Page 62 of Hold the Pickle
It can’t be Cattarina. She’s silent. And it’s too big of a sound for the kittens.
I carefully angle the phone at the wall to give a bit of reflected light on the bed.
Dalton is curled in a semi-circle around the whole pile of fur. Cattarina is closest to his belly, her head up, eyes alert.
Mama Cat is next, watching me. She meows again.
I reach out to pet her head. She must be feeling better.
The kittens are a writhing mass along her belly. They are probably nursing. I need to feed them before they drain all of MC’s energy.
The glow of the light illuminates Dalton’s face, or half of it. He’s partially buried in his pillow.
His features are soft and gentle. His breathing is regular and deep.
My chest warms over. He’s beautiful with his thick eyebrows and angled nose. His sharp jawline is shadowed with a hint of facial hair.
He draws in a jagged breath, different from his previous calm rhythm. The older cats’ faces snap to me in judgment, as if I’m guilty of waking him.
I angle the phone light down to the floor, leaving him in darkness. “Sorry,” I whisper.
I tiptoe to the kitchen to warm up formula for the kittens so they won’t overtax their mother. Then I carefully take them one by one to the sofa to feed them.
Dalton sleeps on. I wonder if he arranged the cats near him, or if he fell asleep and they gathered there.
My question is answered when I pause in feeding the kitten to examine the bottle.
Cattarina jumps from the bed and darts to the sofa. She snatches the kitten from my lap and carries her back to her mother.
I get it.
It’s not only the cats who are a family.
It’s all of us.
20
DALTON
Iwake up to a tickle on my cheek.
Must be one of the cats.
It’s dim, but I can tell from the light leaking below the blackout curtains that it’s morning. I’ll have to go to work soon.
I reach out to figure out which cat is in my face, but I touch a face instead.
Nadia?
I reach behind me to adjust the curtain enough that a crack of light comes through.
Yeah, it’s her. The cats are in between us, surrounded by the circle made by Nadia’s body and mine.
The cats are all asleep. Cattarina, who was against my belly last I checked, has moved up against Nadia. Mama Cat is curled against me.
The four kittens are in the middle.
When did Nadia get in bed?
