The vet laughs and scoops Minou into her arms. ‘Follow me. She’s in one of the observation rooms.’
We follow her into a small room with a big cage with bedding inside. I bend down to get a look at the stray who has been rescued and brought in for medical attention. What will Guillaume think if he comes back to find the number of cats has doubled? What am I even thinking? I won’t act until I have his permission as this is a co-parent situation.
The cage is dark, so it’s hard to make out the face of the little orange cat who slinks slowly over as the vet coos to her. ‘Is that…?’ I squint at the cat who, like Minou, looks like she’sbeen starved of her food source for a while. The waif-like cat drags herself to the front of the cage, into the light of the room. I gasp when I see her face. She’s thinner, dirtier, but instantly recognisable. ‘That’s Marmalade!’
‘Marmalade?’ the vet asks quizzically, and at the sound of her name she meows. Minou wiggles to be put down and the vet complies. He pushes his nose to the crate to meet Marmalade’s. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. A homecoming of two lost souls. They purr and paw as if communicating in their own special language. ‘You know this cat?’
‘Oui. Marmalade is Minou’s best friend from the cemetery.’
‘Ooh la la. That might be why Minou hasn’t settled in if he’s been missing her.’
I slap a hand to my forehead. ‘Mon Dieu. I bet Marmalade left the cemetery and got lost because she was looking for Minou!’
‘How sweet they’re reunited.’
The vet gives me decisive nod and a watery smile. It must be hard doing what they do, in their attempts to save every animal that comes their way. ‘So, what you do say? Is fostering in the realms of possibility? I understand we’d need to wait for confirmation from Guillaume, but someone from the shelter will be here soon for Marmalade, and honestly, while the shelters are wonderful and prolong the life of many an animal, they’re not the best environments long term for any of them.’
My mind ticks with possibilities. ‘Fostering means someone could fully adopt Marmalade at any time, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes, fostering would be a temporary arrangement, but full disclosure – sometimes cats of this vintage don’t get adopted very fast. You could be committing to a lengthy foster process.’
‘I think… I’ll adopt Marmalade.’ I look at the two cats delightedly purring at each other and make a firm decision. ‘They clearly can’t be apart, and I can’t take the risk thatsomeone might fall in love with her sweet little face and take her from us. I’m sure Guillaume will be amenable.’ I cover Minou’s ears so he doesn’t hear and whisper, ‘Marmalade is Guillaume’s favourite, so I’m almost positive he will agree anyway.’
The vet’s eyes shine with happiness. ‘Perfect! I’ll let the shelter know you’re going to go ahead with the adoption. Do you want to take Marmalade home with you now and I can forward the adoption paperwork on to you later?’
‘If she’s ready, why not?’ Will this reunion help Minou to settle down or have I just doubled my problems? Either way, I’m sure I’ve made the right decision by the way the two mangy felines stare into each other’s eyes as if they’ve found…home.
29
The morning speeds by after taking the cats home and leaving them in the care of the pet sitter, who graciously informs me two cats will cost double to cat sit. While Minou is almost back to full health, Marmalade is not. She’s far too thin and weak from her time on the streets. There’s no time to negotiate with the cat sitter so I agree and set off for work. I shoot Guillaume a text to let him know his co-parent responsibilities have doubled.
He responds quickly:
What! You can’t just go around adopting every stray, Lilou!
I consider drawing it out and teasing him but I’m already far too late for work so I reply:
Ooh? So shall I cancel the adoption of Marmalade who went on an adventure searching for Minou and came off a little worse for wear in her efforts?
I hit send and wait for the inevitable lecture.
You could have led with that, Lilou. Of course we’ll co-parent Marmalade! How is she? If she’s seriously hurt, my heart will surely break.
He’s a softie underneath all that bluster.
She’s going to be fine. Nothing a little TLC won’t fix.
Geneviève’s shop Palais is open when I arrive, so I head straight in to see her, hoping to share with her the outcome of my morning. ‘Bonjour, Lilou. Why do you look so happy? Was it the diary? Did you read the rest of it?’
I’d almost forgotten about the diary after the excitement of the morning. ‘I did. There were only a few more poems! But I still have no clear idea who it is.’ What I don’t say is I fell in love with the words, the sweeping statements of adoration and expectations on what love between us could be. But how can such a thing be possible when I don’t know who the author is? The thing is, my heart knows what it wants, but I’m just not sure the person I’ve fallen for feels the same way so I can’t voice it to anyone, not even Geneviève. ‘My main news is that I adopted another cat. Marmalade from Montmartre cemetery.’
Her eyebrows shoot up. ‘What? How can that be?’
I explain about Minou’s check-up and finding Marmalade had been handed in, after presumably going on an adventure to find her feline best friend.
‘Wow, I can see this cat adoption thing getting out of hand. Are you going to swap real love for the love of pets?’
‘It would be easier,’ I admit. ‘It’s not that I’m becoming a crazy cat lady, but who wants to be the person who splits relationships up, cat or otherwise?’ And really, what’s thedifference between facilitating love between two furry felines, or two humans, myself included?
