Chapter Text
“You must have a sweet tooth, my dear,” Kala said as she moved through the trees collecting a small supply of different fruits. “Another sugar starved little ape for our family. You and Tarzan will get along nicely, I think.”
At the sound of his name, Tarzan paused in his own search for food and glanced down at his mother. She was munching on a mango, and he frowned as he was sure he had just heard her speaking to someone. He went back to looking for the right fruit when he heard Kala speak again, and he dropped down a branch to look at his mother.
“Not feeling mangoes today?” Kala said as she crawled through the branches, her half-eaten mango abandoned. “What about pears? Or a banana?”
Tarzan frowned and swung down another branch as he followed his mother. She grabbed a banana and ate that, and she seemed a bit more content with it. Tarzan ate a banana himself while watching his mother, curious to see if she would start speaking again. She finished a couple bananas before she smiled happily and patted her stomach.
“There,” she said. “That’s better, isn’t it?”
Tarzan tilted his head at that.
Kala began descending from the trees, and Tarzan finished his food before following his mother. Back on the ground, Kala walked toward her nest, and Tarzan shuffled after her.
“Mom,” Tarzan called out.
She glanced back and smiled as her six-year-old son caught up to her and gave her a curious look. Once he was at her side, they walked together toward their shared nest.
“Who are you talking to?” Tarzan asked.
“To your sibling, of course,” Kala answered with a small chuckle.
“But . . .” Tarzan frowned at his mother once more. They arrived at the nest and Kala sat down and leaned back against the tree that was directly next to their nest. She smiled at her son as he crawled up next to her. He said, “The baby’s not born yet.”
“That doesn’t mean the baby can’t hear us,” Kala explained. She took Tarzan’s hands and placed them on her stomach. “You see, the baby responds to us when we talk to him or her. It’s going to help the baby feel comfortable and safe to hear familiar voices when he or she arrives in the big scary world. And it is a good way to bond with the baby while I’m still carrying him or her.”
“Really?” Tarzan asked, a bit hesitant to move his hands on his mother’s extended stomach. “The baby can hear me right now?”
“Yes.” Kala nodded her head, then gave a soft, encouraging grunt as she placed her hands over Tarzan’s. “Try talking to your sibling.”
“Oh, umm . . .” Tarzan tried to think of something to say to his baby brother or sister who was still in his mother’s belly. “Hi, baby brother. Or sister. I don’t know what you’ll be, but I don’t really care either. I’m going to be your big brother no matter what.”
Tarzan felt a little silly talking to his mother’s stomach, and he glanced up at Kala, who gave him an encouraging nod. Tarzan cleared his throat as he racked his brain for something more to say.
“Well, I hope you like to play games,” Tarzan said. “We can play lots of games when you’re born. Like ape hunt! And tag. Tag is lots of fun—see, I tag you and then you have to chase me and tag me back. Then I have to chase you and tag you again.”
There was a movement under Tarzan’s hands, and he gasped and pulled away from his mother.
“I think the baby moved!” Tarzan exclaimed.
“She did,” Kala said with a nod of her head. “She gave quite the kick at your words. I think she likes the idea of playing with you.”
“Really?” Tarzan grinned, then glanced at his mother’s belly. He slowly put his hands on her stomach once more, pushing down a little firmer. “We can play lots of tag! We’ll have so much fun chasing each other, and we’ll be the best of friends, won’t we?”
Tarzan laughed as he felt the baby kick against his hands, and he pushed down a bit firmer for a better feeling when the baby kicked against him again. Tarzan lifted his hands for a moment, then pushed down a bit on his mother’s stomach again, and he felt the baby kick against his hands again. Tarzan laughed and smiled at his mother.
“It’s like we’re playing tag now,” he said.
Kala laughed.
“Yes, I think the baby likes playing with you already.” Kala watched her son push on her stomach a few more times and she could feel her baby responding to Tarzan’s gentle prodding with small kicks and shifts within her.
“Did you do this with me when I was in your belly?” Tarzan asked.
Kala’s smile fell for a brief second, but when Tarzan glanced up at her, she smiled at him warmly.
“Actually, you and I had our own special game when you were a baby,” Kala said.
“Really?” Tarzan asked. “What was it?”
Baby Tarzan squealed with laughter as his mother made another face at him, puckering her lips and scrunching her nose. Tarzan grabbed his toes and rolled around in delight as he stared at his mother. She relaxed her face and smiled at her son.
