Chapter Text
Leebit sat in the window seat, gently nursing his beautiful daughter Lupita with an dreamy smile on his face. It was Christmas eve and the first that he would be spending with her and she was so tiny, precious and had zero clue as to what was going on. But that didn’t matter, she was here in the world with them and just looked cute and adorable and he was going to cry again cause gosh darn his hormones were playing up like mad.
They were not helped by an blanket being lovingly draped around his shoulders and an gently nuzzle coming from his adorable, silly wolf partner, “I can take her for a minute, so you can have some tea and carrot biscuits.”
Leebit blinked his watery eyes, “Watercress?” he asked, his heart doing things that were embarrassing and annoying but also perfectly right at the same time.
“Of course,” Wolf Chan smiled, “Added a little bit of honey and some pumpkin spice too for you.”
Leebit hiccupped, gently passing his daughter to the many muscled wolf and then curled himself close for a cuddle as well. The wolf’s chest was so large that he could easily accommodate the pair of them and let out a series of very happy rumbles from it. Leebit knew that the wolf dad was preening with the fact that he had provided for his mate, made him extremely happy and now had the rabbit and their wobbit in his arms where he could protect them both. The rabbit could smell all the rest of the kids on him, their scents mainly muted and milk filled, though Jiniret’s was starting to take on stronger notes as he was getting slowly older, which meant he’d been with them before and that made the rabbit beam.
It would be an idiot that would think that Wolf Chan or Leebit would forget their first kids in favour of the new addition, they split their time and attention as much as they could do but thankfully the boys were just as in love with their baby sister as she was with them. Well she didn’t cry when they appeared, she just stared at them in wide eyed wonder and would smile brightly whenever they did something funny. But she was still only an month old, so it wasn’t like the world would make too much sense to her now.
The rabbit settled quickly and easily, happily drinking the tea whilst Wolf Chan gazed at his daughter and gently hummed a song. The boys would be back from whatever fun Dwaekki had dragged them off to shortly and then they could get them all fed, bathed and into bed to await the arrival of Jingle. Lupita drifted off to sleep in her fathers arms, happy with her full stomach and content to just be there for the time being.
Next Christmas was sure to be fun indeed but for now, it was just quiet and lovely.
Leebit’s ear twitched around fifteen minutes later as he heard the usual clatter that meant their cubs were coming home so he set down his cup and gave Wolf Chan an kiss on the cheek. “Keep our little princess for a bit,” he whispered gently, “I’ve got some mothering to go and do.”
Wolf Chan chuckled happily, “That sounds good. Don’t be too harsh on them.”
“Me, never,” Leebit responded back and hopped down. He’d rested a lot today and felt very much in the mood to run around with his elder cubs for whatever madness that they had been through today. Of course he realised that he was still in his pyjamas and dressing gown with fluffy slippers but knew that none of the kids would mind.
Lixie was the first through the door and the chick chirped happily before rushing towards Leebit with a cry of, “Mama!”
“Hey fluffy,” Leebit responded, pulling the chick in for a brief hug, “What have you been up to with uncle Dwaekki?”
“Sledging!” cried Hannie, rushing in to get his own hug, “We went all the way up to the top of the big hill and down so many times.”
“Hannie fell over on his butt a million times,” Muppy said sarcastically as he gave his mama an hug and dutifully started taking off all his outer layers without needing to be asked to.
Jiniret was the last through the door, carrying Innie on his back who looked frozen to the bone, Leebit got momentarily worried and hurried across, “What happened?”
The ferret grinned, “Innie decided that he wanted to did holes in the snow.”
Dwaekki appeared, “He was tunnelling again and by the time we got him out, he was on the other side of the park and fell into the pond. I’ve warmed him up as best I can but the video is very funny.”
“Aww, Innie you silly baby,” Leebit said, helping Jiniret lower Innie to an standing position, “Let’s get you warmed up, huh? You too Jiniret.”
The elder blinked, went to argue and then grinned when he saw the look that his rabbit mama gave him. “Yes, Mama.”
“Where’s Lupita?” asked Muppy, as the Lixie and Quokkie had decided that they wanted to go get their blankets down for their little fox brother.
“With you Dad,” Leebit replied, “In the front room, on the main bay window but she’s asleep so be quiet.”
Muppy nodded seriously at that and tiptoed in the direction of father and daughter. Leebit frowned for a second, shook his head and then turned back to the other two, “Come on, we’ll get you by the fire and Dwaekki can get you some soup going.”
The pig-rabbit grinned, “No problems. I did message but figured you two would be enamoured with our little princess.”
Innie was promptly sat in front of the fire after he was taken out of his wet, cold things and vigorously rubbed dry with towels whilst Jiniret fetched his warmest pyjamas and a dressing down with fluffy slippers and an extra warm hat to plonk on top of his head. Leebit took a moment to fuss over Jiniret as well, because the ferret was such a good big brother to them all and he deserved the fussing.
Of course there were times when he would not stop to take care of his own needs but Wolf Chan had found the perfect solution to that. The wolf had gotten up, made Jiniret sit down and then handed over Lupita to him. Jiniret beamed, holding onto the baby so perfectly and cooing at her, which caused little gurgles and noises to come out of her mouth. Her other brothers grouped around her as well, all hugging up to Jiniret to coo and play with their new baby sister who they were all definitely enamoured with.
