[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano looked over to where Lina motioned. As much as he wanted to gain control of his paw back, he really didn't feel confident enough to try and move Marini yet, so he had no other option but to let the cub have her way with his paw for now. "I just hope she will let go soon," he said with a defeated sigh. "This really isn't what I had in mind when I came here today, Lina. I think I can safely say that I can blame you for dragging me over here." He grinned at his mate to show that he didn't actually harbor any bad feelings.

Following Muroki's gaze, Umeme looked down at their son as well. Compared to Marini, who seemed to be having quite the time with Lina and... Delano's paw, Ubawa looked like he was ready to fall asleep. "I know they are, Muroki," she finally replied, "they're what we waited for all this time."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but giggle at Delano's antics. She found it rather sweet that he still felt somewhat uncomfortable with what his little niece was doing but allowed her to keep snuggling with his paw despite that discomfort just in order to not upset the cub. "I'm sure she'll let go at some point." she said with a playful shrug as she nudged her mate's shoulder with her own. Then, much to her noticeable amusement, Marini let go of her uncle's paw and attempted to come closer by trying to crawl past it. Because of how little she was, it had little to almost no effect. "Isn't she ambitious?" Lina chuckled.

Muroki smiled fondly at Ubawa as Umeme pretty much stole the words he was about to use himself. "They are." he said softly. "I know that we've waited for them for so long, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for just how amazing it would feel to see them for the first time." He could still clearly remember the joy and pride he'd felt during that moment and he doubted he would ever forget it. "I bet mom and dad would have loved these two..."

[DGFone]

With his paw free, Delano quickly brought it back close to his side. For some reason, he now felt very much protective of it even though it was never in any danger. As for Lina's question: "Yeah, too much. I predict Umeme and Muroki having to ask us for help with keeping her in line."

Umeme didn't expect Muroki to mention his parents, but she smiled soon afterwards, placing a paw on his shoulder. "I am sure they would have. No lion could ever resist their grand-cubs." Knowing that Ubawa was not going to get into trouble where he was between them, she looked over to see Marini crawling closer towards Lina and Delano. "I think our daughter is forgetting who her parents are," Umeme joked, "but I don't mind, as long as they don't take her with them." She said this last part louder so that both Lina and Delano could hear as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina laughed a short laugh at Delano's comment. It really did look like she would grow up to be a very energetic cub indeed. "Yeah... As long as we're not too busy with our own little bundles of energy, that is..." She then heard her sister's comment and looked at her with a pleading smile. "Aww... Maybe just for a month until our cubs are born?" she asked, obviously kidding. The two parents grinned at each other. "I mean come on, you've got two of them!" They shook their heads, causing Lina to pout in fake annoyance. "Fine..."

Muroki chuckled at his sister in law's antics, knowing that she was just joking. "Don't worry, Lina. I know even one day can seem like a lot of time in waiting for your cubs to be born, but it'll pass in the end." he said with a smile. "It'll be worth the wait. You'll see." He then looked at Umeme with a grin. "I think it's going to be difficult to keep Marini in line... But we'll manage, I'm sure of it."

[DGFone]

Delano knew that Lina was only joking about keeping Marini, but still played along and pretended to be horrified. "But... Lina, no! Coming here was one thing, but to take her back with us? Absolutely not!" He gave Umeme and Muroki a small nod of thanks as they too played in with the joke, but still refused Lina the permission to keep their daughter.

Of course, if Lina had not being joking, Delano would have been utterly horrified instead of just pretending to be. Just having Marini this close was putting him on the edge. Why can't she be a good cub and go to sleep next to her brother by her real parent's side?

Umeme grinned at the thought of having to watch out for their daughter. "We'll just have to get it into her head not to wander off, and we'll be fine," she reassured him, "it's not like cubs are born to cause trouble. Lina and I usually didn't. I don't know about you and Delano, but you also told me how the two of you also listened to your parents." A pause. "Well, for the most part."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina felt quite delighted to see that Delano had not only caught on to the fact that she, Umeme and Muroki were kidding about keeping Marini but that he'd also joined in and joked about it with them. While the interaction with the cub had been rather forced, she had a feeling that, so far, the day was having the positive effect they'd all hoped for. It looked like Delano was starting to warm up to the whole parenthood thing more and more, even if he still had some work to do in that regard.

