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The girl smiled slowly. “I am Thera.”
“Pleased to meet you, Thera. Now, to find out if you really want a cat or just a stuffed animal, I think we need to meet some of the café cats. Would you come with me? You, too, Thanatos.”
Thera fidgeted. “I want a cat, but I don’t know much about cats.”
“Come on, we will find out what kind of cat you need. Not every cat is for every person. Some cats need to have a cat friend.” She walked toward the café door and scanned through, holding the door for them.
Thanatos leaned toward her as he walked past. “Renner, I need to speak with you.”
She smiled cheerfully. “Let’s not. I can take no for an answer, and the wedding killed my sex drive for a while, so we are fine. Pursue that lady that Lady Fen is trying to hook you up with.”
Thera looked back at them as the door closed. “Oh, you arethatlady. Wow. No wonder you brought me here, Uncle.” She looked at Renner. “Are you sleeping with my uncle?”
“No. Absolutely not. I am not his type.”
Thera looked at her uncle. “Are you blind or just stupid?”
“I am guessing you are from his mother’s side of the family, so I will just say that his grandmother on his father’s side of the family has a lot of pull and is used to getting her way. He’s not to blame.”
She gathered a bunch of pillows and took them to the centre of the café. She tossed them on the floor and had a seat with her legs crossed. Achilles came to her side and leaned against her, purring hard.
Thera sat, and Thanatos kept quiet.
Thera looked nervous, so Renner said, “The cats in the café have excellent manners. They are used to people who are hesitant. So, why do you want a pet?”
Thera swallowed. “My dad is across the country, and my mom is busy with legal stuff, so I am with family a lot. They come to my house, but I want someone there for me.”
“Well, cats are good for that. You know about litter boxes?”
Thera blinked as several cats started rubbing up against her. “Yeah. You need one more of them than you have cats.”
“Excellent. If you get a boy cat, he needs wet food along with dry food and plenty of water. We have everything in a booklet that comes with the cat. If you and a cat get along and you offer them a permanent home, you can bring them back here anytime, whether for a visit or it doesn’t get along with your family.”
Thera blinked. “Oh.”
Thanatos frowned. “Does that happen a lot?”
“About two percent of all cat adoptions. The cats always come back shaken, and the person who adopted them is upset. So, I am going to need assertions that your parents are fine with the adoption and that they understand.”
Thanatos was absently stroking a black cat named Rigor. She smiled and looked at the thick, fluffy cat that had crawled into Thera’s lap. “That’s Ursa. She’s our little bear and loves to be held, carried, and cuddled.”
Thera carefully lifted the beautiful golden kitty, held her up, and smiled. Thera cuddled with her, and when the deafening purr rumbled out, Thanatos looked surprised. “That’s loud.”
“The purr can reduce emotional tension, increase the speed of healing, and make you smile.”
Thanatos looked at Rigor and asked, “Are all the cats in here up for adoption?”
“All but Achilles. He’s the silent partner and brings in a lot of rescues.” She stroked the enormous raggedy cat, and the purr that matched his appearance grated out with a rusty sound. “He started the rescue. I had bought the building in crappy shape, and he came to my door and started howling. I followed him down the hall in my pyjamas and out into the alley where there was a momma cat and three babies. I gathered them up in a cleanish cardboard box and brought them into my place. I washed the mom to help with fleas and dried her. I got a better box for her to be in, and she pulled the kittens onto my bed one at a time. Achilles took his position on the corner of the bed, and in the morning, I tried to look for shelters. They were all full and would immediately separate the mom from the babies the moment that they were done nursing. So, I wanted the chance for them to be a family as long as they wanted to be, and I opened the rescue and then the café after that.”
Thera smiled. “Because of the kittens?”
Renner stroked Achilles. “Because he brought me new cats several times a week. I had to burn out my savings and get a day job while getting a partnership with a local vet. I started work, and for the first little while, things were tight, but I used the talents that I have and became the assistant to a department head. That was the day job, and then three years ago, I was able to open the café, and after that, the cats leave in about a month after they arrive.”
Thera was having fun with Ursa. Rigor had also made a new friend.
Thanatos looked at her. “What’s his name?”
She couldn’t hide her smile. “Rigor.”
