely to be cleaned or scolded, and Sootkit didn't enjoy those things. They weren't fun and they weren't interesting, so she liked her rather bohemian approach to this whole 'life' thing. No one got mad at her for missing bedtime, and the only time she was scolded or forced to groom was when she was starting to make life difficult for the others. Life was great.

Of course, there were downsides. She didn't get along with many of the other kittens in the den, and the gap-toothed tortie sometimes had a few extra scratches or scuffs than that which would usually be found on a kit. It could be explained away with a line about roughhousing though, so she wasn't too up in arms about it. 

Not everyone was at odds with the dirty gremlin child though; Sootkit would almost consider Honeykit to be a friend (or the closest thing she had to one). So when she noticed he was up and not too crowded, the not-as-dirty-as-usual child crept over to his side, licking her lips and showing off the gap where she'd lost her tooth some time ago. She wasn't sure what was happening; her yellow eyes tracked Leafeyes with something akin to suspicion. She wasn't sure what this adult was doing, and she wasn't certain she trusted it.

[Broadwaykat]

Bloomkit was all for adventure; unless it was naptime, which, to be fair, seemed to be a great deal of the time thus far. He loved nothing more than to curl up against his mother in what could be considered the best places for warmth and comfort. Unfortunately, they also seemed to be the most awkward and uncomfortable places for the cats in question. The small of the back along the curve of a bigger spine, directly in the pits between her fore or hind legs, or hugging the tail between his own small legs and occasionally sucking on it's tip of giving it a sharp nip with kitten teeth while he dreamed ferocious Tigerclan dreams where he was at least sixteen feet tall and chasing dogs the size of elephants.

Not that he actually would know what any of those things actually were by name. He was grand in his dreams only because his kitten-sized ego demanded it.

That morning he had curled up and was just getting that right sort of comfortable slumber when Leafeyes shifted and rose to her paws - away from him and his personal comfort. He yelped indignantly - how dare she leave him! But then, of course, his sister's piping voice echoed across the den with the rallying cry of hellion kits everywhere.

And suddenly Bloomkit was wide awake.

"Bad-ger Ride! Bad-ger Ride!" He chanted, scrambling to his paws, only to fall flat on his own face and get right back up again, whiskers squashed but otherwise no worse for wear. He galloped as best he could in the wake of his mother, doing his best when he caught up to her to try and scale her hind legs with the aid of his sharp kitten claws extended to their maximum length.