
Katie stumbled through the cold night.  Alone, but for the soft clatter of four paws by her side.  King.  The heavy pack she wore gave quite a clatter too; the young leopard softly grunted as she adjusted the straps.  King looked up at her and she looked back, softly smiling.  He'd barely left her side since this whole sorry mess had begun, and now this night of all nights he would not falter in his task.  Things would have been so much harder, any other way.  As the houses gradually ran out and gave way to long stretches of open road and fields, she didn't feel alone.  She didn't feel scared.  Well maybe a little.

Sparse clouds hung overhead, glowing faintly orange from the dim light of town behind her.  Here and there however, they gave way to stars, and it seemed that the night was clearing.  She stopped to rest a moment.  The German Shepherd pulled up too, and gave her a concerned look.

"It's okay boy; I just need to--" She panted.  "--catch my breath.  Two legs is harder than it looks, you know."  He tilted his head and gave her a quizzical stare.  She held her gently protruding tummy with one paw, contemplating the gradual incline the road ahead of her took.  Soon she'd reach the path which led to the woods, and be a little further from danger.  An owl hooted softly in the distance; two pairs of ears swivelled to track it.  Suddenly there was a distant rumble, and a prickling of light.

"Quick!  Hide!"  Without checking to see if he understood, Katie grasped the waist-high wire fence beside the road and started clambering over it.  She stumbled; the wire swung and flexed, catching in her shoe tread.  It would be so much easier if she didn't have all this weight to carry.  In front as well as behind.  The entire fence suddenly twisted beneath her and she tumbled over it, falling hard.

"Ow!  Dammit!"  Katie grunted softly in pain, then gave a sharper yelp as various parts of her body checked in.  King was suddenly right there, and they were bathed in a brilliant light; she pulled him down on top of her.  He yelped.  A car drove past them, unknowing, unseeing, and then gradually the light and noise faded back into the night.  The leopard lay on her back in a small muddy cleft just the other side of the fence, the pack under her.  She let King go, and he stood up and shook himself.

"Dammit..."  She winced and licked softly at the blood she discovered running down one paw.  Must have caught herself on the fence.  It wasn't too bad, but...  With her other paw she tenderly felt her belly.  It was alright, but as she went to get up, the cub groaned in pain.  She'd hit the ground hard.  Hot tears squeezed into her eyes, and she tried to blink them away.  Emotions welled and she started to blink more rapidly, until suddenly the large dog was making restitution.  He licked her face.  Great wet licks, licking away the tears, licking away her sorrow.  It almost made her want to cry more, and she put her arms round his strong neck and pulled herself up onto her knees, the heavy pack clanking behind her.

Now she was hugging him, King's reassuring scent filling her nostrils, and it didn't feel so bad.  He was warm.  Familiar.  Safe.  Suddenly his muzzle moved away, wriggling around, sniffing, and then he was licking at her paw.  She smiled, wincing slightly.  Yeah, it wasn't too bad, she hoped.  What would she do without King?  The cub flexed both paws, made sure everything still worked, and painfully started the process of getting to her feet.  The dog stayed close, and hardly even protested as she used him to stand up.  This night had been so long, and would be so much longer still.  Her mind drifted to the shy, panicked message her cousin Peter had relayed to her.

She'd never seen him like it before.  Maybe he was just growing up, or maybe it was the tension of it all, but he hadn't even been a been a brat since she'd come to stay.  He was so worried.  For her.  By the time her nervous cousin had squeezed the words out, she could hardly believe it.  Tommy.  Their secret spot.  But Peter didn't know where it was, and that's when she knew he wasn't making it up.  She swore him to secrecy, but needn't have bothered; if there's one thing Peter wasn't, it was a tell-tail.

He'd wanted to help, but she wouldn't let him get any more involved.  'That's just more stuff you'll have to lie to your mum about', she'd said.  And it was true, and so she'd packed her supplies alone.  Tins of food, crisps, biscuits, bottles of water.  Peanuts, sun-dried tomatoes, ketchup, sweets.  Spoons, cups, knives.  Some X-Treme Monotreme magazines to read.  An assortment of things both childish and practical.  Then came the waiting.  That part had been the hardest of all.  That awful last meal held in silence.  Aunt Susan's kindness, her soft eyes filled with compassion and regret; she'd hardly been able to bring herself to speak of Katie's hospital appointment due the next day.  Katie had tried not to show her nerves, but whether it was the prospect of running away, or staying, it all amounted to the same.

By the time the night had finally arrived, and everyone was tucked up in bed, Katie was ready.  Just one thing remained.  Earlier that evening, she had been nearly reduced to tears yet again, when Peter had offered up his faithful companion to keep her safe.  He wouldn't take no for an answer.

The German Shepherd had looked up at her from his bed, eyes soft with sleep.  Three words and he was by her side, ready for an adventure.  "Let's go out."  Unknown, unheard, the pair had crept out of the house and into the night.

