The cat had lived a hard life before being adopted by the McClain family, if his scruffy fur and surly attitude were anything to go by. He was your average tabby cat, typical black markings on grey fur. The only special trait he possessed were his blue-grey eyes. A trait many sought for in pets apparently.

The cat had gone from one home to the next. His previous caregivers had all thrown him out when he refused to give or accept any affection. The trend continued until he was picked up by a man called, Shiro.

He had patiently waited for the cat to warm up to him, and he never touched the feline unless it approached him first. After a time, the cat had warmed up to the human. He stayed with him for what he found were the best three years of his life.

During his seventh year of life, the unimaginable happened to the cat. One day, Shiro was just gone. The cat had hunted for him for a solid year, earning scars for his efforts, but he never found Shiro.

It was after he'd given up, taking a rest on the safety of a wooden porch, that he had another chance at salvation.

"Oh my! Honey, there's a cat on the porch!", a woman quietly whispered. She watched as the skinny tabby cat struggled to breathe and her heart broke into pieces. Her and the rest of her family had always had a fondness for cats.

"There is?", came a whine from inside. Her husband creeped over to the door she was standing behind and peeked at the pitiful sight. The man felt a swell of pity, but he couldn't have a cat in the house. He still remembered when he had an allergy attack as a child from the feline dander.

He turned his gaze to his wife and found her staring at him. "No. Absolutely not."

"But I didn't even ask you yet." She pouted.

"I know exactly what that look means."

"Then you might as well make this easier on yourself and let me go out there and get that poor gatico."

Her husband gave her a pleading look, when she failed to side with him he sighed and waved a hand in defeat as he went to get his keys.

After he'd disappeared around the corner the woman carefully opened the door. When the cat didn't stir, she removed her coat from the rack by the front door.

She opened the jacket fully before she quietly padded over to the sleeping animal. She dropped the jacket on top of it, used to wrangling her cats for when they had to go to the vet. But the animal didn't stir.

That's not a good sign.

She scooped him up and felt her heart plunge into her stomach at how light the cat was.

Her husband appeared, their year-old child in his arms. "Isn't he supposed to, I don't know, struggle or something?"

"Yeah." His wife said slowly as she made sure the cat wasn't already dead, but he was still breathing. "Come on, let's get him to the vet."

Her husband nodded as he put the child in the car and soothed him. "It's okay, Lance. We're just going to help a kitty."

"Kee?" the one-year-old piped up.

His mother could be heard in the front seat, "Yes, like in your book. The kitty says…?" she prompted. Her husband made sure that their child was strapped into his car seat before he shut the door.

"Meow meow." Lance answered happily as his father made his way to the driver seat.

"That's right, Lance. Miau miau."

Their drive was filled with the sounds of Lance 'meowing' quietly to himself and singing 'kee goes mee'. It lasted a half hour before Lance drifted off and when his dad checked on him with the rearview mirror, he found him asleep.

The parents were secretly thankful that they hadn't had to tell Lance to stop. It was cute, but too much longer and it was going to grate on their nerves.

They arrived at the local vet and the woman brought the cat inside while her husband drove to the nearest café.

When the cat was coherent enough to realize it was still alive, he took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the kind-smelling woman in front of him. He was bitter that he was still alive and that his suffering was not over, so he tried to let out a weak hiss.

When no sound came out, he heard the woman coo, "Gatico lamentable."

There was a firm grip on the back of his neck before he felt a sharp pinch. The humans kept talking before he was taken into a separate room and given to another stranger. He tried to struggle, but his body was too weak. This reminded him of the time when they'd removed all of his claws. He never did forgive the woman that did that to him. If it had been Shiro, maybe he would have…maybe.

He was reassured several times that it was okay, but it most certainly was not okay. He was tortured with water and strange smelling substances.

What he had done to deserve this? The cat had no idea. With the last of his strength sapped, the cat accepted his fate.

After the water failed to kill him, they moved onto using some large cloths and rubbed his fur in all the wrong directions.

After that, the ritual was seemingly complete. Apparently, he had passed all of their tests. He was rewarded with water and food. After that was done, he was taken back to the kind-smelling woman.

She picked him up and looked into his eyes. He respectfully looked away. He knew he had lost to these humans and was prepared to accept his fate. He was not prepared for his fate to be hugged close to the woman's breast.

What do you think you are doing? "Mee…"

"You are coming home with me." The woman promised.

The cat was brought home, much to the husband's disappointment. But the man conceded that the feline was too old and damaged to be adopted, and would probably be euthanized as soon as it arrived at a shelter.

So, they took the cat into their home. They'd tried to tell Lance that the cat's name was Kitty, but the child only seemed to manage "Kee." The mother knelt close to her child and used the information in those parenting magazines to help her child say the word correctly.

"No, Lance. Kit-ty." She demonstrated that she put her tongue on the roof of her mouth to make the right sound.

Lance looked at his mother's face and her mouth as he mimicked her mouth's movements.

"Keeth." He tried.

That being the closest he'd ever come, his mother praised him endlessly for his progress. And so, the McClains adopted a surly cat named, Keith.