Muroki chuckled as Umeme mentioned him and his brother back when they were cubs. "Well... I'm sure we'll be okay." He couldn't help but laugh as he noticed that their daughter was still crawling over to her uncle. Even if she was very slow, she was definitely starting to close the gap. Muroki was about to tell his brother that he might want to consider making a run for it, but that was when he saw Kato coming up behind Delano and Lina.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Kato." replied Muroki. Sure enough, the prince's unfamiliar voice caught his daughter's attention. It looked as if the young lion had arrived in the nick of time as far as Delano was concerned.

[DGFone]

With his back to the prince, Delano din't notice the younger lion approaching until he was startled by the other's introduction. Whirling his head around, he relaxed when he recognized who it was. "Oh, it's you, Kato..." He let out a sigh. "Don't you ever do that again!" With everything with Marini going on, he really wasn't ready for any more surprises.

Umeme found it funny how the prince was able to unintentionally surprise Delano. "Hey, Kato! What brings you here?" Noticing how Marini was now crawling towards the new arrival, she quickly joked. "Be prepared to meet our daughter. But I might need to warn you, she's quite clingy. Delano found out the hard way."

[TheWhistlerify]

It wouldn't be an understatement to say that Kato wasn't confused by how jumpy Delano was. However, as he sat down by the four adults and listened to what Umeme was saying, he chuckled upon putting the pieces together. "Well, I said I'd drop by again and now I'm here." he said with a smile, deciding he might as well not tease Delano about how ridiculous he was behaving. For now. "You should see Desta's little brother. He'll give the word clingy a whole new meaning." The prince looked down at Marini as he said this.

"Don't newborns sleep most of the time? My mother said I only started to crawl about when I fist opened my eyes..." He seemed to be rather surprised by how energetic Muroki and Umeme's daughter already was. "And I was quite the troublemaker." The young lion then looked at the cub's parents. "She sends her congratulations, by the way. So does my dad."

Muroki smiled and chuckled. If Marini was already more energetic than Kato had been back when he was her age then it looked like he and Umeme were in for quite a ride. "That's awfully nice of them. Could you tell them I said 'thank you' the next time you see them?"

"Sure, I'll do that." He chuckled and looked down as Marini started smelling his leg. She seemed a little unsure this time because his scent was quite different from what she was used to. Unlike Delano, though, the young male didn't seem to be even slightly hesitant about being so close to her.

[DGFone]

With the little horror known as Marini concentration on Kato, Delano was able to start to relax again. "Well, I don't know about Desta's brother, but this little critter here is bad enough," he told Kato. "You watch out. Or at the very least, don't go complaining to me, because I will simply say 'I told you so'." Still, he was quite surprised to here that Kato was describing himself as a troublemaker. A little naive perhaps, and many times foolish, but a troublemaker?

Umeme also repeated Muroki's request for Kato to pass along her thanks to his parents. She did find hos well the prince was reacting to Marni rather cute though. "Aww, look at that! Marini is already introducing herself to you!" She grinned. "You see Delano? Kato's doing better than you, and he's younger!"

Delano felt himself turn red in embarrassment, as well as perhaps even a bit of anger. "You're not helping, Umeme!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato couldn't help but chuckle as Delano tried to warn him about how clingy his niece could be. "Don't be silly, she's just a cub!" It was a little weird to hear Kato call somebody else silly. The prince smiled as he looked at Umeme. "Don't mention it. I love cubs." With that he slowly lay down in front of Marini as she continued to sniff his paw. "She seems like she'll be quite adventurous. At least, that's the impression Desta's brother gave and that's how he turned out."

Muroki smiled as Kato slowly brought his paw foreward and gently touched it against the cub's muzzle. He didn't see a reason to stop the prince and was quite confused when his daughter suddenly mewled in protest. The young male immediately withdrew a few inches. "Looks like Marini likes to be in control." he said with a grin. "That was her way of saying she wants to do things her pace. Makes sense, though. She doesn't know me yet." Sure enough, Marini calmed down and once again began to sniff his paw curiously.

"You seem to know your way around cubs." said Lina, looking a little impressed. "How come?"

"Sometimes I help Desta keep an eye on her little brother."