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I turn to Adriel and see that he’s not wearing his signature Stetson. Not even his baseball cap. Instead, he’s got a headband with cat ears on. Immediately my embarrassment is replaced by giddiness, and I launch myself towards him on our shared bench seat in his truck and laugh while burying myself in his chest with a hug.
“What is happening right now?” I squeal.
He places a matching headband on me and says, “Welcome to Cat Con.”
I’ve never had a pet, but I’ve always been desperate for a cat. I begged for a kitten every year for my birthday gift, but somehow my mom insisted on being allergic to them even though her best friend had cats and she never came home from her place out of sorts. Suspicious, to say the least. Instead, I’ve been relegated to celebrating them with cat accessories and volunteering at the humane shelter.
We slide out of the truck and are immediately in a stream of other people wearing cat ears, tails, wearing clothing with cats spewing rainbows, cats riding rainbows, and rainbow-colored cats. Inside the enormous convention center are exhibitors hawking cat food, cat toys, plushies, and posters. Every few paces I have to pick up my jaw from how amazed I am.
“How in the world did you find this?” I ask.
Adriel says, “You clearly love cats, and I remember being shocked when Ana came home from volunteering one day and saying you didn’t have a cat.”
“My mom’s allergic, so I never had one.”
“Well, you’ve got your own place now. Would you like to find your cat? They have cat adoption in exhibit hall E.”
He’s right. I do have my own place now. I’ve been so used to putting myself on the back burner and hiding. But here I am, living on my own for nearly six months and I’m still doing that. In case my parents were to visit, I still haven’t gotten a cat. But they haven’t visited, have they? I’ve been so used to self-sacrifice, that I’m still recognizing what my own self-care looks like. It’s about time.
Wow. He knows exactly where to go, too. Clearly, he prepped for this date. My heart is fluttering so much, I can barely distinguish the subtle difference between the variances of emotions ricocheting through me. Whatever it is, it’s long past the stolen moments we’ve been getting.
Without a doubt in my mind, I say, “Let’s go find my cat.”
Adriel takes my hand and leads the way through the crowd.
Finding the adoption line, there’s nearly forty people already lined up. It’s going to be a while.
“It looks long. Do you want to go somewhere else?” I ask.
“No way. I’m happy to be anywhere you are.” With a squeeze to my hand, we join the queue.
“Would you like to check your cameras to see how the girls are doing?” I ask. He seemed so nervous about leaving Ana with Justine earlier. “I take it you don’t often leave Ana with babysitters?”
“Thank you.” He moves next to me so I can see the app with five different camera angles setup around his house. “I’m an overprotective dad, I know. It’s just been the two of us for so long, that letting in other people has never been easy.”
Spotting them in the living room making a garland with a big bowl of popcorn on their laps releases a deep breath from Adriel.
“They look like they’re eating as much as they’re putting on that string,” I say.
“They look happy together, don’t they?” He says wistfully.
“Yes, they do.” He’s got quite the journey ahead of him with raising his daughter, and it’s clear that he’s game for anything that comes their way.
“Your family has been around to help, too, right?”
“That’s true. My parents have helped a lot, but my brothers aren’t around much.”
“You’re not close with them?”
“We were when we were kids. Even though one brother lives up the mountain, and another is our veterinarian, we all tend to stick to our own spheres.”
“You have one more brother, right?”
“Yes. He’s home the least. He’s the lead singer of Lynchpin.”
“Wow. I think I just saw him on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.”
“That’s him. We were so close until the end of high school. We even went to a music camp that last year and started a band with a girl named Kat. It was perfect. He even had a crush on her. Then one day he quit the band and he left to start Lynchpin. He’s home for big parties, but it’s never been the same. I don’t know what I did to push him away. I’m not even very musical. I just went to the camp because he didn’t want to go alone.”