*******

Tommy crouched low to the ground, fiddling with the camping lantern.  It was cold, but more pressingly, dark.  It took a fair bit more fiddling before the squat, battery powered light source flickered into life.  He looked around nervously, ears flat to his head, but there was nothing to fear.  Their secret spot was miles from anywhere, in a hollow of ground by an ancient tree.  He'd never been here before at night though, and dark woods had a way of preying on one's imagination.  The cub checked his colourful X-Treme Monotremes watch; the built in light spilled out into the darkness.  Nearly midnight.  He blinked back tears and tried to reassure himself she'd be alright.  That she'd make it.  Thoughts of Mum and Dad came unbidden then.  Another pang seized him; he pushed it away. 

The tent was erected.  The bedding laid out inside.  Tommy crept in and laid on it with his tail stretched out, reaching for his pack full of food.  He'd just check again what they had, just had to get comfy, just had to--

Tommy woke up with a start.  His ears flicked round at the sound of a distant jangling in the distance.  It was getting nearer.  It was getting nearer, really quickly!  Tommy scrambled out of the tent and got to his feet.  Now there was the sound of paws.  They were running.  Running towards him.  The cub stood alone in the dark with just the soft light spilling out of the tent, his ears back, eyes wide.  He shouted in a trembling voice, "Who's there?!"  Big mistake; the running paws got faster, thundering against the ground.  There was hardly any time left, he glanced round for something to pick up, starting to panic.

He turned back, and was immediately knocked to the ground by a blur of tan fur and paws.  Before he could cry out, Tommy was pinned down and a wet tongue was suddenly licking his face over and over.

"King!!"

The slobbering barely let up, and the diminutive cub had to push the dog away before he could get his breath back.  He looked quizzically at King.

"What are you doing all the way out here, huh?  I thought you were with..."  His leopard ears swivelled round at a soft metallic sound coming nearer and nearer, jangling too.  Tommy stared into the distance, frozen; he clutched the dog to his side.  Someone was coming.  Could it be...?

King gave a soft woof, and then another one, excited.  Now he could hear panting.  Tommy got to his feet.  It had to be her.  He dropped his things and ran towards the sound with hot tears in his eyes.  Another leopard cub approached the hideaway from the path; a girl with the same spot pattern as Tommy.  She was running too.

Time seemed to stretch on forever.  They ran, unheeding of the night, the moon, the stars, the world.  They closed that gap to nothing, until with a sob, the cubs found themselves in each others arms.  Soft paws and soft bodies melded into one.  Tears ran like rivers, unnoticed.  There were no words; what could possibly be said?  All the while, King the dog added his counterpoint of barks as he ran joyously around the pair.  Katie's pack crashed to the ground and the cubs fell to their knees.

Tommy tilted his sister's muzzle up and looked her in the eyes for one trembling moment.  She smiled, weakly, and he clutched her back against him in a tight hug.  "You're safe now.  I love you."  His voice cracked and he could say no more.

Katie whispered back between pants, "Love you too, silly brother."
A long moment later, when they were cold and their knees were muddy and hurt and even King had exhausted himself, the two finally picked themselves up off the ground.

"Let's get into the warmth."

The tent was small, the sleeping bag smaller; both twins crawled in on all fours.  Tommy grabbed the lantern and pulled it in with them.  A moment later they were both pushed aside as the German Shepherd crept in too; he knocked the light and it went out.  There were soft giggles.  Paws everywhere; furry bodies.  A soft tongue licking at someone's muzzle.

"Oh Katie..."

"Who are you kissing?"

"Katie?!  Is that...?  Ack!  King!"  The boy's paw brushed against the lantern and all was revealed in colour and shade.  The friendly German Shepherd stood over him with an expression the twins would later swear was a grin.  Tommy sighed, too tired to mind, and reached up to zip the entrance to the tent closed.  Katie lay on her side on the other side of the tent, watching him with a bittersweet smile, her eyes red.  Tommy smiled back, blinking with red rimmed eyes of his own.

"I only brought one sleeping bag."  He gestured at it, the dog standing helpfully on top.

Katie yawned hugely, shrugged, and unzipped the side nearest to her.  "Out the way, King."  He immediately obliged, padding down to the far end of the tent.  The twins spared no time to undress, climbing straight in, in their clothes; it was cold enough.  Even with the zip closed, their breath left soft curls of steam in the air.  Katie zipped the sleeping bag back up, and there was no space for pleasantries.  She turned and they lay side by side, noses touching, paws entangled; her bump couldn't help but press against his tummy now.

Her eyes begun to close, his too; it was long past both their bed times.  They were safe.  Safe in each other's paws, safe from all their troubles and fears.  Sleep crept in and the world faded out...

"Ow!  Dammit; King!"  Tommy wiggled as the weight of the large dog bore down upon him.  Slowly but surely he slid down beside the cubs, still leaning heavily on Tommy, furry and warm.  There was no more space left, and so they all pressed together, and they all slept.

