In one of my first stories "You're not gonna have a future left if you watch it all happen", I mention that Leonard and Sara have a cat. As I love cats and today is National Cat Day, I thought I'd write about how that happened. Enjoy!
"Mick?" Leonard said warily. Mick looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. "Why is there a cat in my house?"
"Talk to your wife," he replied, running a hand over the fur of a tiny black kitten.
"Sara," Leonard called, turning away from Mick.
"Yeah?" Sara's voice came faintly from somewhere in the house. Leonard heard the sound of approaching footsteps and then Sara came down the hallway with their daughter, Rory, balanced on her hip.
"Why is there a cat in my house?" Leonard repeated.
"Rory wanted her," Sara shrugged.
"Rory is one," Leonard reminded her as Sara passed Rory to him and he pressed a kiss onto his daughter's cheek.
"Aw Len, you shoulda seen her face when we were at the pet store!"
"Which begs the question, why were you at the pet store in the first place? I thought you just had to run a few errands, not run a few errands and buy a living, breathing thing that we have to take care of for the next fifteen years."
"Are you suggesting that we take her back?" Sara raised an eyebrow at him. Leonard rolled his eyes. "C'mon Len, you know you love her!"
"Love her?" Leonard repeated, "I don't even know her name. How—"
"Snowball," Sara interrupted. Leonard was silent for a moment.
Finally, Leonard said, "Snowball? You named a completely black cat Snowball?"
"I thought it was funny," Sara laughed. Rory's belly-laugh joined her mother's, although she probably didn't know what she was laughing about, "See, Rory likes it."
"Rory has absolutely no idea what we're talking about," Leonard replied. He tickled Rory's belly, making her shriek with laughter.
"Does this mean you're gonna let me keep the cat?" Sara asked.
"Sara, I was never going to make you get rid of it," he replied.
"Her," she corrected.
"Fine, her," he repeated, "If you want a cat, get a cat. Don't let me stop you."
"You're gonna love her someday," Sara smirked, "I can tell."
"Sure," Leonard rolled his eyes, "You tell yourself that."