The calico queen lounged outside of the nursery, her paws stretched out in front of her and her hind-legs equally stretched. It wasn't often that she felt comfortable enough to lounge around since Ospreyshadow's visit to the Shadowclan camp, but today was a rare exception. As her four foster-kits played in the shade beneath one of the towering trees leaning over the camp, Mapledawn didn't take her eyes from them for a second. Those kits exhausted her, but what kit didn't exhaust their mother?
It didn't mean she loved them any less. She was sad her own kits had just left the nursery, but glad to have the extra space around. It always got stuffy when it came to having apprentice-sized kits in the nursery. With Hareflight's new kits in the nursery, the former medicine cat would need all the space she could get.
Her eyes wandered from the kits for a moment until she spotted Juncostar. Sitting upright, she took this as an opportunity to question him about expanding the nursery and reinforcing it to help protect it from any more unwanted visitors. Padding over to him, she dipped her head- still keeping her ears fixed in the direction of the four half-clan kits.
"Juncostar," She started, warmly. "I wanted to talk to you about the nursery. I think myself and the other queens would feel safer if we had more brambles and thorns woven into the walls of the den." It would make for good protection, as long as on the insides the thorns and pointy edges were padded with some other material.
"Lightkit, Owlkit, Squirrelkit and Acornkit should feel welcome and protected in the nursery, and not like we want any Thunderclan intruders interfering with them again." Her stern, serious expression met his. Whilst they may feel safe today, it could take a second for them to all be put in danger once more.
The queen's eyes misted up a little at the thought of how Nightsong had suffered. She couldn't even imagine if she had been unable to tell Dunelark that she had been expecting his kits. Her heart clenched with sorrow- her grief for her lost former mate had lessened with time, but it was still there in the back of her mind. As much as she hated to think about it, she was inclined to agree.
"I can't trust a tom who won't be there with the queen birthing his kits. He doesn't even have to be inside the nursery, but just being there would be enough..." Her tail twitched irritably, and she glanced over at Juncostar with a frown. "I know I can't replace her, as much as those kits think I'm their mother, but when they're old enough to understand, they'll know about Nightsong. I'll tell them all about her so that if and when they meet Starclan, she can greet them as if she'd always known them."
Her gaze tilts to the forest floor. "...Ospreyshadow does not deserve those kits."