*******

The fox glanced round from the familiar view on his computer screen, glimpsing something that made him stop his frantic masturbating, with a gasp.  He grappled for the remote with damp paws and turned the volume up on the TV.

"...And while police are treating the case with caution, it should be pointed out that these two cubs are only eleven years old.  In a bizarre and tragic twist, we also have reports that the girl is several months pregnant."

A photo of Tommy and Katie on the beach flashed up on the screen, superimposed in front of the newsreader otter with their names in bold letters.  With a crash, the teen fox fell backwards off his chair, crushing several piles of computer game boxes and upending the chair too.  Picking himself up off the ground, he pushed his blue hair out of his eyes and stared slack-jawed at the TV screen.  The voice continued as he glanced from the pictures of the cubs on the news, to his video of the same cubs mating in a video arcade on his computer screen.

"..missing for 1 day.  If you see either of these leopard cubs, please alert authorities immediately.  In a statement read out earlier, the parents expressed their wishes that the search begin as soon as possible; they reportedly believe the cubs to be trying to run away."

The fox righted his chair and sat down heavily on it with a crunch.  More boxes ruined.  A softening erection in one paw, he shrugged, turned back to his computer and set about finishing the task in hand.  All that kept going through his mind, a thought he was embarrassed to admit sped his eventual release, was that the girl was pregnant.

Almost to himself, he whispered in awe, "By god, the kid has really done it...Tommy and Katie huh?"

*******

Late morning light filtered through the thin gauze of the tent material.  Tommy woke with a start, his whole body jerked with tension and he was fully awake.  With her.  With them.  Her warm body pressed against his, her warm breath in his ear, her warm scent in his nose.  Warm.  The boy's heart sank, and he reached a paw down inside the sleeping bag to feel between them, to feel under them.  It was dry.  He was dry.  Tommy began to cry.  As quietly as he could; soft tears rolled down his muzzle and he gently trembled in his sister's embrace.  He was whole again and he wanted to burst with feelings happy and sad.  A soft whine, and then King stood up, sinking his muzzle down to lick tenderly at Tommy's.  The cub closed his eyes, shaking, trying to quiet the sobs which wanted to spill out.

"What's wrong?"  Katie spoke plaintively, her voice sleepy.

Tommy whimpered and opened his eyes.  Katie was looking at him, and he gently pushed the dog away.  Trying not to cry, Tommy tried to force the words out.

"I've b-b-been..."  He blushed deeply, wiping his eyes.  "B-bed..."  She nodded patiently, giving one paw a squeeze inside the sleeping bag.  Tommy sighed and tried again.  "I've b-been w-wetting the bed."  A fresh rain of tears ran down his muzzle and he looked away, ashamed.

Katie's eyes widened and she nuzzled his muzzle back round.  "Really? You're dry today."  It was not a question.  Their eyes met and he stared at her with shame, love, exhaustion, relief.  He nodded and she licked some of those tears away before King got any more ideas.

Tommy squeezed her paw back, finding the words.  "F-first time dry...  Since you...  Since we..."  He couldn't help it, and they were not tears of sadness.

"Oh Tommy...  I never knew, I mean..."  She squeezed his paw tighter.  "Every day?"  He nodded.  He could tell her anything, he knew that now.  "I wish I could have been there for you.  I wish you could have...  I love you, silly Tommy."  She sniffed and shared a damp muzzle with her twin.  "Everything's gonna be alright now."

"L-love you too, Katie."  He hoped she was right.

The cub let out a sudden squeal as King started lapping at her ear. "Stoppit!  Okay, all this talk and now I need to pee."  She wriggled a little way out of the sleeping bag and then stopped to stretch, curling her arms, legs and tail out, curling her tongue out too.  Her hair was rumpled and stuck up on one side, but neither leopard noticed or cared.  She unzipped the sleeping bag, unzipped the tent and made her escape; both gasped as frigid air rushed in.  

Tommy sat up and watched her go, yawning.  She was still wearing her eminently sensible jeans and blouse; her sweatshirt and coat had disappeared sometime during the night.  King trotted after her, sniffing at his new universe of smells, pausing before long to add a warm sprinkling of his own.  Tommy blushed and looked away.  Katie ducked behind a tree; King followed.  He couldn't help glancing in that direction, looking out of the tent and swivelling soft ears toward his interest.  They flattened suddenly, shyly, at the sound of giggles.

"Eep!  Bad dog!  Don't put it there!  Jeeze would you let a girl pee in peace?"

Heat filled Tommy's cheeks despite the morning cold.  Had he...?  Katie suddenly emerged from behind the tree and quirked her head as she caught him looking.  That heat grew deeper.  The German Shepherd trotted just behind her, licking his muzzle.  Odd feelings surged within him and before his sister could say a word, Tommy stumbled to his feet and fell out of the tent.  He was similarly attired and rushed off behind the same tree Katie had used.

"Gotta pee!"

