Warning, the following chapter contains discussion and an instance of vomiting. Yes, I know the show itself has a shit ton of vomiting but better to be safe then sorry.
…...
The morning after Sage and Clover's wedding, Uncle King Julien and Zora set off for their own lover's retreat in Feartopia. Where they got to work tearing down it's oppressive walls, splintering it's threatening signs and converting huts that were once a prison into a home. Transforming what once was a place of fear and torment into a love nest tucked within an island paradise. Where for two weeks, the couple had a sublime time relishing in each other's company. Then one day, the pair was out on a romantic stroll through the jungle when Zora's ears suddenly picked up a faint sound.
"Stop!" She commanded, stopped in her tracks and held out her arm in front of Julien, which made him halt as well.
"What? Why are we stopping?" Was his vexed question.
"Shh! Listen!" Zora firmly instructed, putting a finger to his lips. Then, she pulled her finger away, squinted her eyes and carefully scanned the path before them. That's when the sound reached Julien's ears, to which he followed his girlfriend's gaze and both of them soon spotted a tiny pink speck beneath a nearby tree. The pair carefully made their way over and saw that it was a baby bird lying in the grass. Tiny thing, bald with bulging eyes that hadn't opened yet, swinging their pin head side to side as they frantically chirped. Julien thought that they were an ugly creature but they were also so small and helpless and no doubt scared shitless...
"Oh, you poor little thing!" Zora cooed, knelt down and carefully scooped up the tiny baby, gazing upon them as if they were the most beautiful thing on earth.
"You seem to be alright." Zora said, cautiously optimistic as she looked over the chick and gently rubbed their pink back with her finger. Then she looked up the trunk of the tree that stood before them. "Is this your tree?" She asked the little bird in a cutesy voice and slowly stood up, taking great care not to drop the fragile creature. Then, the large lemur looked up even farther and spotted a tiny hole just above her head enough to be out of reach. "Jules, can you please go see if there's a nest in that hole?" She begged Julien over her shoulder.
"Y-yeah, of course." Julien said, a bit taken aback, having been captivated by his lover being so tender to the little creature. He came over, climbed up the tree until he got to the hole and peered inside. It wasn't much bigger then the entrance, with the pint sized space filled to the brim with tiny twigs, bits of moss and the like and nestled smack in the middle of all were two chicks cuddled together, both just as tiny and ugly as the one Zora held so gently in her paws.
"Yep, this is it alright. Got two more chicks just like it." Julien reported as he climbed back down to Zora's side.
"That's great!" Zora said excitedly, choosing to let the choice of pronouns slide. But then a second later, she frowned. "Oh but how are we going to get this little one up there? I might be able to reach the nest if I stretch my arm out enough but even if I can, I won't be able to see where I'm putting them! I can climb the tree but I might drop them or hold them too tight! Oh!" She fretted, looking from a concerned Julien to the chick to the hole then back to the chick, who by then had settled down in her palm, looking even tinier curled up within her huge hand. "Oh, if only you could hold onto me like a baby lemur! That would make this way easier!"
Then, Zora was stuck by an idea that lit her face right up and she looked to Julien with a hopeful grin.
"Why are you looking like that?" He asked, both confused and a little leery.
"Maybe I could boost you up while you hold the baby and you can put them back in the nest?" Zora suggested sweetly, complete with expectant puppy eyes.
"What? No! No way! Uh, uh!" Julien firmly declined after a stunned second and took a step back while holding up his palms to Zora, who scowled and said snappishly to him,
"Why not?"
"Cause...cause what if I hurt it!?" Julien exclaimed in alarm, wiping the scowl off Zora's face. To be replaced by stunned staring as Julien went on to fret, "It's so puny and weak! It'd take nothing for me to...to…!", before petering off, unable to meet Zora's gaze as dark thoughts twisted his stomach into lead knots.
Then, after a silent moment, Zora's face softened and she gently turned Julien's to meet hers as she told him with tender earnest, "They are not an it and you are not going to hurt them!"
"How do you know that?" Julien asked barely above an apprehensive whisper, rubbing his face against Zora's palm as he turned away from her gentle gaze.
"Cause Zora will show you what to do and she trust's you!"
But Julien continued to keep his troubled gaze averted, his mouth against Zora's palm. So Zora carefully lifted the chick to their level and pleaded, "Please, Julien! Help me get this little dear home!"
