[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme rolled her eyes at Muroki's comment, but was grinning at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, I know he does, Muroki. You can calm down now." She reached out and brought the two cubs to her side. They might not be hungry at the moment, but it was morning and they hadn't fed since last night, so they would almost certainly get hungry soon.

Looking at her mate again, Umeme added, "if you want, you can go and fetch Lina and your brother." She then grinned again. "Or we can wait and you will remain here with me."

---

Delano continued to watch Lina as she stirred in what had to be quite the nice dream. When she woke up and blushed, he smirked at her reaction. "Morning, Lina. What was it that you were dreaming about? Sounded lie you were enjoying it." He ran a paw by her side as he spoke, causing his mate to purr again like when she was just dreaming.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki grinned at Umeme's comment, chuckling as she gently pulled their son and daughter to her side. It was amusing how they would sometime squeal in protest to being moved, as if they could control what their parents decided to do with them. However Marini and Ubawa calmed back down immediately as they found themselves resting against their mother's belly. "I think I'd really rather stay here." he said with a smile as he wrapped a paw around her back and stomach and tenderly ran it through the cubs' fur. "Delano and Lina will get here at some point anyway." There would be plenty of time for Delano to get to see that there was nothing to worry. There was no rush.

---

Still blushing, Lina couldn't help but purr in content as Delano ran his paw against her side, her blush only becoming more noticable when he asked her what she'd dreamed about. "Well, um..." she said a little quietly, smiling a small and somewhat timid smile as she stared down at her paws. "You were there..." She hesitated for a brief moment before licking him across his muzzle and resting her head beneath his chin.

[DGFone]

With the two cubs by her side, Umeme didn't have to worry about the two complaining about not getting enough attention. So when Muroki said that he would remain with her, she smiled at him and nuzzled him, rubbing her head on his soft mane. "I think I can wait for them two as well. More time to just spend with me and you."

She glanced down at the two bundles by her side. "And the two young ones of course." She resumed her nuzzle, an act that she really did almost forget how enjoyable it was after everything that had went on.

