It was late in the afternoon and Bombalurina was softly humming to herself while nursing the sleeping kitten on her knee. Tracing the kittens jaw line with her paws, she let out a small chuckle; this seemed all too familiar. She had used to do this to a couple of the tom kittens to get them to sleep whenever Jennyanydots would ask her to kittensit. It worked like a charm; every time she put them to bed by singing and running her paws around their faces, they went out like a light. How simple life had seemed back then; everything had seemed so easy and was done without regret and the worry of responsibility.

A sudden rattle at the den entrance caused her fur to stand on end as she was quickly brought back into reality.

"Good morning, Bomba! Well, I guess it's afternoon now, but you know me. I just thought that I would drop by and see how the mother to be was- goodness kitten! When did this happen!" Jennyanydots rushed over to the queen's side, noticing the new infant that was clutched in her arms. Bombalurina instantly shied away from the shocked queen, struggling to wrap the kitten up in blankets, praying that her aunt wouldn't notice the kitten's fur patterns.

"Oh Bombalurina, are you alright? How are you feeling? I'm so sorry that I wasn't here! If you had of screamed I'm sure that someone would have heard you and-"

"I'm fine Jenny, really. I'm just a little tired. I got through it, that's all that matters," the frazzled red queen said as she was congratulated in a warm hug. Bombalurina cringed at the next words that left her aunt's mouth. "Oh, I am so proud of you! Most queens would panic if something like this were to ever happen to them, but not you- not our Bomba! You went through the pregnancy perfectly, even though it was a horrible toms kitten. You'll be a wonderful mother, I'm sure of it!"

Jennyanydots gushed and looked down at the kitten's face, which was the only part that was visible from the masses of blankets surrounding him. "Your mother would be so proud!"

Bombalurina looked down at the soft bundle of fur and smiled. Jenny was always so kind to any cat in need, no matter what the situation.

"What are you thinking about naming him?" Jennyanydots asked, stroking the queens face affectionately with her paw.

"I haven't decided yet. There are so many meaningful names out there that would suit him," Bombalurina answered as she placed a kiss on his forehead. More names than you could ever realize.

"Well, we will have to think of one now, won't we? I'll let you two be alone for a little while and go inform the tribe of what has happened. After all, you must be just exhausted! I'll be back with some extra blankets and food in a little bit," Jennyanydots said as she nuzzled her great nephew and headed out the door. "Just holler if you need me!"

It was obvious that the Gumbie cat was excited for her niece, but it was also apparent that she was sad that she hadn't been there to help her through it. Bombalurina frowned sadly. She hadn't been all that warm to her family lately, but still, they persisted on pampering her and tried their best to please her. She felt guilty of course, but the thing that surprised Bombalurina the most was that her little plan had worked.

It had actually worked! Her aunt hadn't found out the true identity of her kitten. But how long before someone did? How long could she possibly keep this charade up before someone would eventually figure it out, and her secret would be out in the open? What would happen when they did find out? The only thing Bombalurina could do now was wait; the situation was now out of her control.


"I don't know, Tugger! What do you want to do?" Mistoffelees asked the oddly silent Maine Coon for the fifth time in a row. Tugger, who was lying down beside the tuxedo tom, looking up at the clouds, swatted at him. "I don't know, there really isn't anything to do. It's so boring around here," he answered, never shifting his gaze from the sky.

Mistoffelees sighed, Tugger just wasn't as fun as he normally was. Something was still bothering him. Ever since Tugger had found out that Bombalurina had been forced to get pregnant, something in him had changed. Struggling to find the appropriate words, the tuxedo cat gulped. Sadly, nerves of steel wasn't something that he had been gifted with. "Tugger, well- I was just wondering if you could answer a question that I've been wondering about a lot lately…"

"Go ahead. Ask away, oh mighty magician," Tugger responded as he lazily fidgeted with his mane.

"I was just wondering, well, if you were, well-" spurred on by Tugger's annoyed glance, the smaller tom decided to spit it out, " Well, I was just wondering if you were happy with the way everything turned out?" Mistoffelees asked, awkwardly trying to avoid the toms gaze. "Answer truthfully; you know that you don't have to lie around me."

Suspicious, Tugger turned around to look at Mistoffelees in the eye. "Of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be? There's nothing to be unhappy about. The sun's shining; I was able to get enough food to eat in the last week... Why wouldn't I be happy?"

Mistoffelees looked down at the ground. "Look Tugger, I know how difficult it's been for you lately... Bombalurina's pregnancy came as a shock to all of us... I just want to make sure that you're going to be alright?"

Tugger grunted. "I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine. She's doing fine. She's as stubborn as ever from what I hear."

Mistoffelees frowned. He knew that he wasn't going to get an honest answer out of the tom today. Bombalurina was a touchy subject with him; some days he was willing to talk about it, others he wasn't. "Look, I just want to know if you're happy being with Etcetera, that's all. You never seem too enthusiastic when you're around her, and you've held off the mating ceremony for the last few months. I had thought that you were finally starting to accept your father's decision."

