Chapter 2

Another four months had passed, but the mood of the tribe had not changed at all. Rumpleteazer's death had left a sour taste in everyone's mouths, and the rumor that she had tried to have an abortion continued to flourish around the junkyard. Mungojerrie, through his mourning, denied it vehemently again and again.

"I swear to ya, it wasn't any abortion! You heard Jenny! It was an accident!"

Bombi, Demeter, Munkustrap, and many others believed him, but there were some who were stubbornly clinging to their belief that Teazer always wanted an abortion, but never got a chance to get it done until now. Munku simply shook his head at that.

"Those who believe that it happened, they think it happened because they want it to have happened."

Finally, four months after the calico queen's untimely death, there was finally some joy, as Jemima's kitten was born. It was a tom that was mostly dark grey, with lighter colored stripes on him. His tail and each of his paws were also a much lighter grey as well. His ears were a distinct white, and his face was also white with a few black stripes on the sides of his face and under his chin. Jemmi decided to name him Tyrus, which suited her and her mate, Lupus. Everyone was joyous in this new arrival, the first in quite some time. Soon after, Victoria gave birth to her third kitten, Syria. She was a beautiful black and white queen, whose color combination was similar to Mistoffelees' half-brother, Quaxo. Many other of the younger queens who had just within the year had settled down with their mates were starting to have kittens of their own as well. The next generation of Jellicles was being born.

Four cat years and three Jellicle Balls later…

It was 3 days before the Ball, and everyone was getting ready for it. Jellylorum, Asparagus, and Bustopher Jones had already been sent up to the Heaviside Layer, and the candidates for this year's choice was either an old cat that had been accepted into the tribe just 2 years prior, Safford, or Skimbleshanks. It was morning and Bombalurina was cleaning up the dinner table. All of their furniture from their old shack on Victoria Grove had been brought here just a few days after Bombi had returned back to the tribe. She couldn't bear to part with it, because it was her kittens and these bureau drawers that acted as tables that were the last things that gave her connection to Macavity, as it was he that had brought the furniture for them. It kept a part of him in her presence the whole time. Sophline, who was now going through her puberty years, and every day it seemed, she was becoming more and more independent, drifting farther away from her mother and step-father, came into the room, and without even a good morning greeting, walked past the elder red queen and went for the door.

"And where are you going?"

The younger queen sighed with irritation that her mother was pestering her, "I'm going to Catalina's, is there anything wrong with that?"

"No, not at all…what are you going to do there?"

Another groan of irritation came from the queen that was now in her early teen years, "Nothing, mother! Harline and Carline are coming over and that's it! Honestly, do I have to write you five page descriptions of what I'm going to do all day?"

While she was taken back by her daughter's words, Bombi shot back, "Well, it would make my life a little easier. Just be sure you're home for dinner, all right?"

"Yes, mother," Soph responded with a hint of annoyance in her voice as she left. All her mother could do was sigh with a bit of sadness. She knew that this was part of growing up, but it still hurt her that she could no longer connect with her daughter. When she was younger, the two were inseparable at times, always doing things together. Now, they, as she saw it, were growing farther and farther apart. It was a heavy, sad feeling. Her thoughts on her now rebellious daughter were interrupted by Jendangen as he slowly walked into the room, his white face, which was evenly striped with black and orange, showing trouble ness.

"Honey, are you all right?" Bombalurina asked her son with concern. The little orange tom looked at his mom with wide open eyes.

"I had this dream, Mommy."

"A bad dream, dear?" Bombi knelt to her son's level.

"Well…no. But it still bothers me."

"In what way?"

"Well, this…tom appears, and I have never seen him before, yet I feel like I know him."

Curiosity resulted in the next question from the little orange kitten's mother, "What did this tom look like?"

Jenner thought for a long moment, remembering what he had seen, "Well, he…was a deep red color….tall and thin…and his eyes were…sunken into his face," Those last words about the eyes being sunken in froze the red queen. There was only one cat she ever knew that had eyes sunken in and that was…her face went blank, which was not noticed by her son. Bombi was barely able to keep her composure.

