[PRP] Hi Honey, I'm... a Dad? (Burny & Anya)

[MangoMeow]

She'd been feeling sluggish for a little while now, but Anya had put it off to stress over the high tension in the pride. Things were still a little bit strained among everyone, and it was hard keeping up hunts when others were snappy and unwilling to work with those whose opinions clashed with their own. She tried her best though and....

.. may have...

.... collapsed during a hunt earlier that day.

Luckily, she'd been with a few other lionesses at the time, and after some panic, they'd gone and grabbed a Mwani. Anya had thought it was something simple; perhaps she was thirsty or the lack of sleep really had gotten to her.

It turns out that the fatigue was due to something else entirely.

Which is how she found herself poking her head around a tree to gaze at their den. She was home after having been told to rest by the healer, and now needed to break the news to Burny. Oh, said news was certainly good - she wasn't concerned about his reaction to that - but hopefully he hadn't heard about the whole collapsing episode. She didn't want to worry him.

Taking a deep breath, she started padding her way to the mouth of the den. Pausing to stretch her neck inside, Anya called out, "Burny?"

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

MangoMeow

The silver male arrived, just after she popped her head around the dens mouth. He had been unformed, most unceremoniously that his mate had collapsed and he should hurry to the healers. Unfortunately by the time he got there, she was gone. There had been a lot of smiling and pushing out of the healers way to get back home to their den. It was strange but he didn’t really need any prompting. The fact that Anya had collapsed had made his heart stop.

She was under so much stress of late and it hurt him to see her so sad. He really wanted nothing more to see his Anya happy and smiling again. He truly wished all of this damned conflict would just go away. It was marking his lady ill and for that he wanted to somehow grab the prides bigots and shake them until they stopped being fools. Unfortunately all he could do was look after Anya, and it seemed he hadn’t been doing that very well. He felt so guilty. The thought that she had worked herself in to the ground for the pride they both loved hurt his heart.

“Anya..” He breathed a very, very deep frown on his brow. “I’m sorry, I should be taking better care of you.” He rumbles shuffling over to his lady mate, he didn’t know what else to say to her his ears flattened in to his mane and he tried a half smile. “I thought my heart would strop when I heard you’d collapsed. I’m os angry.. I.. I don’t know what to do Anya.” The half smile dropped quickly from his maw. It was he decided completely his fault, he should have been watching her more closely making sure she wasn’t getting s stressed that her body couldnt take it any more. “the healers said you came home to rest.. I think you should take at least a couple of days off. You’ve been working yourself much too hard, I can bring you anything, everything you need. I don’t want you to be sick.” He closed the gap between them searching for her forgiveness. “I promise I’ll take better care of you.. I.. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were ill....”He trailed, a look of guilt plastered on his maw.  

[MangoMeow]

The lack of answer at first made her pause, but when his voice came from behind her, Anya turned around with a smile. Which... faltered when he started apologizing. Oh, crap, he had definitely heard about what happened, and now he was... blaming himself? Oh no, that wouldn't do. No blaming oneself when they had happy news!

So with a soft smile, Anya padded forward and nuzzled her face into Burny's mane. "Oh, Burny, please don't blame yourself! It was my own fault. I should have been paying more attention to my own health." Not that she regretted helping the pride, but she wasn't sure what she would have done if something much more serious had happened, and by extension, something had happened to....

She shivered at the thought.

Moving back to the topic at hand, she hummed cheerfully, "You've been taking amazing care of me, love. No one could have done better." And she fully believed that.

She chuckled then, "I'll probably have to adjust my duties to take more time off in general now though." Anya wiggled excitedly at that admission, caught between making a game of having him guess or to just blurt it out. She finally settled on saying, "We're going to be a little more busy here pretty soon."

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

MangoMeow

Though he appreciated her kind words he still felt rather guilty for not noticing she wasn’t well. He hated the thought that Anya could be anything but his cheerful little water nymph, and perhaps it wasn’t entirely his fault, the prides turmoil and her job status kept her extra busy. “Still I should have noticed before you fainted. It’s my job to take care of you.”

Her familiar nuzzle made him smile and he returned her embrace with a gentle nudge “You shouldn’t push yourself though. The Mwani said you needed to rest.” The silver male tilted his head a confused look in those emerald green eyes.

“You really should dial back on the council duties though.” He huffed, completely misunderstanding her meaning, he frowned a bit, he wasn’t really one to put his paw down but he would definitely have to speak to the council about over working his lady. “I think I should speak to them. They are over working you.” He frowned, he couldn’t quite remember the last time his face made such a grumpy look.

“They can’t expect you to be any more busy than you are already. Yes I should go and speak to them.” He set his jaw in a determined line, he would tell the council Anya needed a break for her health, making her more busy wouldn’t help matters at all.  