After another reluctant second or two, Julien slowly looked back to his lover, to her imploring purple eyes and the pink baby curled up in her paw. He then breathed out a defeated sigh and conceded,
"Let's get this over with."
To which Zora gave a soft grateful smile, let go of her lover's cheek and gently ordered, "Hold out your paws.
To which Julien held out his paws to her palm side up.
"Now cup them like you're getting a drink."
Julien got his paws into position.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
And so with great care, Zora transferred the chick from her hands to Julien's. At this sudden change, the tiny baby resumed their frightened cries with their volume and frequency twofold and kicked their pink feet against this new strange presence, all while Julien frantically fretted to himself,
"Steady! Steady! Thing's been shaken enough as it is! Doesn't need you shaking like a Willie! Steady!"
"It's alright. You got them. They're scared but they're not hurt, see? You doing fine." Zora tenderly reassured and indeed, even as the chick screamed and squirmed, Julien kept them safely contained in his hands, his hold steady and gentle even as his heart threatened to hammer through his chest all the while.
Then, upon Zora's instructions, she took the chick from Julien and he climbed onto her shoulders. From there, Zora slowly lifted the baby to Julien, who gently grabbed and held them once more, using Zora's head to steady his hold. Zora then brought all of three of them right up to the tree and after swallowing a lump in his throat, Julien brought the chick right up to the hole. He then oh so gently nudged the tiny creature onto one hand, then put said hand inside the hole.
By that point, the chick's persistent chirping had woken up the other two and now they were calling out to their astray sibling. Who upon finally hearing familiar voices, crawled across Julien's palm with all their might until they were snuggled beside their family once more. From there, the tiny trio quickly settled down and drifted back to sleep, coaxing a small smirk from Julien's lips.
He then smiled down at Zora. "Okay, they're in, you can put me down now. I know you wanna see this." He gladly told her and Zora happily put him back on his feet, then climbed up the tree and looked into the hole.
"Awww! Together again!" Zora cooed upon seeing the siblings all snuggled together, sparking a cozy warmth in her heart that spread to the top of her heads to the tips of her toes as she tenderly watched the reunited family.
Meanwhile, Julien himself felt a fuzzy warmth spreading across his own heart melting away the bone chilling dread that had gripped it just minutes before. In spite of himself, he had found himself silently cheering on the little chick as they had crawled across his hand, quietly congratulating the determined infant when they reached their relations and supposed that the three of them were kinda ugly-cute in their teeny cuddle pile. Then there was Zora. The sunlight dancing off the gentle glow in her kind eyes, the tender warmth radiating from her soft smile as she gazed upon the tiny trio and Julien swore that in those moments, she had never looked more beautiful.
Finally, Zora was able to pry herself away from the precious babies and joined her boyfriend back on the ground. Then, she made swift work of swooping him off his feet and pulling him in a warm embrace.
"Thank you so much, Julien!" Zora said with adoring joy and after a stunned second, Julien's smile returned and he said, soft and sincere,
"Of course."
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Within a week of the couple's tag team rescue, Zora awoke one morning with a start. Slammed by a sudden wave of nausea, she sprung out of bed and proceeded to expel her dinner out the window. At first, she and Julien figured there must have been something wrong with their previous meal but Julien had eaten the exact same food and felt fine. And in the coming days, the couple continued to consume much of the same food and drink with Julien feeling healthy as can be while Zora kept starting off her days sick as a dog. On one such morning, Zora was once again on her hands and knees outside their hut with Julien knelt beside her, tenderly rubbing her back as she heaved and hacked, keeping up the gentle gesture until the large lemur coughed and spat out the last bits of breakfast, with a concerned paw still on her as she sat up.
"I'll be right back." Julien said gently, then got up and went inside the house. Where he turned on the sink, got a clean towel and held it under the running water. Then he turned the sink off, wrung out excess water from the towel and took it outside to Zora. Who was sitting down with her head thrown back and her eyes closed as she took in rattling breathes of sweet salt air. Julien kneeled down next to her, held out the towel and said softly,
"Here."
When Zora looked to him, Julien's heart ached at her pained expression, most of all her weary eyes, bloodshot and misty with tears.
"Thank you." Zora said, soft and sincere, took the towel and proceeded to wipe away the sweat, tears and mucus from her face.
"How you feeling?" Julien asked with gentle concern and when Zora pulled the cloth away from her face, was shocked to see that it was now furrowed into an angry scowl.
