Chapter 5: Naming the Cubs
It's such a blessing to have Jerami become a father. He's proud of himself and so am I, for being a good care taker for him. Now, it was time to name those little cubs I call... miracles. Bugs, Sylvester, and I named the male cubs while Lola and Celica named the females. I was first to call out a name.
"Wheezer..." I called out. This cub had a crazy personality. He sneezes every 5 minutes. He even sneezed before he got up to me. I chuckled.
"I can see why his name's Wheezer." I said to Bugs.
"I don't know how he can sneeze like dat, but hey, tings happen." He replied. I nodded as I picked up the sneezing kitten and slipped the collar on his neck. He struggled, but I managed.
"Camry..." Lola called next. She was a graceful cub. That's why she's named after an exotic flower and my favorite car. She has a heart of gold.
"Her eyes are very unique." Celica said randomly. Lola picked up the yellow eyed kitten. She slipped her pink collar on her neck and placed her back on the floor.
"She's awfully cute." Lola said to herself. Bugs called out the next name.
"Ricochet..." He called. He's special. Every time he was playing with something, it seems to literally bounce off the walls until it reached it destination. That's neat. He ran up to Bugs and took the carrot, which made him furious.
"Hey! Give me back my carrot, doc!" He yelled. Ricochet replied to this by tossing the carrot in the air and whacking it with his tail. We watched as the orange vegetable bounced off almost every wall in the studio, then miraculously landed back in Bugs' lap. That shocked all of us. We looked at him with stunned looks on their faces.
"Whoa." I spoke out, breaking the 4 minute silence. "That was... very impressive." The girls nodded in agreement, still speechless. Sylvester slowly picked up the next collar and called out:
"Uh... Gladiator?"
This was a unique name. His strength is like a mighty warrior or a "gladiator." His claws are as sharp as a butcher knife. He walked up to Sylvester and climbed up onto his lap, which made the red nosed cat grunt with pain.
"You alright, Sly?" I asked. He opened his eyes halfway.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It'sth histh clawsth." He replied, breaking a sweat. "They're stho damn sharp!"
"Hey! Watch your language! We have kittens around, ya know."
"Sthorry." He strapped the collar on Gladiator's neck, then I picked him up and placed him back in the play pen. I looked at Bugs. He was still frozen from the amazement of Ricochet's "bouncing off the wall" act. I snapped my fingers and he immediately snapped out of it.
"Aren't you gonna put the collar on him or what?" I asked him. Bugs nodded and placed the collar on him quickly. He settled him back in the play pen and picked up his carrot.
"Who would've tought dat dis kitty could do such a display?" He asked. We all shrugged his shoulders.
"Not us!" We replied in unison.
"Anyway," I spoke out. "So far, we have Wheezer, Camry, Ricochet, and Gladiator. We have 5 more kittens to name."
Celica finally had her chance to call out:
"Fantasy..." That was a beautiful name. She has those weird eyes, just like Midnight... but, there's a catch: They glow in the dark. That's awsome. She walked up to Celica and she picked her up, placing the collar on with ease before she settled her back down.
"Who thought of that name?" Lola asked. "That's pretty."
"Not as pretty as you, sexy thing." I said to her, staring at her with hearts in my eyes. She scoffed.
"Don't start, Zeon."
"Sorry. Anyway, my turn." I picked up the next collar and called out...
"Bistro..."
He was the greedy one... and by greedy, I mean a bottomless pit. He just keeps on eating whatever the other kittens leave on their plate. That's why he's just as big-boned as Garifeld. I had a hard time getting his collar on because he's so fat around the neck. Bugs gave some assistance. By 5 minutes, we finally managed to get the small collar on his chubby neck. He was a bit overweight, but he was just a kitten. He'll lose the extra weight sooner or later... I hope.
"That has to be the heaviest kitten I've ever seen." Lola joked. We laughed along with her.
"You got dat right." Bugs agreed. Lola pulled out another collar.
"Terrance..." She called out.
She's the oddest looking cub in the litter. She has rabbit ears replacing her tiger ears and two tails instead of one. That's unusual.
Lola giggled as she picked her up. "She's a rabbit-tiger. That's odd."
"I know." Jerami finally spoke. "It was pretty unusual when we saw the ears. They looked longer than normal."
"Well, dat explains it." Bugs complained. "And it had to be a goil?"
"Yes."
"Dat's even woise." Lola elbowed him hard after that insult.
"Bugs! That was rude!" She exclaimed. Bugs rubbed his side gently.
"My bad, Lo."
Sylvester shook his head as he called out the next name...
"Oh, brother. Lastherbeam..."
"Laserbeam?" We asked together. Sylvester shrugged his shoulders.
"That'sth what it sthaid. Which one isth Lastherbeam?"
Midnight picked up the sleeping cub with her mouth and showed us Laserbeam. I can see why he's named like that... because his neon green stripes light up like Rudolph's nose. Right now, he glowing like a lantern, but still looks cuter than ever.
"Now, dat's cool, doc." Bugs commented. "A glowing tiger."
"That could be ustheful when it's dark sthomewhere." Sylvester suggested as he picked up Laserbeam and placed the collar on his neck carefully, so he won't wake him up. Then, he gently placed him back down in the playpen. An idea came in my head as he did so.
"I just realized somethin'." I said to everyone. They all turned to me. "Since Laserbeam can't stop glowing, he could be a perfect nightlight."
