Page 26 of Conflict Conclusion

Leon glanced down at the cat, then back at the road as they turned into the vet’s office. James didn’t correct him. For the time being, it was okay if Leon thought it was just the cat he was talking about.

One thing at a time.

Leon wrapped a protective arm around James as they walked into the vet’s office. He steered James over to the farthest spot at the check-in counter where a receptionist with bright pink hair was sitting.

“Well, hello, Leon, and—oh, that’s not Yarmen,” the receptionist said, leaning over the counter to peer at the cat in James’ arms.

James had only been to the emergency vet with Leon once, when Yarmen had an ear infection over a long weekend. He had sat in the waiting area with Yarmen’s carrier while Leon checked them in at the front desk. Apparently, Theo had been working the past several times Leon had come in and was well acquainted with both Leon and Yarmen, as well as Yarmen’s bad habit of getting sick over long weekends.

“James found this guy on the side of the road with no tags or anything and decided he was our responsibility now,” Leon said, handing over his credit card to Theo.

James wanted to protest, but he couldn’t pull out his card without making a whole production of it. He would just have to insist on paying Leon back later. Despite how the ball in his stomach glowed at Leon saying the cat was “their responsibility,” he didn’t want to saddle Leon with all the bills and labor. He wanted to be an equal and enthusiastic cat dad.

“We’ll make sure to check for a chip,” Theo said, running Leon’s card before handing it back along with a clipboard full of forms. “If he’s chipped, we’ll do our best to get in contact with the owner. If he’s not, there’s a five day stray hold before you can officially adopt him. We have all the necessary paperwork on our website, or I’d be happy to walk you through it.”

James had never heard of a stray hold before, but Leon nodded easily and thanked Theo before wrapping his arm around James’ waist again. He led James over to a seat, gently guiding him to sit down before sitting down next to him and taking his hand. The care was sweet but seemed unnecessary since he wasn’t the one with a possibly broken leg or paw.

“I’m fine,” James said, staring down into big, golden eyes that somehow also seemed concerned for him.

“Okay. But it would be understandable if you weren’t. Especially given whatever is going on up here,” Leon said, gently knocking his head against the side of James’. “You said there’s a lot going on at home right now? Is your mom okay?”

James glanced around at the ten or more folks waiting to be seen. At the check-in desk, a young man was carrying a large cage with a parrot inside. The bird was bobbing its head as it held one foot out in front of itself. To their right, a young girl was clutching a shockingly large rabbit in her arms, and to their left, a middle-aged woman was holding a terrarium with a bright white snake in it.

If the last time was anything to go by, it could be a while before they were seen, especially if any more animals came in with a bigger emergency than an injured paw.

“We don’t have to talk about—” Leon tried to say, but James squared his shoulders and shook his head.

“Mom’s fine,” he said, squeezing Leon’s hand. “She’s actually more than fine. She’s in love, happy, and ready to take the next step in her relationship with Linda and Howard.”

“Like…getting engaged?” Leon asked.

James barked out a short laugh. It was interesting that Leon thought the next step in a relationship would be getting engaged. Was that…something he wanted? Leon was definitely not the old-fashioned type, so James sort of doubted he would want to be married, or even engaged, before living together. It was probably something he should know about his boyfriend, though.

“No, not like getting engaged. As far as I know, none of them have any intention of getting married again, especially given that it isn’t legal to marry more than one person at a time.”

“Oh,” Leon said, his cheeks flushing pink as he stared down at the cat in James’ lap. Sensing he had someone’s attention, he flicked his tail in the air, narrowly avoiding smacking James in the face.

James squeezed Leon’s fingers, slowly increasing the pressure until Leon looked back up at him. “They’re moving in together. In September. There’s a continuing care community out near your place that has a bunch of amenities and programs they can all do together, and it has the medical support they may need as they get older.”

Leon’s warm brown eyes widened, and his eyebrow ring disappeared behind an errant lock of his hair. “Oh, shit. That’s a big step.”

Before that ball in James’ stomach had a chance to burn its way through the wall of his abdomen, Leon let out a soft huff. “I’m assuming they all own their houses? That’s a fuck ton to coordinate, while also starting a life together. It’ll be a lot easier for us, since we don’t own our places.”

James’ mouth fell open, and the cat tried to whack James in the face again. He began absently petting him, his fingers deftly pulling out little bits of leaf and sticks as he went.

“You don’t co-own the house, right?” Leon asked, and James shook his head, all those words from earlier nowhere to be found.

A vet tech called for Jack and Pebbles, and a teenager holding a large tortoise two seats away from them stood up and walked across the waiting room.

“Are you going to buy the house?” Leon asked.

Once again, James shook his head. He came across a mat of fur, and instead of picking at it and risking hurting the poor cat, he dropped his hand off the side of the chair. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, but I think the house needs too much work, and there are too many memories there.” He struggled to swallow around the ball, which was now sitting at the base of his throat. “I spent some of my loneliest, hardest years in that house. Long-term, I want to live somewhere happy, and full of nothing but love and warmth.”

The furball in his lap shifted, curling his tail around James’ side.

Leon’s hand was limp in his, but James bit his tongue, giving Leon time to process what he’d just said. The TV in front of them was showing some kind of home and garden show, and James tried to focus on what the realtor was saying about curb appeal.

While James read the subtitles, and Leon sat next to him in silence, four more pets were called back.