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Saberlin pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sank into it to wait while Fern brought in the games. He watched as she dumped several boxes on the table and grinned in approval. He didn't know they had so many!

Saberlin reached over and picked up a fairly new looking box, making ther contents rattle a bit when they shifted around. "Hmm, how about Pictionary?" he queried, glancing up at her hopefully. Stick figures were his forte.

Saberlin chose out a playing piece whilst Fern set things up, picking the blue square icon and placing it down on the board.

They would have to modify the game rules a little since there was only two of them, thus ruling out any team-against-team play, but it was still manageable. He took some of the drawing paper and then rummaged around for a pencil, finding a small, slightly blunt one. While Fern continued to set things up, he went over to the phone and happily ordered their ice cream, accidentally sweeping everything off the table with his long leopard tail.

Joining her back at the table again, Saberlin wondered why all the pieces were everywhere. "What happened here?" he asked, giving a soft laugh. "Anyway, I have ordered the ice cream. They say it will be here in two minutes" He picked up a dice that had fallen on the ground, looking around for more items.

"My tail does seem to have a mind of its own sometimes" he agreed, glancing down at it with a watchful eye. The tail gave an innocent twitch and stayed still.

He had just sat down and started the game at last; rolling the dice, moving his playing piece and picking up a card to read it when there came another interruption: Tap tap!

Saberlin shoook his head and rose to answer the knock at the door, making sure to slip the clue card under the board edge as he went. He knew Fern wouldn't peek but it was a good habit for this game.

Opening the door, he smiled at the waiter who had brought the ice cream and took the tray inside after checking over the contents. "That was quick. They must have rushed here to make sure nothing melted" he thought, giving Fern her ice cream straight away. It was still so cold that it sparkled with miniscule ice crystals.

Forgetting the game, Saberlin's ears flipped in curiosity and he shifted to be a little closer to Fern, peering at her rounded tummy with golden cat-slit eyes.

He paused a moment, trying to think of a proper way to ask what he wanted, but in the end, settled for; "What does it feel like, may I ask?" Really, he couldn't imagine. It must be such a strange feeling.

Their treasured twins...It'd be nice to finally meet them. I wonder if they will look anything like me? he thought, knowing they probably would have his leopard ears and tail at the very least, as well as a fine set of claws and some tiny fangs.

"Must be an enormous lady bug..." he remarked softly, fascinated by this description.

He wasn't quite sure what she was doing at first but looked down to see his hand on Fern's belly.

Letting it rest there with the lightest of pressure, Saberlin waited to see what would happen.

Nothing. Nothing...and then - "Ah!" Saberlin gasped suddenly, twitching slightly in surprise. There had been a soft nudge, like a whisper light tap. He had felt it even through the semi-thick material of his glove. For some reason it made him give a smile so wide the tips of his white fangs were revealed. Saberlin laughed a little then after a moment added with a smirk "I wonder which lady bug that was" He couldn't help feeling a strong glow of pride.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you" he replied gently to her first comment, his tone serious though he still wore the same warm smile.

It was possibly getting a bit tight on space in their twin's small world, but they had room to move yet. He was grateful he was not part house cat or things may have been very different.

He chuckled again at another tap nearer his wrist, a tiny bit stronger than the last. "Perhaps they are. I wonder if they know my voice. In any case, all of this movement is a good sign." Slowly removing his hand from her stomach, he lifted Fern's own hand and lightly kissed the back of it, like a prince would with their lady. His smile turned more reassuring. "I think all we can hope for is that they're both growing and developing the way that they should, without complications due to, well, 'mixed parentage' to put it quite bluntly. Whatever happens, I promise to give my fullest support to ensure quality of life and happiness."

He paused, giving a small frown as a new thought occurred to him. "Which reminds me; can you recall when we are due for the next medical examination? It has been a few weeks since last we went."

With the kisses and compliment, a small rumble started up and steadily continued. Saberlin was purring, though he was mindful to keep the volume down. His golden tail wriggled happily.

He nodded. "Okay then. We can see the nurses in the clinic near here. I must say, it is useful having it so close to the same building. They really are prepared for anything" he remarked, knowing they would have all the medical care they needed during their stay. It was an inn for expecting couples after all, so there were plenty of facilities around to meet their requirements. The hosipital was only a few minutes drive from where they were staying.

Seeing her eat some of her ice cream, he suddenly remembered his own. Saberlin got up and fetched it from the trolley, sitting back down and taking a spoonful. "Cold yet delicious!" he purred, enjoying the mint-chocolate swirls. He smiled softly as he picked up his playing card, resuming their board game. "In only four months, and those will go by faster than we realise. Our lives will be changed forever... Ah ha ha! Here we go, get ready to guess this my dear!" he chuckled, tipping the timer and beginning to sketch. It looked like he was trying to draw some sort of spiky fence on top of a sun hat.

((Not sure exactly how the original author intended the inn to work out, so I'm just guessing that the medical facilities are close by instead of part of the inn itself.))

Saberlin was trying his best. He really was. He had never had much of an ability for drawing though. Unless it was a room plan or a map or some such, the best he could offer was a stick figure and doodles.

So, when he got the word 'porcupine' on the game card, he had to think very hard about how one would look.

Making a face of concentration, he added a long sort of trunk on one side of the spiky sun hat and scribbled two round dots for eyes, one a bit larger than the other. Then he remembered they had legs (how many was it?) And began to draw some wobbly looking half circles under the porcupine. They looked a bit like upturned jelly drops.