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Keats gave me a crushing hug. “For real.”
Cory patted my arm. “We’re gonna go,” he said. “It’s your first night here. You should spend it together.”
I nodded, giving him a hug. “Thank you for helping today.”
“You’ll have to return the favour when it’s my turn,” he mumbled as we hugged.
“Soon.”
He pulled back, then gave Keats a hug, and before Amon could be embarrassed, Cory dragged him out the door.
Then it was just me and Keats. “You bought this,” I began.
“Because you wanted it.” He pulled me in for a kiss. “I will always try to get you everything you want.”
My eyes burned but I refused to cry. I was too happy to cry.
Keats held my face. “I thought we could get everything unpacked and settled in. Enjoy having the place to ourselves for a bit, then maybe start looking at cat rescues.”
I nodded, those stubborn tears finally winning the fight. “Okay.” I wiped at my face. “I love you, Keats.”
He thumbed a tear from my cheek. “I love you.”
I gave myself a moment to really bask in his love. “Did you hear how the delivery guy said our names? McCulloch and Acres. I like how it sounded.”
“I just put both our names on the delivery in case one of us was out or something.”
“I think we should put both our names on everything.”
“The electricity bill isn’t so romantic.”
I chuckled, and when I met his eyes, all I could do was sigh. “We need to test the shower for hot water and water pressure,” I said. “Then we can see about that massage.”
Meatball and Spaghettiarrived two weeks later.
We found them at the RSPCA. Two brothers, both tortoise shell, and approximately a year old. We needn’t have worried about which name went to which cat.
One was a weirdo. He did burnouts, sliding skids around corners, and parkour on the furniture, all in the first twenty minutes of being home. He was definitely a Meatball.
Spaghetti was quieter, more refined, and looked at Meatball with a resignation that only siblings could manage.
They took to their new home, and to us, as if they’d been here with us forever. They loved their climbing gym. Well, Meatball loved it more. Spaghetti preferred chasing the best nap positions in the autumn sun across the floor in the living room from sunup to sundown.
They both loved cuddles with us on the couch in front of the TV with blankets. And they settled in from the very beginning, much like me and Keats.
Like this was how it was always supposed to be.
How it was always going to be.
I had no doubt this was a forever thing.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Keats asked me quietly. We were on the couch, the cats curled up on us, like we did every night. Keats had his head on my shoulder.
“Thinking about you,” I replied. “About us.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Thinking how perfect it is with these two.” I gave Spaghetti a scratch under his ear. “Thinking about how perfect it is with you.” I kissed the top of his head. “Thinking about forever.”
Keats sat up, his eyes meeting mine. “Forever, huh?”
I grinned at him. “This is my cat-dad, domestic-bliss era. Pretty sure it’s a forever kind of thing.”
Keats leaned over and kissed me. “One hundred percent.”
~fin
