Caitlin Cougar was bent over a figure that a student had created.  It was her second weekend working with the Masai, instructing a sculpting class.  Her class had ended and she was further examining the work of her students. 

“You remind me of a fiancé I once loved and lost to someone else,” said a deep voice. 

Caitlin looked to see a male lion silhouetted in the open door to her class room.  He stepped closer and she noticed he was extremely handsome, dressed in very casual clothes that bordered on the utilitarian.  He stuck out a paw. 

“My name is Homer Leo.  I’m Larry’s brother.  I was once engaged to your cousin, Sylly Cougar Lyon.  You remind me of her.  I’m sure it’s the cougar features.”

Caitlin wiped her paw on her smock and extended it toward him. 

“My name is Caitlin, I’ve heard of this occasion – your engagement to Sylly.  It’s part of our family’s lore.”

“She made a wise choice.  She and Junior Lyon are one of the most solid couples in the Mara.  I hold no bitterness – anymore,” he said, with something of a good natured chuckle.  “Sylly is an outstanding animal as is her husband."

“It must have been an uncomfortable time for both families.”

“We have all  worked through the whole thing by now.  It's long in the past and my brother, Larry, is married to Junior's sister, Lisa.  How about a beer in the recreation room?  We can talk there. The Masai brew the world’s best beer in my opinion.”

“I frankly thought they drank cow piss or blood -  or something like that,” she said and wished she hadn’t put forth that piece of ethnic frippery.  She needn’t have feared.  He put his head back and roared with good natured laughter. 

“No, Caitlin, their main diet is cow’s milk mixed with its blood.”

“Oh, I see,” she giggled.

“I have a better idea.  Maybe you will go with me to the Watering Hole Pub tonight.  I seldom go there but the beer is from kegs and their barbecue has always been the best.”

“Great idea, my kids are with their dads this weekend.”

“I want to hear all about them.”

Homer Leo meets Caitlin Cougar in the Masai Village....

            The air was filled with smoke and noise when Caitlin met Homer Leo at the Watering Hole Pub.  Juanita Warthog led them to a far booth where the commotion was less.  They ordered draft beers. 

“So tell me about yourself, Caitlin, and spare no details,” instructed Homer Leo, lighting a cigarette and offering her one. 

“You’re certainly different, Homer.  Not at all like the male lions that I’ve met in the Mara.”

“That’s probably due to my upbringing.  I don’t think Dad ever wanted to be a male lion.  He was offended at the carnage of the carnivore and its prey.  My father was, from the beginning of his adult years, determined to have the epitome of graceful and civilized living.  I think he wished to be a human in the age of ancient Greece.  Homer is his favorite poet.  One might say my dad is a renaissance lion.  He and the lionesses held regular sessions at the watering hole, reading Shakespeare aloud.  We cubs cut our teeth on great literary works.”

“How fascinating, of course I’ve heard of him.  My aunt and uncle speak of him often.  They say he is very scholarly.”

“Now, let’s hear about you, Caitlin.”

            For Sean Simba’s birthday, Betty gave a soccer themed party at the bush home.  Young humans and animals swarmed through the house and grounds.  The cake was emblazoned with soccer symbols.  It was an afternoon party, but Shane arrived early from his office.  It lasted until the late evening, when Solly, having tried to keep up with the crowd, fell asleep in his father’s lap.  Sean was allowed to continue the festivities at a friend’s spend the night party.  Before he left, he gave Betty a kiss to the cheek and thanked her for a very festive and special birthday. 

            That week also happened to include the birthday of Luke Leoparde.  Jane quietly planned an intimate evening with only Luke’s closest friends and family members.  The Cougar and Leoparde families and his brother, Leland, were invited.  His dearest friend and partner, Ashley Lyon came with Leah.  Lucretia Leoparde surprised everyone by singing an extra chorus of Happy Birthday to her great grandson.  Caitlin brought her new friend, Homer Leo, who charmed absolutely everyone, including his former fiancé, Sylly Cougar Lyon and her husband, Junior.  Jane had also invited his student, Staci Simba.  The party lasted until the cicadas had ceased singing in the acacias and the sun was warming the savannah with its first rays.  When the last guest had staggered home, Luke and Jane danced to Frank Sinatra’s ballads on the veranda. 

            Betty warmed with the satisfaction of having given one of Shane’s children a pleasurable birthday.  The recovery of the Simba marriage was a slow process but they were getting there she felt.  She slowly removed her clothes and got in the shower.  The hot water felt splendid and soothed her tense muscles.  She hummed to herself as the spray hit her body. She heard the shower door open.  She brushed the water from her eyes.  Shane stood there naked.  The water fell in small streams from his shoulders.  He pulled her to him.  She seemed to melt – a syrupy term – but one that was very true to this particular situation.  He put his face between her breasts, licking the water droplets there.  His paws were all over her wet body.  He kissed her for the first time in what seemed an eternity. 

“Fifi,” he moaned, picking her up and carrying her from the shower and to their bed. 

“Shane,” she cried into his neck. 

“Call me 'darling' again, Fifi. I have missed the sound of it."

In the shower....

            This was the same week that Lucy Cougar was picked up at the Watering Hole Pub and engaged in her first threesome in the company of Simon Simba and Linda Cougar, her niece.  The next morning, her mouth redolent with the results of a terrific hangover, Lucy crawled from Simon’s bed, leaving two sleeping cohorts from last night's sex games.  She quietly put on her clothes and headed for the Watering Hole Pub where she had left her car.  She managed to drink two cups of Starbucks black coffee before she headed for her children and the estate on the Mara River.  Never again, she thought as she fumbled for her dark glasses. 

