We would have started dinner an hour ago if it weren't for Finn and Miranda to be late. I couldn't imagine it when we left the Dragonfly Inn in the early afternoon hours but I'm actually hungry by now.
Rory is giving Steph the grand tour of the house. Of course they are not checking the rooms for a suitable nursery, no, they wouldn't do that!
I know better.
There are only three rooms upstairs, besides the master bedroom and Lailie's bedroom, the playroom, the home office and the guest room. The playroom will be needed more then ever, so that can't go. We actually need the guest room for when both of us are gone and Anna needs to stay overnight with Lailie or for actual guests. So there's another big no-no. And Ace loves the home office since it has these really big windows and she always says that room gives her space to think.
Well, apparently we'll have to add on to the house or move again. But we just moved here early this year!
I wonder why Ace agreed to the house if she was planning on another little one. Maybe she didn't think she'd get attached to the home office like that or, the sad alternative, she didn't expect to get pregnant anytime soon. Lucky for us, the latter didn't happen.
The ringing of the doorbell pulls me out of my thoughts. Finally! I was about to sneak into the kitchen and get myself some peanut butter and crackers.
Since Rory is still upstairs with Steph, Henry, and Lailie who is showing off her room, and Colin went to change little Jack, I'm the one to open the door.
"Thank God you're finally here!" I say while opening the door. The sight that awaits me confuses me.
"What happened to him? Did Finn see a Ghost?"
"Nah," Miranda says and gives me a hug. My eyes are still fixed on my friend. Finn still doesn't move. "He'll tell you later."
This is the first time I look at her.
"Oh my God! Miranda! What happened to your eyes?"
She makes a little meow sound.
"Oh no, right, I forgot. Finn told me, I didn't imagine it to be this bad!"
Her eyes are really puffy and all bloodshot, tears are running down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry! I am so, so sorry!"
"Well, it's not your fault. First I wanted to call you and yell at you for making my boyfriend buy your daughter a cat and 'store' it at our house. I had already dialed your number when he eventually told me that it was his idea and you actually didn't know about it. Well, I listened to your talk this afternoon and I'm really happy you gave in, 'cause I wouldn't be able to live with that thing for another minute!"
I'm glad her vocal organs have not been impacted by the allergy.
"WHAT?" Finn suddenly yells. I cringe at the sudden sound from him. Miranda ignores it.
"Oh, don't worry, he's been doing that for about an hour now."
"What do you mean? He's been like that for an hour?" I look back at Finn, scared.
Miranda starts leaning with both hands against his back, pushing him in the foyer. And he actually moves.
"Well, actually he's been like this for an hour and a half. He started the 'WHAT?' thing like an hour ago."
"What on earth happened to him?"
"Oh, he'll tell you. Later. When he's able to."
I guess I have to accept whatever Miranda says. She has grown to be a Finn expert which is pretty convenient since she's his girlfriend. But it's funny that she actually understands stuff neither Colin nor I can follow even though we've been friends with him ever since he sat foot on the American continent.
"So…" I sill watch Finn suspiciously but try to focus on Miranda. If she thinks he's fine, he probably is.
"Where is the… Meow…" I whisper.
"Oh, you mean Strawberry?"
"Shhhh! Yeah, the, you know, thing."
Now she whispers, too.
"It's a cat, Logan. C A T, cat."
Rolling my eyes, I growl.
"I know what it is. I wanna know where it is!"
"Oh, she's in the car. I'm not going anywhere near a cat ever again in my entire life."
Good! She's not in the house. Yet.
Again, I get sidetracked by her swollen eyes.
"Miranda, did you drive here?"
"Yes, guess why it took so long! I could hardly see anything! I think I missed a couple of red lights but nothing really happened."
I shake my head and put her coat in the closet.
"So, what are we going to do about him?"
"Oh, I'll manage him. You go out to the car and get the cat and her stuff." Miranda says and starts pushing Finn towards the living room.
