“Hm. Is she gonna play with us?” Sabina glances at me.
I turn to Clara with raised brows and a slight smirk. She returns my same expression before talking to Sabina. “I wouldn't mind playing a little bit.”
Sabina looks back to me with big gleaming eyes. I nod before she pushes from my chest. “Okay!”
I let her down before she grabs my hand and leads us to the next room where she likes to play cat family. Both Clara and I laugh when I notice Glaide and Erasmus glance between us. They stare at Clara especially. Why are they being so strange? Do they not like her?
I shrug it off and focus on Sabina. She deserves my full attention and it would be nice to see Clara interact with her.
???
“Meow!” Sabina’s voice is muffled by the piece of bread hanging from her mouth. “I brought food.”
Clara, Sabina and I are all on hands and knees on cream carpet, in a room of toy boxes and walls painted with animalsand rainbows. Clara and I wait patiently for food as Sabina's little kittens.
Sabina takes the bread out of her mouth and pretends to offer it to us by stretching an arm towards us. “Eat it!”
I take a pretend bite out of the bread, mimicking chewing noises. “Mmhm. It tastes great. Thanks mom!”
“Yeah it's delicious bread!” Clara seems to be having a great time. There's a shine in her eyes that shows it.
Sabina pouts, and sits on her knees, crossing her arms. “It's not bread! It's a mouse!”
Clara flinches back. “A mouse?”
“Yeah! Cats don't huntbread!” Sabina scoffs. “They hunt mice!”
I laugh as Clara brings a hand to her mouth and chuckles along. “It would be weird if cats hunted for bread, wouldn't it?” Clara snorts. “Just chasing bread scurry around.”
After a moment of silence, Sabina bursts into a fit of giggles. “Running bread!”
“Imagine! Just pouncing and being like,” Clara does her impression of a cat pouncing against the carpet floor with her knees on the floor. “I just caught a slice of bread.”
My gaze settles on Clara, as her and Sabina continue to joke and chortle. It's nice to see them bond so quickly, Sabina can be harder to talk with. Maybe I could invite Clara to come more often.
I can envision us adopting Sabina together. She’d make a great mother.
I jump at the thought. Why am I even thinking that? She already has someone out there!
“Let's play now,” Sabina says between giggles.
“Okay! Let's do this!” Clara gets back into “cat” position.
I get back into position too, and start to fake chew again. “This is a delicious mouse.”
“Yes, than-” Clara stops. Her veins pop from her arms as she scrunches her nose back. Her eyes go from gleaming to shifty, almost like she’s panicking. The pace of her breath increases with every second.
Why? “Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Yes…”
The high pitch in her voice doesn't assure me. Something’s off.
I search around for a possible source of concern when Clara stands. “I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom.”
I rush to get on my feet. “I can show you where it is.” And also get to the bottom of why she's uncomfortable?
“I'll find it myself,” she snaps, her voice slightly shaky. When I jerk back, taken aback by her response, she sighs and places a hand on my shoulder. “Sorry. Just stay with Sabina.”