[MangoMeow]

"Oh, but there are still things that need to be done," she paused, considering, "but... I suppose I could always ask for some help. Perhaps I can ask some of the other Kinengwe-Maji to help take over some things."

She startled as he spoke of speaking to some of the council, before dissolving into giggles. "The council duties are fine, Burny, really." She appreciated that he cared enough to confront them, but she imagined that they wouldn't really listen to him, what with the current mindset of the council.

"Besides," she started turning back towards their den, "what ails me will be going on for at least another few months. I can't rest for that long." The brown lioness hummed, "I should probably get the den cleaned up before I get too big. I don't want all of us to get too crowed..." Anya trailed off there, sending a coy look at the corner of her eyes towards her mate.

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

MangoMeow

The silver male still frowned. He really did think Anya was doing too much but if she sisn’t Want him speaking to the council he would of course respect her wishes. “Just be a little less busy thats all I ask.” He smiled and nuzzled at her gently. He really as very worried about her.

“A few months?” He looked at her with a very, very confused look on his maw. What took months to get over? “Are you really that ill? The Mwani just said you had to rest.” Now he really was worried her cryptic words had him feeling very perturbed.

“Too big? Are we having guests?” Anyas subtle words really wern’t getting through to him, she wasn’t well and now they were having guests? “Are you sure we should have visitors when you’re not well?”  

[MangoMeow]

"I promise," she said with a chuckle, "I'll take things easier now." Though, that might be hard with little ones coming, she mused to herself. Oh well. At the very least, no one could fault her for doing a little bit less now.

Goodness, he really wasn't getting these hints, was he? Anya let out a laugh, "These 'visitors' are going to be around for a while, Burny. Living with us, even."

Alright, she should probably stop torturing him now, before he started freaking out over strangers living in their den. With a giggle like a happy bell, the lioness veered back and rubbed herself under Burny's neck. She enjoyed the feeling of being next to him for a moment longer, and then, as her mouth got close to his ear, whispered, "You're going to be a dad."

And then she danced away playfully, just like when they first met. "That's why the healers sent me home, love. I, uh," she smiled sheepishly, "I overextended myself."

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

MangoMeow

The coral maned male was about to question her words when she tucked herself in to his mane. He always lost his words when she did this. Nothing else mattered in the world to him, just Anya pressed against his chest telling him he was going to be a dad. Well that would.. “Wait.. What?” He blinked as she skipped away from him, his emerald green eyes fixed upon his mate.

His jaw dropped and for the longest moment he couldn’t figure out what to say, what to do, what to ask. Then the mist cleared from his mind and he smiled. “Anya.” He bounced towards her and pullled her in to his arms holding her tightly. “Is it true, really?” He grinned, he hardly thought he would ever have a mate, let alone one as beautiful as Anya and now, now they were having some cubs?

He released her just a little to nuzzle at her cheek, a very serious look on his maw. “Well now you definitely need to take it easy. You had me worried sick.” He smiled softly a worried look flickering across his gaze. He had to do something to take better care of Anya, he just had to figure out what he could do that didn’t involve simply making her stay home for the foreseeable future. She wouldn’t like that and he would never restrict her like that but he had to do something. Could he follow her around? Would that seem weird?

“I can’t believe it, really, I can’t believe we are going to be parents..” He trailed off, the pride was so tumultuous at the moment, he wondered what sort of environment they would be raised in.  

[MangoMeow]

Anya giggled at his reaction, giddy to finally have it out in the open, and even more so by his own excitement. "Yes, I'm pregnant. We're going to have a bunch of little ones running around." It felt weird finally saying that out loud.

Her ears pulled back and she nuzzled against his cheek too. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

Mid-nuzzle as she was, the yawn was unexpected and she didn't have much time to pull back before it happened. Right, she was supposed to be resting. She had to admit that a nap did sound nice right then. Shaking her head after it passed, Anya went right back to cuddling him. "Come cuddle with me?"

Syrius Lionwing

 

[Syrius Lionwing]

MangoMeow

finito?

The idea that he was going to be a dad was both exciting and a little frightening to the silve rlion but he didn’t want to say that to Anya. He would just have to make sure their cubs were raised right. The atmosphere at the moment wasn’t great in the pride but he would make sure their cubs were raised with love and care and a devotion to the ocean that he and his mate shared.

He chuckled at her yawns and nuzzled her gently “Yeh I took the afternoon off so we can relax.” He had a lot of other questions regarding their cubs but they were questions for another time, after a good nap and a meal.

He was going to be a dad, this really was the greatest day of his life. “Let get you nice and comfy lady.” He smiled trotting happily in to their den ready to simply curl up with his Anya and think about logistics later.