[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Surprising even himself, Delano reached out and hugged Muroki, even though Lina was still sleeping against him. "Thanks, Muroki. It really means a lot." Even if he himself lacked confidence in his own skills as a father, the fact that Muroki did not have these reservations gave him confidence.

When he let go, Muroki announced that he wanted to go back. Delano nodded, grinning sheepishly at having just hugged his brother. "You're going? All right, I guess... well, it's not like I am very busy right now or need any help. Take care..." He watched his brother leave the den before turning back to Lina and their son. "Looks like there will be others who want to meet you after this, Fluffy," he joked quietly, "so you better rest up."

---

Grumbling about annoying sisters, Ubawa returned to Marini's side, but still stayed a little bit of distance away from her, just in case. Apparently, their mother was waiting for him to do so, because as soon as he sat down, she began to tell the story.

Umeme grinned, thinking of what to say. "Well, hunting is a lot like what you two do when you try to catch a butterfly. Except that hunting is... is much more exciting." Smiling at how caught up her cubs were, she began to describe the process to them, but making sure to leave out parts that would either scare or disgust them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

It's cold in this guarding post...

The way her mother described hunting as much more exciting immediately caught Marini's attention. Something was more fun than chasing a butterfly? Has the world gone mad or was it true? The small lioness cub eagerly listened as Umeme explained how hunting went to both her and her brother. She obviously trusted her mother, which could only mean that going on an actual hunt must be a real thrill. "Wow, that is so cool!" she exclaimed with excitement once the explanation was over.

Now chasing butterflies didn't sound as fun anymore. She wanted to go on a real hunt and see what it was like for herself. "When will Ubawa and I hunt, mother?" she asked naively, looking up at the lioness with her big, blue eyes. It was then that Muroki arrived back from visiting his brother. Sure enough, his mate and their cubs were still exactly where he'd left them, in a manner of speaking. He couldn't help but chuckle at the way the two of them were so intently listening to what their mother was saying.

[DGFone]

Although she expected the question, Umeme still laughed when Marini wanted to know when she would get to hunt. "Not for a long time yet, Marini," she replied, noticing Muroki approaching from behind, "there will be lots for you to learn before we allow you to even try to hunt. That means you too, Ubawa. Isn't that right, Muroki?" She let out a chuckle as the two cubs turned in surprise, not having noticed their father arriving.

She grinned at her mate and allowed him to sit next to her. Now that he was back and they both didn't have anything that needed to be done, both of them could concentrate on their two cubs. "So how did it go? Did you see what you wanted to?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Knowing how important it was that he and his mate shared the same opinions when talking to their cubs (as well as obvioudly agreeing with her that there was still a long way to go before their cubs would even start learning how to hunt), Muroki nodded his head in approval. "Exactly." Not that it was fun to be the bearer of bad news, but the two little hairballs were really cute when they were disappointed. "But don't worry, you'll get there on day." Chuckling, he brought them closer with a paw and nuzzled them both.

His daughter obviously enjoyed the affection, but she continued to pout nonetheless. "It's not fair!"

"Life can be unffair, young lioness." said her father with a smile. "Why don't you and Ubawa go play? You've been waiting for a chance to run around all day long." As the two began to think of a way to occupy themselves, Muroki turned his attention to Umeme. "I did. They decided to name him Akili." he told her, smiling all the while. It certainly was great news that they both had a nephew now.

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled at her cubs and nudged them to go off and play. "Go on now. Just stay close where we can see you!" Having left before Delano and Lina had chosen a name for their cub, she was naturally curious. "Akili?" She remembered what the cub looked like from when she helped Lina in the morning. "I like that name. I think it will fit him well."

As she watched her two cubs play, an idea came to mind. "Hey, Muroki, I just thought of something. As these two will will get older, Akili will always be younger than them, and at least for now, it might not be a good idea to take them to see him. So I was thinking..." She thought about the idea some more and nodded. "Yeah, so I was thinking: what if we take them to see Hatari? It's been a while since we've seen him, and he would like to know how we're doing." She leaned close to Muroki's head. "Not to mention, as try as he might to hide it, I know that he is well... quite jealous of us. He might like it if we bring the cubs over."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki nodded in agreement with what Umeme was saying as he watched Ubawa do his best to escape Marini, who'd decided to use him as a target to practice her "hunting" skills. It was a rather amusing sight. "Yeah, them being a month older than Akili will be a significant difference for the time being. Delano had the same thing in mind." He had no doubt that his cubs wouldn't hurt their cousin, but, until the size difference mellowed out, accidents could happen.

