A/N: It's short, but cute (especially if you like kids!) :) Enjoy! And happy 4th everyone!

Changes 13

Outside the kitchen window, there was a bird happily chirping away in a tree branch. Alison looked outside, smiling when she saw how pretty of a day it was. The sun was shining, and from the way the trees were swaying, she could tell there was a gentle breeze.

Alison stayed home from work today. Rafe, in his paranoia, begged her to cut down her hours at the bakery, as he was afraid she was overworking herself in her prenatal state. But it really didn't make sense because when she was at home, she worked twice as hard with the housework and she still cooked. But Rafe was persistent, saying she needed time to rest, and she wasn't going to get that accomplished running around baking cakes all day, so she eventually gave in.

Now she was glad she stayed home. She got to spend the whole day with her daughter. Suddenly, a walk around the neighborhood seemed like a really good idea.

"Katrina?"

Katrina's little blonde head poked out from underneath the table. "Shh! I'm hiding!" she whispered.

"From who?"

"The lion!"

Alison feigned shock. "A lion? No!"

"Yeah! Escaped from the zoo! He's hungry and he'll eat me if he sees me!"

Alison knelt down beside her and motioned for her to come closer so she could hear her. "Let's go for a walk then. And by the time we get back, he will have given up and gone home."

"Okay!" Katrina whispered happily. Her mother was full of good plans!

As they walked down the sidewalk, Katrina ran ahead every few minutes, grabbing every dandelion in sight and blowing it until the feathery seeds went flying through the air.

Alison couldn't help but laugh. Watching her daughter made her appreciate the simple pleasures in life.

Just then, Danny came riding around the corner on his bike. He stopped when he saw Katrina and her mother and tooted the little horn on his bike.

"Hey, Danny!" Katrina said happily.

"Hi, Danny. Shouldn't you be in school now?" Alison asked.

"No, it's summer!" Danny said, laughing.

Oh yeah, it was summer. Alison realized how fast the weeks had passed. "How long have you been out of school?"

"Since last week." Danny turned to Katrina, remembering he wanted to tell her something. "Hey, there's a cat hanging around our house! You wanna come see her?"

Katrina looked up at her mom and gave her those begging eyes. "Can I, Mommy?"

Alison smiled. "Sure. How about we walk over there?"

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Katrina and Danny sat on the floor, taking turns petting the cat as she walked back and forth between them. She was a friendly cat with white fur and black patches all over her.

"What's her name?" Katrina asked, giving her a scratch underneath her chin. She quickly discovered that she must like that because she soon began to purr.

"We call her Bessie, cause she kinda looks like a cow with her black spots."

"She's got a big belly."

"That's because she's going to have babies real soon."

"Hey! Just like Mommy!"

"Yeah! Dad says she'll probably have three, maybe even four!"

Katrina looked up at her mother sitting on the couch. "Mommy, are you sure there's only one baby inside of you?"

"Quite sure, sweetie." The image of herself giving birth to a litter of babies gave Alison a laugh.

Eve walked into the room, handing Alison a glass of water. "Danny, why don't you go put a little food in her bowl? And make sure she has water too."

"Okay. Come on, Bessie!" Danny hopped off the floor and headed to the kitchen, with Katrina and the cat right behind him.

"I didn't know you adopted a cat, Eve," Alison said, taking a sip of her water.

"Well, we didn't. It's more like she adopted us," Eve said with a laugh. "I don't think she's a stray, because she looks like she's been well taken care of. But I don't know, for the past few days, she's been hanging around here. I told Danny not to feed her or she'd never go back home but he's gotten so attached to that animal and I started to feel sorry for her anyway. She looked so pitiful and hungry, and being pregnant and all. She'd stand at the front door and just meow and meow until I finally gave in and bought her some cat food. So we've been watching over her for the past couple of days."

"She must belong to someone. Are you going to take her to the shelter?"

"I thought of that, but I thought I'd have better luck posting flyers and asking around the neighborhood first. And I even posted an ad in the paper too. I've seen her around before so I figure her owner can't live too far away. Besides, Danny threw a fit when I suggested taking her to the shelter. I suppose it couldn't hurt. Danny's been wanting a pet for so long and this is good practice. But if no one's claimed her by the time the kittens are born, I suppose by then I'll have to take her."

"I'm hungry!" Danny announced, coming back into the living room. "Mom, when do we eat?"

Eve rose from her seat. "I'll go fix up something now. Alison, would you and Katrina like to stay for lunch?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose…"

"You wouldn't be imposing! " Eve said with a laugh. "Come on, I've got plenty! You like hot dogs and fries, don't you?"

Alison looked over at Katrina, who smiled widely and licked her lips.

She could read her daughter's mind. She was thinking the same thing.

"Okay, we'll stay!"

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"Hey, Katrina. Look." Danny turned the almost empty bottle of ketchup upside down and began squirting the last little bit on his hot dog. "It's farting!" Danny laughed.

"Eww! Danny's making farting noises with the ketchup bottle!"

"It's got diarrhea!"

Katrina rolled with laughter. "PU! You better hold your nose and keep flushing the toilet! It'll stink!"

"Alright, you two, no potty talk at the kitchen table," Eve said, taking the ketchup bottle in question away from her son and putting a brand new one on the table to replace it.

"Alison, what would you like on yours? I've got mustard, ketchup, onions…"

"Oh everything!" Alison said with a laugh, patting her stomach. "This kid's got the appetite of his father, I'll tell you that!"

Eve laughed. "Ian and Danny are the same way. What is it with men and food?"

"I want another hot dog!" Danny interrupted rather impatiently.

Eve nodded towards Danny. He had practically wolfed down the first one in seconds. "See?"

Alison and Eve laughed, and then they joined the children at the table.