Except for Muppy who had been fussing over his sister for a bit with Wolf Chan and was now in the process of fussing over Innie who appeared to be too tired to really care what the puppy was doing to him. Which was mainly styling his fur into silly little spikes and saying he was going to turn into an punk rocker.
Shortly after Dwaekki called that the soup was ready and Leebit took his daughter back into his arms, whilst the others ate. Though Wolf Chan was feeding him as well, because Lupita had decided that she wanted to be fed. Leebit had playfully bitten at Wolf Chan’s fingers but only because it was just a typical cute thing for the wolf to be doing at a time like this. As he was alternating between feeding himself, Leebit and Innie so he was being a very good boy. Normally Leebit would reward him for doing so, but got the feeling that tonight was not going to be a good time.
Plus his body was still recovering and he’d been advised against having anything intimate for a little while and that was something that Leebit could agree with.
The soup helped Innie to perk up a lot and he started blowing raspberries towards Lupita to make the baby laugh a little. Though it was clear that the little wobbit was about to fall asleep again, as she had had two feeds, a lot of fuss and attention and been made to giggle. Muppy had been worried that she was sleeping far too much, but Lixie and Jiniret assured him that this was normal for babies as they had so much to process and their brains weren’t quite big enough yet to do so.
Which had set the pup to attempt to start reading up facts about the brain and development in books that were far too old for him but no one really minded. He liked to learn about things and Wolf Chan said that when they went to the library next he’d guide the little tyke to the science section more appropriate for his age.
Leebit got up, “I’m going to put this one to bed, as she’s sleepy.”
“Okay, I’ll get these ones in the bath and into his jammies then,” Wolf Chan replied, turning to the others, “You know the routine after right?”
“Yes Daddy,” they all echoed back on command, even Dwaekki playfully from the kitchen.
Wolf Chan rolled his eyes and scooped up Innie, heading upstairs to the bathroom and sent his now second youngest to go get his pyjamas. The routine followed perfectly and the boys came up one after another, though of course Jiniret was old enough to look after himself now and sorted out the bathroom himself afterwards so Wolf Chan could go check on the others. He could hear Leebit and Dwaekki playfully bickering in the kitchen so knew that they were all right.
The boys clambered down the stairs once they were all dressed and set up the cushions and drinks and snacks before they all curled up around one another to await their parents. Leebit had helped with the dishes and insisted that the pig-rabbit go take a wash and get his own pyjamas on before him.
Jiniret was last to come down, though he was holding a very familiar story book in his arms with a blush. “It’s Christmas,” he defended, even though no one was complaining at him in the slightest.
Wolf Chan just scooped the ferret up to hug him soundly, “I’ll torment you with this book even when you’re all grown up and have cubs of your own.”
“Gah, let me go!” the ferret complained, trying to wriggle out of the hug but it was all for show as they all knew he adored hugs. But he was trying to be a more grown up boy now, but even Leebit said that he was just a soft, fluffy boy inside.
The two rabbits appeared, Lupita safely tucked into Leebit’s arms though her bright eyes were glistening as she had napped only for a short while before waking up to giggle at her mother and uncle squabbling. Leebit shook his head, “If that book did not come out I think it would be the biggest shame in the world, especially seeing as Lupita has never heard it before.”
That got an big beaming smile out of Jiniret and the others who had made a perfect little baby spot in the middle of them all, using an play mat with some dangling mobiles to create a safe place. Muppy had gotten a pillow, Lixie a blanket, Quokka a cuddly toy and Innie had brought over the baby bag which had bottles, nappies and anything that they could need. Leebit felt his heart swell as he placed Lupita down on the map and watched his big babies gently fuss over the little girl.
He later blamed the tears that fell silently down his cheeks on hormones but it did not stop him from hugging up to Wolf Chan with Dwaekki who wanted to be able to hug someone as well as the wolf read aloud the Christmas Story, which was a book filled with many cute Christmas stories that the boys loved. Lupita wasn’t really reacting, as she was less than an month old and was still learning about everything but it was clear that she enjoyed being around her family, her pack and felt safe and loved.
She fell asleep fast, which caused all the boys to coo at her before drifting off to sleep next to her in an almost protective little huddle.
Dwaekki fell asleep as well, snoring contentedly, which eventually caused Leebit to drift off as well.
Wolf Chan lay where he was, wolfish grumbles of glee in his chest as his family were all around him, protected, safe and so much loved.
When Jingle arrived shortly after midnight, he gave a merry and bright wave, before laying the presents down under the tree before hopping over to stare at the newest addition. “Aww, she’s so precious. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Wolf Chan grinned, “She’ll be writing to you in no time.”
“That I look forward to,” Jingle replied, “But all her brothers asked for a gift for her each so here they are, I’ll set them just over here.”
Wolf Chan was speechless and had to hold back his own tears of joy. Jingle smiled, waved and tapped the side of his nose before disappearing to continue the delivery. Wolf Chan was so proud of his family and couldn’t wait to share the morning with him. Though a tiny bit of fairy dust did come down the chimney to waft softly upon his nose and actually give him a good nights sleep for the first time in a long time.
The family were all snuggled together happily, perfectly content and they dreamed of a bright, happy future together.