The shade had seen the way his mate's sides had swelled, the way she seemed to wobble from side to side with the symptoms of pregnancy. He had observed her like this before and, although he kept it to himself, worried just that bit more about her each day. She always seemed so small and dainty, but the Doctor knew better than to think of his Nurse in such a weak manner. For Kou was far from weak and she had proven that point on a lot of occasions. He could only hold admiration for the mare as she could clearly do something he would never be able to do nor have the strength to. d'Artagnan followed Aramis whose tail swung happily from side to side as he trailed the scent of Kou, the instincts of a healer told the shade that his pale heart was nearing the day of child birth. So, naturally, he trailed behind her with his movements stiff with anticipation and wariness. It would be a bad time to startle the Nightshade, not if they wanted their necks snapping anyway.

By the time he emerged onto the purple grounds of the Thistle Meadow he had quickly spotted Kou, lying on the floor and clearly in labour. d'Artagnan cleared his mind of the initial shock that always seemed to hit him and tried his utmost to keep his healers head on as he cantered over to her. Slamming to a halt to reach down his dark muzzle and attempt to softly touch her cheek as he witnessed his first son into the world. He smiled one of his rare vibrant smiles of joy and began to take a step back for Kou to rise until he realized she wasn't moving. Panic filled his body and it took him some seconds for it to register in his mind that his dear beautiful Nurse was in fact giving birth to twins. d'Artagnan watched in awe as finally his second son joined his brother in a wet mess upon the floor and he blinked in sheer shock and overwhelming happiness. How long had it been since he had felt this kind of joy? Oh, not since he was just a small buck.

He stood there for a moment with a dazed look on his faced as Kou named them Sacre and Roux, nuzzling their petite forms. Slowly, on shaking legs, d'Artagnan outstretched his nose once again to touch the soft pink of his mate, his face filled with admiration and love. "Thank you my Nurse, you have given me two precious gifts today. That must have been a heavy burden" as he said the last line he let the gentle work of time healing flow into her body, relieving her of weariness and pain before finally he turned to look upon his newborns.

They were black and crimson with small horns poking from atop their heads. One looked very much like a mirror image of himself and the other had eyes strikingly like his mothers. He moved over to nuzzle each of them in fatherly affection "my strong boys" he said simply to them, his voice laced in passionate pride.