Tugger sighed in defeat. There was no point in lying, Mistoffelees was bound to see through it. "Yeah, you'd that think I would, wouldn't you? I mean, so much time has passed... It's about time that I got used to the idea of settling down, right? In all honestly Misto, I don't like her all that much. Sure, she adores me like crazy, but I don't think that she actually loves me. Not yet."

Mistoffelees struggled to hold back a sarcastic, "No, really?" but settled on saying: "Yeah, because you've actually been in love before?" Mistoffelees stopped grinning when he noted how serious the toms expression had become.

"I don't know if I have before," Tugger began, standing up. "but I think that I might have. Maybe. All I know is that it didn't feel anything close to the way I feel toward Etcetera."

"So, what are you going to do?" Mistoffelees was surprised by Tugger's sudden honesty. He didn't normally discuss his feelings with anyone. "You know everyone expects you to be mated to Etcetera at the upcoming ball! If you don't pick her, the tribe will expect you pick someone."

"I know, it sucks! In all honesty, I don't know what I'm going to do! Bast knows that I have hundreds of eligible, gorgeous queens, lining up for me," Tugger ran his paws through his head-fur. " I mean, who wouldn't want to be mated to this?" Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, only partly glad that his friends ego was still intact. "I want to find the perfect mate, Misto. But what if who I want isn't who everyone else expects me to end up with? What if she doesn't want me back?"

Mistoffelees stared at the tom, stunned. For the first time in his life, the Rum Tum Tugger had actually admitted to have feelings for a queen that ran deeper than a messy fling. Standing up beside him, Mistoffelees looked deeply into his eyes. "Tugger if you're not planning on becoming mates with Etcetera at the ball, who might I ask, are you planning on becoming mates with?"

Tugger looked away guiltily, and Mistoffelees knew the answer to his question.


"I can't believe that Bombalurina had her kitten! I'm an aunt!" Demeter screeched, gleefully throwing her arms around Jennyanydots. Her persistent squealing caused many of the tribe members to come over and inquire about what was going on. After finding out what had happened to Bombalurina late last night, they quickly began hustling about, trying to get the things that she would no doubt need for her kitten, in order.

"I can't believe that Bomba actually has a son now!" Electra exclaimed to Victoria, who was sorting through some of her old collars. "It's so odd, I know," Victoria said, smiling as she noticed Mistoffelees and Tugger walking toward them. "Hey love."

"What's all the fuss about?" Mistoffelees asked, rubbing heads with the white queen.

"Bomba had her kitten last night! It's a tom!We're all gathering stuff that she might need. Even though she says that she doesn't want any of our help, we all know that she really does," Victoria grabbed the tuxedo cats arm and excitedly dragged him over to their den, determined to find the perfect gift for Bombalurina.

Tugger stared blankly into space. She had actually had a kitten. Bombalurina had actually given birth to a kitten that she would raise; a kitten that she would bring up in a Jellicle tribe- bring up as a Jellicle cat; that wasn't born a Jellicle. He growled. This kitten was an alley cats kit, nothing more. He furiously pushed away the little voice inside of his head that told him that he was just jealous that it wasn't his kitten, and began to walk away. He couldn't watch as Bombalurina happily raised a kitten in this tribe being completely unaware of his own misery toward the situation.


Bombalurina hastily left her den. She had made sure to wrap her kitten up in blankets so that only his face was able to be seen, in hopes of keeping his parentage from being discovered. If she could just make it to the tire- where she had stored some food- before anyone noticed her, she could make it back to the safety of her den in no time.

"Bombalurina, you're up!" Jemima exclaimed, noticing the red queen lurking in the shadows.

Before Bombalurina could do anything and register what was happening to her, Etcetera, Jemima, Electra, Victoria and Demeter, were all rushing up to her, trying to get a glimpse of her son.


"Tugger, Bombalurina is here with her kitten if you're interested," Munkustrap said, coming up behind the brooding tom. Noticing his brother's negative response, Munkustrap nudged his arm. "Why are you so upset with her? Not everything is about you, you know! Stupidly, I had thought that you had finally outgrown this stage, but evidently I was wrong. Everlasting cat Tugger, she's doing the best that she can! As my brother, you should have been the first in line to congratulate her!"

"Well, I was first in line. Until the little hairball was actually born. Why should I?" Tugger said, his tone rising to match the tabby's. "As far as I'm concerned, they're both better off without seeing me, ever again. It's not like she'd notice if I was there or not."

"Jealous prick," the silver tom hissed, under his breath. " You're acting ridiculous. She was the only one you trusted after mom left, are you really going to abandon her now, after all that she's done for you?" Munkustrap folded his arms, unamused. "Sure it was crazy and unorthodox, but that relationship taught you things, did it not?" His younger brother froze.

"Who told you?" Tugger asked, shocked that his brother had actually found out about his little affair with the red queen. He hadn't told anyone about it, had he? Why was he not upset?

"Tugger, it's my job to know. Now as my brother, and the second son of Old Deuteronomy, you are going to see her," Munkustrap ordered, dragging his younger brother out of his den by his tail.

"It's not her that I have the problem with!"