"How do you think I'm feeling, you moron!? Just when I think I'm fine, I feel like crap all over again and I don't know why!" Zora snapped and Julien recoiled from her blaring bark. Then, seeing his stunned and hurt expression wiped the scowl off Zora's.
"Julien, I...I didn't mean...I'm sorry! You're not a moron! You asked cause you care and...and I'm sorry!" Zora anxiously apologized, to which Julien grabbed her arms and said,
"Hey, hey, it's okay! I wouldn't exactly be miss sunshine either if I were you.", firm but gentle as well, topped off with a hint of humor.
"That doesn't make it okay to insult you! Especially not when you're being so sweet!" Zora fretfully, tenderly insisted.
"Hey, hey!" Julien gently rubbed her arms as he insisted, "I know you don't wanna make a habit of it. Water under the bridge.", and continued to coo soft words to his beloved until he was able to soothe her.
Later, Zora laid down for a nap and Julien left her alone to rest, soon finding himself walking along the beach. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was alone in the sky shining bright upon the sand and Julien felt the warmth it greedily soaked up beneath his feet. As the sound of placid waves lapping against the shore filled his ears while a cool ocean breeze gently blew through his fur but Julien couldn't bring himself to enjoy any of it, his pensive mind too troubled. What ailment was afflicting his beautiful behemoth? Was she going to keep getting sicker? He didn't know anything about medicine and Zora knew how to treat wounds but not illnesses. If she didn't start feeling better soon, she'd have to see someone who did. She'd have to see the medicine man in The Mountain Lemur Kingdom. But if they waited too long, she could become too sick to travel. Maybe it would be better to go ahead and make the journey while she was still able.
That's when scraps of memories flashed through Julien's mind. Of him as a much younger man witnessing his mother experience the same sudden illness. Of his sister's dismay over the familiar baffling symptoms. Of her fearing that she may had been poisoned only for their mother to point out another possibility. Of both mother and daughter finding out the true cause of their ailments was that they were...that they were going to have…
Julien stopped in his tracks. The breeze vanished, leaving behind a stifling stillness that swiftly brought streams of sweat rolling down his skin while the lapping waves were rapidly drowned out by familiar words ringing ever louder in his ears. It couldn't be! Zora couldn't be…but the two of them had gotten to know each other in more ways then one in their lover's paradise. During which time they could have...Julien's breath picked up speed, swiftly sprinting in short bursts through the still air as he stared down at the searing sand.
"Whoa there, Julien! Slow down! You don't know that for! Breathe!" Julien chided himself between breathes. He then let in and out several rattling ones before sternly saying to himself, "Ask Zora what she thinks! It's her body! She knows it best!"
He took his time getting back to the hut. Upon arrival, he found Zora still lying in bed, though she was now wide awake, with paws resting on her stomach as she solemnly stared up at the ceiling. This made Julien's own belly tighten and he swallowed a dry lump in his throat, then took another deep breath before giving his timid greeting.
"H-hey, hon."
To which Zora swiftly sat up, her eyes wide and her breath rattling as she turned towards her boyfriend's voice.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I…!" Julien anxiously apologized, paused then asked, both sheepishly and awkwardly, "I-I was just coming to check on you. Did you have a nice nap?"
"Oh, oh i-it's alright, you just surprised Zora, that's all. I...didn't get much sleep. Been...thinking. Wondering why I've been sick and...and I keep coming back to one theory and...and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense and..." Zora's uneasy rambling petered off but her eyes remained locked with Julien's in the pregnant pause that followed. One fearful gaze meeting another, two hearts beating as if they would burst through their ribcages at any moment, before Zora finally blurted out, "I think I might be pregnant!"
A rattling gasp escaped Julien's lips and for a long moment, it was all he could do but keep his wide eyed gaze on Zora, who steadily held it as she anxiously awaited a response until he finally gave her a breathless, "You too?"
Now it was Zora's turn to be stunned. "You've thought of that too?" She incredulously asked, to which Julien solemnly nodded.
"I...remembered my sister and my mom feeling the same way you've been and finding out that it was because they were...pregnant." He tried to explain calm and composed like but was unable to fully hide the trepidation in his tone, especially as he struggled to say that one word.
