Apollo had fed, cleaned and settled the animals in the box at the base of his bed for the night. When he woke in the morning the puppies had huddled up in the small gap between his arms, the kittens had chosen to sleep on top of the covers on Apollo's stomach. He was stunned that his room was clean; he expected the animals to have made a mess during the night. He gently pulled the kitten's claws from his duvet cover and set them beside the puppies.
"You guys sit tight for a minute while I get dressed." He rubbed his eyes and groaned and cried as he got up from the bed. His eyes shot to the same thing they did every morning as soon as he had opened the curtains.
On the table beside his bed was a red teddy bear in a suit like Apollo's court suit. That was 'Bambino' – a bear Ema and Klavier had given him for a gift. Attached to the bear's left arm was still the original tag the couple had written: Apollo, a little baby bear that reminds us so much of you xx we called him Bambino (Ema thought of the name) and got someone to make the suit. Your friends Ema and Klavier xx.
"Come on then guys, let's go." He helped the animals back into the box and left the room to be met by Trucy.
"Hi Polly!" She looked over Apollo, who had adopted a more casual attire. "I guess your medicine's working."
"I feel a little better every day. Put them in the other box for a while." He handed the box to Trucy. "I'm gonna ring Bernadette and ask her to get in contact with a vet to give them a quick check up. Then I'll take them to Klavier and see what he wants to do with them." He noticed that the cats were independent of each other whereas the young puppies never wanted to be apart. He would have to take note of that if Klavier said to give them away.
"Hello, Apollo is that you?" Bernadette sounded busy as she answered her phone.
"Hey Berne, I know this sounds stupid but do you know any good vets that might be willing to do you a favour? You had a lot of friends at school." Apollo asked.
"Sure do, on the other side of town. I can take you down there if you want. Why?"
"Klavier made up with me, he brought a box of abandoned animals in a box that said 'free to take or kill' on the side. I was looking after them and want to get them checked out." Apollo briefly filled her in.
"Then I'll be happy to help. Come to the stadium, I'll take you during my lunch break."
"Thanks Berne." He put the phone down. "Trucy we need to go to the pet shop and get them some carriers; I'm not taking them in the box."
They came back carrying two carry boxes, one for the kittens one for the pups. He lined the insides with towels and gently ushered the animals into the right box. He folded the box and pushed it into Trucy's bag, pushing some treats for the animals and a water bottle on top. He put a toy mouse in the cat box and a small rubber bone in with the puppies. He locked the cases.
"Are you taking your wheelchair?"
"No."
"Which one's the lightest?" Trucy looked between the cages. "I'll take the kittens!" Apollo then took the second case.
Outside the stadium, Bernadette was eagerly awaiting their appearance.
"Polo!" She called. "Let's have a look then!" She knelt down in front of the cases. "Aww they're so cute!" She cooed. "Ok, I contacted Eri, she'd be happy to help you."
"So kind, thank you Bernadette." Apollo turned to Trucy. "This is Trucy Wright, I live with her and her dad."
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Bernadette Johnson, I'm Apollo's friend from college and one of Klavier Gavin's ex girlfriends." She swung her legs around so she was in the car. "Hop in!" Apollo sat in the front and Trucy slid the cases into the back with her.
"Hey Berne, how'd you and Lee like to come to dinner with me and Trucy?" Apollo asked.
"Where?"
"Some fancy restaurant down town. We're going to spy on someone and figured we could use it as an excuse to catch up with you two."
"I'd love to. What's the restaurant called?"
"La Cachette!" Trucy yelled excitably.
"I'm paying." Apollo smiled.
"Are you sure?" Apollo nodded to her. "Thanks, I'm sure Lee would love to see you again."
"Apollo, you look like I remember." The black haired lady got along with Apollo when they were younger, but her attitude to life was a little bizarre.
"I don't know whether or not that's a compliment." Apollo hissed with the effort it took to lift the box of puppies onto the counter. "My friend came to the door with these animals in a box." Apollo took the tattered cardboard from Trucy's bag. "Here."
"How cruel!" She smiled a brief smile at the man she considered a good friend in college. "I'll help you; consider it free of charge too."
"Huh, oh…I don't mind paying."
"No I insist. Are you going to keep them?"
"I'm not sure seeming as I didn't find them. Odds are they'll stay close to me." As the kitten's cautiously paced from their cages on to the cold metal table they retreated back into the warmth of the towel. "I'm going to call the guy who found them as soon as we've done here."
"Me and Trucy will keep an eye on them while Eri weighs them if you like."
"Hello?" Apollo was thankful Klavier had answered the phone.
"Mr Gavin it's Apollo. Can I meet you in about an hour outside the stadium?"
"Ja." Klavier seemed to be in a much better mood.
"I'm gonna bring the animals with me. We're at a vet friend of mine to give them a quick check up."
"Alright then, danke Herr Forehead."
"Is something wrong?" Apollo asked.
"We've weighed, sexed, measured and took blood from the kittens but the puppies don't seem to want to come out." Eri pointed to the small cage she had put the kittens in. "I don't really want to pull them out or tip the box up."
"Come on you two…" The puppies stuck their heads from the box at the sound of Apollo's voice. He gently nudged them further out.
"Wow, they seem incredibly attached to each other... and you." Eri went through the usual safety checks and check ups. "If you'd like to take the animals outside while I run a test on their blood." Apollo gathered the two pups in his arms, Bernadette and Trucy took a kitten each. As they waited outside they teased and played with the kittens and Apollo settled the scared puppies.
