[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

At first, Delano thought about making Akili walk over to Lina's parents. After all, he was old enough now to do so, and the excited fluff ball was certainly making a mess of his mane. However, he then quickly realized that if they would have Akili walk, they would inevitably have to wait for their son to finish chasing after everything in sight due to the cub's eagerness. So in many ways, having Akili on his head was the better option.

"Alright, everyone set? Let's go!" He was mostly talking to Akili, but Delano also wanted to make sure that Lina was aware that he was leaving now. The sooner they get over to her parents', the better. At least so he thought. If the squirming cub on his head was of any indication, then Akili was very much excited as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina found it impossible not to giggle loudly as Akili was unable to withhold his enthusiasm on top of his father's head. He sure was moving around quite a bit up there and the sight of the mess it made of Delano's mane, added to the somewhat grumpy look the lion had because he probably knew what his cub was causing, was very amusing indeed. "Yeah, I think we're good to hit the road." Having Akili walk instead of being carried would mean taking longer to get to her parents' den because the little hairball couldn't move around as quickly as her and her mate. So, with him riding all the way there, they were bound to get there much more quickly - meaning Lina and Delano would have more time to spend with one another.

[DGFone]

Delano walked as quickly as he dared towards the den of Lina's parents. Not that he was scared that Akili would fall off - the cub learned long ago how to hold on tightly and securely while on his head. Rather, he was somewhat afraid that Akili was already excited enough, so lingering would be a bad idea, but at the same time, Delano didn't want to go so quickly as to cause the cub to get even more excited. That would be quite the nightmare.

So instead, despite walking quicker than he would perhaps normally would, Delano waited for Lina to join his side so that he can pretend like he wasn't actually in a hurry. "So Lina," he began, "do you think that your parents err... they wouldn't make too much of a fuss about dropping him off with them, would they?" He was referring to how the pair would also get very much excited when they would see one or more of their grand-cubs, which often left Delano feeling rather embarrassed to be around them when they acted like that. Sure, he could run off with Lina right away, but that felt rather rude to him.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina lowered her gaze from the loud little hairball that was her cub to her mate as they walked, chuckling at the somewhat nervous look he had on his face. "They might..." she admitted with a sheepish smile. Just like this would be Akili's first time being watch by his grandparents, it would also be their first time watching over their youngest grandcub. Knowing the older lion and lioness, they were going to be excited alright. But it shouldn't be too much for them to handle...

The lioness had a feeling she would be just as excited if she were in her mother's place, even if there was a very long time until that might become relevant. After walking a while longer, Lina saw the den they were heading to in the distance. "This is the place, Akili." she said, recalling that her son has never been there before. As was to be expected, the cub's excitement reached a new level upon hearing this. "Calm down, Akili." she added, chuckling. "And be polite to your grandparents when you see them. I don't want to hear you've given them too much trouble."

They then arrived at the entrance. "Wait here." Simply barging in would be rude, even if her parents owned the place, so she felt as if she should enter first and tell them they had visitors. It would be a much quieter start, that's for sure.

[DGFone]

Delano could just about groan in annoyance and despair as Lina announced their arrival, but he kept quiet. On top of his head, Akili was moving around so much that it almost felt like the cub might explode in excitement. Though they did arrive, had they not? Lowering himself to the ground, the lion allowed his son to hop off. "All right Akili, ride's over. We're here."

He allowed Lina to give her words of warning to their son before she went inside the den. Delano decided to stay outside with their son, also figuring that it might be weird to simply have all of them walk in. Akili tried to follow Lina inside as well, obviously eager as ever, but Delano held him back. "What's the rush? Let your mother bring them here," he said with a grin.

[TheWhistlerify]

It's not like they'd risen according to their cub's normally early timing, seeing how Akili had slept in after having been exhausted the day before, so it didn't surprise Lina that her parents were already awake. "Mom, dad!" She smiled at the older lion and lioness, who seemed rather surprised to see her, rushing over and nuzzling both of them affectionately.

"Lina, what an unexpected surprised!" said Fadhili with a smile as she embraced her daughter. It was rather impossible to predict when one of her daughters would come over for a visit, especially now that they had cubs to look after. Lina in particular was the one they saw less of, what with her having a younger cub.

