I was sitting next to River in the break room when their phone pinged. I watched as they looked down at it and smiled.
“What’s up?”
“My dog.” They held out their phone, showing a camera feed of an Irish Setter doing what could only be described as parkour off the furniture. “He’s got the zoomies.”
“What’s his name?”
“Carlos. He’s a handful, but he’s my good boy.”
“He’s gorgeous.”
“Thanks!” They took their phone back and took another bite. “You’ve got a cat, right?”
“Yeah, Tal and I have a little orange boy.” I looked around, then leaned in and whispered, “We’re getting another this weekend.”
“Why are we whispering?”
“Because Tal doesn’t know yet.” My voice was still a whisper as I spoke. “He needs a brother or sister, and I found one online through a local rescue that’s supposed to get along really well with kittens.”
“Are you fostering or adopting?”
“Foster to start, but I think it will go well. Roddy is still pretty young, so he should adapt to another cat well.”
“What about the other?”
“He’s an older cat, about eight, and he just needs a good home. He’s seen several other cats come and go.”
River nodded.
“I just don’t want him to never have the chance for a good home.”
“What about Tal?”
“He’s said that he wouldn’t mind another cat.”
“Wouldn’t mind isn’t the same thing as being cool with it,” they warned. “What will you do if they put their foot down?”
I frowned and reached for my phone, firing off a text.
What do you say to another cat?
I think it’s a good idea
Do you want to go to the shelter this weekend?
I actually already found a rescue online
His name is Pierre. He’s an older cat, but he needs a good home
Sounds like you have it all planned out
Are you upset?
Of course not!
We already talked about getting another baby
It’s sooner than I expected, but I’m not mad about it
Thank you!
Love you
Love you, too.
“So?” River asked. “What’s the verdict?”
“We’re getting another cat!”
“Yay!” They laughed. “Hopefully, Roddy approves, too.”
“Fingers crossed.”
When Saturday rolled around, we locked Rambunctius Roderick Bagpiper in the upstairs bathroom before the woman from the rescue got to the house. I wiped the sweat from my hands down the sides of my jeans again. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. It was just another cat.
Why am I worried that Pierre won’t like me?
The doorbell rang, and I ran to the door.
“Hello!” I called out, startling the woman standing on the stoop with a pet carrier.
“Hi,” she said, her voice hesitant. “Are you Lennox?”
“Call me Knox,” I said as I nodded and gestured for her to come inside. “Is that Pierre?”
She closed the door and set the carrier on the floor. “This is him! And I’m Patty.”
“Hi, Patty,” I said.
“Do we have to keep his name?” Tal asked from behind me. He put his hand on my shoulder, easing my nerves.
“If you end up adopting him, you can rename him Dav the Boisterous, if you want.” She opened the little door on the carrier. “That’s just what our volunteer called him when he was surrendered.”
“Surrendered?”
“Full disclosure, he bites sometimes.” She continued to crouch beside the carrier. “He doesn’t bite hard–only when he gets overstimulated, but it’s something you might want to work on with him.”
“I will,” I promised. I glanced behind myself to see Tal nodding.
“Come on out, little one,” Patty cooed. She glanced up at us, silently encouraging us to get down to the cat’s level. “These are your new guardians.”
I crouched down, wincing as my knees cracked halfway down. Tal sat on the floor beside me a moment later. I made kissing noises and tapped my fingers together.
Slowly, one paw at a time, a large gray cat stepped out of the carrier. He was larger than any cat I’d seen in person, and I wondered if he was a Maine Coon. He didn’t look like one, except for his size. He blinked up at me with big green eyes.
My heart melted.
“Hello, Pierre,” I cooed as he walked slowly over to me. “My name’s Knox.”
“I’m Tal,” he said from beside me. “Aren’t you beautiful!”
“He’s really sweet,” Patty confirmed. “You said in your message that you had another cat?”
“Yes, I have a little orange boy. He’s almost six months old now.”
“Pierre gets along really well with other cats.”
“I don’t know how well Roddy gets on with other cats, to be honest, but I’m willing to take it day by day with them separated. Do the smells first, and all that.”
“That’s a good idea.” She stood up. “I have the foster paperwork with me, if you want to fill out your portion while Miss Knox gives him some affection?”
Tal nodded and stood while I held the back of my hand out to the cat. He sniffed and sniffed before he bashed his face into my hand, asking for pets. I stroked him from his forehead to the tip of his tail.
He let out a deep rumble that sounded like a swarm of bees as he nipped at my other hand. I reached out, so that I was petting him two-handed. He rubbed himself against me and crawled into my lap.
“Can we keep him?” I asked Tal as I held the cat. He was easily over fifteen pounds of fluff and love. “Please?”
“We’ll see.” Tal’s voice was indulgent as he spoke. “It’s up to Roddy now.”
I nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of the purring cat’s head. “We’re going to keep you,” I whispered.
After two weeks of Pierre living in the guest room with Roddy sniffing him through the door, we tried a supervised meeting. Pierre and Roddy stared at each other for a long while before Roddy slow-blinked at the gray cat.
Pierre took a hesitant step forward, and we held our breath as Roddy leaned away from him. Pierre took another step forward, but this time Roddy took one, too. There were a pair of bowls in between them filled with wet food.
The orange cat stopped looking at Pierre and shoved his head in the bowl and started munching. Pierre watched him for a moment before he did the same.
After a month of supervised visits, we let them play together. They were still supervised, but less closely. Roddy seemed enamored with Pierre. Tal and I hadn’t discussed a new name for the gray cat.
Pierre just seemed to fit him.
“I think he’s our cat now,” Tal told me another month later. We were getting ready for bed, and both cats were curled up on our bed, grooming each other. “I think Roddy’s keeping him.”
“That’s good because I want to keep him, too.”
