Welcome to Gaia! ::

Umeme was exhausted, she'd been working double, even triple shifts lately to keep her mind off of her pregnancy. Her belly had been expanding at an incredible rate and sometimes she began to worry unnecessarily. In order to stave off some of that stress she did the one thing that always calmed her down. Protect the crown. It was her duty, and a a duty she did not take lightly. As was evidenced by her swollen belly, and the continuation of her duties. Numerous females within the pride had already cautioned her to back down and get some rest. But as the stubborn guard that she was, she had refused them all.

Now in the back of her head she was beginning to realize that might not have been the best idea. But in the same breath, she would never listen to that voice. Her job was her life, and if that meant sacrfifcing some rest to ensure that the crown remained safe, she would do it.

She was but a few steps away from den of the daughter she was set to protect today. She'd met her numerous times before, and she was a pretty alright girl. But Umeme had never been one for talk, so the two had remained strained friends, if you could really call it that.

Taking on step closet to the den, she dragged her heavy paws a little too low to the ground and tripped over a root. Where she then went crashing heavily, and loudly to the ground, face first.

Umeme winced as she tried to force herself back up to her paws. But the weight in her midsection was really giving her a run for her money. As Zara emerged from the den, her face grew extremely hot and a fit of butterflies took off in her swollen belly. She wanted to roll her eyes, get on her feet, and brush off the incident, but as proud as she was, she couldn't do it. Zara was a pretty chill girl, and well it kinda balanced out her really strict ways. But her protection was what was important to Umeme, she couldn't waste time on petty feelings. It could cost Zara her life.

Sighing heavily, the female took Zara's paw and let out a loud groan as she rose to her feet. "Yeah it is pretty hot out today, if that's really what you want to do, then we should be OK to do it." She nodded sincerely in Zara's direction, before holding up a paw to the female. "Just wait here a minute. I have to make sure I wasn't followed. I can't believe I forgot to do that, it was so stupid of me!" She hissed the words angrily at herself as she waddled away from Zara's side.

All in all, the area seemed clear. There were no foreign scents in the air, and the air she had some from was also clear of intruders.

"OK, the river it is Princess, lets get going."

Umeme always got these strange chills down her spine when Zara called her 'Meme' it was something no one else was allowed to do. Truthfully at first she wouldn't allow Zara to do it, but Zara had always done what she wanted and nothing was going to stop her. "You know I have to check anyway. Its protocol." Her words were as stale as ever, but she tried to add a bit of liveliness into them. Zara was such a lively girl, she hated to see her upset.

At the soft bump, Umeme's belly wobbled back and forth causing the female to lean a little far to the left. Oh no! She wasn't going to fall again! Instead she quickly veered her body back in Zara's direction and bumped her right back. Baby belly and all.

"Hah! As if your Mother would allow it." Umeme lowered his eyes the other female and attempted to laugh. It was such a foreign concept to her, that some might even think she were in pain.

"C'mon lets get going before this belly of mine changes our minds for us." Umeme glanced at the princess out of the corner of her eye, and smirked happily.

"princess" She whispered slightly, turning towards the river and allowing her tail to lightly brush against Zara's back leg.

"Well obviously you're hearing things, because I didn't say anything!" Umeme snorted as she tried to put on her most innocent face. "Hmm perhaps you should come with me to the midwives tomorrow ... maybe she could do something about those voices." Again she let out a small hoarse laugh. It was strange, normally she was never this talkative, even with Zara. But today she was just a ball of fun. She shrugged it off, happy for the changle, but still quick to blame it on her hormones.

"The belly is fine, but sometimes I believe it has a mind of its own." She smiled faintly as she looked back at Zara happily. "No, no we will go to the river. Besides these cubs are screaming for some fish, and if we laze in the shade we won't get those fish!" As if to agree with her assessment Umeme's stomach let out a loud and long grumble. "See? Told ya."

Umeme merely stuck out her tongue at Zara's words. She knew the other was trying to get a rise out of her, but she wasn't going to let it happen. Not this time.

Zara's quick change of attitude took Umeme for a spin and with her big ole belly she nearly fell over from the shock. But after a moment of realization she simply laughed at the girl. "Whoa there nelly. Don't worry you're going to get way more than your fair share of fishing done today." Another low snort escaped Umeme's nose as she continued walking forward towards the river.

Another growl rumbled through Umeme's belly causing her to roll her eyes and grumble lazily at her belly. "Don't worry babies, Pretty Princess Zara here is going to get us a while bunch of fishies to much on ...

Isn't that right Zara?"

She was seriously blushing, blushing so much that she was certain that Zara could probably see it, despite her dark pelt. The warmth in her cheeks was unbearable, but it was a good type of unbearable ... if there ever was such a thing. Her heart began to race, and she felt wobbly in the knees, but she wasn't about to faint now. Not when Zara was being so unbearably affectionate.

"Oh no you don't! There will be no revenge plotting until you are out of my belly. Then you can do as you wish." Laughing the words she caught herself staring right into Zara's eyes. The thumping in her heart got that much worse.

"And you better stop egging them on or you're gonna be their permanent babysitter." Now openly smiling from ear to ear, she nudged Zara in the rear with her shoulder and smiled. "And don't you go thinking that's a good thing! These guys are rough and tumble, you oughta feel them the next time they kick! Maybe then you'll believe me." Umeme paused a moment to double check that none of the cubs in her belly were kicking at that moment. Nope, nothing. She frowned to herself, kind of wishing they had been.

"Yeah, I guess we should probably get moving huh?"

Umeme paused in her tracks as Zara questioned her status with the cubs. She knew she was only joking, but for a moment she really got the impression that Zara truly did want something more. It made her heart flutter in her chest, but she quickly squashed it back down. She was her guard. Guards weren't supposed to fall in love with the princess. Honestly, what was she thinking?

"Well, I don't think i'm giving you much choice in the matter." Umeme stuck out of her tongue once more and winked in her direction. Poor little Zara, once a princess, now a babysitter. Oh how the tides have changed." She wanted to double over in laughter, at just the idea of Zara surrounded by cubs all calling her name and pulling at her braids. It was definitely a funny picture, one she hoped would one day come true for her.

"I don't think we need another way there, we're already nearly there as it is. If this belly wasn't holding me back, we could already be enjoying the shade and nibbling on some fish." Yet again her stomach grumbled at the mention of fish. "Y'know, I think these little guys are smarter than I thought. You're gonna have a lot of work on your hands when they're born ... Nanny Zara."