Katie gave a bemused smile and kept walking, wrapping her paws and tail around herself for warmth. "Brrr; it's cold today huh King?  Tommy looked pretty rosy though."  The dog looked up at her with faint adoration and they crept back to the tent together.  A quick rummage found her extra layers from the day before; she put them on quickly.  Something else was more urgent now, and she looked around outside the tent for where they'd both dropped their heavy packs.  There they were, some distance away and covered in damp from the morning dew.  Katie padded over with King in tow.  

She glanced back to the tree; what could possibly be taking Tommy so long?  Sighing, she reached and tried to lift hers, grunting with effort as she found it too heavy; her tummy made it difficult to crouch down.  How the heck had she walked all the way here with it?  Katie took a deep breath and tried again, jumping as a warm muzzle suddenly closed round the handle next to her paw.  King started pulling.  Katie's eyes widened and then she nearly giggled with delight.

"Aww King!  You are such a gent!  I guess if my own brother isn't around to help me out, you will, won't you King?"  They both pulled now, dragging the heavy pack easily across the path and down towards the tent.  Suddenly Tommy burst out from behind the tree, flustered, his jeans hanging open and something red peeking out.

"I'll help!"  He stumbled towards them and then tripped on his unfastened garment, nearly falling over.

"Sheesh Tommy, you'd better zip up before you hurt yourself.  Anyway don't worry now, my other man saved the day.  You'd better go get your pack."  Katie let go of the pack and stood next to the tent, giggling into her paws as her hapless brother stumbled off the way she'd came.  "Yeah.  You're a good boy, King."  She reached down and petted his ears, smiling, for the moment all her great many troubles forgotten.  The pair watched Tommy until, panting and blushing, he made it back with the supplies too.

He set his down and came up to her.  Gently, the leopard took both her paws in his, brought them to his muzzle and kissed them.  Then, he kissed her muzzle too, and the twins melted into each other for a soft moment.  King sat down and watched them intently.  The moment stretched on and their tails softly wound round each other's bodies.

Katie gave a soft giggle.  "I think we have a voyeur in our midst..."

Tommy opened his eyes and parted his muzzle from his sister's, glancing over at the dog.  He glanced down and blushed; like a typical boy dog, King wasn't exactly covering up.  Tommy shook his head as if to dispel the oddness of this moment, of this time, of their togetherness and of their plight.  It wasn't difficult now to see just what was at stake.  Still standing, he glanced down at Katie's protruding bump.  How had he been so blind to it before?  How had everyone?

"C-can I...  Can I touch it?"  Tommy looked at his sister with wonder.  She didn't answer, but gently lifted up her blouse, grasped one of his paws and placed it on her tummy.  He gave a soft gasp, staring deep into her eyes, feeling the undeniable roundness, the firmness that was anything but fat, the unmistakable evidence of their consanguineous mating.  A new life, but more than that, the start of their new life.  Right now Tommy was too scared to even admit to himself he had no idea what they should do next; saving his sister and the baby had been his only plan.  All he could do was focus on the now, and so he let his paws wander.

Katie closed her eyes and murmured softly as soft feline paws roamed over her sensitive stomach.  Round and round they went, tracing ever contour, feeling every line.  Warm and soft; safe and loving; she'd let no other touch her like this.  Those paws grazed the waistband of her jeans, and she murmured a little more.  Gentle fingers searching lower, she couldn't stand it any more.

"Tommy, I am sorry, but I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra."  Those paws froze.  After a moment they started moving again, and there was a smile in her brother's voice.

"Ah...  We're fresh out of zebra."

Katie gave a soft giggle. "Any antelope?"

"Nah-ah."

Now they both started to giggle.  "Hippo?"

Tommy broke the embrace and grinned, looking around for his pack. "Okay, jeeze, let's get some food on the go, I'm starved too."

*******

Five minutes later.

"I cannot believe you forgot the tin opener."

"Me?  You were supposed to bring one!"  Tommy looked indignant.

"Oh, while I was escaping my prison with Aunt Susan?  I was lucky to make it out with anything!"

"But I told Peter to tell you.  Didn't he tell you?"

"I don't remember.  I had a lot on my mind, you know."

Tommy sighed deeply.  "I know.  I just...  What are we going to do now?"  A hopeless expression spread quickly across his muzzle.

Katie caught the look in his eyes and immediately felt a pang of guilt.  "But, you know, some cans have a ring-pull, right?  There must be something we can open."

The twins performed a quick inventory of state of the art ringpull cans.  Pineapple rings.  Broad beans in water.  A can of soup.  A can of baked beans.

"That'll do!  Beans on toast!  You brought bread, right?"

Tommy gave her a look.

"Beans!  Warm beans!  You brought the camping stove, right?"

Tommy gave her another look.  "I'm not completely useless, you know."

*******

Another five minutes later.

"Matches?  You forgot the matches??"  Katie sounded on the edge of tears.

"I didn't!  I swear I didn't!  They're right here, in the pack somewhere, and a lighter too!"  Tommy continued digging out the last items at the very bottom of his pack, its contents scattered chaotically all around him.