"I know we never brought Akili over before..." she and Delano had preferred to wait a little for him to become a little bit older and to stop nursing. "But Delano and I felt like Akili and you would love it if he spent the day here, with you..." she smiled in embarrassment. "Um... If you wouldn't mind, of course..."

[DGFone]

Moto was very pleasantly surprised to see Lina of all lions show up at their den. With Akili younger than his cousins, it has been a while since he saw her or Delano. They did stop by a few times before, but not with their son. "You brought Akili here?" Moto broke into a wide grin. "Well where is he? Of course we don't mind! If anything, you were starting to get your mother worried about never showing up..."

Nudging his mate forwards, Lina's father left the den where he saw Delano waiting for them, and sure enough, there was the cub. "Akili! How's it going?"

Breaking free from his father, the cub rushed towards his grandparents. "You certainly do look bigger than I remember you," Moto commented, "Lina, Delano, you really shouldn't have waited this long!" He grinned at the pair, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Fadhili would begin to really start teasing them, even with Akili here.

[TheWhistlerify]

Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly with a paw at her father's very mild teasing, Lina chuckled. "Well, you know, it hasn't been very long since he'd stopped nursing..." she said. Her parents knew that, having been told something of a similar nature the last time they'd come to visit their youngest grandcub (at his parents' den, of course), but that didn't stop them from constantly saying that they wanted to see either Akili and his cousins more often. Heck, now that they've had the chance to babysit all of them separately, they would probably start asking to have all 3 cubs brought over to their place together one day.

She followed her parents outside, doing her best not to giggle girlishly as her son immediately left Delano's side, squealing excitedly as he rushed towards his grandparents and practically leaped into their held out forepaws. "I caught a moth the other day!" he exclaimed, his broad smile literally beaming with cubbish pride as he informed Fadhili and Moto of his achievement. He just had to show off, what with his grandfather saying that he's gotten bigger!

"That's wonderful, Akili!" said Fadhili as she nuzzled the little hairball, causing him to giggle happily. "I see your parents are taking good care of you!" He was well fed, without a doubt, and in very good spirits, just like any cub should be. "But really, Lina, your father is right!" Looking at her son in law, she smiled. "How are you, Delano?"

[DGFone]

Even though he was expecting it, Delano still had to fight back the urge to paw himself when Akili immediately began to show off to his grandparents. Sure, he knew that the cub would do that, but it still felt weird to be hearing Akili think that capturing a moth was such a great achievement. Well, all right, for someone as young as him, it really was something to be proud of, which was why Delano refrained from saying anything.

What he didn't expect though was to have Fadhili address him, because he was certain that she would be busy with Akili. "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm alright," he quickly answered, "how are things going with you?" Looking over, he could already see Moto playing around with Akili. That should mean that soon, he would be able to leave with Lina, something he was really looking forward to.

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili followed Delano's gaze after he replied to her, chuckling as she saw that Moto was already busy keeping Akili busy. Deciding to wait a little longer before joining her mate and grandcub, she looked back at her son in law. "Oh, quite normal." she said, smiling. "It's always a nice and welcome change of pace whenever your brother and Umeme bring Marini and Ubawa over." Her ears twitched ever so slightly as she noticed her daughter staring at Akili, who was playing with his grandfather in a very loud, delighted sort of manner.

"Don't worry about it, Lina." she said, getting the young mother's attention. "His cousins are a much bigger pawful. We'll be more than fine." Lina was clearly a little bit nervous about leaving Akili with them for the first time, probably because it would be the cub's first time being without his parents' supervision for a whole day. "You should have seen your sister and Muroki the last time they were here... They were in such a hurry to run off. It is good to take a break for yourselves every once in a while. I know Moto and I also needed it at the time..."

Lina felt her cheeks turn a little red as Fadhili stared at her with a grin. "Mom, please..." She and Umeme hadn't been that troublesome... Or had they?

Fadhili chuckled. "Go on, you two. Get some rest and enjoy yourselves. We'll keep an eye on the little guy."