[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano blushed in his tracks, blushing when Lina licked him. "Well umm, alright, I guess. If you say so." He did agree that they needed to make sure that when Akili would eventually discover the place, either because they show it to him or because he finds it on his own, that their son won't proceed to go and tell everyone about it. Suddenly realizing that Lina was waiting for him, Delano tore after her in order to catch up.

Nearing his aunt and uncle's den, Delano unintentionally slowed down. Lina noticed, because she moved closer to his side, urging him on. Glancing nervously at her, Delano asked, "Listen, Lina... do you think Akili... that he'll be alright when I show up?" He really did not want to come back to see their son still be afraid of him.

Lina simply pushed him onwards with a smile on her face, not exactly giving Delano the chance to back down. Hoping that he won't be disappointed, he begrudgingly continued towards the den.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina continued leading the way silently until, at some point, once they got closer to their destination, she noticed Delano had slowed down. Knowing more than well what was on her mate's mind, she didn't ask any questions as she urged him on. The lioness had a hunch that seeing his father hesitate would remind their son of what had happened and increase Akili's nervousness, should there be any, and therefore wanted to make sure that Delano understood that as well.

So, when the lion spoke up and confirmed her suspicion as to what he was worried about, she simply carried on with what she was doing. "You looking so reserved will only remind Akili of why you're upset." He was just a cub at the end of the day, meaning that he might have forgotten of the incident as a result of playing around all day. If that were the case, they wouldn't want him to suddenly remember. "Just suck it up for his sake."

Eventually her mate finally stopped resisting and began to walk normally. Smiling, Lina walked alongside him as they finally caught sight of the others. Akili and Nyoka were lying closely together, looking very sleepy and worn out. It was a cute sight. Laini and Dakari were sitting nearby and talking ro each other quietly, so to not disturb the cubs, while Kasi wasn't there. He must have gone home, seeing how it was starting to get dark.

[DGFone]

Delano agreed with Lina about the fact that him coming over looking reserved could easily make things bad again, so he didn't argue with his mate about having to force himself to look calm. It still took him some time to do so, but when he felt ready, he resumed the walk.

Finding Akili looking very much asleep if anything proved to be somewhat of a disappointment. After making sure not to look reserved, Delano hoped that he would be greeted by his son running up towards him and Lina, but clearly wasn't going to happen.

So he instead walked over to his son and sat down next to Akili, running a paw gently down the cub's back, waiting for his son to wake up so that they will be able to take him home.

[TheWhistlerify]

After greeting Laini and Dakari and asking them whether Akili had caused them any trouble, Lina turned her attention back to the cub in question and smiled upon seeing Delano sitting next to their son while gently running a paw through his fur. While asleep, Akili certainly looked quite content with what his father was doing. Walking over to her mate and son, Lina nuzzled the little cub's head gently and licked him once, causing him to finally open his eyes.

Letting out a tiny, adorable yawn, Akili blinked a few times and looked around sleepily, his eyelids half closed. "Mom? Dad?" he asked quietly, stretching from his position on the ground.

"It's time to go home, Akili." said Lina, giggling as her cub yawned agajn. "Did you have a good time?" Her son slowly nodded and let out another yawn. He looked as if he was too tired to walk, so Lina.looked at Delano and gave him a quiet nod, letting him know that she believed he should carry Akili back.

[DGFone]

When Lina licked their son awake, Delano smiled warmly at Akili, although he did have to partially force it. To his great relief, the cub didn't react negatively at all to Delano's presence. Either Akili was too tired still to fully realize what was going on, or perhaps he really did forget about what happened in the morning, but Delano was glad that at least for now, things were looking fine.

Also figuring that their son is most likely too tired to walk back to the den, Delano lay down on the ground as Lina helped push their son onto his back. Waiting for Akili to settle down comfortably, he finally stood up when it didn't seem anymore like their son might fall off.

"Alright, Lina," Delano announced, albeit quietly, "time to go home." Taking a quick detour over to his aunt and uncle, he bid them a good night before returning to Lina's side, and then turned and began to walk in the direction of their den.