Katie flopped over onto her side in disbelief.  Her eyes widened.  She twisted a dial and poked at a small red button that made a loud click.  Blue flame tinged with red suddenly sprung to life from the camping stove, upright and ready where Tommy had assembled it.

"W-what??  How did you...?  What did you...?  Oh.  They come with electric starters now?  Since when did--"

"Piezoelectric."  Katie corrected.

"Huh?"

"You know; like the gas hob lighter we used to have.  Squeeze it, it makes a little spark inside, and it lights the gas."  Katie gave her brother a withering look.

"Oh!  Oh.  Well of course, but, you know..."  Tommy stood up and patted his jeans.  Moments later, with a sickly grin, he pulled a pack of matches out of one pocket.

"Give me those before you leave your head somewhere and lose it."  She snatched them out of his paw and grinned.

The cub looked crestfallen.  A pout briefly crossed his features, but then he set about the task at hand.  Now everything was unpacked onto the ground, it was easy to get the saucepan (stolen from the kitchen), the openable tin of beans, and a big wooden spoon.  That last minute kitchen raid had been pretty useful, after all.  A bit like an old fashioned drinks can, he was able to pop the ringpull on the can of baked beans with a claw and then tear the whole lid neatly open.  The beans went in the saucepan, the saucepan went on the flaming stove, he turned it down a notch and set about cooking breakfast.  Katie and King looked on hungrily.

*******

Lunchtime.

King sat watching the two cubs, thin trails of drool stringing in twin streams down from his muzzle.  They were drinking juice from a bottle, discarded fragments of food all around them.  He was a good boy, so he didn't even try to steal a single crumb.  Katie glanced over, then glanced again.

"Tommy!"

"W-what?"  His ears flattened.

"You brought some food for King, right?"  Now she stared at her brother.

"Err..."

"Look at him!  He's starving!  Poor King; you're such a good boy, you didn't even complain, did you?"  Katie shuffled nearer to the dog from where she was sitting.

Now Tommy began to look indignant.  "But I didn't even know he was coming!  Didn't you bring him anything?"

Katie gave him a look.  A long hard look that seemed to convey all the miles she'd crossed coming here, all the suffering she'd endured, all the times which she'd nearly given up, only for King to give her strength.

"Okay okay!  Look, dogs can eat most things we can.  What have we got over here?  Chicken chunks in sauce?  Perfect!"  Tommy picked up the can and stood up, walking a short distance away.  As Katie watched, staring, he began bashing it against a sharp rock on the ground.

She cringed, glancing at King who's ears were now flattened. "What are you doing??"

Her brother flashed back an exasperated grin.  "Improvising.  Ack!"  With a sudden wet splash the can of food ruptured, disgorging some of its contents in a graceful arc encompassing Tommy's face and part of the ground.  "Ack! Quick!  Bring a bowl over!"  He started juggling the now ruined food can around, trying to prevent it leaking any further. Katie appeared next to him a moment later and dropped a plastic bowl down under the dripping mess.  Tommy cringed, turned the can back round and watched as lumpy, sticky white goo poured messily out of it and into the bowl.

"Mmm."  Tommy licked his lips and paws, looking quite odd and yet somehow familiar, with a slick of white sprayed lengthways up his face.  "Tastes like chicken.  Lets see how he likes it."

"You're not gonna heat it first?"  Katie cocked her head and stared at Tommy.

"He's a dog!  Nobody heats up food for their dog!"

"Well, maybe they should."  She put her paws on her hips, getting a set look in her eyes that Tommy didn't like at all.

"Katie, he's just a dog."  He sighed.  

Katie's ears swept back and the cool day suddenly seemed a couple of degrees cooler.  She spoke quietly now, "He was there for me when you weren't."  The cub looked away, and didn't see Tommy's eyes widen with hurt and shock.

He stammered, "W-what?"  Katie didn't answer.  Tommy took a few deep breaths, struggling to keep the emotion out of his voice.  "You don't know what I went through."  She signed deeply, still looking away, and he went on.  "King's lovely, and it's w-wonderful he looked after you.  B-but I didn't have--"  His voice faltered, "I didn't have anyone."  Tommy wiped away a tear before it fell.

Katie looked back and this time her eyes widened, eyes filled with tears.  "I'm sorry!"

Tommy stammered again, "W-what?"

She shuffled up close to her brother now and took one of his paws in her own, glancing guiltily at the German Shepherd.  "Tommy, I did something."

"W-what?"

"I've felt bad ever since I did it, but I couldn't help it, and King...  He just wanted to help."  

Tommy stared at her, dumbfounded.

She plunged on.  "He licked me, and I liked it.  I couldn't stop!  He couldn't!"

"What?"  His eyes widened.

Katie squeezed Tommy's paws and stared at him earnestly.  "And then I licked him too.  And he really liked it too!  His willy got all big and squirted like yours, only kinda not like yours, and I--"

"Wait a minute, what?  He licked you there?"  Tommy looked over at the dog, who sat there panting hopefully.  He glanced down, dumbly repeating the words back to her.  "And you...  You made him squirt?"  

