In the Masai Mara, Ralph Lyon had received a DVD of Shane’s address to the UN Assembly. It had come in a diplomatic pouch sent to the State House. We watched it together on the television set in his office.

"That’s my boy!" roared Ralph at pertinent points in the speech. "He is absolutely magnificent."

I had to agree.

Staci Simba's school in the Mara had received a copy of the DVD  compliments of the State House. Staci and her class watched her father address the most important body of diplomats in the world. Later it was shown to the whole school in the auditorium. When the school assembly was over, her female school mates surrounded her.

"Your dad’s a hottie, Staci," they had told her.

This bode well for the shy and motherless cub. She was now in the cat bird seat with her friends at school, being the niece of movie idol, Roy Lee Simba and now having a hunky dad as vice president of Kenya. She was invited to all the best parties. In Shane’s absence, her cousin, Leah Lyon, took her shopping for party clothes. Leah understood the need for the growing Staci to be fashionable in the trendy style of her peers at school.   She and her brother, Sean, ended up staying at Leah and Ashley’s home while their dad was away. Each night, Leah would gather the children together and watch Betty’s Chimpo’s remote news cast from the cities they visited. Staci saw short sequences of her father being followed by females where ever he went. Wow, she thought. Delilah Dik Dik’s mother, who had resisted her daughter’s friendship with Staci when it began, now fawned over her and was thrilled the two had remained best friends.

Betty Chimpo was rather disappointed in the trip. Shane had been so tied up in meetings and social invitations he received from the various important families of the areas he visited that he rarely had a chance to be with her. When she finally got to his room at a, usually, very late hour, he was worn out from the day’s events. He would fall asleep after making love to her. She was happy to lie next to him in the crook of his arm listening to the even sounds of his breathing. Sleep, for her, was hard to come by. She realized that with his growing fame and global image, he could easily slip away from her. She also knew that after this trip he would no longer have any privacy at all. Not only had he proved to be a charismatic and masterful politician but he also seemed to have the female adulation due a major movie star.

    She had hoped they could have some time alone on their last day in San Francisco but it was not to be. A big party, hosted by the Arnold Schwarzeneggers, was slated at the last minute to honor him. He left by limousine to attend the soiree in Sacramento, California. She spent the night alone in her own suite.

She walked to my house after the junket returned to the Mara. It was a Saturday and Lachlan was with me. I made her a martini and we sat on my back porch.

"I am in such deep trouble," she told us, beginning to cry softly.

"What is it, Betty?" asked Lachan, who was quite familiar with her on going saga, having treated her any number of times.

"I’m so in love with Shane Simba. We have been seeing each other since he returned from Botswana. I’ve completely changed my tactics with him. I just try to be there for him and hear him out when he’s sad. He says that I’m helping him heal from Catherine’s death," she told us.

"Well, that’s good thing, right?" I asked.

"He is so important now. In the States he gained more and more fame. I’m afraid I’ll lose him again," she cried.

"Betty, if you are soothing to him and continue your support in the wake of Catherine's death, you won’t necessarily lose him. But keep in mind, a grieving mate is an iffy thing to try and help. Especially if your aim is romantic involvement with them later.  They can always decide you’ve helped enough and remind them too much of their days of intense sadness. You are walking on eggshells. But I applaud your change of stratagem. Your old obsessive mania was not healthy," Lachlan told her.

"My feelings for Shane are no longer shallow and merely  physical, Lachlan. I love him deeply now. I also care about his children. They are so precious."

"Maybe it will end well for you, Betty. I sincerely hope so," said Lachlan.

"Just as an aside," I giggled. "Bertram Baboon thinks you have the god’s own gift of coming out of any crisis smelling like a rose."

She had to laugh.

Irving Impala’s fashionably shod hooves clipped along the polished floor at WMM-TV. He was joining Glenda Gorilla and her producer, Charley.

"What do you have there, Glenda?" he asked, referring to the DVD she was about to insert in a player attached to a small television set in Charley’s office.

"A sensational moment," she cooed.

The television registered some fuzz and then an image of Betty Chimpo and Shane Simba kissing outside of what looked to be a hotel room door. As the video progressed, Shane ran his paw sensually down Betty’s ass, lifting her skirt to explore the back of her leg, ending up in the band of her underpants and beyond. One could only surmise that the two were having a sexual relationship.

"We will not be airing this at any time," snapped Irving.

Glenda and Charley gave him a distressed look.

"But, it’s my show for tonight," sputtered Glenda.

"No, it isn’t," stated Irving. "Get that DVD out of there and give it to me right now. We will not take the chance on angering and embarrassing the State House."

"But I exposed Shane Simba in Paris that time with the human model. You didn’t mind airing that one," argued Glenda.

