"A hard day too?" he asked, giving her a quick kiss.

"Sort of," she said, getting up to make her own drink.

"How was it?" he asked, delaying the moment he would get to more serious topics.

"Just new designs on the board and so many fashion runway shows coming up. Mine is frippery, how was your day?"

"Lost two end stage AIDS patients today. They just didn’t respond to the drugs. They were diagnosed too late because they wouldn’t seek medical care in time. Such ignorance out there, still, Leah," he sighed, pouring two more fingers of Scotch in his glass.

"I’m so sorry, Juma. I know that must bother you greatly."

"It does but now to other subjects, Leah.  I know I was a dick-head before and begged off getting involved and making any commitments but now that’s all changed for me. I just wondered if it has for you," he said pulling her on his lap and kissing her before she had a chance to respond.

"Yes, Juma, it has. These have been the happiest days with you. I seem to be very much in love with you."

"And I am that with you, Leah. Where do we go from here?"

"It’s rather sticky, isn’t it? You were married to my first cousin and I was going with your best friend. Where do we go, Juma?"

"I want us to get engaged if it suits you, Leah."

"You know I can’t have kids and already have big ones. Some are not so biddable either. How do you feel about offspring, Juma?"

"I love kids, Leah. I want to get to know yours better. One of the things that sort of got me off on the wrong foot with Staci was the fact that she became pregnant and her dad took her to the clinic. There she got an abortion without even telling me she was pregnant. It was before we married but it affected me more than I realized at the time. And as for your not getting pregnant, you get a reversal on that tubal ligation - and presto, we can have our own."

"I almost died the first pregnancy, Juma. That’s why Ashley didn’t want me to have more and Frank tied my tubes after the twins."

"I am a doctor remember, Leah. I can see you through a pregnancy easily."

"So where does that leave it, Juma?  I do love you so."

"I say let’s tell your parents first and work from there."

"That’s such a cool idea. Oh how happy I am," she squealed, kissing him.

"Me too, Leah."

Leah and Juma decide to get engaged.....

    Lee Simba, Staci’s house mate in Nairobi, came home with her leopard boyfriend one evening. Stanley Morrison was there with Staci, making dinner.

"Melvin and I are going to get engaged. We’re telling Dad next weekend. Why don’t you guys do the same?"

Stanley looked at Staci, smiling slightly and asked, "Why don’t we plan a Christmas wedding, Staci?"

Staci looked a bit taken aback. She had been thinking a great deal about her ex-husband, Juma, recently. To understand Staci’s dilemma, she had grown up with her father guiding her exclusively, having lost her mother at a young age. Reared in Shane Simba’s shadow, she was totally accustomed to being in the company of male lions. She loved Stanley but she wondered if she could possibly stay happy with a human being. Add to that the fact that she was a total daddy’s girl.

"This is a bit of a rush, don’t you think?" she said, trying to lighten the situation with a quick and very nervous giggle.

Stanley looked down, Lee looked perplexed and the leopard looked vaguely embarrassed. As it evolved, Stanley was apparently badly hurt by her rejection of the idea. He had proposed months before and thought she had gotten a divorce quickly in order to marry him. He went home early instead of staying over as he usually did.

    As it turned out, despite her huge pregnant belly and immanent due date, Alexandra Simba decided to have another party and invite the Simba pride. There had been such a thaw with Sarah Lee Simba that she wanted to keep the good vibes on a roll.

"Alex, why are you doing this?" asked Shane. "We’ve gone to three of Mom’s Sunday brunches. They all know you’re about to deliver. Just rest for crying out loud."

She merely laughed in her throaty way and gave her husband a lingering kiss.

 "How difficult can it be, Luv? There’s the staff and all I have to do is plan the bloody thing.  It will be fun so stop fussing over me. You’re driving me balmy, Luv."

"What can I say, darling? You’re a bulldozer when you get something in your head."

Shane and Alexandra on a street in Lamu Island where they have a home...

    When Trevor Tau went to the pub one evening to unwind and get a drink after work, he spotted whom he thought to be Georgina with who he knew to be Leah’s oldest cub, Imani Lyon. The two young females were at a table surrounded by friends and chatting nonstop. Wally Warthog was behind the bar so Trevor asked him who the pretty cougar was with Imani Lyon.

"That’s Sloane Simba’s daughter Georgy," he replied, making Trevor’s heart tumble to the bottom of his feet.

"How old is she?" was his next question.

"Very young. She is modeling at JAGGERS but she’s not legal age. I won’t serve her drinks," advised Wally. "She’s a wild one. Pretty but don’t touch - jail bait."

    Trevor beat a hasty retreat for Croc’s Bar & Grill on the river, his usual watering hole. His heart beat like a drum all the way. He had slept with the underage daughter of the Justice Minister of Kenya.. He got drunk at Croc’s and barely made his way home at an ungodly hour.