"And Zora didn't start feeling this way until after we started...you know…I don't know, I just...feel it." Zora said likewise, looked down and laid a gentle paw on her belly and Julien followed her gaze, held it there for a moment or two before tearing his eyes away. He then made his way over to the bed and carefully sat down next to his girlfriend.
"How long have you've had this feeling?" He asked, solemn and stunned.
"Since yesterday. It was just a little inkling that I brushed off at first but it's much more then that today. You?" Zora said in kind, with eyes on her stomach as she softly rubbed it with her thumb before turning her gaze back on her boyfriend, who said to her,
"Today."
There was a brief pause, then Julien asked,
"Have you've also been thinking that we should just go ahead and see your medicine man right away?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Okay, we better get packing then."
Though Zora was quick to point out that since it took quite a few hours to travel from one island to the other, it would be nighttime by the time they got to The Mountain Lemur Kingdom and assured Julien that she would be fine waiting until morning and fear of the dangers that the jungle held in those hours overpowered Julien's concerns of his beloved being incapacitated by illness.
They ended up sitting on the beach on that night. The moon climbed at a leisurely pace across the canopy of stars that hung above while shining down upon the shimmering black ocean below, whose waves blended with those of red, orange and yellow crackling for the couple cuddled before it's warmth. Who silently stared into the flames as a thousand thoughts swirled through their heads until Zora said,
"Jules?"
"Hmm?" Julien gave a curious hum and looked to his lover.
"I've been thinking about if there really is a baby, about where do we go from there." Zora said solemnly, nervousness lacing her words as she continued to gaze upon the shimmering flames. She looked to Julien and he could see apprehension within her violet eyes as well. "I've been so, so happy here with you! I love it here and I know you do too but if I am having our child, then I'm going to need help that you can't give! Not by yourself! We'll both need it not just for when the baby is born but before and after! The baby will need others in their lives besides just us and so do I! I love you so much, Julien, but I want other friends too! I want other mothers to talk to! I want our baby to have friends and neither of us will have them if we stay here all by ourselves and...and that's why I want the three of us to live in The Mountain Lemur Kingdom!"
A pregnant pause followed as Julien processed her words in stunned silence. Then after a long moment, his face softened, his paw gently grabbed Zora's, laced their fingers together and said to her, softly and sincerely,
"Sounds good to me! I'm in!"
And Zora's own expression softened and she let out the breath she hadn't known that she had been holding. While tears started to pool in her eyes and a wide grin spread across her lips. "Thank you!" She tenderly told him, low and raspy like, and pulled her lover closer into a warm embrace.
Which Julien gladly returned in kind and softly whispered in her ear, "I'm sticking with you two no matter what, babe! I promise!"
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Bright and early the next morning, the couple got right to work preparing their abode for a long vacancy. They were making brisk progress, with Julien in the process of putting a folding chair into the closet, when he started thinking about his soon to be king Sage when suddenly, that thought thrusted another into the spotlight. Recent memory that revealed a most terrible realization.
"Oh dear gods, no!" He exclaimed in dismay, startling Zora as she was shutting a shudder on the other side of the room.
"What? What is it?" She asked in confused concern but Julien paid her no heed as his distress mounted, pacing and saying to himself,
"No, no, no! How the fuck did I forget that!?"
"Forget what!?" Zora demanded to know, her own anxiety mounting. This stopped Julien in his tracks and he whipped back around to face her.
"Clover! For Frank's sake, we were at her wedding! To Sage! Which means Clover is queen of the mountain lemurs! Which means Clover decides who can and can't live in her kingdom! Including me! And you and I both know exactly how she feels about me! There's not a snowball's chance in hell that she'd ever let me stay and there's nothing and nobody on earth that can change her mind! Not you! Not a baby! Not Sage and whatever hippie dippy bullshit he pulls out of his ass! Nobody!" He lamented frantically and as he spoke, the same tidal wave of dread slammed into Zora and they were soon giving each other matching panic-stricken expressions.
"Oh gods, you're right!" Zora said with breathless horror. Then, furrowing her brow into a determined scowl, she declared, "Then Zora won't live there either! We'll go somewhere else!"
"Where else can you and the baby go without the fossa breathing down your necks!? Ever since Mary Ann…!" Julien started to argue, then stopped. For his perturbed reasoning had made him recall a most earth shaking decree, one negotiated by parties he knew all too well. That now ignited the spark of an idea that grew to a blaze as he slowly said in stunned recollection, "Ever since she bared the other fossa from harming any and all lemurs living in my nephew's kingdom! Which means if we...we can stay there!", ending with his own determined declaration.
