Welcome to Gaia! ::

Weeks had passed since that one night stand that would haunt Theluji for the rest of her life in the best of ways, that impulsive act of passion that had started the process of little ones growing inside her.

The idea of being tied down by children; it had hit her hard, at first, but as she'd had more time to think about it, she almost wondered if it could have been fate. Surely, hanging around Matifu's pride while she waited for the cubs to run their course had changed her outlook on life. Perhaps the Goddess had indeed reeled her in purposefully. After all, she'd just been determined as being aligned with the heavens, it was as if she had been guaranteed a place here -- and if she hadn't had to face the repercussions of coupling with Matifu she might have never realized that perhaps, just perhaps, the life of a rogue was not what she wanted afterall.

Matifu had been everything she'd ever wanted and more. During her more moody moments he'd seemed to know just how much to nudge her and just how much to leave her alone. Despite the drama of expecting cubs, her passion for him had grown over time, blossoming into something like full-fledged love.

Theluji was happy, she really was -- or she would be, at least, if she hadn't been in labor at that very moment. When her water had broken and fierce pains had ripped through her sides, she'd dragged herself into the lush foliage of the jungle for privacy. Now, panting against the searing pain, the white lioness reared back her head and roared. She wanted Matifu there. Now.

Gods it hurt, it hurt so much. The white hot agony of the contractions consumed her, blurring all other thoughts for her mind.

"Matifu!" She bellowed again, her irritable voice sounding furious in her pain.

The ivory pelted female snarled to herself as she hunkered her form slightly lower to the ground, her tail curving in an angry arch as another wave of pain crashed over her body. She squinted her eyes tightly, her face scrunching up. And then she heard his voice. Even in her most primal of agonies, she felt a lessening in the pain. She appreciated the caress at her neck, but after he had nuzzled her she pulled away a couple feet needing a small amount of space.

"Just--" She gasped. "Wait here--with--me--"

Auuggnn!

She could feel them now more than ever, wriggling inside her. They wanted out, but not as much as she wanted them out. As her form wrenched with pain yet again, she arched her back, her muscles contracting in swaths of desperation as she pushed those tiny lives from their current world into the next.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes of struggle, they came, one after the other.

The first tumbled to the ground, moist, wet, encased in a sac of translucent material. Instictively, still in labor, Theluji darted her jaws towards the young male to lick him clean and pull the filmy substance from about his body. Under the moisture, he was a deep russet brown crisscrossed with yellow and black markings, telling of his earthly heritage


Almost as suddenly came the second, a sticky blur of an infant, and when Theluji had cleaned him too it was clear that his closely cropped fur was pale gold, the same color as the fine fur on his father.

For a few minutes it seemed that was the end. Two beautiful--and thankfully healthy--sons. Still panting, Theluji smiled tiredly at their father, pride showing through even in the haggard grin.

But suddenly another ripple of discomfort coursed through her form, and after another moment of painful labor, a third newborn tumbled from her form. He was slightly smaller than the others, and as Theluji bent over to brush her rough tongue along his tiny form, it became clear that this one took after his mother, with a white based pelt.

The third, the runt, mewled plaintively on the spot, extremely distressed at the process of having to vacate his world of warmth. All at once he sneezed, a mucus-y bubble rising from his nose.

It was over, Theluji's body told her now, pacifying her worries of another painful birth. She gasped a breath and with her large paws, herded her three young ones close to her, laying her snowy body down around them like a protective wall, urging them to suckle. Her yellow coin eyes landed on Matifu and she smiled again, basking in the knowledge that finally, for one in her life, she had something of a family.

(( ^~^ Hope you guys don't mind that I did it all at once! You can backtrack in the post to when Oro and Roho are born and RP their coming out too, of course! *hugs the family* ))

What the hell was going on! The warmth that encompasses the cub had been roughly ripped away and his tiny russet hued body was exposed to the cold, cold air of the world. This wasn't right. He wanted back IN! It was warm in there and cold out here!

Whoa...what was that? Tiny mewling and squeaks escaped the young lion, his lungs strong and he showed it. What was this wriggling lump beside him? And this warm prescence in front of him? Wrinkles face scrunched up more and he wiggled around, his lungs continuing to help bellow his tiny voice around the den.

Stretching tiny limbs he pushed against the warm body in front of him, tiny claws extending but doing nothing more than prodding the living thing. Finally the sound of suckling next to him directed closed eyes to the wriggling lump beside him. Forcefully he wriggled toward the sound and attempted to steal the source of the milk from this body. It was his, not htis other...things. A few more mewls escaped his mouth before he shoved his face against the warm large body and began suckling upon the stolen n****e.

The second born protested rather verbally, being shoved aside by one of those squirming piles and crowded by the other. He KNEW they were nothing but trouble!

Feeling cheated he meweled pathetically, trying to find another nearby food source and for a few moments latching onto his older brother's ear before realizing that-- no, that wasn't food.

Matifu gave a warm chuckle as he watched their boys learn their way, and as-- oh dear, second born finally opted to rob third born of his food supply instead.

"They certainly act like brothers." He rumbled softly, nuzzling his mate again before moving around to close off the circle. Theluji's question brought thought to Matifu. They WOULD need names and, then they'd need to be blessed by the twins and Kiva.

His eyes roamed over the first born, taking in his markings. They weren't fully defined yet but already the little one seemed to have fallen right out of Matifu's mane. The adult watched him push around his brother without hesitation and a thought came to him.

"He's strong spirited... perhaps.... Kiamba? ... Kiamba'Roho..."

Matifu's eyebrow rose with amusement at the naming choice. So she thought that he had a way with words, did she?

Another rolling rumble coursed softly through the male, and he gave a small laugh. "Fair enough... it seems a very suiting name for him indeed."

Pale blue eyes roamed over the last, taking in the last born, the one that took so much after his mother in coloration, but for the blue that he had both in his fur and in his eyes. He seemed very...

"Cautious, careful."

It was an odd name for a child, but really, no more so than any of theirs.

"Tulivu." He smiled, looking to Theluji for approval or not.