[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano felt himself turn red at being called an uncle. It would have to be something that he will need to start getting used to now, and then of course, soon he will also be a father... "Well alright, so I'll see what being with their cubs will be like. I don't think..." he grinned slightly, "I'm sure that Muroki wouldn't mind if I help him out every now and then."

He waited for Lina to finish peering into the den outside, not feeling like going back inside. Plus, she went back outside as well due to how late it was. "Okay, Lina. Let's go home." He was already starting to think that she would wake him up early so that they will be able to come back here early in the morning as well. While he normally was up before her, he wouldn't mind getting to their den to fall sleep earlier, just in case.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki must have set a new record for waking up early the following morning. The sun has barely begun to rise, meaning that the sky was still almost completely dark. It wasn't the fact that he'd gone to sleep very early the previous day which led to that - in fact he would have gladly slept for much longer. He was woken up by the squeaky mewling of his and Umeme's cubs. For a moment, while he was still half asleep, the noise confused him to say the least. However, as their cries dragged him into full awareness, he suddenly remembered the events of the previous day.

Moving from lying on his side to lying on his stomach, Muroki smiled at the sight of his son and daughter, who were cuddled up against one another, as if uniting in their quest to gain some attention or whatever else they wanted. Them waking him up didn't annoy him at all, even though his body would have allowed him to sleep in. He gently ran his paw over their little bodies once, letting the two cubs know that they'd gotten the attention of one of their parents. They then stopped whining, making him realize that they weren't hungry and were either a little cold or just wanted to know that they weren't alone. The lion continued to smile as he repeated their names in his head, once again telling himself that they fitted the two cubs perfectly.

[DGFone]

With a rather noisy commotion going on next to her head, Umeme woke up early, groaning as she tried to gain her bearings. Waking enough to remember where she was, she opened her eyes to get a good look at her cubs. A smile formed on her muzzle as she saw how tenderly Muroki handled the two, despite his large size.

She moved herself to where she can both hold on to their cubs as well as give Muroki a nuzzle. "Good morning, honey," she said calmly, "the cute fur-balls waking you up?" She gave him a quick lick across his cheek before turning her attention to Ubawa and Marini. "The first thing we'll need to teach you two is how to sleep quietly," she joked, rubbing her nose on their small heads. Placing her paws around them, Umeme settled on the ground, content to simply watch the two cubs.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki's paw continued to rest on the two cubs as he gently stroked them, smiling fondly at the way they purred in content. It felt a little weird that he has become so attached to two beings he had just met, in a way, but they were his children after all. While he didn't know how long it would be until they opened their eyes, learned how to walk and started talking, Marini and Ubawa's father already couldn't wait to see what it would be like to actually raise the two of them alongside Umeme.

The thought of his mate made the lion look at her and he chuckled to himself upon seeing that she was also waking up as a result of the commotion their newborns had caused just a few moments earlier. "Good morning." he replied softly, returning Umeme's nuzzle with a similar gesture. "Yeah, Ubawa and Marini woke me up." he said with a small grin which showed he didn't really have a probpem with that.

"But I think we got lucky." he added, once again looking at the mostly dark sky outside. "They slept all the way through the evening until now. According to what your mother said, cubs often wake up very frequently because they're either hungry or want something else..." Fadhili had informed the two that their nights might be quite restless until Marini and Ubawa got a little bigger. "I don't think they'll be sleeping quietly until they are old enough to walk and talk."

Even though the prospect of not sleeping much might deter many, it actually didn't bother him too much. His parents in law as well as his aunt and uncle have told him more than once that parenthood was a difficult path to follow, but they also mentioned how rewarding it could be. "But it'll be worth it for these two..." he added with a warm smile, wrapping a paw over his mate's back and starting to gently lick her neck and occassionally nibble on her ears.

The two of them got a little distracted by each other for a few moments but immediately snapped back into reality when their cubs began to squeal in dismay at the sudden lack of attention they were receiving. "Oh dear..." Muroki couldn't help but chuckle, carefully placing the paw he didn't have wrapped around Umeme's back on the two little hairballs. "I think somebody's going to end up causing a serious problem in their parents' relationship..." It was clear from his tone that he was just joking. Referring to his mate and himself as parents filled his heart with pride and joy. "I'm kidding, of course." If anything, the birth of their son and daughter made him feel closer to Umeme than ever before. "They barely got here and I already love them so much..." he sighed happily. "They're just..."

[DGFone]

Umeme let out a yawn and sat up in the den. She giggled at Muroki's joke. "Yeah, I think we're going to have to struggle really hard not to get at each other's throats after these two are done with us." Smiling, she brought her nose down to her's and Muroki's cubs. "You two are going to behave around us, right?" she asked the two mewling balls of fluff. "Or are you going to be like Muroki and his brother when they were young and give your parents a really hard time?"

She gave the cubs a gentle nuzzle with her nose as she also enjoyed the sound of Muroki's groaning. "I'm sorry hun, but you know that Lina and I were the best behaved cubs in the world. Any trouble these two will give us will be all you."

