[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

"We can stay here then." Delano lay down next to Lina, making himself comfortable for the night. If the two of them will stay close enough together, they should share enough heat together to keep the night chill away. But if it will get too cold, then they can always movie into the den. He smiled at Lina as she too lay down next to him, and he wrapped a paw gently around her.

Closing his eyes for the night, he pressed himself next to Lina, enjoying her warmth. Sure, the nights can get very cold, but staying out here with her was much better than being in the dark den. "Good night, Lina."

---

Umeme didn't really know what to expect from Muroki, but it certainly wasn't this. "...Us?" She stared at him blankly for a while, not knowing what to say. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what she felt about it. Ever so slowly, she started to figure her emotions and thoughts out. She smiled brightly and embraced Muroki in a deep hug. "I would love to," she answered, "we can start planning for that."

She continued to hug Muroki, feeling happier than ever. "It will be a huge responsibility, you know. And we'll have to find a new den for us. But if you think we can, I think we're ready..." She giggled a little. "Honestly, I'm more worried about what mother would say. You know her and her big mouth."

Umeme nuzzled Muroki deeply. "So what made you think of that all of the sudden?" Now that Muroki brought it up, she felt ready to start a family with him. They loved each other like no other couple, and they had been together for a long time now. But even still, she herself didn't really think about having a family with him much until now. But now that he put it out there, she was quite eager about it.

[TheWhistlerify]

When Muroki wanted to avoid telling Umeme what he has been thinking about because he thought it might make her feel pressured or uncomfortable. He did not expect her to react the way she had at all. The best case scenario he had imagined would occur once he told her was this: she would get uncomfortable and tell him that she wasn't ready and he would say that that's why he hasn't been to eager to tell her anything about it and that he was just wondering what it might look like.

"Really?" he asked, still a little surprised at her reaction. "Wow, I..." he didn't really know what to say. "I was just wondering what starting a family might be like, I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to end up making you uncomfortable or anything..." he said, smiling sheepishly. He returned her nuzzle before thinking for a moment. "I think your mother will be very happy for us. I'm actually more worried about how happy she will be... Remember when you told her that we're mates? She almost smothered me out of joy..."

"Well, I was thinking about this all of a sudden because..." how was he going to explain it? "We've been together for a very long time and, now that Delano's back here with us and now that his leg is all fine, I can finally stop worrying about when will everything be alright and start thinking about the future." He smiled and hugged her, holding her close. "I'll admit, I never really thought that this will mean finding a new den... I don't really have any place in mind..." perhaps Umeme knew about some other den in the pride's territory that he had no knowledge of.

[DGFone]

Umeme just had to laugh at Muroki's nervousness. "Relax, Muroki," she teased, "just because I said we can start a family doesn't mean that we'll have one tomorrow all of the sudden. We'll work towards it, and when we'll be ready, we'll have one. Who said we had to rush?" She grinned. "But for your information, I did agree to start a family with you, and not to get smothered to death by my mother for it, so you let me handle her. Until I get around to telling her, if you see her, pretend we never had this conversation."

She got up again, and beckoned for Muroki to follow her. It was time they get back to the den before the others would start worrying. "But I would like to tell Lina, at least, tell her all there is to tell. Tomorrow we can search for a separate den, and there should be one near our current one. Perhaps we can bring Hatari along with us, if he will go inside the lands with us."

Her mind quickly jumped back to how she imagined Lina would react to the news. "Muroki, come on! I want to tell Lina!" Telling their mother about this decision made Umeme nervous, but she was rather looking forwards to telling Lina. Because of this, she walked slightly faster, wanting to reach the den sooner.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled at Umeme, still having a slightly hard time believing that this was actually happening. He never imagined having Umeme tell him that she was ready but now that he knew that she was ready he felt like the happiest lion alive. "Are you sure you don't want me to be there when you talk to your parents?" It was true that it could get awkward around his mother-in-law but he didn't really mind being in her presence. "I really don't mind, I can live with tight hugs..."

Chuckling, he got up and walked alongside her in the direction of the den. "Do you think it'll be alright if I tell Delano?" Obviously the first one on his side of the family that should receive the news was his own brother, and Muroki was sure that Delano would not tell anybody if he told him not to. Plus Muroki also had this urge to tell everything to somebody, just like Umeme wanted to. He was so excited in fact that he couldn't wait to start looking for a separate den tomorrow.

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled at Muroki's description of her mother. "Well, this time it might be more than just a few tight hugs," she admitted, "still, if you want to be there, be my guest. But I'm warning you! She might not stop herself from smothering you to death."

She allowed Muroki time to catch up to her before resuming her fast trek back to the den. Despite her rush, she had time to catch his question. "He's your brother you know," she replied, winking, "you tell me if it's alright." She made it very clear with her tone that not only did she think that it would be alright if he told Delano, but that it should in fact be him to give the news.