Which took Zora aback to say the least but she quickly got over it to say skeptically, "You really think King Julien will let you live in his kingdom!?"
"He pardoned usso we could be together when there wasn't a baby! He wouldn't dare stand in our way of being together now!" Julien insisted snappishly, though Zora could hear the doubt lacing his words. Still, she too wanted to believe.
"He does tend to be the charitable type..." She said with cautious optimism, recalling a number of other instances of the lemur king's generosity that she had either been witness to or had heard about. Then, she recalled something else and asked with tender concern, "Are you sure you'll be alright living with your ex-subjects!?"
"I can live with the hate! I've been living with it my whole life! It doesn't matter to me! Not so long as you and our child are safe and we're all together!" Julien swore with tender conviction while gently rubbing the back of his fingers over Zora's cheek. Then, he had a distressing recollection and asked fretfully, "Will you be okay with it!? You said you were an outcast there before! You'll be a pariah with me! And the baby!"
"The babies there don't know you! They don't hate you and they have no reason to hate our baby! And some have to have parents who wouldn't be so heartless that they'd deny an innocent child friends! Or a new mother in need! And Zora can still be friends with mountain lemur parents even if we don't live in the same kingdom! The baby will okay! I'll be okay!" Zora argued earnestly.
"Will you!?"
"Yes! Cause the three of us being safe and together is all that matters to me!"
Julien didn't respond right away but stared at his girlfriend helplessly, as she did right back at him. The conversation didn't end there. It went on and off throughout the rest of the couple's preparations, their journey across the ocean, right up until they set foot inside The Lemur Kingdom.
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Dawn flowed into the royal bedroom, bathing it in new light that shone across the elder Julien's eyes, causing them to flutter and sluggishly open to slits. Julien groaned and shut them, letting out a wide yawn before slowly opening them back up again, wider this time. He stared up at the top of the canopy bed that held both him and Zora, then rolled onto his side to come face to face with his lover, who was sleeping soundly. A soft smile played on his lips as he watched her peaceful form, taking it all in from face to torso, before stopping at her stomach. It still looked the same to Julien but he knew that it wouldn't be much longer before the growing life inside started showing themselves. To which his smile flipped to a melancholy frown as he continued to stare at his beloved's belly for a moment or two more before he sat up gingerly. He then looked about their lent room and down at the borrowed bed beneath them before his eyes landed back on Zora.
"You deserve better then this!" He whispered to her with tender sadness.
Shunned. Ostracized. Having her every move scrutinized and criticized. With no friends and no home. All as punishment for his crimes while she was only guilty of loving and doing everything in her power to protect her growing family. Oh Zora, his dumb chores were nothing to all she had done, all that she continued to do for him and their child. She deserved so much more. Something that showed that he was just as devoted to her and their family. But what?
Julien raked his brain for the answer all morning. He thought and thought and thought some more, to where he gave little thought to much else. Least of all his chores, going about them without uttering a single one of his growing collection of complaints reserved for his string of supervisors. Which caused his manager for that day (an older gentleman around his age) to keep stealing stupefied stares in his direction as he quietly wiped and silently swept throughout his home.
And it was while sweeping that Julien passed a picture hanging on the wall. He didn't pay much mind to it at first, only giving it a glance before turning back to his work, but then he stopped and looked again. It was a small painting of two lemurs from the waist up. The man was wearing a fancy bib and bowtie while the woman wore a white dress and veil, holding between them a small bouquet of flowers as both smiled warmly for the artist. This image planted a new thought within Julien's mind and as it grew, his frown flipped to a soft smile while his tight scowl melted from the gentle warmth sparked in his heart. Swiftly blazing through it like wildfire while shouting it's wholehearted approval, of which Julien couldn't agree more. Question was, would Zora feel the same way?
For the rest of his shift, Julien was both eager and apprehensive for it's end. It filled his head to where he barely heard the other man dismiss him, ever increasing questions buzzing about his brain all the way back to his nephew's home. Was it too soon? Would Zora freak out? Should he wait? But what if Zora had been thinking about and wanted this too but had been too nervous to bring it up with him? But then again…
When he got to the house all too soon, Julien stopped before the front door, stared at it for a moment or two, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, opened his eyes and the door while calling out his lover's name. Upon receiving no answer, Julien called again while letting himself inside. Still receiving no response, he called one more time before realizing that he was alone in the home. Frank damn it. Class must have not been dismissed yet. Julien looked up at the clock and saw that he had been relieved of his work a little earlier then the previous days. Looks like he would have to wait a little longer before seeing his beloved.
