Marriage of Convenience

Part Nine

That same morning, Snarf and Snarfer had just finished placing all the breakfast food on the dining room table. Panthro, Tygra, Pumyra, and Bengali were already there eating. When Lion-O and Cheetara did not show up for another ten minutes, Snarf pulled Snarfer into the kitchen.

“This can’t be good. Snarf, snarf,” he whined. “They didn’t tell you that they wanted breakfast in their room, did they?”

“No, Uncle Snarf,” Snarfer replied.

“Brrr, I better go check on them. They might be fighting again.”

Snarfer nodded his head. “Okey-dokey. I’ll take care of the Thundercats in the dining room.”

Snarf exited the kitchen out the side door and waddled down the hallway. As he headed toward the fateful bedroom, he had nothing but his thoughts to keep him company in the silence.

I hope they aren’t fighting. I just know it was that last argument between Lion-O and Cheetara that caused him to leave in anger. Snarf, snarf. It had to have been why he was speeding on that mountain.

But if I find them arguing, I can’t blame them. There must be loads of stress between them, especially with Lion-O in his condition. Snarf, I know he’s not an easy person to live with. I hope Cheetara can handle him. Why did those two have to get married for convenience anyway?

The snarf found himself in front of their bedroom door.

Oh, by all the seas of Thundera, I know they are fighting. Brr, but what can I do to stop it? Come on, Snarf. Don’t get cowardly now. They are counting on you to help them. You’ve got to just go in there and order them to stop!

Mustering all of his courage, Snarf put on his fiercest face and straightened his small arms, his hands clenched into fists. He pushed a button, and the door swished open. The furry creature walked into the room as he said, “Now look here!”

At the same moment that Snarf’s eyes saw Lion-O and Cheetara lying on the bed, cuddling and kissing, the covers all tangled at the foot of the bed. They stopped kissing, turned to the opened door and both screamed out, “SNARF!”

As Cheetara reached down to pull a blanket over them, Lion-O glared at Snarf. “Learn to knock, will ya?”

With a bashful grin, Snarf began walking out of the room backwards. “Uh, I just came to tell you that...uh, breakfast is ready. Yeah, uh, so you two can just get back to uh, what you’re doing.” Snarf laughed nervously as Cheetara gave him an irate look. “Heh heh, take as long as you want. I’ll keep your breakfast warm.”

With that said, Snarf found himself in front of the door. He hastily closed it and took a few deep breaths to calm his rapid heartbeat. All at once, he felt relief and anger, relief that things between Lion-O and Cheetara were normal, and anger toward Snarfer and his dumb theories.

Inside the bedroom, Cheetara gazed at Lion-O. “So that’s where you get it.”

He looked at her quizzically. “Get what?”

“Not knocking before you enter a room,” she answered.

They both laughed and decided to get ready for the day before Snarf walked in on them again.

When Snarf reached the dining room, he surprised everyone by grabbing Snarfer’s ear and pulling him toward the kitchen. “I have to talk to you, now!”

“Ow! What is it?” Snarfer cried out, rubbing his sore ear when his uncle let go of it.

“Next time you have a theory about someone, remind me not to listen to you!”

“Why, Uncle Snarf? What happened?”

Snarf crossed his arms and glared angrily at his nephew. “When I went to check on Cheetara and Lion-O, I found everything to be fine between them, snarf! It was rather embarrassing for me. Of course, I knew that everything was fine between them. A marriage of convenience...how preposterous!”

“Uh, Uncle Snarf?” Snarfer interrupted Snarf’s babbling. “Then how do you explain what we read in Cheetara’s journal?”

“Easy,” Snarf exclaimed. “That was a practical joke by WilyKit and WilyKat. That’s why it was so easy for us to find it.”

Snarfer scratched his head in confusion. If his uncle thought that was easy, he didn’t want to know what he considered hard. “But, what about...”

Snarf hit his nephew on the back of the head. “But nothing! I’m not going to listen to any of your ideas anymore.”

