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I have two cats, male and female, both neutered and spayed. Bandit and Lucky, respectively. A few weeks ago - probably three or four, now - I adopted two cuddly and cute kittens from a co-worker of mine.

Aussie and Shadow are male and female [respectively], and are about 12-ish weeks old. Now, we've had them as I had mentioned, for a while now.

Bandit and Lucky are adults, and spend their time both inside and outside of our house. This is a good thing, as it means we can let the kittens romp around the house and get their scent mingled with the other cats' on the furniture and whatnot.

Lucky is fairly even-tempered, though she can and does play a bit rough [to which I blame this on Bandit. xD; He used to play so rough she would squeak...but now she gets him back]. She's sniffed around the room - as has Bandit - that the kittens generally stay in. She still hisses and growls at them whenever she sees them, however, someone has always been holding the kittens when either cat has been in the same room.

Bandit is more of a concern. He's fairly territorial, and while I'm sure eventually he'll be okay with them, we're concerned with what he might do to the kittens if he got his paws on them. =/

They've both seen the kittens, and visa versa, and I've let them sniff at one another through the crack in the door that I've held ajar...but I need suggestions and help on how to bring them together in the open, but on their own terms.

I was thinking perhaps getting two baby gates and setting them up [one on top of the other, so it's higher] so they can see and sniff, but the kittens are relatively safe, as two gates would hopefully deter Bandit from jumping at them...

Now, this isn't the first time I've introduced cats...but this situation is different. We used to have a cat we fondly called "Momma", and eventually had her fixed long before we introduced Lucky. I figure that because she had had kittens, it was easier for Momma to accept another kitten, when they were put together. Naturally, there was some growling and hissing, but within a couple days, they were fine. Lucky has never had a litter, so that makes me a bit leery with her. We introduced Bandit when he was a kitten, and Lucky was probably just becoming fully grown with little problem [we had put Momma down several months beforehand ;-;], as they were both young.

Obviously, you can see why I'm concerned. Two little kittens put up against two fully-grown cats.

I need safe ways of fully introducing them to one another without having to worry about Bandit or Lucky hurting them. I have no glass-paneled doors in my home, hence the baby-gate idea. Any tried-and-true suggestions? Or others that could possibly work?

Try introducing them without someone holding the kittens. Look, kittens are sturdy little things, and they can take more than you think. The older cats may swat at them, but holding the kits when they meet them might make the older cats jealous. If that doesn't work, rub the kits down with a dry towel to get their scent, and put something the older cats really love, like fish or cream, in a bowl on the towel(it'll make the cats connect the kits scent with something good). Any questions, feel free to PM me, as I'm sort of a cat expert.