This chapter of the Jellicle Tribe is beginning to close. . .Enoy...

The months afterwards were as cloudy as the sky. Demeter kept to herself a lot, hardly seeing anyone. Munkustrap could only watch her and try to comfort her the best he knew how. Bombalurina had begun to run off and hang with a strange crowd of cats. Bustopher Jones was furious and had threatened to take his sister back with force. Old Deuteronomy convinced him otherwise.

The Jellicle were beginning to lose hope, first Grizabella, then Marisella, Macavity, Griddlebone, even Asparagus's foster son had left to go back to his mother. Little Rumpleteazer had been most upset about losing her look-a-like playmate. It was all Munkustrap and his father could do to keep the tribe together.

It wasn't until one the lost Jellicles came back that everyone found hope again. In the middle of the night, weeks after the loss of Callestia, the calico tom kit came back. He went to Old Deuteronomy with a message from the tux queen. The next day he relayed it to the entire tribe. Their hope all came rushing back.

The secret messages came again and again, almost on a weekly basis. Soon it was revealed to the whole tribe that Callestia was expecting. Demeter, Tantomile, Coricopat, Mungojerrie and Old Dueteronomy all came out and told the rest of the Jellices what they knew. Word traveled fast when updates about the kittens came, how she could feel them moving, how she felt morning sickness or when they would kick her.

Somehow, the news brought Demeter and Munkustrap closer, Bomblurina came back home, and Rumpleteazer became more and more attached to Mungojerrie. Jenny and Jelly were always asking for health updates and they always received them. When the time for their birth came close the two sisters grew intoxicatingly anxious. They were all scared for the kittens health, not knowing how the warehouse was in terms of hygiene and how sterile the place was.

Offering advice and instructions on the care of kittens was all they could do to help. The twins told the two elder sisters that the newborn would be brought to the Yard after they were born, but alas, no one knew how it would happen. The Mystics even took Jelly and Jenny into their circle of knowledge and told them that the one kit they would be able to save would be a tom. With that said the two queens began making preparations for a new arrival.

Macavity grinned as he gently caressed his mate's belly. She was sitting back in their nest and he was looking over her lovingly. True to his wildcat heritage he only treated her with the tenderest of care and made sure she never was in need of anything. She was properly fed, had the best maternal attention from some of the older queens, especially one named Chamomile who was a mother herself. She and her tomson lived at the warehouse and their status went up when they helped care for the ever growing kittens and mate of the Hidden Paw.

There was no denying that Macavity truly adored his mate and kittens to be. He had always wanted kits but when his rapes produced young ons they were never good enough for him. He realized that he had been waiting for the perfect queen to bare his young and Callestia was his perfect queen. He purred and then hovered over the tux queen, so young and healthy, he had no doubts that their kittens would be born strong and beautiful.

"I love you my dear," he said in a low sultry voice. "I love you and I will adore our kits. I can't wait to meet them." He looked at her belly and leaned in close. "You hear that little ones? Daddy can't wait to meet you. You're going to be the happiest kittens in all of London. Hell, in all the world. There is nothing mummy and da wouldn't do for you."

She giggled. "I'm sure they hear you love. But watch your language." She playfully scolded him for his use of hell. Her gaze softened. "I can't wait to meet them too."

She was more than thankful that he couldn't read minds because she didn't know if she would be able to hide the fact that in truth, he would never meet this litter. Two would die and one would be whisked away to the Jellicles. She realized that she didn't know what would happen if they were to have another litter, they couldn't take all of her kits to the Yard, and she couldn't run away from him with the little ones. She was afraid to know what he would do, she was also beginning to wonder if maybe it was the right thing to do to give her unborn Mistofelees away to her family. She wanted to hold him, to watch him grow up, to care for him. If he was gone she would have nothing.

Macavity leaned up to kiss her lips. His yellow eyes glowed softly and she smiled back at him. "They truly will be the most beautiful, magically talented and strongest kittens London has ever seen. We will be the strongest family in history."

"Macavity?" She asked. "Where do you come from?"

It was sudden question and one that he never expected to be asked, but he understood. Her heritage was known, she was the youngest of the Jones family. Macavity and Marisella though, had been rescued from the streets.

He made a pondering face as he thought about her question. Luckily it wasn't a particularly painful subject for him to discuss. "Hmmm. Well if I recall correctly, my parents came from wild cat country. Way off in the country side. They were always going on about some tribe war that made us leave and until I was on my own that was all my da ever spoke about. How we came from a fierce, strong clan. I don't know where they call home though, I was born in the city, mum was pregnant when they left."

She smiled, "I never knew that. But it sounds. . .magical almost. Were your parents magical?"

He nodded, "Mum had healing abilities, I remember her healing my paw once," he laughed. "And Da. . . .Well Da was a telepath. He could read minds and move things with his own mind."

Callestia could hear perfectly well that he was avoiding the subject of his sister, the queen he killed so long ago. She didn't want to press it either, Marisella was a terrifying cat, even more to Callestia than her mate was. Macavity had power but Marisella had been mad, her brother was in control.

She caressed her belly. "I wonder if one of them will have magic."

Her mate purred softly. "I know they will. Magic runs strong in my blood line and at least one, if not all, will have magical qualities in some way." He kissed her forehead. "It's late now, and you need to rest. I know they've been giving you trouble, they're active little things."

She grinned and nodded. Suddenly she gasped and her paw tightened on her swollen abdomen. "Macavity!" She whispered.

He looked at her in concern and then put his paw to her fur. His concern melted though when he felt the tiny paws of his kits pressing against her. There came another hard kick and she gasped again, Macavity took on a mock expression of anger.

"Now you listen here kittens." He said sternly. "You stop giving your mum such a difficult time. She's going to be taking care of you and when you're born you can kick and scream all you want. But until then you be good to her."

His mate laughed and the kits seemed to hear him, they suddenly went still and she sighed. "You're right love. They keep me up too. Seems we have nocturnal kits on our paws."

He groaned and flopped down in the nest beside her, pretending to be in agony. "No! That's all we need, nocturnal kittens." He grinned and wrapped an arm under her belly, the other folded under his mane of shaggy head fur.

He waved to the lights and they went down, leaving the room in a faint, gentle glow. He put his arm back under her belly and they drifted off to sleep.