“It’syourbirthday, Mom.” I hand her the balloons and gift, but she shakes her head like she’s disappointed, yet she still smiles.
“It’s not my birthday, sweetheart.” She laughs softly as she plays with the string of the balloons. “You were never good at remembering it.” She laughs again and I watch her smile, silently wishing she could always be this happy.
“I remembered this year.”
She shakes her head again and cups my face. “You remembered, but you got the date wrong again, sweetie.”
“If you say so,” I give her a shrug. “It’s your birthday. What do I know?”
She looks down when one of the cats meows, and I wait for her reaction, but she only lets out a soft gasp and reaches for one.
“Oh, these are beautiful.” She smothers the smallest one, and when she kisses it, I’m suddenly grateful I got them cleaned before coming here. I let the other two out of my grasp and they make their way over to her. They climb her lap, and I feel myself smiling when she laughs again.
“Do you remember–” She laughs harder. “Do you–”
I feel a laugh bubbling in my throat as she struggles to contain herself.
“Do you remember when your sister tried taking the poor neighbor's cat home?” She laughs and laughs, and I barely blink as I keep my focus on her.
“We were walking home and she snuck up to their porch and just scooped up that poor thing.”
I smile at the memory. Shanti attempted to catnap that cat every day that week and failed, but she was determined that day, at least as determined as a three-year-old could be.
When we passed the house, she tippy-toed all the way across their yard before grabbing the cat from behind. She got scratched across the face by the shit, and I almost killed it when she cried. Mom said it was unfortunate, but now she’ll learn not to touch animals without asking. I guess she did learn, but her scar wasn’t pretty.
Now that I think about it, it was definitely our fault for letting her do that, but it was cute watching her try to be sneaky. I genuinely didn’t think the cat would scratch her since it’s only ever been friendly, but I guess she scared it.
My mom suddenly pushes the cats off of her, and I pull them closer when I see her getting upset about something.
“Your dad was angry when he saw Shanti's scratch.” She shakes her head, and when one of the cats makes its way back to her, she softly pushes it further, so I grab it and hold all three in my arms again.
“He doesn’t know how to control his anger, Liam.” She hugs herself as she thinks about him. My dad never put his hands on her, but his anger was genuinely insane to me, and it makes me feel like I can’t breathe when I think about how I got that trait from him.
“You should take them back outside before he sees them.” She glances at the cats, but I can tell she wants to hold them again.
“He won’t be back for a while. They can stay a bit longer.”
She asks me if I’m sure, and when I tell her I’m certain, her smile is back and she takes all of them onto her lap again.
“They are so perfect.” She rubs one of their stomachs, and her words remind me of Sage before her meltdown in the shelter. That woman really is a headache, but I think I would’ve taken ten cats if she cried about it, and the thought makes my stomach turn. I don’t know why I care so much about satisfying her, but I do, and it’s unsettling.
“Did you let your sister see them?”
My eyes snap back to my mom, and she’s watching me, so hopefully.
“Yeah.” I lie, and her smile widens.
“How was she with them?” She looks down at the cats again and leans against her elbow. “The doctor says pets are beneficial for children with Down syndrome, but your father is against the idea.” She shakes her head like she’s annoyed with him, and I just want her to be happy again, so the words slip past my lips.
“He changed his mind. We’re going to keep the cats.”
My mom looks up at me with the brightest smile I’ve seen.
“For Shanti.”
She leaps from where she is and wraps her arms around my neck. “How did you convince him?”
I tell her it took a lot of debating, but he caved after a while, which is probably the biggest lie I’ve ever told. When he was set on something, there was no changing his mind.
