[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme struggled against Lina's tight hug, but thankfully, unlike their mother, Lina let go quickly enough. "Well, alright, I'll tell everything. Where do I begin?" She thought back, and then knew where to start. "So a few day ago, Muroki and I go exploring, just walking around, you know..." She proceeded to explain how they met Hatari, and how disattached Muroki seemed then. "...and when I said that we needed to go home, Muroki didn't see that we stopped, and walked right into him."

Umeme laughed. "That was when I knew for certain that something was up. So when we walked back I asked him what was wrong, and he finally asked." She grinned at Lina. "Poor guy, you should have seen how nervous he was. I think he was worried about what I was going to say, because after I said I like his idea, he well... you can see him now."

---

Delano stared at his brother in shock, his sleepy mind taking its time for him to comprehend what Muroki just said. "You... she..." it finally ticked together. "Oh... Congratulations!" He smiled at his brother, feeling glad for Muroki. "And you were the one to ask her? I didn't think it would be you to be the one. Guess I was wrong..." He grinned. "So what are your plans now?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but chuckle when Umeme said that Muroki ended up walking right into Hatari. The way Umeme described the rogue sounded quite weird to her but she could save all the questions that came to her mind for later. "Oh, that's cute!" she said with a giggle as Umeme described how nervous Muroki was. She looked at where Muroki and Delano were talking and chuckled. "He still looks a little nervous to me." she said, referring to how he was rubbing the back of his head with one of his paws. "So what are you going to do now?" she asked, looking back at her sister.

---

Muroki couldn't help but smile sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a paw as he did. "Well, it was just a thought that occurred to me... She kind of insisted on me telling her what I was thinking about so it came out..." He guessed he could have just lied about what was on his mind but in the end he didn't, so maybe Delano was right. "Well, Umeme thinks we should get a few things ready first. You know, stuff like looking for a separate den so we're going to look for one tomorrow."

[DGFone]

Umeme shrugged. "Tomorrow we're going to look for a new den. Hopefully, we'll be able to find one close to here. I don't think we'll actually move there right away. Just let the guy in charge of all the denning stuff know that we'll plan to use whatever we find. We're going take things slowly, you know. I'm not going to rush things. Besides, if Muroki is very nervous now, imagine how bad he'll be as a father. Nah, we're going to start preparing now, but I think it will still be awhile before we actually do anything."

She looked back at her sister. "What about you?" She leaned closer to Lina. "When we came here, you and Delano were sleeping right next to each other. And he had his paw wrapped around you..."

---

Delano's smile faded. "You- you're leaving us?" he asked nervously. "I don't want you to leave..." He saw nothing wrong with Muroki and Umeme taking things further, but he didn't like the prospect of having Muroki leave him to live alone with Umeme. It wasn't his place to dictate where his brother can or can't live, but he didn't feel ready enough to permanently separate with Muroki.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina chuckled, "Don't be silly. I'm sure Muroki's just excited, that's all. I'm more than certain that you'll both do just fine. Besides I'm sure you have your own uncertainties about this." She knew that if she was in Umeme's place she would obviously have some doubts and even worries, which kind of led to what Umeme said a few moments later. "Oh, didn't you know? I'm supposed to give birth tomorrow." She said nothing for a few moments and gave a short laugh. "Come on, you know you'll be the first to know about something like that! Oh, I'll come visit you every day! And mom will too, I'm-" she paused for another moment. "My lips are sealed, but good luck with getting through that part..."

---

Muroki was a little surprised at how quickly Delano's excitement disappeared. "Well, I don't think so... Umeme said there might be a den somewhere in the land..." Even if Umeme and Muroki wouldn't find a den nearby that didn't mean that they would never see their families again. Muroki was hoping, and he didn't see a reason for Umeme to object, that after a while they would come back. And even if the new den they found was to be a permanent one there was no reason why one couldn't come visit the other every now and then.

[DGFone]

Umeme also laughed at Lina's joke. "Yeah, talknig to mom will be tough. Muroki already volunteered to take some of the pain for me, and I think I'll need him to do that." She really did hope that when she will deliver the news to her parents, that both she and Muroki will come out in one piece. "But honestly, it's mom's mouth that I'm really worried about. Because I won't be giving birth tomorrow, but all that will mean is that mom will have plenty of time to tell everyone when that will happen." Umeme groaned, covering her eyes with a paw. "Oh, mom's going to be the death of Muroki and me."

---

Delano relaxed somewhat when Muroki said that he won't be exactly leaving them. He did get scared by Muroki's announcement, but with some of his worries removed, he felt his excitement start to return again. "So when do you think everything will happen?" he asked his brother. "Cubs and all? You really feel ready for that?"

