Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
After we bought her way too many toys and extra beds—I had no idea where I was going to put them since my house was already covered in cat and dog beds, but I’d find a way—we headed home.
I bought two baby gates and set them up in the doorway to the kitchen—one on top of the other so Odin couldn’t climb over.
I kept Odie and Sola with me while I cooked, and let Winter hang out with Aeson, Confetti, and Goliath.
Sola and Odin really wanted to go meet the kitten, but I wanted to give her a little time to sniff out her surroundings before bringing the two of them into the picture.
Goliath was so calm he just lay there while Confetti climbed all over him like he was a kitten jungle gym. And Win and Aeson tested out every single new toy we’d bought. The two of them kept laughing, and I was happy to see Aeson looking a lot less stressed and happier now that we were settled.
By the time Chaos arrived, dinner was ready, so I kept Odin and Sola in the kitchen while we ate at the table—with Confetti on Aeson’s lap. I felt bad because they wanted out, but they could wait a few minutes while the humans ate.
Everyone finished up, so I asked, “You ready for Odin and Sola?”
Aeson nodded. “Sure. Should I go sit on the floor with her again?”
“If you want. It’ll be easier for Odin to sniff her, but keep her in your hands for a few minutes so you can grab her if you need to.”
Winter stepped in, grabbing the dirty plate from my hands. “I’ll clean up. You go help Ace with the cats.”
I stared into his ice-blue eyes for a moment. “Thank you.”
He grinned, pecked my lips, and collected more dirty dishes, so I took a breath and went to take the baby gates down.
The second the lower one came down, Odin raced out like he was trying to win an Olympic gold medal.
“Incoming!” I yelled, and Aeson laughed when Odin reached him, tried to jump on his legs, missed, and tumbled across the floor in his excitement.
Sola leapt to my shoulder and pecked at me to let me know she was annoyed I hadn’t let her out sooner, so I walked her into the living room.
Ace was on the floor with the cats, Goliath was in his jungle gym position beside them, and Chaos was on the couch. I joined Chaos, sitting beside him as we both watched the cats and Ace.
After a few minutes, he leaned in and whispered, “Thank you for doing this for him. He’s been really worried about Confetti.”
I nodded. “Of course. Like I said before, I want to help you guys if I can.”
Chaos stared at me for a long moment before blowing out a strangled breath and giving me a nod. He looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could voice it, Aeson called out, “Come down here, Morty.”
Chaos sent his brother a small smile and slid to the floor to play with the cats, who were now actually sniffing each other without Aeson holding the kitten.
I was worried, and I knew a lot of people said to introduce cats much slower than this, but Odin had always loved other animals, so I knew there wouldn’t be a problem—at least not on his side.
Luckily, the kitten seemed to like Odin too because she rubbed up against his side, then did a little hop thing that reminded me of a bunny before she grabbed a stuffed fish toy, did a somersault without letting it go, and started kicking the shit out of it with her back legs.
Chaos, Aeson, and I all laughed at her antics, and Odin surprised me by lying on Aeson’s lap and simply watching the kitten. It looked like he was trying to show off, like he was older and more mature, even though I’d watched him pull the same move on a toy bird just yesterday.
What a goofball.
The kids stayed for a couple of hours, and when it was time to go, Aeson cried as he hugged the kitten to say goodbye.
The sight made my eyes water, and I didn’t think it was only because of my empath magic, either.
Yeah, sure, that was probably contributing, and I was picking up on Aeson’s emotions, but I myself felt so sad for him.
I didn’t want to take this kitten from him, but I was doing what I could to help.
I didn’t know if his parents just didn’t want a cat, but I also figured they couldn’t afford it.
Taking her to the vet last week had probably been a wake-up call for how expensive it could be, even when you had a healthy pet.
Aeson handed the kitten over, then quietly asked, “Can I give you a hug?”
“Of course.” I pulled him into a fierce hug, holding the kitten to the side of us as I squeezed the teen as tight as I could with one arm.
He cried a little and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Anytime, sweetheart. And you’re welcome to visit anytime you want. Seriously, you can come over every day if you want to.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Every day. All the time. Whenever you want.”
He nodded. “I’ll… I’ll text you.”
“Sounds good.” I gave him one last squeeze before he pulled away and quickly walked out of the house, trying to hide his falling tears.
Chaos sent us a sad smile and held up a fist to bump. I complied with my free hand, holding the kitten to my chest, and Win gave him a fist-bump before the kid nodded and followed in his brother’s wake.
We watched them pull away in their shitty little car, and I kissed the top of Confetti’s head before closing the door and letting Winter pull me into a hug with the kitten cradled between us.
“You okay, lovey?” he asked quietly after a few minutes.
I sighed and nodded my head against his chest. “Yeah, I just… I feel awful. This kitten is so sweet, and I’ll love having her here. But I feel like I’m taking her away from him, you know?”
He nodded and started rubbing my back. “Yeah, I know. But… he obviously needed someone to take her. I’m… I’m glad he decided to come here, you know? He came to us for help… again.”
I sighed. “Yeah. That makes me happy. I just wish this wasn’t breaking his heart.”
“Me too.”
Winter held me for another minute until the little miss meowed at us, and we both laughed. I gave her a bunch of kisses, and Win gave her some scritches as we stared at the newest member of my household.
She was so freaking adorable. So tiny. Her black and white long-ish fur made her look a little scraggly, and I loved it.
So I kissed her head a few more times before passing her over to Win. She was hungry again, so we went over to the hutch where I’d decided her food area would be, and got her set up with some wet food since it was almost bedtime.
I sighed to myself because I had a feeling she was going to wake me up throughout the night to eat.
Winter wrapped an arm around my waist—his other arm cradled Odin to his chest—and I rested my head on his shoulder, asking, “You staying over tonight?”
Winter gave my hip a squeeze. “I’d like to, if that’s okay?”
That made me smile a little. “You can stay over anytime you want. Any night.”
He kissed my temple. “Be careful saying that or you’ll have me over here every single night.”
I didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then whispered, “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me.”
He kissed my temple and left his lips there for a long moment.