Weather the Storm
By 18lzytwner
Chapter 1
"Come on Pumyra, you have to push!" Tygra encouraged the puma. She had been in labor for the last ten hours and finally the baby was trying to make an appearance. Ben-Gali held her hand and tried to be encouraging.
"It's almost over. Just a little bit more pushing," he said. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it so hard he thought his fingers would break.
"If it's so easy then why don't you do it?!" She shouted at him.
"If it were easy the Gods would have had men give birth," Cheetara chuckled as she helped Tygra with the process of coaxing the cub out.
"Agreed," Cavan chuckled over the intercom. She was standing outside the room watching with Li-en. The liger was finally being released from physical therapy today and they happened to be in the right spot at the right time when Tygra wheeled Pumyra into the Med Bay. It was then that they heard the cries of a little pumiger.
"It's a boy!" Tygra announced happily as he handed the very messy baby off to Cheetara who went to get the little one cleaned up. Pumyra collapsed back on the bed, glad it was over.
"You did it!" Ben-Gali leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"So what is his name going to be?" Tygra asked as he everything cleaned up. Both Ben-Gali and Pumyra had agreed that they wanted to be surprised by the sex of their cub and had been picking boy and girl names.
"Lakshmana," Pumyra smiled slightly as the now clean baby was placed in her arms.
"A good strong Thunderian name and quite apropos considering," Cheetara gave a smile at the choice for it meant "marked for luck" or "lucky". He would probably be their only child considering how hard it had been to conceive after the miscarriage and Pumyra's age.
"I agree. Now why don't we give you guys some time alone?" Tygra chuckled as the little one was already dozing on his mother's chest. He and Cheetara exited the room after pulling the curtain on the windows closed.
"He is so cute!" Cavan smiled.
"He is. I'm glad it all worked out well," Li-en said as Tygra and Cheetara approached them.
"I am too. I was a little nervous but I think everyone will be just fine," the tiger nodded.
"How are you doing?" Cheetara asked the liger. His casts had come off and he'd been working to regain his strength but it wouldn't be until the spring that he would be able to start his retraining in order to prove he could still do the job of ThunderCat. No one doubted him and Lion-O had promised that even if he could not go on full duty right away he would not take away the title. Once a ThunderCat always a ThunderCat, he had said.
"I'm feeling much stronger and I can play with the kids again," Li-en smiled.
"Glad to hear it," the cheetah pulled him into a hug. The two had been spending a lot of time together in the physical therapy department. After giving birth, Cheetara had been bedridden for a couple of months until she was able to get moving again. As per the usual cheetah speed however, her recovery had gone quicker than Li-en's. The fusion done by Doctor Pungali was holding well and Li-en was young enough that he was looking forward to being able to get back out into the field.
Suddenly the warning sirens went off across the Lair and poor Lakshmana started wailing. Tygra went to check on the cub and his parents while Cavan kissed Li-en on the cheek before heading out of the Med Bay with Cheetara.
The two reached the control room and were met by most of the rest of the ThunderCats. Lion-O barreled in last however having been mulling over the numbers for the food stores. It had been a long an bleak winter and if a spring thaw didn't come soon, he was worried that they would need to send for food from Third Earth.
"What's going on?" He wanted to know.
"Panthro and Lea are coming in hot! They lost a thruster on the Feliner and they can't land with only one!" Punthar explained.
"Oh they can land but it'll be more like a crash," Snarfer said.
To Be Continued…