"What, me?"
"Yes!" She stops and hands me the car keys. "I just told you I'm not getting near that thing ever again and just in case you haven't noticed, it's freezing outside. Right now it's still warm in the car but not that much longer. She's in the trunk. Now go!"
How did Finn end up with such a dominating lady? No, actually she's not all that dominating. But I guess a stiff Finn and an allergic reaction to something that 'happened' due to his antics made her a little exhausted and she's not in for a discussion.
I get my coat and make my way outside. It is really freezing. Finn's SUV is parked right behind Colin's mini van. Inhaling deeply, which is a mistake due to the ice cold air, I make my way to the trunk and press a button on the key to open it.
There is the small wicker basket with a little iron 'gate' in front of a hole. All I can see is part of a yellow blanket hanging out the opening. I wish I'd taken a flashlight, the interior car light is not sufficient enough to actually see what's inside the basket.
When I pick it up, I feel something shifting inside. Jackpot! I guess this was not a dream.
A glance at the box in the trunk tells me that this is the cat's 'accessories' box. Another blanket, some dishes, a few cat foot cans, a bag of cat chow, and some toys.
The box jingles when I pick it up and put it under my arm. Box in one hand, cat in the other one, I close the trunk doors with a hip swivel that would make Elvis jealous and lock the car.
Was that a small meow sound I just heard? Making my way over to the back door, I try to balance the basket as good as possible. But it's pretty hard due to the constantly moving thing inside it.
I set everything on the bench in the mud room. What now? What am I supposed to do? I hate Finn. He goes and gets the kitten while I have to sneak it in since he's a mental nutcase. Thank you very much, former friend of mine.
"Logan, Logan where are you?" I hear Colin's voice coming from the hallway. I open the door a crack and peek through it, grabbing Colin and pulling him in the small room just as he passes by.
"Geez, man, are we having dinner mission impossible style? Have you seen Finn? What is up with him?"
Shrugging my shoulders at him, I nod towards the basket.
"Kind of mission impossible… Finn got my lovely daughter a cat for Christmas and since he's Mr. 'Talkative-reverse' right now and Miranda is allergic to cats, it's my honor to introduce it to Rory and Lailie."
"Fun! I'm out…"
"No, you go and open it!"
"The cage?"
"Yes, you go get that cat out."
"Fine."
We both kneel in front of the bench. Colin is about to unlock the little door, when we see two perky big blue eyes stare at us from the other side of the door. A little red and white paw moves through the bars.
Colin looks at me.
"It's red."
"I see that too, Colin."
"Is it a female?"
"Yes – duh, no wonder it's red!"
We look back to where the little kitten is nudging her nose at the door. Colin finally opens it and with a skillful move he lifts her up on his palm.
"Finn said her name is Strawberry."
"Ha, no wonder, she's strawberry blonde! Look how cute she is!"
We look at the small kitten for a moment or two.
Finally I say: "Colin, we need a plan."
We've got a plan. It's not going to work, but we've got a plan. Colin is convinced that Rory is going to love this little one. Well, I have to admit, she's really sweet and cute. While we were plotting the plan, she kept playing with a small ball I found in the box. Though we had to pull her from underneath a dresser when she followed it.
Act One: Pretend nothing is about to happen.
When I enter the living room, sans cat, I stumble upon quite an interesting scenery. Lailie is teaching Henry 'Twinkle, Twinkle' on the piano, Jack is asleep in the big chair and Steph and Rory are sitting on the coffee table, waving her hands in front of Finn's face, whose eyes are directed at my wife's deep v-neck, though his expression lets me assume that he's not actually looking at anything. Miranda, whose eyes are a lot less puffy than 20 minutes earlier sits next to Finn, browsing through a magazine, chuckling at the women's antics.
I sit down on the couch right across from Finn and run my hands over my face. This is gonna be a quite eventful evening.
