<Bedtime Story - Starla/Dorothea - 1>

	The echoes of gentle, infantile cries slowly subsided throughout the halls of the manor as darkness fell over Gilneas.  The proud Dorothea let out a soft sigh of relief as the baby worgen's cries subsided, and as quietly as she could she padded her way out of her room and closed the ornate door all but a sliver of the way.  A long, elegant, baby blue gown hung elegantly about her body as she glided quietly down the hall to another of the many doors, this one open to let a sliver of candlelight spill into the hall.  Her clawed hand tapped the door lightly as she pushed it open just a bit.  "Aren't you supposed to be asleep, honey?"

	A flickering candle sat atop a nightstand next to a lavish, four-poster bed, beneath which laid a naked, clearly agitated, worgen-form Starla.  The younger rogue groaned as she arched her back and kicked the covers away from her gruffly, her face buried into a pillow she held to either side of her head with both clawed hands.  It was apparent by the unusual number of tears in her sheets that the gentle swell in her already-soft belly was starting to get to her a bit.  At the sound of her mother's voice, the white-furred female pulled the pillow away to shoot her mother a pained look.  "Ugh... maybe I could sleep if my boobs would stop hurting and I'd stop feeling... gross."

	Dorothea looked upon her daughter sympathetically as she traversed the room and perched her considerable backside upon the edge of Starla's bed.  "Shhh, come here, sweetie," she uttered softly and reached down to draw Starla's head delicately into her lap, while one hand began to tenderly stroke through her daughter's mane.  "Just relax and breathe.  Breathing always helped me, and thinking happy thoughts doesn't hurt either."

	Starla took a deep inhale and exhale as she relaxed into her mother's lap, while her icy blue eyes looked up innocently at her smiling mother.  "Yeah... I don't really feel like thinking happy thoughts, mama."

	"Not even when it comes to your new little brother?" Dorothea returned in earnest.

	This brought a slight smile to Starla's muzzle.  "I guess he is kinda neat," she admitted.  "But is he my [i]brother[/i] or my [i]uncle[/i]?"

	Starla's chuckles brought forth a few of Dorothea's laughs as well.  "I guess that would depend: Are you carrying your future child or your next uncle or aunt right now?"

	The younger rogue laughed once more and glanced down as she placed a defensive hand over her belly.  "I hope it's a girl," she admitted.  "But I'll be happy either way."

	"Oh?  Well, the way this family seems to be going, good luck keeping her away from your grandfather," Dorothea quipped, her fingers drifting over her daughter's fur to stroke her cheek tenderly.

	"I wouldn't mind," Starla returned without hesitation.  "But Papa Wolf's gonna be in his eighties by the time she's hit by the Urge.  It'll probably be my turn to help guide her... or maybe little Warren will learn right along with her."

	Dorothea rolled her eyes in exaggerated fashion.  "Good lord, so far all we know about is how the Urge affects us girls.  I'm half-hopeful that your little brother won't suffer like that, but I'm certain it's a vain hope.  Better prepare yourself, sweetie."

	Starla huffed at this.  "Mmh, I think I might be good with just one," she admitted.  "I'm angry, sad, and exhausted all at once for no reason, and I can't seem to get comfy anymore."

	The much more motherly Dorothea cooed and guided her daughter upright, instead offering Starla a comforting place upon her chest to rest her head.  Dorothea wasn't the most gifted worgen of the pack, but with her recent birth, her chest had swollen several sizes to make a pleasurably plump cushion for Starla to nuzzle.  "I said the same when I had you in my belly, but the minute you were in my arms I wanted to do it all over again... well, a few years from then, anyway.  It is a wonderful blessing to have had the chance to bear a second child, even at my age."

	"Pssh, thirty-nine is still young," Starla insisted as she gladly smothered herself with her mother's covered breast.  "You could have a few more, if you wanted."

	"I'll think about it," Dorothea returned as she wrapped both arms around her daughter.  "But I think my firstborn daughter needs some tending-to while she's going through her own child-bearing tribulations first.  You're almost through your first three months already, and you've been doing so well."

	"Mph," Starla huffed, one hand absently slipping between her mother's robes to flatten against her smooth, loose-furred belly.  "Maybe if I could just get to sleep, I'd be fine."

	"Then maybe you should let your mama help put you to sleep, hmm?"  Dorothea hummed lovingly as she continued to stroke her daughter's hair, apparently more than happy to let Starla explore her gown-clad form as she pleased.  "Maybe you'd like to hear a story?"

	A warm smile crossed Starla's muzzle as she nodded eagerly.  "Oh!  Tell me that one story about Dad again, please?"

	Dorothea's ears perked up a bit as she adjusted herself to sit more properly next to her daughter, offering her more room to cuddle up as she pleased.  "Oh?  You liked it that much, huh?"

	"Mhmm," the younger rogue admitted as her gaze drifted down to her mother's thinly-covered chest, one hand reaching up to gently draw her gown apart to expose her modestly-sized breasts.  "I like hearing about him.  I only remember a little of when he used to hold me."

	"He loved you so much," Dorothea agreed as he pulled Starla softly to her bosom.  "He had wanted to be a father even before we had met.  He was a well-respected, up-and-coming warrior in the Gilneas army, but he had an attraction to the mysterious and cunning aspects of the rogues."

