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Stonefur and Mistyfoot always believed their parents were Graypool and Oakheart. Most of the clan assumed Graypool and Oakheart had some kind of fling or affair, and this was a bit of an "Open Secret" in RiverClan. Officially speaking, Graypool was only their foster mother, and Oakheart had found them abandoned in a blizzard, their biological mother unknown. However, just about every cat "knew" that Graypool was their mother, and believed Oakheart had lied to cover up their affair. Especially since Misty and Stone were gray like Graypool, and she had been pregnant shortly before Oakheart found the kits; Graypool's kits with Rippleclaw had died so soon after birth, many RiverClan cats weren't even aware they had died, and assumed Misty and Stone were those kits.
If pressed on the issue, Oakheart would say that Graypool was the kits' biological mother, but she was a surrogate, and Oakheart had wanted to raise a litter on his own. To his death Oakheart remained adamant on there being no relationship between himself and Graypool, which was true, but most of the clan didn't believe their claims. Oakheart did a majority of the kits' parenting, especially after they were weaned from Graypool's milk. Graypool was by no means an absent mother, but Mistyfoot and Stonefur were much closer to their father than to her.
Graypool's decision to foster Misty and Stone put strain on her relationship with her mate Rippleclaw, who was very traditional in his mindset. Rippleclaw was furious initially, suspecting his mate of having an affair since the idea of her being a surrogate had never been brought up. Though Oakheart and Graypool managed to explain the situation to Rippleclaw, telling the tom that the kits' actual mother was a loner and Oakheart had adopted them, he remained bitter, believing that Graypool was "replacing" their deceased kits with Mistykit and Stonekit. Rippleclaw was frequently unkind to the two because of this, and for their alleged outsider roots, leading Graypool to eventually break up with him.
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