Snarfer rubbed the back of his head and could feel the bump returning from where WilyKit had hit him a few weeks earlier.

The two snarfs never knew how close they were to the actual truth. As time passed, even Snarfer was convinced that the relationship between Lion-O and Cheetara was normal.

*****

Almost seven months passed by since then. Lion-O had been walking for a good four months on his own. Except for the scars on his body and a slight limp when he was tired, no one could tell that he had ever been paralyzed.

The Lord of the ThunderCats was just returning home from a week long trip. He had been meeting with the Interstellar Galactic Council, where a group of the leaders from all the planets in Thundera’s galaxy met to discuss laws and keep the peace.

It was already several hours past sunset when Lion-O landed the Feliner at Cat’s Lair. He carried his luggage with him as he disembarked from the aircraft. The lion was ready to get to bed. He knew he would have to give a report of the council’s meetings to Thundera tomorrow. It would take him all morning to write the speech.

As he headed toward his bedroom, Lion-O was surprised as Tygra appeared in the hallway. “Tygra? What are you doing up this late?”

“I was waiting up for you. I need to talk to you.”

Lion-O sighed heavily. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I’m really tired.”

Tygra crossed his arms and shook his head. “I think you should know now. It’s about Cheetara.”

The tiger had said the magical word. Lion-O dropped his luggage and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had talked to his wife at least once every day since he had left and had not noticed anything unusual. But if Tygra knew something, he didn’t want to wait any minute longer.

“What about Cheetara?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think it’s anything serious. But she’s been extremely tired this past week. She has to take a small nap in the afternoon, sometimes two, and she can barely keep her eyes open at dinner. I don’t like it. I’ve tried to get her to let me give her a check-up, but she won’t let me.” Tygra reiterated, “Like I said, I don’t think it’s anything serious. But I think we would both feel better if Pumyra or I gave her a physical exam.”

Lion-O nodded his head. “Yeah, I agree. I’ll talk to her in the morning.”

As Tygra left him alone in the hallway, Lion-O picked up his luggage and went to his bedroom. He opened the door and walked into the dark room. He put his suitcases down quietly against the wall and got ready for bed. The lion slipped into bed next to Cheetara’s sleeping form. Inhaling her scent, he couldn’t believe how much he missed her. He put an arm over her and went to sleep.

That next morning, Cheetara awoke an hour before sunrise. She smiled as she felt a familiar hand on her. The cheetah turned around, seeing Lion-O asleep beside her. She ran a hand through his hair and kissed him on the cheek.

Without a sound, he pulled her close to him. Cheetara laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.

“I’m glad you did,” he replied, opening his eyes. “I missed you,” he growled playfully and began planting kisses on her neck.

“I missed you, too,” Cheetara said softly, enjoying Lion-O’s lips on her neck. “I tried to stay up last night until you got home. I guess I was too tired,” Cheetara explained.

Lion-O suddenly stopped and propped himself on an elbow. “Tygra told me last night that you’ve seem to be unusually tired this past week.”

Cheetara shrugged her shoulders as if she had no explanation. “I think it’s because I’ve been working hard this week...ahh!” The cheetah grimaced and sat up, putting a hand on her left hip as she bent over.

“What’s the matter?” Lion-O asked, concerned laced in his voice. He sat up and rubbed her back.

“Nothing,” Cheetara replied as she got out of bed. “It was just a little pain, but it’s going away now.”

Lion-O quickly got out of the bed and blocked the doorway to the bathroom, keeping her from going in. “I don’t like it. Let Tygra examine you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me!” she said angrily, flipping her hair out of her face. “Tygra just needs to mind his own business.”

“That’s not fair, Cheetara. It’s part of Tygra’s responsibility to make sure we are in good health. You know that.”

“I don’t want an exam. I hate having them, and it hasn’t even been a year since my last one.”

“Even so, if there is something wrong, it’s important that we find out as early as possible,” Lion-O remarked.

The cheetah began rubbing her arms. “But he’ll want to do blood work. I really get nervous when I get pricked.”