"Oh, yeah!" Bugs agreed. "Dat is a great idea, doc." That made Laserbeam wake up.
As he yawned, a bright green, but harmless laser came out of his mouth. This surprised all of us. He held his yawn for about 15 seconds before he closed his mouth again.
"Wow." Lola and Celica said in unison.
"Dat... was too cool." Bugs spoke. I nodded as Sylvester did the same. Laserbeam looked at us and meowed softly. That made me, Lola, and Celica smile.
"Awwwwww!" We exclaimed together. Bugs and Sylvester groaned with disgust.
"Oh, broder!" Bugs exclaimed. I nudged him on his arm.
"C'mon, Bugs," I commanded. "Have some respect."
"Who hasth the lastht cub?" Sylvester asked. Celica took out the last collar.
"Diamond." She called out.
Now, Diamond is an oddball as well. She has golden eyes and silver claws that sparkle like "diamonds." Get it?
"Ooh, she looks expensive." Lola commented.
"She sure does." Celica agreed as she picked up the shiny cub and placed the collar on her neck and placed her back in the playpen. We all smiled at the adorable, but unusual litter. Here's a recap of their names. Remember, there's 9 of them, so here we go...
Boys
Wheezer
Bistro
Ricochet
Gladiator
Laserbeam
Girls
Fantasy
Camry
Terrance
Diamond
Unique cubs with separate and unique personalities. This will be a moment I'll never forget. I looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was almost 5:00 pm.
"It's almost time for the cubs' first real dinner." I reminded. Sylvester stood on his feet and walked to the kitchen, but stopped at the walkway.
"Sthincthe they're catsth, I'll cook for them. I've been sthtudying on what tiger cubs love to eat on their firstht try and I know justht the thing for them. In one hour, the cubsth will have a dinner that'll make their mouthsth drool when they look at it!" He said bravely. The kittens meowed in agreement as Sylvester continued in the kitchen and began to cook.
30 minutes later...
The cubs were playing with each other while we were watching a kids show for Bistro, since he's a bit too fat to play rough games. He was sitting in Lola's lap, purring at her soft strokes on his back.
"He reminds me of Garifeld." She joked outloud. I chuckled.
"That's what I thought." I agreed. "I bet he's waiting anxiously for Sylvester's dinner to be ready."
Bistro meowed in agreement. He was hungry... REALLY hungry. I saw drips of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. I chuckled.
"I'm right sometimes." I said to myself. There was a sudden knock on the front door and Bugs went to answer it. When he opened the door, it was amazingly Rodney! I ran up to the door to greet him.
"Hey, Rod!" I greeted. He gave me a manly hug. "What's goin' on?"
"Nothin' at all, Z." He replied. "Just wanna check on yo' cat and my cat. Are they doin' a'ight?"
"Yeah. Come on in." I escorted him to the playpen as Bugs closed the door and walked back to his seat on the couch. Rodney looked in the pen and awed at the sight of Midnight sitting in a corner, allowing her cubs to play freely. Jerami was sleeping in the other corner.
"Oh, my God!" He exclaimed. "Dere has to be at least 9 cubs here."
"Yeah, actually there are 9 cubs. The 9th one is sittin' in Lola's lap over there." I told him as we turned around to look at Bistro, who looked relaxed.
"Ooh! He's a fat fella."
"I know. His name is Bistro."
"I know where ya'll got that name from. That Copland's Cheesecake Bistro place in Richmond, Virginia. Isn't dat right?"
"Yeah. It was my idea. How did you guess?"
"Hey. I'm a mole-rabbit mix. I don't guess, I know."
"That's right. Hey, guess what?"
"What?"
"I made love last night."
"Really!?! Wit who?"
"Celica Wolfpack."
"I know dat girl. She used to be a criminal, but now, she's one of ya'll. Am I right?"
"Yeah. She can make it last too, if you get my drift."
"Oh, I get it. Talk about a wolf dat enjoys bein' wit her man."
"I also got to do some on Lola earlier today."
"What?!? Man, get outta here!"
"Yeah. She's one sexy bunny for a Looney Tune."
"Ya got dat right!"
We continued to talk the whole half an hour Sylvester was cooking. It was 6:58 now and Sylvester rang the bell.
"Okay, kittiesth!" He started. "It'sth dinnertime!!!!"
Right on cue, all the cubs stopped their playing and quickly ran into the kitchen. Bistro meowed to command Lola to place him down on the floor. He took his time as he walked to the kitchen. Lola giggled at the way he was walking.
"He's even too fat to run like the rest of the cubs." She commented as she stood and walked to the kitchen with Bugs, holding his hand. Celica took my hand as she looked at me and Rodney.
"You boys wanna sit at each side of me?" She asked seductively. Rodney purred as I nodded.
"Sure, baby." I replied as she got in between us and took one of our hands and walked us to the kitchen. Jerami and Midnight followed after that. It was the moment of truth. We all sat at the table, including the cubs sitting in front of our plates, making a small circle big enough for the plate Sylvester placed down. It looked as big as that Full House Extra Large pizza from Pizza Hut. It was covered with a lid. We sat patiently while the cubs, including Jerami and Midnight, anxiously awaited the big moment.
"And now, ladiesth and gentlemen," he started proudly. "The moment you've all been waiting for! Dinner isth stherved!"
He lifted the lid and we all went into a drooling frenzy, including me. It was incredible! It was delicious! It's... (clears throat) I'm not telling you until the next chapter, so be patient. Thank you.
To be continued...
