[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme saw Muroki's look that told her that he wasn't exactly feeling it when she continued talking about their cubs starting to date others. "Don't worry, hun. That will all be in a very long time. There's no rush for that." She smiled at him, their noses almost touching. "For now, we'll just have to get used to our two cubs teasing us all the time." She glanced at Marini and Ubawa, who were still chasing each other. "Not that I mind that."

She liked how Muroki was showing her affection. Before the cubs were born, they used to do this all the time. But now, with their attention often being taken up by having to watch over one or both of the cubs, Umeme and Muroki had far less time just to enjoy being around each other. While it did mean that when they finally did get a chance to relax, like now, it was much more special, Umeme did wish that they still had more time like before.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled, closing the small gap between their noses before giving Umeme a quick lick across her muzzle, chuckling as he did. He never grew old of these little exchanges of affection, even now that they'd parented cubs together. If anything, having to watch over their children most of the time made him look forward to moments like this with more anticipation. "I don't mind either." he said softly, wrapping a paw around his mate as the two of them lay down close to each other.

"You know," he said as he began to gently lick her neck and to occassionally nibble. "I know that you sometime wish we had a little more time for ourselves, like before, so I was wondering whether you'd like to leave Marini and Ubawa with your parents one day, even for just a few hours." He grinned. "Your mother keeps reminding you that they'll be more than willing to watch over them every now and then and the kids haven't really spent any time with just their grandparents before."

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled. "You know, I think they will love that as well. They are getting better at walking enough that we can take the walk to my parents' easily enough. Of course, it will be hard on them two, but I think they will like the reward for it." She wrapped a paw around Muroki's body. "And then yes, I would love it if we can spend some time alone after that. I don't think mom and dad will pass up an opportunity to spend time with the cubs." She grinned. "Of course, if Delano and Lina will bring Akili along as well, it will be even better, but I don't think they will."

Glancing at the two cubs again, she decided that they might as well get their own thoughts about this as well. "Hey, Marini! Ubawa! What do you think of being with your grandparents tomorrow?" Se giggled at how suddenly they both stopped their chase.

"We want to!" Ubawa shouted excitedly. It would be the first time they would get to spend any real amount of time with their grandparents, and already he was really looking forward to it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled and began to purr when Umeme placed a paw over him, silently letting her know that he enjoyed the gesture as he cofntinued to lick her neck while she spoke to him. When she went ahead and spoke to their cubs, he ceased to do so (with a small hint of disappointment). After all, if Ubawa couldn't stand watching them nuzzle, then this would get him to rant for hours. Not to mention that Marini might think he was giving their mother a bath and ask one of them for one as well instead of continuing to play with her brother.

Upon hearing Umeme's words, Marini's expression lit up ten times more in comparison to when she was playing with Ubawa. Not only has she and her brother never spent any time alone with their grandparents, but this would also mean going away from the den! "Yay!" To emphasize how much she loved the idea, she ran over to her parents and threw herself into her father's mane. "I love grandma and grandpa!" So far she hasn't really.met anybody she didn't like. She loved everybody. The cub giggled and began to purr loudly when her father nuzzled her. She licked his nose, causing him to chuckle. He hadn't expected them to not like the idea, but he was still happy to see that they were so excited about it.

[DGFone]

Umeme chuckled at how eager the cubs were to visit their grandparents. "It will mean you will need to get to bed earlier," she warned them, prompting complaints from both, "your grandparents are quite a way's away, and while we can carry you if you really get tired, I still want both of you to walk as far as possible. It will be very good for you." She grinned at the dreaded looks she got from Marini and Ubawa. "Plus, I am sure that your grandparents would like to hear that you are starting to walk real distances."

She knew that if there was one thing that could motivate her two cubs to do something, it was bragging rights. If she had simply suggested that they could be carried if they got tired, she knew that tomorrow, the two young cubs won't get very far. But by suggesting that they would have a story to tell, she knew that both would go as far as they could, both to out compete the other, as well as to show off. Which for Umeme, was a reason enough for them to do what she wanted them to.

[TheWhistlerify]

Two more peaceful months passed by. Things appeared to be going very swimmingly for everyone. Ubawa and Marini were growing up finely and have already gotten the hang of both walking and talking. They were still very young cubs and, while still obviously completely dependant on their parents, at least didn't rely on them for transport anymore. There was nothing that made both of their parents prouder than seeing their cubs walk and talk. They were only 3 months old, but it already felt like they were growing up very quickly, even if there was still a very long time until they would enter their adolescent years.