---

Delano thought he could at least understand the basics of what Lina was dreaming about. He smiled at her, finding it cute how she couldn't tell him exactly what though. "And here I am too," he reassured her, "and not in a dream that you have to wake up from as well. Makes it a whole lot better, doesn't it?" He grinned at her.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled fondly at Umeme when the lioness nuzzled his mane. "Sounds like a plan to me." He happily returned the gesture, moving his paw to hs mate's shoulder and pulling her closer to him, also smiling down at their cubs for a brief moment before continuing the display of affection while purring in content. "I don't think I'll ever grow tired of just being with you." he commented. "Even if all we do is just lie there and cuddle..."

~~~

Her cheeks still noticeably red, Lina slowly nodded her head. It didn't look like she was going to tell him exactly what she'd dreamt about, although it probably wasn't too hard to figure out considering how embarrassed she looked. However she did seem to think about what he'd said about how he was there next to her, in real life. "Hmmm..." It sometime amazed Delano how she could quickly turn from being nervous to teasing him like his mother in law would from time to time. "Later." Gigglng, she gave him a quick lick acoss his muzzle before rising to her paws. "Come on, let's go see how Umeme and Muroki are doing."

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled. "Yeah, it does seem like that's all we do now, doesn't it?" She smiled back at her mate. "But I do agree with you. I won't ever get bored of this either." A slight nudge from the cubs took her attention away from Muroki for a brief moment. "I think the cubs agree," she teased.

---

"What? Oh, all right..." Delano got up and followed Lina outside. He felt rather nervous about the idea of dealing with Muroki's and Umeme's cubs, but also knew that if he didn't do anything, then he wouldn't be able to get over this very said nervousness. But still... the cubs were less than a day old! Sure, he was their uncle, but was it really a good idea to have him interact with them?

Lost in his thoughts, Delano followed Lina in silence, letting her lead the way.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki snickered at Umeme's comment, shooting her a flirtatious grin. "Most of the time..." he teased, giving his mate a loving lick across her muzzle. He smiled warmly at the lioness and held her close, resting his head on top of hers. Just trying to imagine his life without Umeme (and, now, their children as well) was unbearable. "But I'm not complaining..." The lion sighed in content. "I'm just... It feels so good to finally be through with all the hardships... And now that we finally have a family of our own..."

He pulled his head away from hers so that he could look into her eyes, gently rubbing his muzzle against hers for a brief moment. "After mom and dad died I thought I'll never be happy again, but then I met you, Umeme... Thanks to you I now have a life I never even dared to dream of after they were killed. I... I can't thank you enough and I'll never be able to." In the corner of his eye he could see their cubs had gotten hungry and started to feed. He smiled. "Everything's perfect now. Thank you..."

---

Eager to see her sister and brother-in-law again as well as her newborn niece and nephew, Lina led the way without paying much attention to Delano's silence. She already couldn't wait to get a better look at Ubawa and Marini. They were just so cute and little. The more she thought about the two cubs; the more she wanted her and Delano's cub / cubs to come around already. She was more than certain that, after getting to interact with the two little fluffy felines, her mate would realize that there was nothing to fear.

After a while of walking together in complete silence, Lina caught sight of the den belonging to Umeme and Muroki. As they neared it, she smiled upon seeing that the two were outside, having apparently decided to take their cubs out into the fresh air for the first time. "Hey, you two." she said quietlt, not wanting to startle her nephew and niece, who were peacefully cuddled up together against their mother's stomach now that they'd finished feeding. She gave the two parents a quick hug. "How's everything going?"

"Good morning to you, too." said Muroki with a smile. "We're doing great, actually. But I don't think we've had a chance to see just how much of a paw-ful these two are going to be just yet..." He was about to say something else but that was when he noticed Delano, who was standing behind Lina and looking somewhat uncomfortable. He chuckled. "You can come over, you know. They won't eat you." The two cubs raised their head: Lina's voice sounded unfamilliar to them and her and her mate's scent was different from that of their parents. They were obviously curious.

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled back at Muroki, but didn't do anything else because the cubs were feeding again, and she didn't want to move and annoy the cubs. She lay on her side in silence as to not disturb them, resting her head on her paws, and only looked up when she heard the sound of her sister's voice. "Morning, Lina," she replied, eager to see that both Lina and Delano came over, "everything's going well!"

She noticed with slight amusement that as Lina invited Delano to come closer, the lion looked rather uncomfortable. "Don't worry, Delano. They are full already. You don't need to worry about them eating you. Right, Muroki?"

Somewhat nervously, Delano approached Umeme and the cubs. He brought his head close to them, but couldn't get himself to move it any closer than a few paws' length away from the pair. "They... well, they're really small..." he said with some hesitation. "...Is it uh, alright if I'm this close to them?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled and nodded at Umeme's comment about the cubs being full. "Right. We're all safe for the time being." he said with a grin, obviously joking. He looked at his brother again, unable to not find Delano's hesitation to be somewhat amusing. What reason could there be to be scared to come close to two little cubs who couldn't even see yet? "Of course they're small. And yes, it's okay. Just make sure you're gentle, that's all."

Lina, while obviously curious about what Delano would do, was also eager to get a first good look at Marini and Ubawa as well. Standing next to her mate, she also brought her head closer to the two cubs, though she was clearly not nervous about doing so. "Aw, they're just the most adoreable things I've ever seen!" Her niece and nephew were both blindly staring in her and their uncle's direction, obviously intrigued by the pair's unrecognizable voices and scents.

"You seem to have their attention..." said Muroki, smilng fondly as his son and daughter continued to sniff about.

At some point Lina leaned foward a little more, gently pressing her nose against the two and nuzzling them for a brief moment. They seemed a litle unsure at first and even a little tense, but that hesitation seemed to fade away as soon as it had come. Their aunt smiled as she felt them purr at the attention and chuckled when her niece mewled in protest when the nuzzling stopped.

[DGFone]

Noting Lina's eagerness to interact with Ubawa and Marini, Umeme nodded her head at Lina to show that she was giving her sister permission to get close. She trusted Lina enough that she wasn't afraid for her cubs, especially since she was right here, and can grab the pair instantly if there was even a hint of a sign of trouble.

Delano on the other paw, was content to allow Lina to take the initiative for now. Laying down next to her, he simply watched as she at first nuzzled the two cubs, who were clearly enjoying the contact. He couldn't help but smiled when she picked one of them up and then the others before placing them between the two of them, but then looked up at her, confused and nervous. "What... what do you want me to do with them?" he asked, unable to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

He looked down at the two cubs, not feeling brave enough to touch them for some reason. He backed his head away for a little. "I uh... I want to just watch for now," he said, "I don't want to do anything... just yet."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but giggle as Marini mewled in protest when the contact was ceased, her smile only growing wider when the cub's brother joined his sister in the display of discontent. After silently making sure that neither Umeme nor Muroki had a problem with it, she went ahead and gently picked them up one of a time by the scruff, placing the two little hairballs between her and Delano. They seemed a little annoyed at first now that they were no longer next to their mother's warm fur, but Lina's paw seemed to compensate for that a short moment afterwards.

Giggling once more at her mate's antics (she found his uncertainty and nervousness cute), Lina gave Delano a quick lick across his muzzle. "Suit yourself." she didn't want to pressure him into it, even though she couldn't tell just why he was so apprehensive. Besides, it meant she had her niece and nephew all for herself, in a manner of speaking. At least until he would overcome his hesitations, that is. She tenderly ran her paw through their fur, smiling the entire time.

Muroki and Umeme had meanwhile repositioned themselves a little so that they were facing Lina and Delano, giving the two parents a better view of their cubs as well as access to them as they watched them interact with their aunt. Lina was gentle enough with Ubawa and Marini, who clearly liked the attention. Their father smiled and looked at his mate. "They don't seem to be too worried about Lina being completely new to them..." he said quietly. True, his sister in law was the two cubs' aunt, but to them she was an unfamiliar being at the moment and Muroki was glad to see that, while a little unsure at first, the two became comfortable around her soon enough.