"Well then," Munkustrap corrected, "you are going to see her, and her son. And, you will learn to coexist with him."


"Come on Bomba, let's have a peek at him," Pouncival pleaded.

"No Pouncival, he's young. He needs his rest," Bombalurina was trying her best to shield the young kitten away from the pestering tribe, but they were getting dangerously too close for comfort.

"Oh come on, let's just have a quick look," Pouncival said, yanking the kitten's blankets off, unaware of how serious his actions were. Hissing, Bombalurina grabbed the blankets back in hope that she could still hide her son's fur, but it was already too late. Hearing the gasps of disbelief rise from the surrounding cats, she backed up against the tire, ears folding back.

"Bast. He looks exactly like T-Tugger," Jennyanydots exclaimed, horrified. The tribe quickly began to gather around the mortified queen, trying to get a better look at the distraught family. "Oh no, Bombalurina. Don't you dare tell me that after all we warned you about, you still went against our wishes…"

Confused, Demeter rushed up to her crimson sister, pushing through the crowd of cats, not understanding what all the commotion was about. Seeing the guilty look on her sister's face, she understood. She literally felt he heart break. Bombalurina had lied to her."Tell me that it's not true, Bomba. Tell me that he's not Tugger's. Tell me that you didn't actually-" Demeter cut herself off, disgusted. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"I-I can't."

Demeter backed away, shaking her head, furious.

"Dem, it was an accident, honestly it was! It wasn't supposed to have happened! Please! You have to believe me," Bombalurina said, trying to grab her sister's paw for support. "Please."

Jellylorum stared at the red queen skeptically, before approaching."Why should we believe anything you tell us? Everything you've told us about him," the older aunt hissed, gesturing to the kitten, "has been a lie. You said that you'd never go with him Bombalurina! You swore it to us that you'd stay away! You know what he did- how he disgraced our family- and you still went with him! And what's worse, you had the nerve to lie to us about it!" Jellylorum teeth began to show their tips threateningly.

"What's going on here?" a curious voice asked. Turning around, Jellylorum spotted the Rum Tum Tugger and felt her eyes turn into slits. There was a still silence before Etcetera stalked up beside him and clawed him hard across the face. Sniffing back her tears, Etcetera informed the frazzled looking tom on the information that the tribe had just gathered. "That little brat that Bombalurina was carrying, wasn't a random rapist toms son!" her venom laced voice hissed, "he's yours!"

Before he could stop her, she had already turned and started to run off. Tugger's eyes shot to Bombalurina, who was frozen in the corner, clutching his son to her chest. His son! As he approached cautiously, not fully believing what he had just heard, he realized that it was true. Dazed, he let out a disbelieving laugh. She had lied to him- to them all! "What the hell were you thinking?" he hissed, approaching the now trembling queen. "Don't you think that I would have wanted to know that I fathered a kitten?" stopping in front of her, he shook his head. "Everlasting Cat forbid that you'd actually think of someone else other than yourself for once. I trusted you," backing away from her, he let out a cackle. "I had actually trusted you."

"Tugger, wait! I had never meant for anything like this to happen! I just-" he turned around forcefully, grabbing her by the wrist. Bringing his face close to hers, he hissed in her ear, "You just ruined whatever mess of a relationship it was that we once had. I can't even look at you right now."

Throwing her hand down he stalked away, face red. He had every reason to loose his temper, he reasoned. He had been lied to- turned against someone who was his own flesh and blood. But his temper, if he was completely honest, could also be blamed on seeing this once powerful queen (this once powerful, beautiful, stupid queen), reduced to this blubbering mess. He almost pitied her and it angered him. Why should he feel sorry for her? When she hurried after him, his blood boiled. "You lied to me, you lied to your family, you lied to the leaders of this tribe-"

"Tugger please-" Bombalurina started, but was cut of by a tone in his voice that she had never witnessed before. He sounded furious and almost... dark.

"You lied about one of the most atrocious acts a tom could ever commit against a queen, and you worried your family sick. How could you do this to Jelly and Jenny? The ones who took you in when you had nowhere else to go and raised you? How could you do this to Demeter? Your own sister? You have committed an unforgivable treason by lying to the leader's of this tribe. You've made a mockery of their trust," she hung her head in shame. "and a mockery out of me. As the second son of Old Deuteronomy and the third in command of this tribe, I'm ordering you to get out. Leave Bombalurina. Leave and don't come back."

How had this gotten so out of hand? Had he really just said that? How could he just banish her like that? How could he do that to her kitten? To their kitten? He wouldn't listen to her side of the story right now; no one would. She had never witnessed that display of outrage from Tugger before, and now she knew that she was not welcome to stay with her family. She had no friends, and no home. Glancing down, she realized that all she seemed to have now was the little kitten that was so wrongfully accused of something that she had done. Her little son, Tristram, whose name meant sadness and grief, and had just cost her the only home and family she had ever known. Terrified for her life and that of her son, and seeing that no one was about to come to her aid, Bombalurina turned and ran out of the junkyard gate, clutching the only living relative she had left, not daring to look back.