Deep in a cold, dark den in the dead of winter, a young, lavender-furred female wept silently to herself, not even bothering to clean herself after she had laid her first egg. Her mate's shadowy form lay before her, staring intently at the red and white pattern on its shell through narrowed eyes. His dark pelt heavily contrasted against the white snow billowing into the cave from the blizzard outside as his black tail twitched from side to side in a mix of thoughtfulness and resentment. The tension she felt between the two of them mounted and the silence became more and more uncomfortable to the point where she started feeling sick before her mate looked up from the egg, gazed deep into her azure eyes and finally broke the unbearable silence.

"How long?" The umbreon voice cracked when he asked her this, even though he was trying his hardest to keep himself calm. The espeon guiltily averted her eyes away from those of the male whom—for nine agonizingly long weeks—she desperately hoped he wouldn't find out he wasn't the father of her firstborn child. The only reason she actually slept with her mate in the first place was because she found out she was pregnant and she didn't want to arouse suspicion and prayed to whatever god she could think of that the baby would turn out an eevee like she once was.

"How long have you two been going about behind my back?" He repeated himself, this time with a deep growl rumbling in his throat. To the best of their knowledge, the only zangoose who resided in their part of the forest was a close friend of the two, a male who was previously human-owned, but was since released into the wild and lived by the nearby lake. To the umbreon, the zangoose fathering his mate's child was the only possible explanation for the red zigzag marking on the otherwise pure white shell.

"Almost a year." The espeon admitted. Betrayed and heartbroken, the dark-type turned and left for the open mouth of the cave. "Where are you going?" She asked with a whimper.

"To hunt." He called over his shoulder. He stopped at the mouth of the cave and turned to the face the espeon. His normally deep red eyes were clouded with sadness. "I don't want you here when I return." He told her in a cold and emotionless voice, though his eyes betrayed his true feelings as tears welled up in the corners of those red pools of his. "And take that… thing with you!" he added as he stalked out into the cold and the espeon's sobs came back in full force. Surely, he didn't expect her to carry her egg all the way through the driving snow to her secret lover's nest by the lake all by herself, did he?

After about ten or so minutes of crying, the female had regained her composure and got up to clean herself, thinking "It's my fault. I brought this on myself." Finally clean, she used her psychic powers and a purple glow enveloped her unborn child as it levitated to her side and she left the home of former mate. The snow loudly crunched under the espeon's paws while she used her body to shield her egg from the freezing winds. The fastest way to the zangoose's lakeside home took her through a wide clearing in the forest that left her exposed to both the elements and any would-be attacker looking for unwary prey. Her mind drifted with the falling snow as she remembered the day she first fell in love with the bipedal feline. It was late last winter when she was caught in a snowstorm even worse than the one she was traveling through now while hunting out by the lake. She would've frozen to death if it weren't for the friendly male offering her shelter from the storm. One thing led to another and a week later she had decided to return the favor and then some, the two lovers had meeting secretly ever since.

Once she crossed to the other side of the clearing, she came across a large tree and memories flooded back from the day last summer where a passing human had cornered her. Luckily, the zangoose had chased him off and rescued her just in time. The image of that triumphant expression of his was enough to return a little warmth back to the espeon's snow-covered fur.

Soon a vast frozen body of water came into her view and she skirted the edge of the tree line surrounding it untill she came to a large oak just as the snow started letting up. Between the tangled roots was an opening to a den half the size of the one she used to live in, but big just enough for the two of them plus their child to call it home. She peered inside only to find it empty but her lover's scent was still fresh so he couldn't have been gone long. "He must've gone hunting." She murmured to herself as she padded into the den. "I suppose he wouldn't mind too much if I waited out the storm in here." The psychic-type shook off the snow clinging to her fur and gently lowered her egg into the zangoose's nest before climbing in with it and curling her body around her unborn child in an attempt to warm it up.

She knew she had dozed off for a few minutes because when she awoke, the snow had stopped and the sun was setting across the lake, which cast a serene orange glow on the frozen surface. Stepping out, she witnessed a red shape amidst the snow much like the one that adorned the egg still in the nest. She strained her eyes to pick out the outline of the zangoose's pelt, adequately camouflaged against the white snow aside from the distinctive pattern that adorned his chests of his species. He soon noticed her as he approached his home and greeted her cheerfully, but when he saw the frozen tears glistening in the light of the evening sun on her beautiful pink cheeks, he realized something was amiss. "Is something wrong?" he asked in his deep voice, feeling genuinely concerned for the love of his life. She led him into the den where the egg was and explained to him her situation.

"He kicked you and your egg out into the cold?" he asked, astonished at his best friend's behavior after hearing her story. The espeon nodded in reply and sniffed, feeling more tears well up in her eyes as the memory replayed itself in her mind. Sensing her sadness, the zangoose draped a comforting arm around her shoulders and handed her one of the rattata he had caught earlier. "You haven't eaten since you lid the egg, have you?" He asked. "You need to keep your strength up." "Thanks." She said graciously took the kill. After she had finished her meal, the two lovers laid together against the den wall in silence while cradling their unborn child between them as the sun finally set outside. "I want to help you raise our child." The zangoose confessed. The espeon looked at him in bewilderment before a feeling of joy and relief washed over her for the first time in what felt like years. "I'd like that," She purred, "I'd like that very much. I love you Scott." "I love you too, Ellie" the zangoose replied as they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.