Father's Day isn't as prominent as Mother's Day. It may have something to do that May is a more natural time for Mother's Day than June for Father's Day. Still, Animalia did try to keep the two holidays equal. One of the ways they kept Father's Day prominent is with the Father's Day Photoshoot. At the Animalia School of Modeling, an amateur photoshoot is set up so that fathers and fathers-to-be can modeling shoots. The photos taken are usually reserved for their wives, who certainly enjoyed seeing their husbands up on the catwalk, often shirtless.
That wasn't to say that these photos wouldn't be found attractive to anyone except the wives. Since the Animalian virus male physiques to optimum proportions, it was very hard-pressed to find any father who wasn't eye candy. There would be plenty of women (and gay men) who would love to have one of the pictures of Anton, Lenny, or Thomas. Even Jack Piper had a desirable body, even if he was a giant rat with a seedy past.
Certainly one father who was enjoying the photoshoot would be King Andrew I. Over the last year, he had really come out of his shell. Before his conversion, he was a widower who was deeply mourning the wife he had lost. Their marriage may have been mostly platonic since Andrew realized he was gay, but he still loved even if he felt no physical attraction. He was fortunate enough that their one union was able to produce a son as good as Jeff. Jeff was the one who persuaded Andrew to go through conversion to help him start a new life. The lion Andrew was now was almost unrecognizable from the man he was before. He was bigger, stronger, and filled with so much vigor.
It certainly helped that his second marriage was full of a lot more passion. It was ironic, Kinjara was only supposed to help Andrew and Jeff adjust to their new leonine lifestyle, particularly with Andrew becoming bisexual. However, Andrew and Kinjara clicked on several levels. Andrew adjusted to his bisexuality a lot faster than expected. It wasn't that he couldn't love a woman before, he just hadn't found them sexually attracted until now. He and Kinjara didn't want a big wedding, mostly because of the pandemic and also because they didn't want to make things awkward for Jeff. So they eloped a few months ago.
And while Jeff was certainly happy his father was happy, he couldn't help but feel some resentment. While he knew his dad's relation with Kinjara was doing him good, a small dark part felt like Andrew was forgetting Jeff's mother, who he barely touched, and giving Kinjara all the affection and attention his first wife never got. And Jeff also felt some resentment towards Kinjara, though he knew he was being selfish with her. It wasn't as much that Kinjara was taking his mother's place, but his stepmom was drop-dead sexy and Jeff's leonine hormones gave him a yearning he could not fulfill.
And then there were outings like this photoshoot and their performances at the Meat Market. No one else seemed to care about how embarrassed he'd get except to laugh at the 'hilarious' faces that he made. And one of the disadvantages of having feline hearing and smelling was that it make painfully obvious when his dad and stepmom have sex. Jeff knew that they loved him, but sometimes it felt like they were rubbing their relationship in his face.
As such, Jeff could only tolerate watching his dad's photoshoot for so long before he walked away from it. He headed to a quieter part of the modeling school, hoping to get some alone time. But he wasn't alone for long. Eventually, a lioness came into the room he was hiding out in. She was definitely not Kinjara. As an uplifted lioness, Kinjara didn't have anything on her head but her own fur. This lioness had a full mane, though not like a lion's. Her long black hair was done up in several cornrows. But her body was just as curvaceous and athletic as Kinjara's. "Hey Jeff," said the lioness, "It's been a while."
"Oh, Zoe," said Jeff, blushing a bit under his fur, "I didn't expect to find you here."
"You do know I work at Animalia's modeling agency, right?" asked Zoe pointedly.
"Well, yeah," said Jeff awkwardly, "I just thought you'd be at college..." Zoe just raised an eyebrow. "Which is out for the summer..." added Jeff, "So you're not doing any summer courses?"
"To be honest, I didn't start college yet," said Zoe.
"What, why not?" asked Jeff.
"Have you seen the tuition fees?" asked Zoe, "Not everyone's lucky enough to come from a rich family, earn a scholarship, or build up a nest egg from doing a hit webshow for a few years."
"The AMS didn't give you a scholarship?" asked Jeff in surprise.
"Well...Maggie did say she'd pay for some of my tuition, but I wasn't planning on going to college yet," said Zoe, "I wanted to study abroad for a while, see the world."
"But the pandemic got in the way," said Jeff.
"Yeah, though I did get to spend some time in the African colonies," said Zoe.
"Didn't Maelewano have a locust problem?" asked Jeff.
"It did," said Zoe, "Fortunately, the locusts were mostly gone by about October. I think the ducks they brought in helped. I wonder how many of them were uplifted afterwards? Anyways, I didn't spend all my time in Maelewano. I spent quite a bit of time in New Zerzura. Their modeling agency's going well, even if Egypt's a bit more conservative."
"So what brings you back to America?" asked Jeff.
"A bit of homesickness," said Zoe, "Not to mention the lions over there aren't exactly to my taste."
"Really?" asked Jeff, trying not to sound exotic.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, the lions there are nice, noble, and strong," said Zoe. "And some of them are pretty good in bed," she mentally added. "But they did to be more...simple than I want. Not that they're stupid, but they don't care much beyond hunting, eating, making sure the colony's thriving. Maelewano's not a place for big innovations. I'd prefer a lion that's more...complex," she continued aloud.
"Well, there's still plenty of lions around here," said Jeff, "And more people wanting to convert."
"Well, you're still available, aren't you?" asked Zoe.
"Me?" asked Jeff.
"Sure, you're kind and loyal, considering how you've supported your dad. You've only got another year until you graduate high school. And I'm betting it hasn't been easy living with a new stepmom," said Zoe.
"Well...in some ways more than others..." said Jeff, a memory of Kinjara's bead-covered body bouncing in his mind.
"So I'm interested," said Zoe, "I don't know if we're mate-material, but I think it's worth a shot."
Jeff gave Zoe a good look. His stepmother has planted a very thorough image of what a sexy lioness would like in his head. But Zoe was a model and certainly not a bad-looking one. If a lioness was able to supplant Kinjara from Jeff's fantasies, Zoe might be the one. Of course, Jeff will have to get to know her personality better. "Yeah, I think it's worth a shot," agreed Jeff.