Muroki found his sleep rather rudely interrupted as something suddenly tugged on one of his ears. He groaned in annoyance at first, but the intruder persisted until he opened his eyes. "Daddy!" his vision was a little blurry, having just woken up, but he recognized his daughter's very careful whispering. "Daddy, come on! You have to wake up!" There were mornings where Marini couldn't wait for either one of her parents or brother to wake up, but she knew better than to wake her mother up at such an early hour...

The sleepy lion let out a loud yawn, blinking a few times as he felt something small rub itself against his cheek and muzzle. "What is it, 'Rini?" he asked softly, rubbing his eyes with his paws as he wondered whether the cub needed anything. But, knowing her, she probably just wanted to-

"Watch the sunrise with me!" she said, looking at her father with a pleading smile.

Muroki sighed before placing a paw on Marini's head, chuckling as she purred in response. He just couldn't say no to her (unless she asked for things she wasn't allowed, in which case he did take the stern approach and draw the line). "You, me, outside. Right now, missy." He couldn't help but smile as the little cub giggled and ran outside. After slowly rising to his paws so to not wake up his mate and soon, he stretched a little before following her out of the den.

As his mane was taken captive by the small lioness when he lay down by the entrance of the den, he couldn't help but wonder. He and Umeme had agreed to take their children to meet Hatari for the first time today and his mate was still keen on asking Delano to come as well. Muroki didn't know what his brother would think of that suggestion (or of the fact that they were taking Ubawa and Marini with them).

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, inside Lina and Delano's den, another cub has also 'sprung' into life. It wasn't very typical of Akili to rise at such an early hour. He was a rather mischevous and energetic little lion whenever he played around, but for the majority of the time he was mostly quiet. Looking at the sleeping forms of his parents, he easily recalled how difficult it could sometime be to wake his mother up. Unlike his father, he was still far too small in order to be able to effectively disturb the heavy sleeping lioness's slumber.

Akili loved both of his parents very much. He didn't like waking them up early, but nevertheless he walked over to Delano's head and nudged his father's muzzle with his tiny paws. "Dad?" he called, leaning towards one of his ears a little. "Dad, wake up..." It took a few moments of using various physical methods like licking his muzzle or tugging on his ears, but the lion eventually opened his eyes. Akili shrunk a little as his father yawned but smiled a small smile nonetheless at the fact that Delano was awake. The cub's smile disappeared once he was sure he had his father's attention, remembering why he'd woken him up to begin with. "I'm thirsty..."

[DGFone]

Despite Marini knowing better than to wake her mother up this early in the morning, he waking up of Muroki had the unfortunate side effect of still waking Umeme up anyways. Groaning in annoyance and fatigue, she finally opened her eyes in time to see Muroki and Marini disappear out the den. Glancing over to Ubawa, who still appeared to be asleep, she tried asking, "So, what about you? Want to go out there and watch the sunset as well?" When her son didn't reply, Umeme shrugged and closed her eyes once more, wanting to get back to sleep.

However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get anymore rest. Finally giving up, she yawned and left the den as well, sitting down next to Muroki, with Marini laying on his mane. "Morning you two," she muttered, playfully glaring at her daughter, enjoying how Marini shrank back. "Next time, try to be quieter, all right?"

Despite still being quite tired, Umeme was also very keen on getting over to Delano's and Lina's. She still wanted to take at least Delano with them, but was also hoping that Lina would join them as well. However, with the sun still rising over the horizon, she doubted that they wanted to be woken this early up as well.

----

Delano was already waking up when he began to feel his son's own attempts to accelerate the process as well. Letting out a long yawn, and looked over at his son. "Thirsty?" he repeated quietly, as to not disturb Lina, "I told you that you should have drank yesterday evening." Despite his teasing, he slowly got up and lead Akili out of the den and towards the nearest waterhole - although his son chose to ride on top of his father's mane as soon as they left their home.

Letting his son drink, Delano waited by the water's edge. "We're going to have to head back to the den quickly," he informed his son, "Lina told me that Umeme and Muroki want us for something today. I don't want to be gone when they arrive to the den." When it looked like Akili had finished, Delano lowered his head to the ground. "All done? Hop on and let's get back home." Just as before, Akili rode on Delano's mane as the older lion walked back. When they got back inside, Lina was still asleep, something that Delano expected, but still found very amusing.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled as his mate arrived by his side, not feeling the need to look at their daughter because he could feel her move about on his head and knew that she was trying to hide herself in his mane because of her mother's fake glaring. "Good morning, Umeme." he said softly, giving her a brief nuzzled as she joined him and Marini. The lioness cub hardly complained or was grossed out by their small displays of affection. It was mostly her brother who couldn't stand them. "I take it Ubawa's still asleep."