    The invitations had been issued stat to the party at the bush house where Shane and Alexandra had set up permanent residence until the birth of their twins. Of course it hadn’t slowed Alexandra down a bit, which had been Shane’s original plan for staying there.

    The night of the Simba pride party was star filled and warm. The bush house was strung with outside lights and Alexandra had, with her intense green thumb, coaxed all of the blooming plants and shrubs to true glory. They were wafting their various scents about the place this night. The group began to arrive. Among the arrivals was Leah who was accompanied by her parents. Juma had simply not wanted to attend a party at Shane’s home and risk running into his ex-wife. Not under these circumstances, having agreed with Leah to be engaged. The couple had already told Roy Lee and Janice, Leah’s parents, who were delighted. They did acknowledge that it was best Juma not attend this particular party. Staci had arrived at her father’s house the afternoon before sans Stanley who was still miffed about her reticence to commit fully to him. Staci was on the alert as to whether Leah would be showing up with Juma as she had the last time she had seen her cousin. Staci saw Leah arrive with her parents and breathed a sigh of relief. In her joy that there was no Juma with Leah, Staci approached her cousin, aunt and uncle and gave them heart felt hugs, commenting on the females’ lovely attire.

Staci Simba and her first cousin, Leah Simba, lock horns over Juma Mnyama....

"Where is Stanley?" asked Leah. "I see you two in the news all the time. How is that going?" gushed Leah, who had her own agenda.

"Oh, we’re just terribly good friends as yet. Nothing terribly serious for the moment," answered Staci. "Are you still seeing Juma?"

Leah shot a quick glance at her parents who seemed to be getting on with greeting others at the soiree. No back up there, thought the distraught Leah. May as well bring it out in the open.

"Juma and I are getting engaged, Staci."

Staci looked profoundly shocked and then began to cry. Leah was horror stricken and at a loss as to what to do next.  At that moment Shane arrived on the scene.

"What are you crying about, Honeybunch....it’s a damn party - not a funeral," he asked, casting his niece, Leah, a perplexed glance.

Staci pointed at Leah and sobbed, "She’s going to marry Juma, Daddy."

Shane groaned, patted Leah on the back and led his daughter from the room. Once out of the way of the partygoers, he dealt with Staci.

"Staci, you cannot divorce someone and further control what they do. This was bound to happen sooner or later. He’s a healthy male lion and wants a wife and kids."

This caused Staci to collapse in a chair with further weeping, this time sobbing at a greater noise level.

"But Daddy, I still love Juma.... I think."

"Staci it’s too freaking late for that thought to strike you. You two were not that good together. I think this Stanley chap might be the ticket for you."

Shane looked nervously around, hoping for Alexandra to pop in. He was immensely relieved when she did.

"What’s wrong with you two, is my party that bad?" giggled Alexandra. "I thought it was rather well planned, myself. Everyone else seems to be enjoying it."

"Juma Mnyama is going to marry Leah," explained Shane.

"Oh, Staci, I know this is a shock, darling. Come with me, we’ll have a bit of a chat and see if we can make you feel better and sort this thing out," said Alexandra, helping her stepdaughter from the chair and out of the room.

A relieved Shane returned to the party only to find Roy Lee comforting his daughter, Leah.

"Leah, don’t worry about this. Staci will get over it. It is simply that old streak of jealousy that sometimes doesn’t budge when a marriage ends. You know the score - residual rights and all that good stuff," comforted Shane, patting Leah on the back.

Leah thanked her uncle and went to join her grandmother at the buffet table.

"Whew!!" said Roy Lee. "I hope this will be resolved soon. Shit does happen and we’ve had enough go down in this pride," said Roy Lee, draping his arm around his younger sibling.

"We sure as hell have," agreed Shane.

Later Sam Simba and his wife, Tawny (Tigeres), gave a tango exhibition to the delight of all. Sam had always been the dancer in the pride.

    When the guests had gone amid sincere and hearty declarations of ‘what a great party’, Alexandra and Shane were in their room getting undressed for bed.

"How is Staci?" asked Shane.

"She’ll be all right, Luv. She is just unsure of getting involved with a human. She still has sort of a daddy fixation on male lions."

"I strongly recommend humans, darling. I don’t know what I would ever do without you, Alex."

"I will lower this big fat belly in the bed and we can cuddle while we check out Jay Leno on the satellite station. And I will tell you how much I love being married to a lion."

"Have you managed to get through all of those book you ordered about my species?" he teased, tucking her into his arm.

"Yes, and it says you are the top predators on the food chain and are all hunger and testosterone," she teased.

"Ummmm, sounds about right. Anything else?" he laughed.

"And that if you don’t bring a lion down the first time, you had better forget it because he is sure to make mincemeat of you."

"You brought this lion down without firing a shot."

Ummmm huh," she agreed. "So where does the mincemeat part come in?"