From the corners of my eyes, I see Colin waiting around the corner of the living room doorway, something red moving in his hands. Nodding towards him, I'm ready for act two.
Act Two: Confront the main character (or rather her mother) with the conflict, using a third character to introduce it.
Colin lets Strawberry down and she gently sets her paws on the hardwood floor. Lailie is still occupied with Henry and the piano, so no interference from her.
I hope the cat lady won't go and hide underneath the couch. Ah, there she is, peeking around the coffee table.
A sudden sneeze from Miranda gets her all attention from Rory and Steph.
"You okay, Miranda?"
"Ya, Rory I'm fine!" She shakes her head. And the fun starts. Miranda sees cat, cat sees Miranda, cat jumps on Miranda's lap, Miranda growls and passes cat to the left, right on Finn's knees, cat recognizes Finn and crawls right up to his shoulder and snuggles against him, Finn 'wakes up' and starts giggling as cat tickles his neck.
"Stop it, Strawberry! You know I'm ticklish right there!" He moves his hand to pick her up, lays her in his lap and starts stroking her belly.
Steph and Rory have been watching, gasping with open mouths.
"So this is it!" Steph finally exclaims. "We just needed your cat to bring him back to life! Wow, we should have thought about this earlier… Though I didn't know you had a cat."
"Neither did I." Rory mumbles and slowly turns towards me…
All the sudden sleeping Jack in the chair next to me is a very interesting thing to look at.
"Logan, where-"
Thank God Finn interrupts her, by putting little Strawberry into her hands.
"See, Love, you couldn't know since she just got here!"
"Finn, you brought a cat?"
"Yes! And it's not just any cat. Her name is Strawberry and she's a pure blood British Short Hair cat, she's got a family tree and everything."
"Finn! It's red! Are cats supposed to be red?" Steph is looking at the furry thing smelling Rory's hand.
"Yes, Steph, the best females are red heads, I'd never buy anything but a red cat."
Of course Lailie dismissed her piano lesson with Henry as soon as the word 'cat' was mentioned. She kneels down in front of Rory, who's still sitting on the table, her eyes all big and excited.
"Uncle Finny! You got me the kitten you promised me!"
Act 3: Solving the conflict and 'dealing' with the consequences.
"Logan, did you know about this?"
I believe I forgot something in the kitchen but I'm afraid of the death glares Rory is sending my way.
"See, Ace… Ask Finn!"
"Love, your coward husband has nothing to do with this."
Coward?
"Little Miss Lailie asked her dear Uncle Finny for a kitten and Uncle Finny complied."
Still skeptical glances from Rory towards me but she turns her eyes back to Lailie who is now sitting on the couch, Strawberry laying on her lap, licking her paws.
Good job, Lailie, the beaming smile and sparkling eyes will make Mommy soft. The student is even better than the teacher.
"Fine!" Rory exclaims, rolling her eyes but smiling at the same time.
"She's really cute. It'll be a nice way for Lailie to learn about responsibility, something that Uncle Finny apparently missed…"
Ah, great minds think alike!
"What did you say, her name is Strawberry?"
"Yes love, ask Miranda why."
"Miranda?"
She puts her magazine down and looks at everybody. "Don't get me started! Guess who can be blamed for making me run around almost blind over Christmas! I love strawberries but this," she points her fingers at her face, "is exactly what happens if I eat strawberries. And apparently cats do the same, so her name is Strawberry."
"Ah, makes sense, I guess…" She looks back at Lailie and the cat.
"So, I guess we should go and have dinner. But where is she going?"
"Oh, she'll have to eat, too. Miranda, Honey, where did you put her dish?"
Miranda gets up with an evil smile on her lips.
"Go ask Logan, he's the one who got her and all the stuff from the car."
Kitchen, man, kitchen!
"Oh, I'll go and carve the turkey!"
I make a run for my life, my wife following me.
"Logan! You better come back here, right now!"