That's when another question came to mind. How exactly was he going to pop the question to her? To which Julien decided to practice his proposal in front of the mirror but no matter what combination of words he poured out for his reflection, nothing was good enough. Not for his brave beautiful behemoth who deserved the world! But he kept at it until after over an agonizing hour, with his scorched throat like a dried up riverbed, Julien leaned his forehead against the glass and let out a disheartened groan. When suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of the front door opening, along with Zora's voice saying with cautious optimism,
"Hello? Jules? It's me, Zora. Are you home?"
With a start, Julien straightened himself up while suppressing a startled yelp and poked his head in the doorway between the two rooms.
Zora perked up at the sight of her lover and said excitedly, "You are home!". She then rushed over and gave him a warm hug, which after a stunned second, Julien returned in kind.
The couple laid in bed and talked for a while after that, with Zora doing most of the talking. About how training was going, who was learning her lessons well and who was lagging, while Julien was more then happy to let her carry the conversation as his own tongue twisted itself into ever tighter knots by the second.
It wasn't long before Zora noticed her lover's nervous demeanor and asked him in gentle concern, "You okay, my love ham? You weren't worked too hard today, were you?"
"What? N-no, no, I was just...thinking. About something that I've been thinking about all afternoon, actually." Julien told her, nervousness lacing his solemn words. He then sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Something that I need to talk to you about."
"O-kay, what is it?" Zora asked, sat up and crawled across the bed to sit beside him. "Julien, whatever it is, you can tell me."
"I know a-and it's nothing bad, honest! A-actually, it's something that I think would be really wonderful and I really hope that you feel the same way!" Julien's confidence grew as he spoke, turning to meet Zora's gentle gaze with his own and telling her in tender earnest, "I love you! You…you're amazing! You're so strong and I'm not just talking about your muscles but your kindness and your passion and-and everything you're doing for our baby! And me! You've done so much for me! You're having my baby! You changed me! You make me want to be a better man! You've given me so much and you deserve the same from me! But I don't have much and you already have my heart and soul and there's really only one thing I have left!"
At this, Julien got off the bed and knelt down onto one knee before Zora, whose violet eyes widened as she stuttered a stunned, "J-Julien…?"
Julien steadily held her stare with an amber gaze as inviting and protective as a well tended campfire. As he grabbed her paws with a just as gentle touch, swallowed the lump in his throat and gave a soft smile as he asked her, tenderly and humbly,
"Zora, will you marry me?"
A shuddering gasp escaped Zora's lips and it was all she could do but continue to stare for a long moment more while Julien's heart felt ready to burst as he anxiously awaited her answer. Until finally, Zora's own gaze softened, letting out another rattling breath as a tender smile spread across her lips, staying there as she said to Julien, softly and sincerely,
"Yes!"
Now it was Julien's turn to be stunned. "Really!?" He asked with breathless joy.
"Yes, really! I love you too! Of course I'll marry you!" Zora happily declared as her eyes grew misty with the promise of tender tears.
To which Julien's face lit up like the sun and he let go of one of her paws to pump his fist in the air while saying with great enthusiasm, "Yes! Yes!", then held it once more as he giggled gleefully.
When his joyful chuckles stopped, Julien let go of Zora's paws and got back on the bed beside her. He then laid a gentle paw upon her cheek, leaned even closer towards her, closed his eyes and softly kissed her lips. After a stunned second, Zora closed her eyes as well and returned the tender kiss in kind while gently placing her paws on Julien's cheeks.
The couple gave each other matching ear to ear grins upon pulling apart. Then, Julien looked down at Zora's stomach with a more solemn softness and a hesitant second, gently laid his palm upon it. Zora's heart swelled to a blaze at the tender touch and radiated still when Julien softly and sincerely said to the tiny life inside her,
"I meant it when I said that I'm sticking with you and mom no matter what, kiddo!"
Zora sniffled and laid a tender paw on top of Julien's, to which after a surprised second, he began to lightly rub his thumb over her fingers as both continued to softly gaze at her belly.
Neither knew what the future would bring but both were certain that come what may, they would face it together.