Beginning to understand, Lion-O caressed one side of her face. “Is this what the fuss is all about? Look, I’ll go with you first thing this morning. Tygra may not need to take blood at all.”

“If he has to, will you hold my hand?” Cheetara asked, faking a whimper.

“Yes,” he answered, smiling at her antics.

*****

Pumyra and Tygra met Cheetara and Lion-O in the infirmary. The puma smiled at her. “We’ll find out what’s got you so tired.”

“You haven’t been having any other symptoms, have you?” Tygra asked.

Cheetara looked at Lion-O and said, “Well, uh...”

“She had abdominal pain this morning,” Lion-O answered for her.

“And I’ve been having low back pain off and on,” she added.

As Lion-O stared at his wife in disbelief for not telling him that earlier, Pumyra got an idea. She pulled Tygra to the side while the married couple began to argue. “I think I know what’s wrong with Cheetara,” she whispered.

“What?” Tygra asked incredulously.

“Well, I won’t be certain until we perform a blood test. Let’s just call it a hunch.”

Trusting his medical partner, Tygra nodded his head. “Okay. Which one of us is going to take her blood?”

“I’ll do it,” Pumyra offered. She donned on a pair of latex gloves while Tygra pulled out a needle and vials. The two of them walked back to Lion-O and Cheetara who were still arguing.

“I hate to interrupt,” Pumyra said loudly, getting their attention, “but I need to get blood from Cheetara.”

The cheetah glared at Lion-O. “I thought you said they wouldn’t need to take blood.”

“I said ‘maybe’,” he reminded her.

In a last ditch effort, Cheetara asked, “Aren’t you going to give me a physical first? Do you have to take blood now?”

“Blood work will give us more information as to what is the problem,” Pumyra explained.

“If we have to, we’ll give you a physical after the public meeting this afternoon,” Tygra added.

The cheetah sighed and put her arm out. Tygra wrapped a rubber strand around the top of her arm and instructed her to make a fist. Lion-O held her other hand as Pumyra felt around for a good blood vessel. “Small prick,” she warned Cheetara.

Cheetara looked away as Pumyra inserted the needle. Tygra released the rubber strand, allowing the blood to flow more easily. When four vials had been filled, the puma took out the needle and put a cotton swab on the spot. “All done.”

“Now was that so bad,” Lion-O remarked.

His wife glared at him. “At least it’s over with,” she muttered.

“Tygra and I will start the lab tests. You two can go eat breakfast,” Pumyra announced as she wrapped a bandage over the small bleeding wound.

When they had walked into the hallway, Lion-O turned Cheetara so that she faced him. “Thank you,” he simply said.

“Yeah, yeah,” she answered. Then she smiled and held his hand as they walked to the dining room.

That afternoon, almost all of the Thunderians were gathered outside Cat’s Lair to hear their Lord’s report. Their talking could be heard all the way inside the fortress. Lion-O peered out a window and looked at the crowds.

“You aren’t nervous, are you?” Cheetara walked behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Lion-O boasted as he turned around, wrapping his arms around her, “I’m never nervous. Are you?”

“No, but then all I have to do is introduce you,” she commented.

“You still feel up to it?”

“I’m a little sleepy, but I’ll be okay,” Cheetara assured him.

“I think we should be heading out to the podium.”

The cheetah wrapped her arms around his neck. “All right, but I have a question first.”

Her husband ran his fingers along her arms. “What?”

She grinned and asked, “Do you think you can make it look like you’re in love with me and fool everyone?”

“Oh, I don’t know. What if I kissed you like this?” Lion-O leaned down and kissed her hard on the mouth. He slowly pulled back and watched his wife open her eyes.

“That would work, but there will be children present,” she joked with him.

“I guess then that the parents will have to cover their eyes,” Lion-O said and kissed her again.

At that moment, Panthro walked into the room. He cleared his throat to interrupt the two. He then said, “Okay, you two. It’s time to get this show started.”