He thought of their own parents, something he instantly regretted. Once again, his mood instantly fouled up. "I don't want you and Umeme to end up like... mom and dad." He stammered, his fear and pain evident. "So wherever you go, I want to be able to see you all the time, alright?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but chuckle. "You can't blame her for being happy for you two..." However she couldn't help but agree that most of the time their mother could get a little too happy. "I'm sure that if you really ask her to keep quiet then she'll listen. Well, at least until you and Muroki move to your separate den and then everybody will pretty much put the pieces together..." She paused for a moment. "If anything I'm the one that has to worry. Once you two are not here all the time she'll start asking me whether you've given me any ideas..."

---

Muroki smiled, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure that we'll be just fine. I don't see a reason for you to not be able to visit us whenever you want to." After all the underworld has disbanded quite a while ago, and they would have even less reasons to worry if they did find a den inside the land's territory. "But yes, I feel like I'm ready for that. We've been together for quite a long time and things have finally settled down around here, so yeah..."

[DGFone]

"That she will," Umeme agreed. There was little doubt that as soon as she will tell their mother, Lina will have pressure on her to do the same as her. "And what about you? Any plans for you and Delano? Things have finally quieted down with you two, and there shouldn't be anything to worry about." She was confident that she and Muroki can succeed as parents, and for that matter, she didn't see any reason why Lina and Delano couldn't as well. That gave her a funny idea.

"You know, if we all start families roughly at the same time, it might be better for the cubs. They'll be the same age and all, and it will do them a lot of good to grow up together." She grinned. "But in order not to sound like mom, I'm not going to pressure you into anything. Just a thought."

---

Delano grinned again. "Wow, although really... cubs?" Starting a family with Lina had yet to ever cross his mind, and so he was still quite shocked at Muroki now. "You're making me feel old, you know." he teased, prodding Muroki in the shoulder. "I don't know about you, but I feel like I can wait at least a few seasons until something like this. But I guess your're really going to do it, aren't you?"

What he didn't tell his brother is that not only that he didn't mind waiting with Lina, but that he was in fact quite afraid of doing anything sooner than that. He couldn't explain why, but he found himself hoping that Lina wouldn't ask him the same thing that Muroki asked Umeme. Hopefully Lina will settle for getting to spend time with Umeme and Muroki's family for the time being when they will finally get their cubs.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina chuckled, "But I can live with that." sure, it was going to be a little awkward but nothing too horrible. "Well, no... No plans for the future yet..." It's not that she didn't want to ever have a family of her own, but she thought that she and especially Delano needed some time to let their lives return to normal. "I don't think this is something Delano and I should rush ourselves into..." Besides, what did she knew about being a parent? Perhaps watching how Muroki and Umeme fare with everything will help her and Delano realize exactly what they'll be walking into and then they'll be able to prepare themselves better.

---

Muroki smiled, "Yeah, I think I'm ready. We've been together for a long time and Umeme said she's ready too, so why not? I don't see any reason to wait now that you're back here and now that your leg's okay." He was about to ask Delano whether he had any plans of that sort but Delano ended up answering before he even asked. "Well, I think it's important to wait if you're not ready."

[DGFone]

Umeme nodded, understanding that for Lina, such a decision was too big to make so far, and that waiting was the best thing to do. "Well, I think I'm going to drag Muroki away from Delano and call it a night. Tomorrow's going to be a big day, and it won't do us any good to sleep right through it. And then we're going to have to tell mom and dad, so I want to be prepared for that." She grinned at Lina. "I don't know if you'll want to be around for that or not."

She was about to go when she got an idea. "Oh, and I just though of something. Tomorrow Muroki and I will be searching for a potential den, but I was thinking that if we find it, how would you and Delano like to meet up with Hatari after that? I think he'll be quite eager to have someone new to talk to." She slowly began to walk towards Muroki, giving Lina some time to answer.

---

Delano shook his head. "No, I don't think I'm ready," he admitted quietly. "And well... I don't know if I'll ever be ready." He gave Muroki a small embarrassed smile. "But I think I'll be able to judge that better if you and Umeme have a cub first." He looked over at Lina and Umeme. "You don't think that Lina will mind waiting that long, do you?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but chuckle as Umeme talked about having to tell their parents about the decision she had made. "Oh, I want to be there." She wasn't going to lie but it was probably going to be funny, which meant that she had to watch. "You know, just until I get the feeling that mom's going to start talking to me, then I'll disappear..." She stopped to think for a moment about what Umeme said. "Well, I don't know... I kind of promised Delano that I'll spend the day with him tomorrow..."

---

While Muroki knew he wasn't one to judge, he didn't know how Lina will feel about Delano stating that he doesn't know whether he will ever be ready. He also looked over at Lina and Umeme, who appeared to be slowly making their way over. "Well, I don't know if she'll mind or not, but it probably depends on how much time does 'that long' stands for... I'm sure she wouldn't mind waiting, but I don't for know how long..."