His gaze moved on to his mate when she mentioned Hatari. It's been a long time since they'd last visited him. He hasn't thought about the lion in regard of their cubs yet. "He might, but..." Hatari wouldn't harm the cubs, he knew that, but what would Marini and Ubawa think? "I mean, they're too young to know now, but do you think we'll have to tell them about what he did when they get older?" How would the two react if their parents had them befriend a lion and then tell them that he used to be a killer? What would they think of the way their parents were his friends despite all the things he'd done?

[DGFone]

Umeme shrugged. She had thought of what Muroki was asking, because he brought up a very good point. But at the same time, she didn't have exactly the best of answers. "Muroki, look... I know it might be awkward, but I think that if we don't mention that part of the past until they are far older, when they will grow up knowing that he is a good lion... only then we might try telling them."

She looked at the two cubs, who were busy chasing each other, or rather, trying to chase each other with their still developing motor skills. She also wanted to make sure that they were close enough to see, but not so close as to even accidently overhear them. Umeme let out a somewhat sad sigh. "They will need to know who killed two of their grandparents," she admitted, "but I don't want them to grow up not knowing Hatari. He's a good lion, Muroki. I think he deserves to interact with our family, because you know that both of us know that the chances of him getting his own are very low at best." She gave Muroki a slight grin and nuzzled Muroki. "Plus, I think it would be good for Delano and Lina to see him as well. Lina not so much, but I do think it can help Delano quite a bit."

She continued to nuzzle her husband when the complaining voice of her son ruined the moment. "Mom! Dad! What are you doing?" Ubawa was glaring at them as though they had done something naughty, even though they really hadn't.

Umeme rolled her eyes. "Cubs..." she muttered, "what can you do?"

[TheWhistlerify]

As he listened to his mate, Muroki couldn't help but agree that the best option would be to let Marini and Ubawa get to know the good lion that Hatari was. Surely if they did that and then found out how he helped their father, uncle and Kato out in the gorge, then the two of them will realize that Hatari was no longer a murderer, right? Either way, just telling them this information or hiding Hatari from them completely would be a far worse idea. He still didn't know about his brother, but this seemed like it would be the right thing to do in the regard of their cubs.

Smiling, he affectionately returned Umeme's nuzzle while purring in content, only to chuckle a second or two afterwards when he heard Ubawa's typical reaction. He was already used to his son acting that was whenever he caught his parents being affectionate towards one another. It was very difficult not to burst into laughter when Marini took advantage of her brother's distraction and pinned him down. "Mommy and daddy are in love, Ubawa!" she giggled. "You're so silly!"

"Well in this case we usually just ignore him..." said Muroki quietly as he looked at the mother of his cubs again, chuckling once more. "After teasing him or rubbing it in his a little..." He could see Marini lick her brother's cheek once before running off and found it even harder not to laugh at the reaction that brought out of him. "We are so going to tease him once he starts seeing someone..." Since the cubs were busy with each other it looked like he and Umeme had some time for themselves, so he nuzzled her again and left the part of messing with Ubawa to their daughter.

[DGFone]

Ubawa did not like how he suddenly found himself pinned by his sister. "Let me up!" he complained, and pushed her off him. Go figure that he was stuck with the most annoying sister in the world... And then she proceeded to lick him in the cheek and run off. "I'm going to get you for this!" he called back after her, and gave chase, completely forgetting about his parents in the process.

Of course Umeme found this entire thing funny, but sh didn't really care. Returning Muroki's nuzzle, she also agreed about teasing their son. "When," she repeated, "it is going to be so fun to tease him about it. I can hardly wait..." That isn't to say that she wanted to just skip her cubs' cubhoods, just that now she and Muroki were already preparing to fight back against the inevitable young lion/lioness years that will be coming up. "And Marini too. It's going to be fun for whoever will want to go after her how... rough she can really be. I imagine it will be a very nasty shock."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini laughed uncontrollably as she did her best to avoid her brother during his attempts to get back at her. Both of them couldn't walk or run yet, so the chase wasn't as intense as she and Ubawa probably thought it was. Licking him like that not only always earned her a funny reaction from her sibling, but it also motivated him to chase her around. It was a win-win gamble.

Still returning Umeme's affection, Muroki couldn't help but chuckle as his mate mentioned what it would possibly be like for anyone who might try to go after their daughter. Marini was a very lively cub, but there was no telling how exactly she would grow up. And then there was Ubawa, who was going to get teased the most. Although he had to admit that talking about the two of their cubs seeing others, especially Marini, felt a little weird.

Deciding there was still plenty of time until that would become more discussable, Muroki turned his attention back to Umeme. "Most likely." he said with a chuckle, shuffling a bit closer to her and closing his eyes as he continued to nuzzle her while purring in content. Despite how the laughter of their cubs could be heard from close by, he opened his eyes every now and then to make sure that they weren't wondering off.