"Sorry, mom..." said Marini quietly, her ears pinned against her head. She normally succeeded in not accidentally waking her mother up in the mornings, but sometimes she would end up unintentionally doing so despite her best efforts. The cub then giggled. "I wonder what Ubawa dreams about when he sleeps..." Her expression then lit up with excitement. "Wanna hear about what I dreamed of last night? It was the coolest dream!"

Muroki chuckled. Every morning Marini always turned out to have had a better dream than the night before, even if her descriptions of them made them sound almost completely identical. "How about you tell both Ubawa and your cousin about your dream when we head over to your aunt's and uncle's den later?"

"Okay!"

~ ~ ~

Akili smiled a sheepish, cubbish smile at his father's teasing and then followed him outside. As was his habit, the cub quickly climbed onto his father's head as they left. He was very fond of it and, like all male cubs, already couldn't wait to start growing his own. It was a rather childish habit of his to look at his reflection whenever he was by the waterhole in order to try to see whether his mane has started to appear yet or not. His parents constantly told him that he still had a long time to wait until that would happen, but he continued to check regularly regardless of that.

After satisfying his thirst and jumping back onto his father's head, Akili began to curiously question about what Delano had just revealed to him. "Really? What for?" he asked, looking down at his father. He enjoyed the company of his uncle, aunt and cousins greatly, but was too desperate to know just what Muroki and Umeme had in mind in order to be excited about knowing that he would see them today.

[DGFone]

Umeme watched the sunset with Muroki and Marini in silence until the sun was a bit further up in the sky. She figured that now, by the time they will get over to Delano and Lina, it won't be too early. "Alright, I'll go and wake Ubawa up," she told Muroki, "then we can go." She smiled down at their daughter. "And I would like to hear about that dream of yours as well."

Walking back into the den, Umeme grinned and prodded the sleeping form of her son. "Ubawa? Ubawa, it's time to wake up." He groaned, telling her that he was waking up, but not enjoying it. "We're going over to Aunt Lina and Uncle Delano..."

"What?" Almost instantly, Ubawa was up awake. "Why didn't you say so? Let's go!" He noticed to his embarrassment that Muroki and Marini were not in the den, which meant that he had slept in. Rushing out, sure enough, there they were. "Hey, dad! Mom just said that we are going to Aunt Lina and Uncle Delano!"

---

Delano frowned when Akili asked him the very basic question. "Well, uh... I really don't know," he finally admitted, "they didn't tell me. I think they planned to do so today." It felt very strange to admit to not knowing something to his own son, but Delano didn't know what else to say.

Wanting to change the subject, he picked up the pace slightly. "Well, your mother might still be asleep, but I think it's a good time to wake her up now." He grinned. "Her face will be so funny if she's still asleep..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini, looking quite excited both because it looked like they would be heading off soon and because of her mother's interest in hearing about her dream, giggled loudly as Umeme walked back into the den. "Ubawa sleeps too much!" she exclaimed, crawling a little on her father's head so that she was closer to his muzzle and could look into his eyes. He only chuckled and used one paw to gently push her forward before catching her with the other as she fell off. "Daaaad!" she protested, but continued to giggle nonetheless.

Sure enough, much like Muroki had expected, his son came running out of the den relatively quickly. Umeme must have told him that they would be heading over to his aunt and uncle soon. "Good morning, son." he said, chuckling at the cub's enthusiasm as he gave him a short nuzzle. "Yes, we are." Now that both of their cubs were awake, it looked like they were all ready to get going. "In fact, I think we can head out now."

His daughter jumped out from her spot between his paws as he said this and trotted over to her mother, but not before affectionately brushing past her brother on the way. "Let's go!"

~ ~ ~

Akili couldn't help but laugh a short laugh at what his father was saying. His mother really did have amusing looks on her face sometimes while she slept, which kind of went well with how he couldn't see the logic in the way she liked to sleep in if she could. Why sleep for longer than you have to if you can have fun? Noticing that Delano had picked up the pace, the cub also grinned. "Hey dad, can you go faster?" he asked, unable to conceal the excitement as well as his hopes that his father wouldn't mind a little bit of running.