Katie nodded and looked down, ears down, looking sick with worry.  

He coughed, trying to take it in what she was saying.  "Dogs can really do that?"  

She nodded again and cocked one ear.  

"Really?  Huh..." 

Katie looked up and stared at her brother. "You're not upset?"

Tommy stared at King now, but with eyes that held a faraway look.

She wrung her paws nervously.  "Tommy?"

"Huh?  Oh...  I was just thinking.  You really...  You touched his willy?"

Katie looked down. "Yes."

He blinked a few times, pausing for a moment in deep thought.  "Well, it's weird, but...  I mean he's just a d--"  Tommy caught himself and pretended to cough.  "He's, umm.  He's a boy.  Like me.  He liked it, right?"

She nodded emphatically. "Oh yeah.  It was just like you, and he was so happy and sleepy afterwards.  I think he wanted to, um, well..."

Tommy coughed again, this time for real. "He...  He put it in you?!"

"No!"  Katie wrung her paws.  "Yes.  I mean, I didn't know he'd do it!  He licked me, and then he...  He tried to jump me."  The leopard was blushing deeply now. "B-before I knew what was happening, he'd got right into position and then managed to push his willy right in.  I wriggled straight out of the way but it was too late!"  She squeezed his paws again.  "I am so sorry.  All I could think about was you, and how I couldn't do it to you.  I never meant for any of this to happen!  Tommy?"

He shook his head and stared at her, lost in thought again. "Huh?  Oh..."  The cub adjusted his jeans, squirming a bit.  "I was just imagining how it must have looked."

She glanced down.  Was he...?  "Tommy?"

The pinks of his ears went crimson. "I guess, um..."  He squirmed more.  "Could I see, sometime?"

She stared at him, muzzle hanging open a little.  "What??"

"I don't mind.  I mean, I'm not worried about you loving King instead of me."  He gave a wry smile, thinking back to that conversation which seemed a lifetime ago. "I...  I'm not sure I'd even mind us playing with Peter again; I know you love me like I love you."

She smiled back, eyes filling up with love.  "Oh Tommy..."

He glanced away, shy.  "If King likes it.  If you like it.  I want to see.  I trust you, Katie."  The dog gave a resounding woof and both cubs turned to look.  Long strings of drool continued to pour down from the sides of his mouth.

"Jeeze, let's just give the boy something to eat; you're right, it'd be silly to heat it."  Katie picked up the bowl and carried it over to the canine.  He stared, following the food with a laser intensity, tracking it down, down, down until it rested in front of his forepaws.  "Oh that's right.  Peter has him trained really well, he just has to say 'okay'--"  King lurched forward and started gobbling up the tinned food as fast as he could."--and there he goes."

The twins watched the dog eat, each contemplating quietly.  Katie shuffled back over to Tommy and sat down beside him.  His paw found itself in hers.  They glanced shyly at each other, and then the dog.

Tommy twirled one finger on the ground.  "I really missed you."  He leaned against his sister and rested his head on her shoulder.  The ground was cold but she was warm.

"Missed you too, sillybum."  She squeezed his paw.

"I just wanted to say...  I wanted to say happy birthday."

Katie's mouth fell open, stupefied.  She turned to stare at her brother.  As he stared back with gentle eyes, she trembling.  "T-t-that's today?"  She stammered.

He nodded, struggling to retain his composure.  "I got you something."

Those reddening eyes got wider.

"It's in my bag, I'll just go get it!"  Tommy quickly got up and ran to where he'd hastily unpacked, trying to wipe his eyes without her seeing.  There it was; a little square shape wrapped in colourful paper.  The leopard scooped it up and ran back to his sister's side.

Katie's paws were over her muzzle as gentle tears ran down it.  She reached for what her brother held in his hand, trembling lightly.  King watched the twins now, licking his lips.  

Tommy sat down by her side and put one arm around her shoulders.  "Open it."  He struggled to keep his voice steady.

The leopard wiped her eyes and began gently tearing at the soft wrapping with one claw.  Something heavy; something solid.  A few moments later and it spilled out.  A little picture frame, smaller than a book, with three cutouts in the backing.  Behind one, a picture of Tommy, the second, one of Katie; they both wore carefree smiles.  There was an empty space for a third picture below the two.  Katie stared at her brother.  He glanced down at her bump.  She threw her arms around him and started to sob.

*******

A little later, and the afternoon sun offered little warmth.  King was fed and watered; they'd all filled up from a nearby stream and the twins were back in the tent.

"B-b-but I never even got you anything!"  Katie wrung her paws, holding them in her lap where she sat.

Tommy shook his head. "You got me what I wanted most.  You're here, right?"

Katie looked like she was going to lose it again.

He squeezed her paws.  "Shhh..."

King watched the seated twins from where he sat just inside the tent entrance.  Keeping guard.

Tommy glanced over at him from where he sat.  "So...  Katie, that's his, umm...?"  He pointed at the redness peeking out between the dog's hind legs.