"The…tom only appeared? He didn't say anything?" Jendangen nodded.

"Mommy, do you know who this cat could be?" At this, his mother froze again, but once again, the red queen kept herself from saying who the cat really was.

"No, dear, I don't. And I wouldn't worry too much if this cat doesn't appear in your dreams again. Ah, I see that Jennyanydots is opening the kitten play area. You want to go there?" The little orange tom's eyes lighted up in delight and he nodded in quick agreement. Bombalurina took him over to the play area, leaving him in the trusting care of the old Gumbie cat and her new assistant, Jemima. As she walked back to her den, a feeling of shock and sadness overwhelmed the red queen. Was it really possible? That Macavity's spirit was visiting his son in his dreams? She quietly went back inside and as she sat down to catch her breath for a moment, an old feeling of sadness and heartbreak overcame her, and she broke into tears. Sure, it had been almost 5 years since Mackey had been sent to the Heaviside Layer, but…the wound was still fresh. As she cried, Tugger quickly came to her side, and putting a comforting arm around her. The two were now mates, and they truly now loved each other.

"Bombi? Baby, what's wrong?"

Bombi slowly quieted down her crying and was able to speak, "Jenner…he…he saw…Mackey…in his dream," her words caused the Main Coon to also freeze in shock. Jendangen didn't have any memories of his real father, because he was just a tiny kitten when it happened. He had grown up believing that Tugger was his real father, and neither he nor the tom's mother had told him what had happened to the orange kitten's real father, Macavity.

"Did…did he know who it was?"

"N-no, he didn't. Tugger…sooner or later, he's going to figure out you're not his real father and…well…I can't tell him that his real father was an evil criminal for most of his life! I mean, I will have to tell him who his true father is, but…Oh, Everlasting Cat, I don't want to!" Rum Tum Tugger didn't answer right away, but he simply held her, comforting her in his embrace.

"Bombi, I understand that you have to tell him, and I'll tell you this, I will help you, when that time comes."

"I know you will, Tugger. It's just that…I don't know how I'll tell him, or when."

"When the time comes, we will," With that, the tom gave her a gentle, loving kiss on the head. This prompted Bombalurina to raise her head, and she gazed into his eyes with such intensity, it was almost like she was trying to look into his soul. The two slowly got closer, and their lips gently connected in a tender, loving kiss. As their lips parted, Bombi gave a sly grin.

"You know, Jendangen is over at the kitten play area, and Sophline is at Catalina's…" With that, the Main Coon gave his own devilish grin and he lifted his mate into his arms and carried her back to their room, where their bed was. He gently lowered her onto the bed and slowly crawled over her. They shared a long, passionate kiss, and then Tugger pulled away to look into her eyes.

"You…aren't feeling guilty over this, are you?" he asked with uncertainty, referring to Bombi still feeling disloyal to Macavity. It caused the red queen to go silent in thought for a moment, but with the longing to be loved overtaking her, she smiled in response.

"As long as I have you, I won't be," With that, the two intimately embraced as their lips met again with intense passion. Macavity, Jendangen's dream of him, Sophline maturing too early, the Jellicle Ball, all of that disappeared in Bombalurina's mind as romance filled her heart, soul, and the entire room.

Ah yes, love is a powerful thing. Jendangen himself will get romantic later on in the story as he comes of age. The next chapter will focus on Jendangen learning from Bombalurina who his real father is, and his reactions. I don't know when the next chapter will come, as football practice, work, etc. is overcoming my writing time. I won't have the next chapter out this week, but it will be sometime afterward. I still have writer's block on Americanized Jellicles, but that story will continue…eventually. If any of you have trouble knowing what Syria's color combination is like, just look at Mistoffolees' in the video, in the first act. That should make everything clear. I'm also going to try to briefly include Alonzo and Cassandra in this story, but honestly, there isn't much to tell about them…or is there?

Either way, please R and R, and keep readin' and writin'!