They walked the rest of the way mostly in silence, too eager to say anything more, and too willing to simply walk together. It was night time when they got home, and Umeme frowned when she saw two lumps in front of the den when it came into view. As she and Muroki got closer, she identified them. "Aww, look at them two," she whispered to Muroki, "don't they look cute together like that?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki had quite the same opinion as Umeme did about the posibility of her mother smothering him to death with her hugs. Still, he thought it would be more appropriate if he was there with her when she delivered the news to her parents. He couldn't help but grin as he realized that the two lions sleeping in front of the den were actually his brother and sister-in-law. "What do you think we should do?" he asked quietly, "Should we wake them up?" It can get very cold outside at nights so it might be a good idea to get the two to enter the den. At the same time they'll be able to tell them the news as well.

[DGFone]

Umeme thought about waking up Lina and Delano. It was indeed getting colder, and it would be better for all of them to go inside. Plus, she was afraid that if they would be left outside, it would be just her luck to wake up and find them gone for the day. So she winked at Muroki again. "Yeah, let's wake them. They need to hear this!"

She quietly bounded the rest of the distance to Lina and leaned down close to her sister. "Hey Lina, wake up..." She gently prodded Lina, wanting to wake her up, but not cause any discomfort. It only took a bit of prodding for Lina to start moving around. "Lina, I have something to tell you," Umeme whispered, "come on. Don't make me drag you in a cold puddle..." She doubted that Lina would allow her to drag her over to a cold body of water, but she knew that it will cause enough of a reaction from her sister to wake up and follow her to where she can tell the news.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina frowned when she felt somebody nudge her, thinking that it was Delano. "Not now Delano..." she said, thinking that it was already morning and that he wanted to get going already. Only a few moments later did she realize that it was still dark and that it was her sister talking to her. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily before listening to her sister. "Can't it wait until morning?" She sighed before getting up and following her sister. While she was tired she also wondered what could be so important.

Muroki meanwhile stayed behind and looked at his brother, who seemed to begin to stir the moment Lina got up and walked away with Umeme. He waited for a few moments until Delano woke up, probably as a result of feeling a little cold now that Lina wasn't right next to him. "Hey Delano." he said with a small smile, still trying to figure out how he was going to tell the news to his brother. "Lina's with Umeme." he added, knowing that Delano was going to ask sooner or later. "Sorry for waking you up, but there's something I need to tell you... It can't wait for the morning..." He felt like he wouldn't be able to wait until the morning in order to tell Delano the news.

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned as she lead Lina away to where they can talk in private, not really noticing her sister's discomfort. She sat down when she felt like they were far enough away. "You won't believe what Muroki just asked me today! So for the past few days, Muroki has been acting very strange, like he was distracted or something. So today I asked him what was going on, and..." She could hardly contain her excitement. "He asked me if I would like to start a family with him! Can you believe it?"

---

Delano woke up slowly, feeling that something was off. Instead of warmth that he expected, he felt really cold. At first, he tried to ignore it, but it really was cold, and he opened an eye almost right away...

Only to close it right away. It was dark wherever he was, and he swore for a moment or two that he was back in that dark cave, explaining the cold. But didn't he get out of there a long time ago? Afraid of opening his eyes to complete darkness, he carefully opened his eye again, and was pleasantly surprised to see stars. No, he wasn't in the cave. It was then that he realized that not only was Lina gone, but that Muroki was next to him.

Slowly pushing himself up to a sitting position, Delano tried to blink his fatigue away. Why would Muroki wake him up at this time of night? "What's going on?" he muttered sleepily. "What do you have to tell me?" He looked around, trying to find where Lina was.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina followed her sister and sat down next to her, listening carefully. "Yes, I've noticed he's been acting a little strangely recently." she said and continued listening. After Umeme finally spilled the beans Lina silently stared at her for a few moments before a huge smile appeared on her face. "Really?!" she asked, sounding excited. "Umeme that's wonderful!" she pulled her sister into a tight hug which slightly resembled the way her mother always does it. "Oh, I'm so happy for you two!" she released her sister and continued to smile. "I never thought Muroki was the type who would just go ahead and say something like that! Talk about being assertive, huh? So, tell me everything up until the moment he asked you!" She wanted to hear every single detail.

---

Muroki seemed to hesitate for a moment. He was unsure of how to say what he wanted to say and of how his brother will react. "Well, I was with Umeme earlier and I was just wondering what it would be like if we ever started a family together... So... She asked me what I was thinking about, and I told her, and... She thought about it for a moment and then said that she's ready!" it was then that his excitement finally burst out. "I couldn't believe it for a moment back there, but... I couldn't be happier either!"