Tarzan let go of his toes and made a face of his own, puckering her own lips while sticking his tongue out and squinting his eyes. Kala chuckled, which made Tarzan start laughing again.
Kala tried a new look. She inflated her cheeks and grabbed her ears and pulled. Tarzan stared wide eyed at first before laughing at her face, then he tried to grab his ears and pulled as best as he could on them while laughing away.
Kala lowered her hands and tickled her son while blowing a raspberry on his stomach, and her son nearly shrieked in delight.
Like most days, she spent hours, in between foraging and grooming, playing with her son in the safety of her nest. The infant really had changed her mood since her son had been killed by Sabor. Tarzan was a light in her life, and while there were many challenges to raising him, he really wasn’t so different from the other gorilla children. He met all the right milestones, just a little slower than his peers. He was starting to crawl a little bit, and she always encouraged him to move on his own as much as possible. He still didn’t have the gorilla grip in his hands that most ape infants had, but she was sure that would come with time.
He wasn’t too hard to amuse either. He was such a happy baby, and everything amused him for the most part. Sure, he had a few crying spells here and there where she just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, but for the most part, he was happy and carefree. He nursed well and she groomed him often to keep him clean, and she couldn’t be prouder to call him her son.
Of course, the strange baby still made some members of the family wary, and they kept their distance from her and wherever she made her nests. While there was usually a bit of distance between her and another gorilla mother, Kerchak surprisingly kept close, filling in the small gap. She knew it was to make sure she was safe, not for the wellbeing of her newfound son. He was a good and loyal mate in that regard, she only wished he would learn to accept Tarzan as his son. Perhaps the baby would help return some light to Kerchak’s eyes as he had done for her.
Tarzan crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out, and Kala chuckled once more, pulled from her thoughts. Tarzan kicked his feet as he laughed with her, amused by his own silly faces.
Kala covered her eyes for a moment before playing peek-a-boo with Tarzan who startled slightly with every boo but laughed through the entire game. Tarzan raised his hands in a poor attempt to cover his own eyes and play peek-a-boo back with his mother.
Kala assisted Tarzan in covering his eyes, then would move Tarzan’s arm through the motions of peek-a-boo, acting surprised every time she caught sight of his eyes, and Tarzan giggled through the game.
After a few moments of peek-a-boo, Kala leaned forward and touched her nose to Tarzan’s affectionately, smiling when Tarzan gently touched her face. She didn’t care what anyone else thought of her new addition, she loved Tarzan dearly.
Tarzan smiled as he felt the baby kicking against his hand repeatedly.
“I think the baby likes that story,” Tarzan said. “I liked making faces as a baby, huh?”
“You liked to make faces and copy faces. And noises. As you started babbling more, he mimicked a lot of the noises you heard in the jungle. You had—have—quite the vocal range.”
“Want to hear me be a monkey?” Tarzan asked before he jumped around and shrieked like the monkeys often did in the trees above them.
Kala belly laughed as she watched her son, and she felt her baby shifting in response to her happiness. She was so glad her new baby would have Tarzan as a big brother. She just knew they would get along and that Tarzan would take good care of his sibling.
Tarzan shuffled back over to his mother and leaned over her stomach, resting his head against her and pushing his hands on her gently.
“Did you like that, baby sibling?” Tarzan asked, and he was rewarded with a shove against him. “I knew you would.”
“What are you doing?” Kerchak asked as he walked up to his nest where Kala and Tarzan were resting. He gave his son a curious look.
“I’m playing with the baby,” Tarzan said. “Mom was showing me how.”
“I see,” Kerchak said as he sat down next to Kala. “And is the baby playing back?”
“Yeah, I think the baby likes me.”
“I would hope so.” Kerchak leaned forward and Tarzan moved away until he sat next to his mother in the nest, and he watched as Kerchak rested his head against Kala’s stomach and let out several gentle chuffs in his deep baritone voice, a soothing sound for some newborn infants Tarzan had seen mothers use, though none could do so quite as deeply as Kerchak. Kala gasped and rested a hand on her stomach.
“Someone is going to be daddy’s little girl or boy,” Kala joked, smirking at her mate. “That was quite the kick in response.”
“I think,” Tarzan said as he climbed up in his mother’s lap, resting against her stomach once more, “that we’re just the perfect family for the baby.”
“I agree,” Kerchak said, touching his nose to Tarzan’s before sitting up and nuzzling Kala.
Kala smiled at her mate and her son. She rested a hand on her stomach, feeling more bonded with every member of her family than she had ever felt before. They were a perfect family.