"Yep that's his willy.  It does that sometimes."  She giggled lightly, some of the tension evaporating.

The cub blushed.  "Does that mean he wants to..."

Katie rolled her eyes.  "Nah...  Well, maybe."  She blushed lightly.  "But it could just be anything.  Right, King?"

The dog watched them both, panting lightly.

Tommy put a paw on his sister's tummy, so soft and gentle, then gradually slid it lower.  He looked down at her roundness, then up at her eyes, blushing.  "Still hard to believe I did this.  It was just...  I love you, and I loved doing what we did, so much."

She looked down at his paw, her tone grave.  Neither quite willing to discuss the full extent to which they were in trouble.  "We made a baby, Tommy.  A cub.  I...  I can't quite take it in either."  She grasped his paw.  "Tommy we made a cub!  I don't even...  I can't even..."  Katie stopped and composed herself.  "I liked it too.  What we did.  But, um, I wanna say..."

He cocked his head.  "What?"

"I kinda..."  She squirmed, searching for the words.  "I kinda feel naughty thinking about what it all means, now.  How every time you put your sticky in me, you were making a baby.  Kinda feels more exciting, you know?"

Tommy squirmed, nodding after a moment.

"I wonder which time it was?"

"Huh?"  Tommy cocked his head again.

"You know...  Which was the time you mated me, that finally made me pregnant?"  Katie blushed more as she thought about it.  "I worked out the dates.  It couldn't have been the very first time.  It was maybe a month after that."  Katie's mind flashed involuntarily to those two times cousin Peter had squirted in her, before shoving the thought away and burying it.

Tommy blushed more as he found himself reliving those many times.  "I guess...  There were too many times.  I mean..."  He shifted where he sat.  "We must have averaged at least once a day that whole time, right?"

Katie nodded, took her brother's paw, and slipped it down lower.  Under the waistband of her jeans a little way.

He gave a soft gasp and looked at her, feeling his paw graze warm, delicate, soft fur and folds.

She looked back, all the hurt and sorrow and worry forgotten, at least for now.  "Make it once more?"

Now he shivered, swallowed, looked down at that paw.  He'd not even felt the inclination, the whole time they'd been apart; too much else had been going on to cloud his mind.  But now...  Now those feelings suddenly came rushing back in a hot flood.  He leaned forward onto his knees, kissed her, and started to rub.

She kissed him back, tongue dancing over his feline lips, before leaning back.  Katie touched one finger to his lips, and then started pulling off her blouse.  "Close up the tent; it's freezing out there."

Tommy meekly nodded, paw slipping out from Katie's crotch as he reached over the opposite way.  King was nearly sitting in the way, but he reached around the dog and zipped the entrance flap firmly closed.  As he pulled back, King suddenly turned and began sniffing with great interest at Tommy's paw.  "Hey...  What are you...  Oh."  He snatched it out of the inquisitive canine's reach, coming over to sit next to Katie.  The dog stayed put and kept on watching, as Tommy began unbuttoning his jeans.

The cubs hurriedly undressed, their desire filling the air.  Soon Katie wore just her underwear and Tommy just his t-shirt.  She lay on her back on the sleeping bag and beckoned him.

Tommy hastily complied, coming down onto all fours and padding up to her rounded midsection.  He managed to tear his eyes off it to look lower, shivering as his paws settled upon her soft girlish panties.  He looked, and gently pulled.  She lifted her bum up, and they slid down nice and easily; Tommy watched as her private place was revealed in all its thrilling glory.  He glanced up; she was watching him with a smile.  Her girlish scent reached his nostrils; the boy wondered how he'd ever managed to think of anything else.  Slowly, purposefully, his muzzle dropped down to the source; he simply had to--

"No time for that!"  Katie panted lightly.  "Just put it in me.  Please..."  Her cheeks flushed and she reached up to briefly squeeze Tommy's warm erection, before using both paws to spread herself open for her brother.

He shuddered and didn't need telling twice, giving a soft gasp at her touch.  Tommy leaned over her and shuffled close, bringing everything into the right place, just like old times--  His tummy bumped hers.  The twins adjusted positions several times, face to face, but there was no comfortable way.

Katie grinned wistfully.  "Guess we need to go back to basics.  Let's see..."  Grunting softly, Katie rolled over onto her side.  King dutifully watched the pair, unnoticed, unmoving, nostrils flaring.

Tommy quickly laid down beside her and came up close.  Just the once more.  Sighing happily, he pressed up against Katie from behind, spooning her completely.  Warm in his arms; warm and safe, her tail between his legs.  He wanted to hold her forever, but for right now...  He ground up against Katie, softly murmuring, and she growled.

"Please...  Just--"  Katie slid her body up his.

