9999999999999999999999999999999999999

To my annoyance, Don, came over on Friday for dinner. As Alan cooked he took me aside.

"Did you mention to Dad that the cat was stolen?"

"Yeah I did." Alan had found out from me during dinner the evening after I had my fight with Don. I felt bad about lying about the agent not having any idea who stole the cat, but it was better than the alternative.

"Okay" He rejoined Charlie on the couch. I went to assist Alan in the kitchen. Charlie had probably, by how he had greeted me, found out about Don's suspicions, and of course agreed. So now I had to deal with peeved off guests.

"Need help babe?" I offered. Chopping onions was better than dealing with those two, at this point.

"Go watch T.V with the boys" he told me with a smile.

"Fine..." I said. Arguing would raise his spidey senses.

I sat on the other side of the living room.

"What's for dinner?" Charlie asked sullenly.

"A lamb I stole from a farmer" I told him, tongue in cheek.

"Don't start with us!" Don glared at me, as did Charlie.

9999999999999999999999999999999999

"You guys should realize that if I stole every pet, whose caregiver looked shady, this house would be overrun with animals!" Natalie told me and Don. She had nerve!

"You probably know people as passionate as you are about animals" Don responded, as he checked to see if Dad was leaving the kitchen.

"You found someone to adopt the cat" I said.

"Do you guys realize how hard it is to get grown pets adopted?" Natalie gave us dirty looks. "Millions of dog and cats are put to sleep in pounds in this country because of over breeding and people preferring kittens and puppies! Besides, I do not go around stealing animals!"

9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

Natalie got up in annoyance and returned to the kitchen. When she was out of earshot, Charlie said.

"We should tell Dad!"

"Charlie, No! It'll upset him"

"Don, he needs to know just how nutty she really is!" Charlie said.

"I don't have any hard evidence that she did it" I reminded him. "Besides, her and I made an agreement."

"What if she does something elsejust as crazy or worse, and Dad gets in legal trouble because of it?" Charlie insisted. "Dad deserves a well adjusted woman in his life!"

"Charlie...let me handle this"

"He needs us to show him what a mistake the relationship is! Living with her is not having the effect you promised!"

"Let's worry about finding the cat" I reminded him, but he did have a point! Why hadn't they broken up! The generational gap alone should have made living together difficult.

999999999999999999999999999999

I could feel the tension as Nat, Charlie, Don and had dinner. I found myself doing most of the talking. Had they fought in the living room before dinner? Maybe Nat was getting impatient with Don's progress.

After the boys left, I remarked. "I hope you're not getting too impatient about Don's progress on the psychic cat case."

"I just hope to have more luck than we did with that kid!" Nat commented. The police could only get him a ticket for the traffic violation.

"Hopefully, the cat was stolen by a well meaning person" I consoled her.

"Hopefully" she repeated and shook her head.

9999999999999999999999999999999

I felt guilty about not telling Alan why I was upset. Not only was his oldest son accusing me, but now the real culprit wouldn't be found because of that. With an inward sigh, I put on my pajamas, made tea for the two of us, and read in the living room.

The next morning, after a nine o'clock appointment, the receptionist called to say that a 'Dr. Charles Eppes' wanted to see me. With a groan, I told her

"Let him in."

Soon, he, wearing brown jacket over a shirt with geometric designs, came in, and sat down as if he owned the place.

"I'm here to talk to you about the cat." he told me. " It is not worth the risk of jail, and possible expenses"

"I didn't take it!" I told him, and feltoffended by how little he valued cats.

"Who else would want to?"

"Someone jealous about the money being made from the con? A neighbor? If Don hadn't made this stupid assumption about me, and actually investigated the house for forced entry..."

"Don't put this on him!" he snapped.

"What is with you two?" I demanded, tired of the accusations.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing!" he said. "I agree that it's wrong to con people, but one can't go around taking the law into their own hands!"

I started to get angry again."I'm going to my next appointment. You can see yourself out." In a huff, I left my office, but Charlie just followed me.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

"We're not done discussing this!" I told her.

"I've already had this stupid argument with your brother!" she retorted. "Nothing I say is gonna convince you!"

"What argument?" Dad asked right behind me.

999999999999999999999999999999999

Carl had let me through so that I could see Natalie. He had just come back from lunch.

"We were disagreeing on where to have a surprise party for you babe" Natalie told me.

"My birthday isn't for Months!" I pointed out, not believing her. "What's going on?"

"Natalie stole that stupid cat!" Charlie blurted out.

"What?" I was getting angry.

"Don's been trying to get Natalie to tell him where it is." my younger son continued.

"You both think that Natalie would break into someone's house and steal?" I started to get angrier.

"I think that uhhhhhhhhh...Natalie really cares about the welfare of animals" Charlie replied, and I took it as a yes.

"Don't get mad, babe, it's just that they didn't find anyone with a clear motive, and 'liberating animals is not unheard of" Natalie tried to calm me down.

"Call your brother" I ordered Charlie. "Have him come to Natalie's office. We're gonna have a little talk."

TBC