Hi! Welcome to story 18. A little later than usual due to the Strictly final showing on TV in the UK this evening :P Thank you to Hawk, 2NYwLove, lemonpiegirl, PatriciaF, SmackedCaskett, ChibiDawn23 and Lizbet2008 for all your reviews.

Hawk, I'm sorry I can't send you a review reply personally, but please know that your thoughtful reviews are always appreciated and valued. I hope I managed to show yesterday that the others respected Mac's reasons for not wanting to particularly celebrate Christmas :)

'Daddy, I can't find Oreo.'

Trying to find Holly's preferred brand of yoghurt, Mac answered distractedly without looking round. 'I'm sure she'll be around here somewhere, sweetie.'

'Huh. She's hiding,' Holly grumbled and Mac looked up to see her crouched on the floor further along, lifting bags of chips to look under them. 'This is where she likes to hang out but I can't find her.'

'Maybe she's doing her Christmas shopping,' Mac said with a crooked smile at his daughter.

Wise to him, even at five years old, Holly gave him a look identical to her mother's. 'That's silly, daddy. Cats don't do shopping.'

'They don't?' Mac feigned surprise and Holly shook her head.

'Silly daddy. They get their humans to do their shopping.'

'Oh, OK. But what about their Christmas shopping? Don't they do that by themselves?'

Heaving a sigh, Holly explained with huge patience. 'No, they don't do any Christmas shopping, because Santy Paws brings them everything they need.'

'I see, well then, maybe Oreo is one of Santa Paws' helpers so she's busy with that?'

Yoghurt in hand, Mac stood up and smiled down at his daughter who frowned in thought.

'Huh. Maybe she is, 'cause she is a pretty special cat.'

'That she is,' Mac agreed, knowing how much Holly loved the large black and white cat who patrolled their local bodega.

'Does Santa Paws bring gifts for all cats, or only cats who've been very good all year?' Mac asked and Holly looked at him with pity.

'Of course, daddy. Cats have to be super good 'cause if they're not then Santy Paws brings them nothing!'

'Nothing at all? Not even a lump of coal in their stocking?' Mac asked wide-eyed and Holly shook her head, full of gravity.

'Nope, nuh uh, not even coal.'

'I guess all these cats are going to have to be even better-behaved than you've been.' He grinned at Holly who gazed back with indignant eyes.

'Daddy, I have been very, very super good all year,' she told him and Mac smiled down at her.

'Most of the time,' he said recalling a few incidents through the year, such as fingerprinting a classmate with a sharpie, and chasing pigeons all the way into the Central Park boating lake.

Holly looked smug.

While Mac finished the grocery shopping, Holly continued to search fruitlessly for Oreo.

'I guess she's getting ready to help Santy Paws,' she sighed, trailing after Mac to the register. 'But I wanted to see her and wish her a Merry Christmas.'

'You could ask her dad if he knows where she is,' he suggested, casting a glance at the bodega's owner, an old friend, who smiled down at Holly.

'Hey there, Holly, how are you today?'

'I'm good, thank you, Mr Martino. Where's Oreo?' Gripping the edge of the counter, Holly peeped over it. 'Is she back there with you?'

The smile on Mr Martino's face widened. 'As a matter of fact she is, and she's got company…'

Holly's eyes widened. 'Company? Has she got a playdate?'

Laughing out loud, Mr Martino shook his head. 'Not exactly. You want to take a look? Maybe your dad can lift you up.'

By now, almost as curious as Holly, Mac obliged and lifted Holly up so she could see over the counter. Mr Martino stepped to the side and drew back a little makeshift curtain across a shelf and revealed a sight that made Holly's eyes fill with delight and excitement.

'Kittens!' she squealed, clapping her hands together with joy. 'Christmas kittens! Daddy, Oreo has Christmas kittens!'

'Five of them, all exactly like their mama,' Mr Martino said with the pride of a new father. 'Two weeks old tomorrow. Pretty nice, aren't they?'

'They are super, super cute,' Holly gushed, wriggling with excitement so much that Mac had to set her down for fear of dropping her. With no other customers in the store, they spent a while admiring the kittens and Oreo, all of whom lay in a cosy bed made of Santa hats. Finally, Mac managed to drag Holly away from the kittens, and they left with their groceries.

'Daddy…' Holly began as they reached the car, and Mac steeled himself for the inevitable as he gazed down into huge, beseeching eyes. 'If I'm even gooder than ever, can Santy Paws bring me a kitten?'

Knowing he shouldn't, well aware it would bring him all kinds of trouble, Mac found himself replying, 'You'll have to ask your mommy.'

As always, thank you so much for reading! Do please leave a review, I love to know what you think :D Lily x