|
Juniper woke you up this morning by flopping onto your side and licking your ear. Hard to be grumpy about that!
Juniper rubs cheeks with you, then rubs her body against yours. You shiver slightly as her tail tip brushes your back.
Juniper stands on her back legs, cuddling into your soft mane for a bit as a greeting.
------------
Both are old now, this lion and lioness who started out their journeys together. Juniper had joined Tiagren when he first became king so many years ago, and now, once more, her womb quickened with combined life. Age showed on their faces; a lifetime of happiness and hardships.
Tiagren lays his head on Juniper's soft belly, enjoying the warmth and comfort a lifetime together has brought them. She's his oldest lioness who has yet to cross the bridge. But each day becomes more and more of a struggle to find the energy to perform even the most basic of kingly tasks, and he worries.
"June," he says quietly, but still loudly enough for her old ears to hear.
"Hmm?" June questions as she grooms whatever parts of him she can reach.
"I don't know if I'll be around for this litter," he says seriously. Lately his muscles ache constantly, and his heart is having trouble beating. She stops her grooming, her one good blue eye staring into his cloudy grey ones.
He's over 14 years old, well passed retiring age for most, past living for some, too. She can feel how tired he is, and the feeling is mutual.
"To be honest," she says warmly, "I know this will be my last litter. I can feel it. I won't be around to watch them grow up. But, my love, I don't know if my old heart can take the crowning of another king. To see another stand in your place--" Tears leak from her eyes. "Wait for me at the bridge, if you go before me? My sisters will understand," she says, speaking of the lionesses waiting that have already passed. "They know I don't like to walk alone."
He nods into her fur. "I'd wait an eternity for you." She runs a paw over his coat.
"Always such a dreamboat," she says with a sad smile.
|
