“Let’s get her into the nursery where she’ll be more comfortable,” Cloud Spots ordered. “All of you need to back off and give her some room,” he added, shooting a glare around at the onlookers.
“It hurts,” Violet Dawn mewed.
“Wait for the wave of pain to stop for a heartbeat, and then we’ll move,” Cloud Spots told her, taking Violet Dawn’s weight from Thunderstar. He gestured to Shivering Rose with his tail and she went to Violet Dawn’s other side, so that they could support her between them.
After a moment, Violet Dawn mewed, her voice calmer, “Okay, I can move now.” The three cats started forward, crossing the clearing toward the nursery. Milkweed had already bundled Beech Tail and Patch Pelt out of the den, leaving more space for Violet Dawn and the medicine cats.
Thunderstar followed them to the nursery, his stomach churning with excitement and worry. He hovered in the doorway, looking in at the fresh nest Shivering Rose had made for Violet Dawn a few days ago, padded with clean, soft moss.
“Get some chervil from the medicine den and chew it up,” Cloud Spots told Shivering Rose. “The juice will help with her kitting.”
“Yes, Cloud Spots.” Shivering Rose obediently made for the door of the nursery and stopped. “Excuse me, Thunderstar.”
Thunderstar blinked in surprise and realized he was blocking the door. “Oh, sorry,” he muttered, and moved aside. He felt embarrassed and useless. Usually, he knew how to help the cats in his Clan. But what could he do now? He didn’t know anything about having kits.
He shifted his paws miserably. What kind of father was he going to be? If I can’t even help Violet Dawn bring them into the world, how will I look after them once they’re here?
Another pelt brushed his, and Thunderstar looked up to find Owl Eyes regarding him sympathetically.
“You look worried,” Owl Eyes mewed. “Cloud Spots says that Violet Dawn’s in perfect health and he expects the kits to be fine, you know.”
“I know,” Thunderstar answered, hunching his shoulders. “But she’s in pain and I don’t know how to help her.” He heard Violet Dawn moan again inside the den, and glared down at his own paws. “I’m just out here, and I don’t know…” His great fear forced itself up and out of his mouth. “I didn’t have a father of my own when I was a kit. What kind of father am I going to be? How will I know how to take care of them?”
He licked at his chest, too embarrassed to look up at Owl Eyes. Why was he telling the younger cat any of this? He’d never confided his fears to any cat in the Clan except Violet Dawn and Lightning Tail—his Clanmates needed to believe in Thunderstar’s strength to feel safe. I’m falling apart, he realized.
A soft purr made him snap his head back up to look at Owl Eyes. The sleek dark gray tom’s eyes were shining with warmth. “How can you say that?” he asked. “Thunderstar, you look after the whole Clan. Being a father will be easy compared to that.”
“I’m not so sure,” Thunderstar muttered. But his spirits rose a little, and he brushed his tail against Owl Eyes’s side gratefully. At least some cat believed in him, even if he didn’t believe in himself.
Shivering Rose returned to the nursery, carrying a mouthful of chewed pulp.
“The chervil, good,” Cloud Spots mewed inside the nursery. “Now try to take a little of this, Violet Dawn.”
“Okay,” Thunderstar heard Violet Dawn answer in a shaky mew, and then she gasped again in pain. He shuddered at the sound. Should he go in? Or would he only be in the way?
“It’s perfectly normal for it to hurt,” Cloud Spots told her soothingly. “You’re doing very well.”
Violet Dawn yowled sharply, and then moaned. “Thunderstar. Where’s Thunderstar? I can’t do this without him!”
Thunderstar bolted into the den. Cloud Spots glanced at him sharply. “Sometimes it’s better for the father to wait outside.”
“No, I need him,” Violet Dawn insisted.
Shivering Rose, her paws on Violet Dawn’s side, mewed, “I think they’re almost here.” Violet Dawn yowled again, pain in her voice.
Thunderstar lay beside her, curling his body around hers. “It’s all right,” he murmured into her ear. “Just think how beautiful our kits will be. They’ll finally be able to kick you from the outside instead of the inside.”
Violet Dawn gave a short mrrow of laughter, which turned into another gasp.
“The first one’s coming,” Cloud Spots announced.
“Take a deep breath and push,” Shivering Rose mewed. “Not long now.”
There was a commotion of movement from the medicine cats down at the other end of Violet Dawn’s body, but Thunderstar’s attention was focused on his mate’s face, her amber eyes locked on his as she shook and panted. “You’re doing so well,” he mewed softly to her. “You’re so brave and strong.”
“A tom,” Cloud Spots announced, his voice warm, and a tiny wet kit was placed next to Violet Dawn’s belly. “Lick him warm.”
Thunderstar bent his head toward the little tom, whose coat was the same bright ginger as Thunderstar’s own. As he began to lick, he was flooded with wonder and love. Why had no cat told him this was how it would feel? Of course he would protect and teach this little one. The path seemed clear at last: He would love his kits. Everything else would follow.
By the time the sun had almost set, it was all over.
“Four healthy kits,” Thunderstar purred with satisfaction. He looked around the nursery. Milkweed was nursing Patch Pelt and Beech Tail in their nest on the other side of the den, and her two kits, who had seemed small to Thunderstar just that morning, now looked enormous in contrast to his tiny, beautiful kits.
“They’re quite nice, aren’t they?” Violet Dawn mewed, gently licking the head of the last to be born, a gray tom even smaller than his brothers and sisters.
“I used to think it was silly when cats called their kits perfect,” Thunderstar confessed. “But now I know what they mean. Our kits are absolutely perfect. All four of them.”
“This one is going to be the strongest, I think.” Violet Dawn nosed gently at one of the she-kits, a ginger-striped tabby. “See how hard she’s kneading at my side already. And look.” She gently nudged the kit over onto her back. “See that?”
The little she-kit had a white stripe zigzagging across her belly. It looked just like a bolt of lightning.
A twinge of grief broke into Thunderstar’s happiness. Lightning Tail would have laughed at the echo of his own name and made a special favorite out of the kit. He would have been so happy to watch over and play with all four of the kits. But Lightning Tail would never see them. I’ll tell them all about brave Lightning Tail, Thunderstar vowed silently. The cat who saved me.
Chapter Ten
A breeze blew through the high branches of Fourtrees, and a full moon floated high in the sky overhead. Thunderstar leaped up onto the Great Rock beside Skystar and Windstar, leaving his Clanmates to mingle with the other cats of SkyClan and WindClan.
“Where are the others?” he asked.
“ShadowClan’s just coming now,” Windstar replied, nodding toward the edge of the hollow, where a slender black she-cat was leading a stream of cats into the clearing.
“I can hear RiverClan,” Skystar mewed. “And smell fish.” All three cats purred with amusement—Riverstar was a wise and generous leader, but his Clan’s diet left them all with a very identifiable odor.
In just a few heartbeats, the other two leaders had joined them on the Great Rock, and Windstar called the cats in the hollow below them to order.