My first story, Miss Kitty's Kitty, turned out to be a little darker than I had intended. For your reading enjoyment, my original idea, in the form of a sequel.

These characters don't belong to me, but I sure have fun playing with them.

Chapter One-The Big Man and the Nice Lady

One year after Miss Kitty's Kitty

"Oooh! You little scalawag! Bring that back!" Matt, just entering the Long Branch, was reaching for his gun when he realized that the words Kitty was squealing meant she most likely wasn't in need of him to come to her rescue. He rested his gun hand on his hip as though that's what he'd meant to do all along. Leaning back against the bar, he waited for the rest of the show, wondering what it was this time. Seconds later, the orange-striped thief raced down the stairs three at a time, one of Kitty's lacy unmentionables (so unmentionable Matt wasn't even sure what it was called) trailing after him, and Matt knew Kitty was still dressing for the day and not likely to be following him downstairs anytime soon. He had just barely had time to consider walking upstairs to offer his assistance after all when the barroom burst into appreciative whoops and whistles. One guffawing cowboy shouted to another "Hey, Frank, I thought you told me this wasn't no cathouse!" Matt swept the barroom with an icy gaze, realizing that not a few of those present knew the item in question belonged to the marshal's lady.

The cat leapt gracefully onto the bar, walking past him without so much as a glance, coming to a stop in front of the bartender, Sam. Sam managed to disentangle the lacy garment from the cat's mouth and claws and stash it underneath the bar without actually looking at it. "Shoo!" he said sternly to the animal, flicking some water in his direction, and the cat jumped off the counter and ran into the storeroom where there were plenty of places to hide. Matt slapped a coin on the bar to pay for the beer he'd never had a chance to order, muttered "Much obliged, Sam," and stalked out the door without a backward glance.

Eleven months earlier

Pausing for a moment to look up at a light in the window on the second floor, Matt walked as quietly as he could up the back stairs of the Long Branch and let himself into Kitty's room with his key. He had been away from Dodge City and his lady for a month and was looking forward to a good night's sleep, and maybe more, at Kitty's side. Matt took a long admiring look at the woman lying in the bed, as yet unaware of his presence. He sat down wearily on the chair at the foot of her bed to remove his boots, then removed his gun belt and draped it over the back of the chair before shedding the rest of his clothes down to his long underwear.

Turning to cross the room to put out the lamp, something caught his eye. A small flash of white moved at the base of Kitty's neck, and he finally noticed the kitten curled up on her collarbone, almost completely hidden by the red hair tumbled around her shoulders. In the lamplight, it was nearly impossible to distinguish the kitten's fur from Kitty's hair. It was one of the sweetest sights he'd ever seen, and the big lawman's heart turned over as he realized he had no wish to disturb it. He enjoyed the scene for a few more moments before turning out the light. Lifting the quilt on his side of the bed, Matt eased in next to Kitty and gently took her in his arms. What the hell, he thought, I'm exhausted anyway. He closed his eyes, already anticipating the reunion they would have the next night. Kitty stirred next to him.

"Matt?" she murmured. "Din' hear ya…" She was already drifting back to sleep as she snuggled closer to him.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," he said, stroking her hair and kissing her shoulder. The kitten mewed in protest and raised his head, giving Matt a long unblinking look before dropping his head back down and curling himself into a ball.

The next night Kitty was sitting up waiting for him when he arrived for a nightcap. They had both been so busy with work that day they'd barely had time to say hello at noon before they were each interrupted. Kitty handed him a drink, but before he had a chance to take a sip she had wrapped her arms around his neck. "Mmmm, welcome back, Cowboy," she purred, reaching up to kiss him.

He cradled her back with his free hand. "Good to be back." He returned the kiss and they stood like that for several minutes, enjoying being back in each other's presence.

"Sit down, Matt," she said finally. He sprawled out across most of the settee and Kitty curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest. He finally took a sip of his drink and set it down. Looking around he asked, "So, where's the kitten?"

"Oh, he's around here somewhere. They're good about finding themselves a little hiding place to take a nap. That reminds me, Matt, I'm not sure I ever got the chance to thank you properly for everything you did for me when...with the kittens." She looked into his eyes, touching his cheek.

Matt grinned. "Well, if I recall, you managed to thank me properly quite a few times before I had to go out of town."

"That's right. Now I remember." Kitty smiled innocently. A little too innocently, Matt thought. "Do you think maybe you could, well, remember that for a few more nights?"

"Kitty…."

"Matt."

"You're about to tell me something I'm not going to like."

"Oh, Matt, I fixed up a little bed for Pumpkin to sleep in, but he won't sleep in it, he'll only sleep on the bed with me."

"Well, I can't say I blame him, but is there any way he could sleep somewhere else tonight? Can one of the girls-"

"No, Millie has company, and he makes Rose sneeze." Matt wondered what Kitty would do if Pumpkin made him sneeze.