“I married briefly while I was in England studying architecture for a post graduate degree,” said Homer Leo.  “It was a failure I regret but we weren’t suited for one another.  She was a zoo lioness and the difference in mentality between a caged animal and one in the wild is tremendous.”

“I know - my cousin Nat Cougar married a zoo leopardess.  They had sterilized her so she and Nat had to adopt.

They were sitting in Caitlin’s walled terrace, enjoying a sundowner.  They had both spent a long day in the Masai village. 

“I know Nat.  We’re both architects.  I’ve been to his home in the bush.”

“Isn’t your architectural degree being wasted at the village?”

“My first love is teaching.  I went back to school to get over the misery of losing Sylly.  It was then that I took up architecture.”

“You’re quite amazing,” said Caitlin. 

Georgy Simba came bouncing onto the terrace.  Being a friendly and adorable sort, she patted Homer’s knee and announced, “You’re a lion like my daddy.  I got his mane.”

“You certainly did that,” he laughed, placing her on his lap.

“Are you seeing Mommy?”

“I hope I am,” answered Homer. “By the way, Caitlin, my brother, Gus, is married to a cougar.  I believe she’s your cousin, Carson’s ex-wife.  Small world, eh?”

“Yes, Paula.  I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“I have an idea.  Why don’t you and your cubs come to my bungalow on the Leo estate?  I’ll have Gus and Paula over and you can sample my pasta primavera.”

“That would be lovely, Homer.”       

“That would be very lovely,” echoed the precocious Georgy.   

Homer with Caitlin and Sloane Simba's daughter, Georgy.

            Shane Simba stood watching for Jane’s SUV to top the hill.  When she finally arrived, he stood up under their favorite tree and waited for her to join him there. 

“It’s been a while,” she said.  “I’ve finished all the previous chapters to your biography.   I just need to get some thoughts from you on your goals.”

“Janie, I don’t know what to say…..I’m trying to recover some of my marriage so we can go on – at least while I’m in office,” he said, pulling her to a sitting position with him. 

“Shane, you owe me no apologies – no nothing.  I never expected to have anything permanent with you.  I always wanted children and you gave me those and an unexpectedly satisfactory marriage with my best friend.”

“Janie, I still love you every bit as much as before.  The media was about to blow the death throes of my marriage sky high and Kenya would have lost the prestige it has gained, in great part, thanks to your guidance.”

“Shane, whether you are aware of it or not, your life is your presidency.  You’ve grown tremendously in that role and it is so much a part of you that I think you fail to realize your own dedication to this country as being something of a second skin.”

He put his head in his paws, as choking sobs wracked his body.  Jane put her head on his shoulder. 

“I love you, Janie.  I long to be with you somewhere far away,” he cried.

“Shane, Kenya is your destiny.  You are the one that will complete what Ralph Lyon began.  Neither Betty nor I are important in the face of that.”

He lay down, placing his head in her lap.  She stroked his mane. 

“I have to go to Serbia at the request of their government.  Will you cover it for me?”

“What will Betty think now that she knows about us?” she asked, placing a kiss on his lips. 

“Betty and I don’t go in depth about our transgressions.  I have to make this trip. You are a journalist that covers me – you always have.  She can think what she will.”

“When will this be?”

“Next week.”

“I’ll make arrangements to cover it.”

They remained there, on his pride territory, with the fever tree shedding petals from its flame colored blossoms on them.  He told her of his goals for Kenya.  They also spoke of her children with him.  As the sun began to fall behind the Ngong hills, they stood. 

“Janie, I will always love you and I cannot bear it if we can’t be together sometimes.”

“We will be, my love.  I love you too and that will never change.”

            As he rode toward home in the back seat of the Rolls, with painful thoughts bouncing about his mind like millions of microscopic needles, he rued the day that Roy Lee Simba had summoned him from his carefree existence in London. 

            Betty knew the moment Shane entered the library that he was preoccupied with troubling thoughts.  She segued into her new tactics and stepped softly about, uttering no ‘darlings’ or other familiarities.  The houseboy brought his Scotch and she sat quietly in the chair facing him.  Solly ran in the room and climbed in his father’s lap.  Bit by bit, she saw her husband relax.  The tenseness left his jaw as he joshed about with his son.  Later at the dinner table he engaged in a quirky philosophical discussion with Betty and Sean.  The meal was one with a heavy gravy causing Solly’s eventual coverage in the sauce.  They all three laughed at the mess Solly had made of himself.  Betty breathed a sigh of relief that the evening had turned out nicely.  Things were still far from what they had been.  There were miles to go with the restoration of her marriage. 

            Caitlin Cougar, her two children bouncing about the back seat, drove the extended tree lined drive to the Leo estate.  As she neared the main house, she gave an audible sigh. 

“Damn, this is something out of Gone With The Wind,” she muttered. 

“I watched that the other night at Daddy’s house,” chimed Georgy.  “It’s Caroline’s favorite film.  She says she’s just like Scarlett Hairy.”

“That’s Scarlett O’Hara, Georgy – not hairy,” Caitlin giggled. 

“Okay, Mommy, I don’t know everything quite yet,” squealed Georgy, hugging her mother’s neck.