“We’re coming,” Lion-O responded. He and Cheetara followed Panthro to the podium. They and the other ThunderCats stood behind a red, velvet curtain that separated them from the onlookers’ sight. Trumpet fanfare sounded and the noble ThunderCats walked in front of the curtain followed by Bengali, Pumyra, and Lynx-O. Lion-O took Cheetara’s hand as walked by her side onto the podium as they were announced by Lynx-O. Everyone stood out of respect and clapped. Cheetara walked to the podium first, Lion-O standing several feet behind her. She waited for the clapping to die down before she began speaking.

“My fellow Thunderians, we welcome you once again to the annual, public meeting to hear the reports of the interstellar galactic council. It is an honor and my privilege to introduce you to Thundera’s representative, our king, and my husband: Lord Lion-O.”

The crowd once again cheered as Lion-O walked to the podium. He and Cheetara shared a quick kiss. Then the cheetah took her spot between Tygra and Panthro. As she stood between the two male ThunderCats, she began to notice how hot it was that afternoon. Her mind couldn’t focus on Lion-O’s speech. She had heard him rehearse it anyway, so she wasn’t missing anything. But the heat was beginning to get to her.

After about thirty minutes, Cheetara was beginning to panic internally. Her abdomen pain had returned, the acute throbbing not letting up. The heat was wrapping itself around her, making her feel like she was suffocating. She wondered if it was possible for her to sneak off the podium and into the cool lair. But the cheetah decided she couldn’t risk it. She was determined to not give the Thunderians in reason to worry over their queen’s condition.

Hold yourself together. Just a few more minutes, and you’ll be out of this heat. Next time, I’m going to have chairs for us to sit in.

“Are you okay?” Tygra whispered to her, keeping his eyes on the crowd.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she whispered back. A cool breeze brought a small relief to her but was gone as quickly as it came.

“Your legs are beginning to shake. You aren’t going to pass out, are you?”

“I’m just a little hot,” Cheetara answered.

To her relief, Lion-O finished his speech. He waved at the crowd as they cheered again. He then turned and was met by Cheetara halfway. They walked behind the curtain together followed by the other ThunderCats.

Once out of the view of the Thunderians, Cheetara closed her eyes and bent over. Lion-O held her as he asked her what was wrong.

“She got too hot,” Tygra answered for her. “She needs to sit down and cool off.”

Lion-O picked her up and hollered, “Haven’t you two got those blood tests done yet?”

Pumyra replied, “They should be through now. Bring Cheetara into the infirmary, while Tygra and I analyze them.”

The lion ordered the others to do their normal tasks. He then took Cheetara to sickbay and laid her on the examination table. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked worriedly. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

Lion-O took her hand. “We’ll find out. Don’t worry.”

In a side room, Pumyra pulled out centrifuge tube and showed it to Tygra. “Just as I suspected,” she proudly said.

“Well, who would’ve guessed?” he commented.

“Come on, let’s go tell them,” she remarked. Tygra followed her to where Cheetara and Lion-O were waiting for them. The puma smiled at the couple. “Tygra and I discovered what’s causing you to feel so bad, Cheetara. You’re pregnant.”

The cheetah sat up on an elbow and exclaimed, “Pregnant?!”

“Are you sure?” Lion-O inquired.

Tygra nodded his head. “Yeah, the pregnancy test came back positive. You can thank Pumyra. She was the one who suspected it. Your abdominal pain is caused by your uterus growing to make room for the baby. The low back pain and sleepiness are just a part of the pregnancy,” he explained.

“Let’s give them some time alone, Tygra,” the puma suggested. They both left the room quietly.

Cheetara sat up and ran a hand through her hair as she hesitated. “Well, what do you think, Lion-O? Are you ready for this...to be a father?”

Lion-O smiled proudly and sat down beside her. “I couldn’t be more happier.”

The cheetah sighed in relief and let him take her in his arms. Once again, she was glad that she had accepted Lion-O’s proposal that night in the kitchen, no matter the circumstances. The cheetah knew they would always have problems to face, but she knew after all they had been through, they would be okay as long as they had each other to lean on.

THE END