"Can you put him in the other room?"

"He'll cry."

"Well, then he'll cry."

"Matt Dillon, you can't expect me to be very good company with him crying in the other room! He's just a baby! He'll be lonely in there by himself."

"Well, I guess that makes two of us!" Matt stood up, put on his hat and headed for the door. "I'll see you later, Kitty."

"Matt." The quietness in her voice stopped him. This wasn't a fight. He turned back to face her. "I didn't say I wanted you to leave."

Matt sat back down next to her and put his arms around her. "Kitty, look. I know this is selfish, but we haven't seen each other in weeks. I was hoping to have you all to myself tonight. If you're saying you want me to stay here and just sleep next to you, well, honey, I'm not sure I can do that."

Kitty laid her palms against his chest and gave him a long look. "Just give it a few days, Matt, while I try to figure out what to do."

"A few days." A few days of agony. "Kitty, you don't know what you're asking."

"I know exactly what I'm asking, Matt. I'm asking you to give him a chance to get used to you and get used to sleeping somewhere else. Let him get used to the way things are."

The way things are. Well, he guessed he had that coming, he thought, remembering missed socials, postponed picnics and long-ago fishing trips. How many times in the last ten years had he been forced to put Kitty's needs after the demands of his badge? It wasn't asking so much for her to put him second for once. He'd stay. But he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

The next morning Matt learned Pumpkin wasn't the only one to have to get used to the way things are. The kitten hadn't spent the entire night curled up with Kitty as he had the night before-he'd spent most of it walking over Matt. He'd opened his eyes when the sun began peeking through Kitty's bedroom window to see the kitten sitting on his chest, staring at him. Matt lifted him by the scruff of the neck and dropped him gently into the cat bed on the floor next to Kitty's side of the bed, which was what they'd been doing whenever either of them woke up enough to realize he was back in the bed with him, though Matt couldn't help noticing he was the one who was doing most of the waking and cat-moving. Matt got up to get dressed and Kitty sat up, reaching for her robe. Well, that was different. Generally Kitty could barely open her eyes at this hour

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right. Thanks for being so patient, Matt," she said in her smoky voice.

"Mmhm." Matt grunted.

"See, he's staying in his own bed now." Pumpkin was curled up, eyes closed and purring contentedly.

"Little late for that."

"It won't be this way forever, Matt. I'll figure out some way to make it work."

"I know Kitty," He turned, ready to tell her goodbye. "I-" He stopped, noticing fine red scratches all over her left collarbone and partway up her neck. "He scratched you!"

"He doesn't mean to do it, Matt. It's what kittens do to their mothers when they're feeding them. It helps the milk come faster."

"Er-" Matt wasn't sure what to say to this. "You aren't his mother."

"Well, I think he thinks I am. I think it's kind of sweet. It's not that bad. Nothing a little face powder won't cover up." Matt looked at her doubtfully. "It's nothing to worry about. Go on and have your breakfast now, Doc and Festus will wonder what's keeping you."

Matt brushed his lips against Kitty's cheek and settled his hat on his head. "Festus will, anyway. You know Doc's smarter than that. See you later, Kitty."

"Goodbye, Matt." Kitty sat down on the edge of the bed and watched the sleeping kitten, feeling a little guilty. She hadn't meant to let this get so out of hand, but truthfully, it probably wouldn't have if Matt hadn't had to go off chasing some outlaw down to Texas for a month the day after Pumpkin's baptism. The first night the kitten had cried alone in his box and Kitty had wanted to cry right along with him. She tried putting a wrapped up alarm clock next to him as Doc had suggested, but it didn't help. Finally she scooped him up out of the box with one hand and carried him to bed with her, not really expecting that to work, either, but the kitten soon stopped crying and settled down next to her, purring himself to sleep. She woke up later and realized he was curled up against her neck and shoulder, still purring. Every night he cried in his box and she got up and brought him to bed with her, until he got big enough to crawl out of the box himself and climb up the bedding to get to her on his own. As he got more independent, she realized she'd made a mistake, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it. Having Pumpkin there at night eased her loneliness for Matt a little, still, she knew it would be a problem once he was back in town.

Gradually, concessions were made by all three parties. Pumpkin learned that when the big man was there, he was going to be shut in the nice lady's sitting room for awhile. Sometimes she let him out after a few hours, when the big man was asleep, and Pumpkin could sleep curled up on his lady's neck like he did when she was alone. Other times he was left there until morning, when the big man let him out before leaving. The nice lady learned that Pumpkin wouldn't cry when left in the sitting room all night, but it was a good idea to pack away any breakables she cared about. And the big man learned, after some nudging from the old man with the growly voice and the gentle touch, that his lady seemed less anxious when he was gone since that kitten came around.