"Well, none of the animals are sick." Eri assured him. "The kittens are related to each other and so are the puppies, they probably came from the same breeder."
"At least they're not sick." Apollo assured himself.
"The pups are both girls, the golden kitten is male, the black one is a female. They're all underweight but if fed properly they should get back to their regular weight pretty quick. They're about eight weeks old. I've given them their first injection and they will need to be brought back in two weeks time, hopefully by their new owners to have the second. Don't let the dogs out on the streets away from your apartment until they've had the second jab!" Apollo knew Eri knew what she was talking about and nodded. "What have you fed them and have you contacted your friend?"
"Yeah, I'm meeting him as soon as we've done here." Apollo pushed the animals back into their boxes. "I fed them a small packet of that moist food between them."
"That's good, if you and your friend find them homes before my surgery closes then I can sort all that stuff out for you too." She handed Apollo a business card. "Call me."
"Thanks Eri, You've been great!"
Bernadette was safely inside before Klavier decided to show his face. He was in one of the sports cars that he had hidden in the garage.
"Herr Forehead! Fraulien Trucy!" He called.
"Mr Gavin!" Trucy ran up to him and hugged him.
"What did you want me for Herr Forehead?"
"I wanted to talk to you about these little guys. What are we going to do? Give them to a shelter or find homes for them ourselves?"
"Find homes for them on our own." Klavier opened the hatch on the kitten cage and took out the two kittens. "I'd hug the puppies but I'm not very good with dogs."
"That's fine." The sad eyes of the puppies captivated Apollo again. He felt like they had picked him. After all – pets picked their master's not the other way around. The golden kitten had managed to claw its way up Klavier's arm and into his hair.
"You're a naughty little kätzchen, I like you." He handed the other kitten to Trucy. "I'd love to take both but…well…I don't think I could handle two." He stared at the kitten's wide eyes. "Is this one a boy or a girl?"
"Boy." Trucy giggled as Klavier tried to wrestle it from his hair.
"Can I keep him Herr Forehead?"
"Of course. Can you take him to the vet and get him signed in as yours? The vet Eri will fill you in on the details." Apollo took out his cellphone. "Eri it's Apollo. The guy who brought the box is going to take one of the kittens. I'm gonna send him up to you."
"That's fine Apollo. What's his name?"
"Klavier Gavin…don't ask for his autograph…" Klavier chuckled.
"He's a rock legend though! Alright, remember not to separate the puppies!"
"Here's the address…" Klavier entered it onto his sat nav and Trucy lowered the remaining kitten into the puppies' box. Klavier put the other kitten into the empty box and took it from the girl. As he drove off it dawned on Apollo.
"Trucy! I know who else to ask!" Apollo yelled.
"Who?"
"Lana." Apollo laughed. "Let's get a bus to her apartment." As he sat on the bus, Apollo watched the tiny animals with awe. The kitten didn't seem to care that her brother had been taken away from her.
"Apollo? What are you doing here?" Jake answered.
"I wanted to ask a favour, can me and Trucy come in?"
"Sure, the bambina's looking awfully cute today." Trucy blushed as she passed by him. Lana and Ema were busily rushing around trying to tidy up the mess from lunch.
"Hello Apollo, what can we help you with?" Lana asked dropping the plates into the sink.
"What's in the box?" Ema asked.
"Well, when Klavier came over to my house to apologise last night he had found a box of abandoned animals – two puppies and two kittens." Apollo opened the hatch of the cage and took each of the animals out and put them on his lap as he sat on the sofa.
"Aww look at how cute they are!" Lana and Ema's hearts melted.
"I thought you said two kittens…" Jake looked at the tiny animals.
"Klavier's taken the other one home with him." Apollo responded. "I took them to a vet and they're all healthy."
"Jake can we keep one?" Lana asked. "It would make the kids happy."
"The dogs should be kept together, that's what the vet says."
"I prefer cats Apollo." She took the tiny ball of fur into her arms. "Is this a girl?"
"Yeah." The puppies huddled closer to Apollo. Feeling kinda unwanted huh? I know the feeling you two…
"Apollo, partner. We'd be happy to take the other kitten from your hands." The kitten purred in delight.
"Sure."
"Trucy, Apollo would you like something to eat?" Ema offered.
"Can I have a sandwich?" Trucy asked politely.
"Nothing for me thanks. Can I just make a quick personal call?" Away from Trucy.
"Mr Wright?" Apollo hoped this would work – the pups had picked him.
"Yes Apollo?"
"Can we have pets in the apartment?"
"Yes…"
"I've got new homes for the kittens but…I've fallen in love with the puppies and I –"
"Want to keep 'em? Yeah sure, you can take good care of them."
"Thanks so much!"
As everyone appeared at the vets and Lana registered the female kitten as her own Eri turned to Apollo.
"What about the pups?"
"Put them under my name. I haven't thought of names yet but they've picked me."
"That's my boy!" She chuckled. "I hope you have permission." Apollo nodded and Trucy looked like she was about to faint.
"Apollo…" Ema and Lana turned to him at the same time before turning to each other with a deep blush. I just wanted to tell you Ema's feelings for you but I know you want her and Klavier to be together…
I Just wanted to say my feelings but I'm scared…
Long chapter – sorry lol xx Please review and give me some female dog names! Best ones get picked and you get special thanks at the end. xx
