The world was contracting and squeezing, slick forms pressing against Tom, sliding, squirming and wriggling as their world seemed to destroy itself. Suddenly the sensation of others around him disappeared and Tom could only feel a tight pressure enclosing him, massaging him forcefully, causing him to stretch, reaching, clawing futilely... anything to escape this collapsing world! Light! Just ahead, brightness assaulting his thin eyelids and a feeling of cold air on his wet fur... with a *SLURP* he was free!
Lying on something soft, he squirmed, blindly groping for... what? He didn't know. His tiny mouth opened and a sound emerged, a high-pitched, squeaking whine, similar to sounds coming from nearby, his ears hearing for the first time. As Tom called out to the others, the light suddenly dimmed and something warm and rough rubbed him briskly from head to tail, returning to repeat the process over and over, nosing him around gently but making sure to ... lick? every part of him. The slime he'd felt coating his fur was disappearing, and he began to feel fluffy and warm again. He tried to crawl, his head blindly bumping into objects as he instinctively searched... warmth and fur under his paws had him suckling and kneading, a tantalizing scent drawing him on, searching, searching... There!
Tom latched onto the nub, his muzzle perfectly formed to suck the life-giving milk from his mother's teat. Warm milk spurted, some leaking from his maw as he squirmed, tiny claws sinking into Missy's curly, white fur. Around him, other dark pups wriggled, some being cleaned by their mother's tongue, others nursing already like Tom. Another contraction wracked her and Missy panted, exhausted by the process of birthing five pups already. A hand reached out and stroked her head, telling her what a good mama she was, soothing words about what a good job she was doing and how it would be over soon.
Mind fuzzy and contented, Tom fell asleep with the nub in his mouth, lightly suckling, safe and warm with his mother and siblings around him.