Tommy found himself pressing against something warm and wet.  He shuddered, hugged her tighter, and groaned as his stiff penis entered his sister and slid all the way in.  Together at last, where both of them belonged.  So many times they'd done this, but now he knew.  All those nights filling her again and again, with each one a time bomb.  Now the truth was finally out, the risk was meaningless, the damage already done.  Nothing could get her more pregnant, but Tommy suddenly wished he could.  Deep pleasure bubbled up through him in a sudden rush and he moaned loudly, caught off guard.  She was pregnant and there was no way to stop it, and he squeezed Katie and began ejaculating warm sperm deep inside her.  Fertile sperm.  The leopard's penis twitched and surged as it pumped out squirt after squirt of sticky wetness, coating her vaginal walls, washing her cervix in a flood he'd been saving all week.

Katie moaned and clenched per paws. "Oh Tommy...  Oh my gosh..."

Tommy laid his muzzle beside hers, panting and grunting as he filled her.  "Just...  Give me a minute..."  The cub rubbed his paws over her tummy and pushed as deep as he could, his willy doing its thing, vivid pleasure trembling through every cell of his body.  He kept grunting and twitching long after the fluids stopped; Tommy had not felt anything quite as intense before.  Even as his premature orgasm finally tailed off, he still tingled all over, with every breath, with every movement of his muscles.  The cub groaned and started thrusting again, no less erect.  He started thrusting, and there was no question about it; it simply felt too nice.

As Katie squeaked in pleasant surprise, and as King stared longingly at the twins, Tommy began mating his sister for the second time in as many minutes.  No pulling out, no preamble; he just started up again.  This time it was different.  This time she was full up and slippery with his cub sperm, and it clung to his stiff shaft.  Things were suddenly very slippery indeed; slippery and wet.  They both groaned as lewd wet noises came from between them.  Tommy shuddered and picked up speed, marvelling at the slick sensation of it.  She was full of his essence, and now it was leaking out over both of them.  Neither cared.  Thick seed oozed from their connection, spilling onto Katie's legs, wetting Tommy's taut scrotum, and he only thrust faster.  A low moan escaped his lips as he pistoned in and out, faster, faster, their bodies slapping wetly together.  Another go at knocking her up, just to be sure.

Katie started writhing in his grasp, huffing and panting, and beat him to it.  As brother mated sister in a frenzy, the girl clenched her paws, shuddered, and began to chirp.  Her vagina squeezed helplessly, full of him, full of his sperm.  He tried to hang onto that ride, pushing in and out in a staccato rhythm, suddenly groaning loudly.  As she milked him, he lost it and began spraying fresh sperm up into her.  No less than the first time, he hosed her walls in a thick wash of cub seed.  Squirt after squirt mingled with the fluids already filling her, adding to them, doubling them, overflowing them.  Balls taut and working hard, they hung onto each other and rode out their sweet relief.  Katie trembled and shook.  Tommy whimpered her name.  With a soft wet tickle, the leopard girl started leaking.

The dog gave a soft whine, and then another, a little louder.  Longing to get up from his guard spot, he fidgeted but was a good boy.  The red between his legs wasn't slender any more; it hung fat and heavy, swollen and trapped, the tip poking out.  Katie caught sight and couldn't take her eyes off it.

Tommy kept on doing his thing, convulsing and squirting, trying his hardest to make her even more pregnant.  Slick wetness leaked out over both of them, warm, clinging, indecent.  Gradually the twins grew still, coming down from their joint ecstasy, joined by skin and fur and fluid.  King gave a whine that was almost a howl, and Tommy looked over for the first time.  There was really no missing it.

"Umm...  He really..."  Tommy whispered in hushed tones.

Katie wiggled against him and nodded, panting softly. "Mmmhmm.  I guess he really wants to join in.  Do you...?"

The cub squirmed a little, unable to look away from what he was so firmly faced with. "I-I don't know, Katie.  It's just..."

"Shhh."  She reached back and laid a paw on his arm.  "It's okay.  Really.  We don't have to do anything you don't want.  Promise."  The twins locked pinkies together, and shared a smile.  "He'll live.  Mmm, let's let you out, King."  With a soft moan, she reluctantly parted from her brother, unleashing a sticky flood.  Katie struggled to her knees and then shuffled over to the tent flaps and where King was sitting.  Like her brother had, she reached past the long suffering dog and grasped the tent zip.  In a moment the flap spilled open and their warm, sticky air spilled out.

King could sit no longer, nostrils flaring.  The dog stood, and pushed his muzzle straight into Katie's dripping crotch.  She gasped and tried to fend him off, pushing her paw in the way.  "I'm sorry King...  No...  Please..."  She pushed harder.  "We'll have to see about you another time.  Go on, go have a pee and run about.  Be a good boy."  With that she gently pushed him out of the tent entrance, despite his protests, and ultimately he gave in.  Katie looked back at the soaked sleeping bag, at her damp brother, and quirked a smile.  "Though we could kinda use some help cleaning up..."

He smiled back, blushing.  Trying their hardest to forget their plight, the twins settled back down into a cuddle, despite the dampness, and were soon asleep.

Neither twin noticed or heard the soft buzz of a silently ringing cell phone in Tommy's pack.  

