Revelations Of A Sassy Cat

Ding-Dong!

"Could you get that, Chief?" Jim called down the stairs. "I've finally cornered Felicity in the closet and I'm about to put her in the cage."

"Sure, Jim," Blair answered, tone normal volume since he knew Jim could hear him without his having to raise his voice.

Undoing the deadbolt, Blair threw open the door, blinking as he caught sight of the handsome redhead standing in the doorway.

"Mom!" Blair cried joyfully, scooping the petite woman up in his arms.

"Hello, sweetie," Naomi said happily, squeezing him back.

"This is a surprise," Blair said as he ushered her inside.

"A good one, I hope," Naomi said playfully.

Blair grinned. "Of course. It's good to see you."

"Afternoon, Naomi," Jim greeted pleasantly as he clattered down the stairs, Felicity secure inside the pet carrier in his arms.

"Hello, Jim," Naomi replied, pulling him into a one-armed hug – the one arm not encumbered by his feline passenger. Pulling back from the impromptu embrace, she blinked at the cage occupying the detective's other arm and smiled. "Ah, I see you decided to keep Sass," she said in a tone of satisfaction.

"Sass?" Jim asked, sending a confused glance down to the cat in the cage.

Naomi blinked at him. "The cat." She pointed at the pile of marmalade-colored fur curled up in a miserable lump inside the gray carrier cage. "But why is she caged up?" She frowned.

"We're taking her to the vet to get spayed," Blair answered for his lover. "We should've had it done when she was six months old, but we were busy with a complicated case."

Naomi made a noise of acknowledgement as she bent down to stroke Felicity's head through the wire mesh door of he cage.

"Naomi…how did you know about Felicity?" Jim asked.

"Felicity?" Naomi looked curiously at the cat she was petting, albeit with only one finger. "Oh, you renamed her?"

"We weren't aware she had any other name," Blair answered for them both. "I found her in a basket on our doorstep about five months ago, and we decided to keep her instead of finding another home for her."

Comprehension dawned on Jim's face. "Did you leave her for us, Naomi?" he asked.

"Yes," Naomi answered readily. "I was staying at a Buddhist retreat in San Francisco and found her there. I had planned to stop by and actually ask you to look after her, or at least find her a home, but a friend of mine in Seattle had an emergency, so I just left her here." Giving the mostly-grown kitten one final stroke on its striped head, she rose to her feet, lavender dress swirling around her like royal robes as she turned to face the two men, her brow furrowed in a frown. "Didn't you see the note?"

"Note?" Jim asked, exchanging a befuddled look with his lover.

Blair's own brow furrowed in thought, then he groaned and slapped his forehead in realization. "So that's what those pieces of paper were."

"Paper?" Jim asked, becoming more confused by the minute.

Nodding, Blair said, "Yeah, there were torn up bits of paper – so small it could've been confetti – in the bottom of the basket. I wasn't sure what it was, but I saw that Felicity had chewed on it."

Naomi chuckled. "Sassafras must've torn the note up before you got a chance to look at it," she realized.

Jim's brows knitted together in disbelief. "Sassafras?" he asked incredulously.

Naomi nodded, smiling. "Yes, I named her that because I found her in the herb garden out back of the retreat," she explained.

"In the sassafras, I take it?" Blair said, a grin breaking out across his face.

"Yes. She was nibbling on it, in fact." Naomi chuckled.

Shaking his head, Jim picked up the pet carrier. "Well, we named her Felicity," he said. "Although, at the moment, she doesn't seem to be too happy with me." Felicity hissed and turned up her nose at him in a feline pout. She made a huffing noise and turned her back on him, slinking around in the cage until her tail was facing him, her opinion of her incarceration made quite clear by her actions. Jim gave a lopsided smile and sighed as he lowered the cage so he didn't have to continue looking at the cat's ass.

Naomi arched one scarlet brow. "You were expecting her to like being caged? Or perhaps to look forward to being spayed?"

"Well…no," Jim admitted with no small amount of reluctance. "But she doesn't have to be so…" he gestured to the cage, Felicity's lashing tail the only visible part of her.

"Aggrieved? Put out? Offended? Affronted?" Blair offered. "Stop me when I've hit on it."

Naomi snorted. "Actually, I think she's just living up to her original name," she joked.

Blair raised one dark eyebrow and squinted at his mother. "Oh? How's that?" he asked carefully, entirely sure he was going to regret asking, but knowing that the curiosity would kill him as sure as any cat – especially theirs.

Naomi giggled. "I think the words Blair offered were good ones, but there's one that would fit better." At their questioning looks, she continued, "Well, she's being one sassy cat, isn't she?"

Jim and Blair exchanged looks, smiles and finally laughter. Felicity, Sassafras, or Sassy, she was still their cat. One marmalade minx, with a sassy attitude to rival that of any smart ass.