[TheWhistlerify]

After helping settle Akili down safely on Delano's back, Lina also bid his aunt and uncle farewell and once again thanked them for watching over Akili. With that taken care of, she went back to her mate's side as they began to make their way back home. She rubbed her head against his briefly as they walked, smiling to herself. The day had started off pretty badly, there was no denying that, but it eventually became much better and ended very positively in her opinion.

They eventually got back to their den. Once inside, Lina gently picked their son up by the scruff and lay down, placing the sleeping cub between her paws and gently giving him a bath, which he really needed after running around so much. She looked at Delano as he settled down next to her, licking his muzzle once before turning her attention back to Akili.

[DGFone]

Reaching their den, Delano didn't pause before walking inside and letting Lina take Akili off his back, whom must have fallen asleep again somewhere on the way back. With his mate occupied with cleaning their son from the day-long session of running around and playing with Nyoka, Delano lay down where he liked to sleep in the den and simply watched the two.

In many ways, it was odd seeing Lina giving Akili a bath and not have the cub squirm about and complain loudly, which is something that Delano found rather amusing. While it wasn't the first time, a peaceful cleaning session was still a very rare thing to occur in this little family.

Glancing at the still sleeping form of his son, Delano still didn't know if it was safe to assume that the morning's events were forgotten about. He knew for certain that he himself would still need time to recover from it, and hoped that before he would be able to forget about it, that he won't do something that he didn't mean to and scare Akili once more.

Feeling his eyes grow heavy from watching Lina continue to clean their cub, Delano allowed himself to drift off to a peaceful rest without saying anything else.

[TheWhistlerify]

As Lina continued to clean Akili (gently, of course, despite the odds of him waking up being low because of how tired he was), the events of the day kept replaying in her mind. She hadn't been awake to actually see Delano almost unintentionally crush their son to death, so she didn't know just how it had all went on and how her mate and cub had both reacted. Not that she regretted not having been there.

Once Akili was clean enough, the lioness turned her attention to the father of her cub, who was already slumbering peacefully. She could only hope that the events of the day would be moved on from soon and that similar occassions wouldn't take place in the future. Carefully picking her son up by the scruff once more, Lina quietly walked over to Delano and settled down by his side. After slowly placing the sleeping cub down between her paws, she placed her head down next to his tiny form and also went to sleep.

[DGFone]

When Delano woke up the next day, he was surprised to find that the den was empty. Worried, he was about to run out in search of Lina and Akili when their voices from outside reached his ears. It sounded like Lina was playing with their son, based on his excited shouting, so Delano calmed down and chose to take his time getting back out. He found it odd that he slept for longer than his mate, who is rather famous in how long she can sleep in for.

Letting out a long yawn, Delano slowly lumbered out of the den and sat down next to the entrance when he saw Lina and Akili chasing each other. For now, he was simply content to watch the two without joining in. It was also rather amusing to watch how the two were so engrossed in their game that they didn't even notice him watching them.

[TheWhistlerify]

To say that Lina and Akili were caught up in their little game would have been an understatement. Akili; because he was a cub and Lina: because playing with her son was such a joy. She just couldn't get enough of watching the little ball of fluff run around, hearing him laugh and knowing that he was enjoying himself... Seeing him living and witnessing grow up every day... It was just too immense a pleasure to even put into words - to be with the cub she'd brought into the world with the lion she loved. It might sound weird but, in a manner of speaking, she felt as if she would never be able to thank Delano enough for giving Akili to her. Being a mother was simply everything she could have hoped for.

The two of them were currently chasing each other about in an uneven game of tag. Akili's mother obviously had the advantage over him, but he didn't seem to care. He was more focused on simply running and enjoying himself. Of course, whenever Lina intentionally let him catch her, he'd squeal in excitement before running off, and whenever she caught him, he'd squeal again as she took advantage of his helplessness in order to tickle him or something. Then he'd chase her once more. It seemed like a never ending cycle neither one of them could ever grow bored of.