From 2021
Gullshade and Spottedshell family portrait.
Family tea under the cut.
Spottedshell's side of the family has a history of difficult and/or still births, but Spottedshell was determined to be a mother. She and Gullshade lost many litters. At some point Gullshade had given up on being a father and was more worried about the toll losing all those litters had on Spottedshell. She convinced him they should try one more time (it was always one more time) and they finally had Lightkit and Stormykit. By then they were nearly elders, but were absolutely thrilled to finally be parents.
Lightkit's deformity was a concern at first, but after a "different but healthy" diagnosis from Dapplefur, everything seemed perfect. The only consistent issue was unkind words from other cats, the worst of which was Pinestar's suggestion that Lightkit be put out of her misery. Spottedshell practically chased him out of the nursery at that and became very protective of Lightkit and distrusting of her clan leader. Gullshade was made temporary deputy afterward and was kept very busy by Pinestar, barely having time to visit the nursery. Spottedshell saw this as an attempt by Pinestar to punish her for standing up to him.
After Lightkit's death, Spottedshell broke. She openly accused Pinestar of killing her kit and began a swift mental decline. Dapplefur diagnosed her with "confusion" (feline dementia) and believes the trauma of losing her first living kit jumpstarted the decline that should've happened more gradually.
In all the chaos, Stormykit was often forgotten and left on her own. Gullshade tried to step in to be with his daughter when he could, but between looking after Spottedshell and performing his deputy duties, Stormykit often fell through the cracks. Luckily Nightwhisker and her kits were more than happy to be there for Stormykit when her parents weren't.