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As we placed the carriers in the living room and then brought in all the supplies, Fancypants came winging in. He made a beeline for the carriers and clapped his hands.
“Friends! You brought home friends!”
“You like cats?” I asked.
“Dragonettes are the cats of the dragon realm,” he said.
“I can see the similarities. Now be careful with them, they’re both babies,” I warned him. But the look on his face reassured me there would be no problems. Fancypants was smitten.
“I’ll help you take care of them and I can watch them if you’re busy,” he said, hopping from the top of one carrier to the other. “Can you bring them out now? Should I give them some of my muffin I was eating?”
“Cats are obligate carnivores. They’re better off with grain-free cat food. I don’t want to get them started eating people food,” I said. “So, you enjoy that muffin all by yourself. Grams, do you mind setting up the litterboxes? One can go in the hall bath, and the other…well…by the washer and dryer, I guess. I’ll get their food and water dishes ready. For the first day or so, let’s confine them to the hall bathroom so I can kitten-proof the house.”
I found a tray in the kitchen and put food and water out, setting them in the hall bath. I’d bought the whisker fatigue dishes, and they did seem like they’d be much easier on the cats. Making sure the toilet seat was down, I set a large cat bed in the walk-in shower—that would be easy enough for them to find, and then scattered a couple toys on the floor.
Grams and I, and—of course, Fancypants—took them into the bathroom and we sat on the floor and opened the carriers. I found myself grateful that the bath wasn’t tiny—it wasn’t huge, either, but it was a good enough size to give them a bit of room.
“Now that we have a chance to sit and talk, where on earth did you find them?” Gram asked. She was sitting cross-legged, wearing a pair of walking shorts and a light blouse. For being over one hundred, she looked good. She looked about middle-aged, and while her skin had lost the tone of youth, I could still see the muscle definition.
I leaned back against the wall, watching Gem and Silver as they set out to explore their new surroundings. “I had quite the morning.” I proceeded to tell her about the murder, and Sarah’s ghost, and the way her parents had acted. “I didn’t trust the father. He was either going to dump Silver—Sirius was his name but I changed it—or I had the uneasy feeling he might try to kill the kitten. I think Sarah’s mother felt the same way because the minute I suggested taking the kitten, she was all over it.”
“They’re going to be divorced in a year, mark my words. Tragedy either brings people together, or it tears them apart.” Grams shook her head. “When your grandfather died, Peter and I pulled together as a team. We took the grief and shared it, and it strengthened our marriage. It’s always a bitter branch. In an ideal world, a parent shouldn’t outlive their child, but it happens all the time, and it’s a tragedy that few talk about openly.”
Gem clambered up on my lap, then up my shirt to where she was clinging against me again. I nuzzled her.
“Gem reminds me of Karna, in so many ways. But mostly in the feeling I have when I’m holding her.” I teared up. “When I lost Karna, I lost the love of my life—that pure, unadulterated love that bonds two beings together without any conditions. When I lost Rian, I lost love again, in a different way.” As tears trailed down my cheek, Gem stood with her paws on my shoulders and licked them away.
“You two have been around the Wheel before,” Grams said. “She found you again.”
“Karna?” I asked, afraid to voice what I had been hoping.
“Yes, I believe so. But remember: she’s different this time. She’s not the same cat that she was. Let her be who she needs to be this lifetime. She has a different mission. Don’t try to force her into the vision you remember.” Grams picked up Silver. “And who are you, little boy?”
He mewed but quickly settled down on her lap, purring himself to sleep as she petted him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve slowed down enough to sit silently with an animal,” she said. “It’s calming.”
“Yeah, I agree.” I nuzzled Gem, then realized she’d fallen asleep on my chest. “So, Karna’s come back to me. I’ve missed her. There’s something so unconditional about their love. Animals are honest. They never lie to you.”
“You never had a dog, did you?”
“No,” I said. “I like dogs, but…this is hard to explain. They’re so forgiving. They accept abuse because that’s who they are—loyal to the death. They try to please their owners to a point where it breaks my heart. Nobody, person or animal, should stay with an abuser. My loyalty willalwaysbe conditional. A cat will lash out if you hurt it, if it can. And I like that. I like being held accountable.” I paused, then looked over at Grams. “I’m ready for the cord-cutting ceremony. Can we do it now?”
“Yes, we can. Outside in the garden?”
I thought about it. “Yeah, that’s a good place.”
“Let’s let this pair rest and get acquainted.”
“Do you think they’ll be okay together?” I started to say, but as we stood, gently placing the kittens in the cat bed, they shifted, finding each other, and quickly curled together in a ball of fluff and razorblades. Silver squinted, opening one eye, and he leaned over, licking Gem’s head. A few moments later, they were both snoozing.
“Yes, I think they’ll be fine,” Grams said. “Come on, let’s gather a few things and head outside. It’s time for you to let go of the past, my dear.”
Knowing she was right, even though a part of my past I thought long gone had reached out to return to me, I followed her out of the bathroom and softly closed the door.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
It was 2:45,so I didn’t bother putting a note on my store. Apparently, the gods knew that I needed the time today and had steered potential customers away. Grams and I gathered our gear and changed into our ritual regalia, then found a place near one of the rose bushes where she had me sit down on a blanket. I leaned back. Usually I didn’t care for the sun, but today was different. Everything felt surreal, like I’d smoked way too much weed.