Deciding that the den was getting a rather boring place to be in, Umeme picked up Marini, and allowed Muroki to grab Ubawa. Leading her mate outside, Umeme lay down in the early morning air as she placed their daughter in between her front paws, and Muroki placing their son there as well. Moving her head back, Umeme allowed the two young lions to feel their first time in the outside air. "It will be so much better when you will be able to see everything," she told the two, "just you wait."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled as Umeme started talking to their cubs and ask them if they were planning to get into any trouble. It was rather cute because all they did was continue to mewl in response, making their father wonder whether the two were able to understand what they were saying yet or not. The lion couldn't help but playfully groan and roll his eyes at what she said afterwards. "I told you I was mostly quiet on my own." he grinned at her. "And besides, Mrs. Most Behaved Cub, didn't you and Lina always tell us that your parents wouldn't let you out of the den all the time as punishment?"

Not really waiting for an answer, the lion went ahead and gently picked his son up by the scruff of his neck before following his mate outside. The two cubs began to squeal and mewl in protest as they were suddenly met with the chilly wind outside, but they calmed down as soon as they were placed between their mother's paws. Muroki smiled. "I don't remember as far back as when I opened my eyes for the first tme, but my mom always told us that we were so fascinated and curious by everything we saw..." He leaned over and licked their son and daughter once, enjoying the feeling of their soft purrs against his tongue. It would definitely be fun to show the cubs around once they got old enough.

[DGFone]

Umeme watched as Muroki interacted with their cubs. "Should I get jealous?" she teased, "I know these two can get noisy if they don't get enough attention, but you really don't want to hear me if I will start feeling lonely." She leaned her head over to Muroki's and gave him a loving kiss. "Don't you worry. Cubs come first."

She looked down at the two fluffy beings between her paws. "I know it's early," she commented, "but I really want Lina to come over. I don't think she had yet gotten a good look at them." She also knew about how Delano and Lina wanted to use the cubs to gain Delano's confidence for their own future roles as parents. "I think Lina is right though: it won't take Delano long after these these two to know that he really shouldn't be afraid of anything. Well, perhaps not entirely. He should be afraid of them melting his heart." She looked up at Muroki, grinning.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but grin as Umeme asked him whether she should be jealous. He knew that she was joking, of course. "Oh, don't worry." he said flirtatiously after kissing her, unable to help himself even though he knew she was just kidding. "I'll give you my full attention at the first opportunity." As she returned her attention back to their cubs, so did he. If he were to meet himself from when he and Umeme started seeing each other and tell himself of this, he doubted he would have believed himself.

At the mention of Delano and Lina, Muroki chuckled. "Well, you know how good she is in sleeping in." he said. "Unless Delano wakes her up before she wakes up on her own, it might take some time." It's not that he didn't want his brother and sister-in-law to come over - on the contrary. He too believed that some time with Ubawa and Marini would only do Delano good. After all, they really were adorable. "Yup, Delano should be quivering with fear."

[DGFone]

Getting what Muroki was hinting at, Umeme blushed furiously and looked down at the cubs. "Come on now, Muroki! Not in front of them!" Still, she enjoyed the playful jest and simply prodded her mate playfully with a paw. She also couldn't help but giggle at Muroki's joke about the effect their cubs would have on Delano. "We'll see," she agreed. "But from what they told me, Lina became, if anything, an even heavier sleeper now. Unlike with me, when I would wake up at the slightest of disturbances."

---

Sure enough, inside Delano's and Lina's den, the lion had already woken up. But after trying to gently wake his mate up unsuccessfully, he settled to simply lying next to her and watching as Lina slept. He knew that she would insist on taking him to see Umeme and Muroki, or rather, their cubs, but he still felt quite nervous about the prospect. Especially because the cubs won't be his, he really didn't want to risk angering Umeme nor Muroki through carelessness, or even simply ignorance.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but laugh a short laugh at Umeme's embarrassment. No matter how much they teased each other about this sort of thing he still thought she was very cute when she blushed like that. If anything, her reaction only encouraged him, but this wasn't the time. "Relax..." he said smoothly, licking her ear once before dropping his behavior altogether. "They're way too young to understand indirect statements like that..." he chuckled. "I think they're too young to understand anything, really."

"Yeah, lucky for Delano..." he added with a joking tone, nudging his mate's shoulder with his own. That was when a soft mewl caught his attention. It wasn't like the loud squeaks the cubs usually let out when they wanted food or attention. Muroki turned his gaze back to the little fluffy beings that were his and Umeme's children. Marini was shuffling where she was for no apparent reason while Ubawa was sniffing about in his parents' direction. He then mewled again.

"What is it, Ubawa?" asked his father with a warm smile, chuckling as the cub melwed once more in response. "Come again?" Another mewl. "Is that so?" And another. "Really?" He looked at Umeme with a grin as their son let out another adorable noise. "Ubawa makes a good point, dear."

~~~

Next to Delano, Lina occasionally stirred in her sleep next to Delano, snuggling closer against him and changing her head's position in his mane every now and then to fit her liking, purring in content. From the looks of it she was having a rather pleasant dream, which was indicated by the smile she had across her muzzle and the way she giggled every once in a while. Eventually she opened her eyes, looking quite confused by the sudden change of scenery from her dream. Then, noticing Delano, she blushed furiously.