"He was a minor official then. If I remember correctly, he was only the district attorney for the Mara. It is obvious that lion is the president’s fair maned lad and we are not angering President Lyon nor Vice President Simba. Too much is at stake for this station."

"What will I do for a show tonight, Irving?" moaned Glenda.

"I don’t know or care. Find a clip of President Lyon and the first lioness playing Tiddly Winks or croquet. It’s your damn problem. And, Miss Gorilla, you are on thin ice with me at the moment."

With that statement, Irving Impala, owner of WMM-TV,  turned and trotted back to his office carrying the offensive DVD with him.

I had no idea that it was going on behind my back, but Mildred and Ralph Lyon were planning a monumental birthday bash for me at Ashley and Luke Leoparde’s safari club hotel in the Mara. Sylvia and Bernard Cougar were privy to arrangemennts, helping the first couple with the details. On the morning of my birthday, when I had planned a small back yard barbecue with Lachlan, Bertram and Chad Cheetah at my house, Lachlan, who was clued in, asked me to attend an affair for the Mental Health Center.

"I completely forgot about it, Maurice. It's tonight.  I apologize for short notice. It’s not formal dress - just upscale casual wear. Do you mind terribly?"

"Of course not, Lachlan. We’ll go. I’ll phone Bertram and tell him the barbecue is off until next week."

I drove with Lachlan to the safari club hotel. I noticed the parking area was filled with many cars being parked by valets.

"This seems to be quite the bash, Lachlan. Is it a fundraiser?"

"Yes, Maury. It is. Get ready to write a big check," he teased.

We went down the hall to the main ballroom. Banners hailed me, reading Happy Birthday, Maurice. A band played the birthday song at my entrance. Ralph, Mildred, Sylvia and Bernard came to greet me and lead me to the table of honor. I was overwhelmed. Already sitting there were Bertram and Chad Cheetah as well as many other close friends. I sat down next to Lachlan. He squeezed my hand and winked at me.

"You knew, didn’t you?" I asked him.

"Of course I did. So did Bertram," he confessed.

Joining our table was a radiant Betty Chimpo in the company of Shane Simba. The evening was magical. All my old friends and those I had made in recent times were there to celebrate with me. Charlotte Elephanti picked me up with her trunk and placed me on her back, parading around the room with me and singing For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow. I had my ritual dance with Mildred’s secretary, Bernice Bear, crushing me to her wooly bosom and spinning around the room with me. I saw Lachlan convulsed in laughter at that sight. Leah Lyon came and sat in the chair next to mine.

"Do you like my new boobs, Maurice? I’m so proud of them," she giggled. She was wearing a revealing frock. 

Lachlan threw his head back again and roared with laughter at this bit of brashness.

Lachlan and me at the one of the buffet tables;

 Leah and Ashley Lyon and Shane Simba with Betty Chimpo....all at my birthday bash...

Instead of returning Betty Chimpo to her home, Shane Simba drove her to the Mara Simba Lodge. There, they discreetly went to a room in the hotel he owned with his pride. They undressed and made love many times before they lay back on the goose down pillows and smoked cigarettes.

"Shane, I have no secrets from you. You know how much I love you. I am devoted now and only wish to be  even a small part of your life...I don't require more.  I would be content just to fill that role.  I  had to say this to you on this magical night. Sorry to burden you with my ridiculous thoughts!" she said, exhaling the smoke from her cigarette which drifted upwards and curled itself on the vaulted ceiling of the lodge’s most expensive suite. She was tipsy from the drinks she had imbibed at my party and the happiness she had felt at being his date for the occasion.

"You say these things as if you think it would be impossible for me to feel the same way about you, Betty."

"I don’t expect that, Shane. Really, I don’t," she protested quickly pulling him to her.

"You underestimate yourself," he said, sticking his tongue down her throat in the deepest and most invasive kiss she had ever experienced.

Traci Simba held several glossy photographs of her father in her paws. She was in his study in their home.

"Daddy, my friends think you’re.....well sort of hot looking. Can you autograph these pictures for them?"

Shane spread the photos on his desk. He laughed.

"Staci, how did they get these? They’re official government pictures."

"They send off for them, Daddy. Will you sign them, please? They want them back tomorrow."

"I’ll sign them. Tell me the names of your friends, Staci. I’ll put a special message on them."

"Oh, Daddy, thank you," she squealed in excitement.

"Pumpkin, are you having fun at school these days?"

"Yes, Daddy. It’s fun now. I have lots of friends."

Sean came running in to join them.

"Daddy, will you play my new video game with me? Sim and Adam gave it to me."

Shane joined his children in the family room and they played the video game for hours.