"Hey!" Gillie gasped as the more wild looking dirty orange/dirty red colored cub began tickling her stomach.
Nane, however was undeterred and continued to tickle the copper colored lioness, who couldn't do much with the other three around her and hugging her as well.
"Heh-heh-heh," Gillie gasped, "stop that! heh-heh-heh!"
This didn't help her all that much as she attempted to back away. With the other three hugging her, Gillie ended up tripping over backward, and landing on her back. And this allowed the apparent game of "pounce on Gillie" to continue. Nane was seated on her stomach, tickling her ribs while the other three began to snuggle up to her.
"They're supposed to be adults!" Gillie wondered to herself as Nane continued to tickle her, "Fox cut into four pieces. Fox wasn't this immature!!"
Gillie, didn't fight however, knowing that if she did she might hurt the four cubs, which she didn't want to do, and guessing that reality had given them more of a child's mentality then she remembered Fox having, since these four cubs were... cubs. Not to mention that as part of a "super family", Gillie was probably expected to tolerate these games.
"Come... heh-heh-heh... on... heh-heh-heh-ha... no... ha-ha-ha-ha... tic... ha-ha-ha-ha...li... ha-ha-ha...ing," Gillie gasped out.
She then became nervous when she heard several giggles coming from nearby. She looked up to see several of the gem colored twin pups watching Tano, Sita, Saba, and Nane "dog-pile" on Gillie.
"NO!" Gillie gasped between laughs as the brightly colored pups joined Nane in their game of "tickle".
++++++
Kaylee meanwhile shuffled her pups along the garden edge carrying one water bucket and generally encouraged her eldest daughter to give the instructions on what needed water the most. Kaylee enjoyed it, but the bulk of the garden around the manor was Jenny's work. The black furred pup loved flowers, and since they were now outside, Kaylee thought the best way to snap her eldest daughter out of her funk was to let her go through the garden and tend to it. Marcy followed close behind, smelling each blossom as she went and was soon joined by Amy. Bart and Kevin tagged along, but weren't as interested. Zelipe ended up trotting between them and his sister.
"I would think some bonsai trees would be an interesting addition," Amy offered as they went along, "you could prune them to look like whatever you wanted."
"Bonsai trees are normally grown in pots and indoors," Jenny answered slowly, "not that they can't be grown outdoors, but they would look drastically different."
"We can order some bonsai trees if you wish, Amy," Kaylee offered, "Is there anything else around her that needs water, Jenny?"
The black furred pup looked around and then back to her mother who was holding the watering bucket.
"Nothing really around here," Jenny said weakly, "I suppose some might need it on the north end."
"Then that is our next destination!" Kaylee announced, really hoping this would cheer up her daughter.
"Do we have to go?" Kevin asked, "can't we do something else?"
Kaylee glanced back to her two sons. Neither really looked like they wanted to be gardening.
"I suppose not," Kaylee sighed, "You and Bart can take Zelipe and go after some rabbits, but stay where I or the Omegas can keep an eye on you. Do not pester the deer or the pride's cubs."
Bart and Kevin had seemed to enjoy chasing the rabbits that came onto the manor grounds from time to time, as really all the pack's pups did, but Bart had always had the most interest in this. He had never really caught a rabbit, but he had taught all of the other pups on the techniques to catch rabbits. Kaylee assumed his lack of success mostly came from his focus on instructing the other pups in the pack.
"Thanks, mommy!" Kevin said in an excited voice and quickly began leading Bart and Zelipe off.
Zelipe gave one glance to Amy who urged him on. He was then quick to follow Bart and Kevin. Her older son did look a little better and the prospect at what had been the male pup's favorite game.
"I would think the cubs are doing better," Amy commented.
Kaylee looked down to see where Amy was pointing. It was at this time that she really listened to the laughter that she heard. At first she had assumed it was the other pups getting into some game, but it was Gillie. The copper lioness had Nane and nearly all of the gem twins tickling her and Nane's sisters were nuzzling against Gillie as well. She also noticed Ulysses, Mary, with Moja and her sisters game as well.
"It would appear so," Kaylee gave a soft chuckle, "though we may have to save the Chief of Police from them in a moment."
"How long do we wait?" Marcy asked as she looked up at her mother.
"In a bit," Kaylee told her, "Your Aunts Darla and Fran say that Gillie spends too much time working. It'd be good for her to get some time in playing with members of the Pride."
++++++++
Gillie, however, did not share Kaylee's opinion that this was good for her. She had doing her best to console eight cubs that were originally her own officers which lead to her own good work getting her tickled by Nane, which lead to several of the pack's pups joining in what to them looked like a game.
"No! ha-ha-ha-ha-," Gillie gasped as she tried to push herself away, "stop! ha-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"
This had no effect as the pups began licking her to show her how friendly they were. It was difficult as she didn't want to hurt anyone, but more and more, it appeared that that might be the only way to stop the game of "pounce on Gillie" that Nane had started.
"Stop... HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA that!" Gillie gasped as a golden colored pup grasped her an left ankle and tickled the long arch of her foot.
The attack was about to reach a crescendo when a reddish brown figure finally arrived on the scene.
"Okay, that's enough of that," came Kaylee's voice as Toni was lifted away, "Best to let Gillie up."
A chorus of "aws" rose up from the pups as the tickling finally stopped.
"Where were you a few minutes ago?" Gillie asked as quietly as she could as she got back to her feet.
"Mostly looking after my own pups," Kaylee commented, "and besides you were doing fine. I don't know what you did, but you've gotten them to look much better then they were earlier."
Gillie looked down to see the four cubs that were looking a bit more cheerful then they had before.
"Thank you for playing with us, Aunt Gillie," said the four cubs together.
Even if she knew how things should be... that did make her melt. The four cubs looked up at her the way any child would look to an adult that loved them.