Shayera stared at the black and white furball on her lap and then back up to the speedster in front of her.

"Why is there a cat on my lap and how did you even get it Wally?"

"Well you see this little kitten here is an early Christmas gift."

Shayera smirked, "What did you do to get Linda pissed at you this time?"

Wally looked at her unamused, "Haha very funny. It was actually my own original idea I will have you know."

"Does Linda even like cats?"

Wally paused and scratched the back of his head, "I…I think so."

Shayera raised an eyebrow, "You think so?"

"I'm pretty sure she does. She loves animals, especially cute ones. I even named her."

Shayera let out a light snort, "Oh this I've gotta hear."

Wally grinned, "I named her Princess cause she's going to be our little princess."

Shayera let out a sigh as she shook her head.

"What? Princess is a girly name and it's a girl cat."

"You could have named her anything else but you chose Princess. That doesn't matter though. Why did you bring this cat up here and why did you put it on my lap?"

"Well I can't bring her to Linda's work so I came here and then I got called on my commlink and…" Wally's voice began to trail off and Shayera frowned.

"The answer is no."

"Oh come on please Shayera? It'll only be two…three hours tops. I promise."

"Give it to Bruce," Shayera tried to hand the kitten back to him. "I've got work to do."

Wally held his hands up and refused to take the kitten from her. "No way! Knowing my luck I'll come back to Princess wearing a bat costume and brooding in the corner at night. Besides you hate monitor duty."

Shayera pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an annoyed growl. "I'm not a pet person."

"Pets are good practice for having a baby. All the responsibilities you know," Wally nudged her. "And you said you wanted help getting ready. This is helping."

Shayera gave him an incredulous look, "Wally even I know that taking care of a kitten and having a baby are two vastly different things."

"I'll take the rest of your monitor duty shifts for this week."

"You got yourself a deal," Shayera instantly replied.

Wally grinned at her, "Thank you so much. All you have to do is watch her and that's it."

"Yeah, yeah you're welcome. So how do I-" Before Shayera could even finish Wally had sped off. "Entertain her…fantastic."

Shayera looked down at the kitten on her lap and ran her fingers through its fur. "You are very fluffy and soft. I will give you that."

The kitten looked up at her and meowed before sprawling out across her lap. Shayera smirked and she lightly scratched behind its ear, "Stop trying to distract me with your cuteness."

Princess meowed as she began to purr.

Shayera sighed, "You really are cute but I can't get distracted. As much as I hate monitor duty I do have to do it and pay attention while doing it."

For the next forty minutes Shayera had relative peace and quiet as she sat at the monitor station. Even though she was completely focused on the monitor station, Shayera was absentmindedly petting the kitten nonstop.

"Why is there a kitten on your lap?"

Shayera turned to see John walking over to her with a cup of coffee in each hand, "This? This is Princess. Wally just got her for Linda. Of course he needed someone to watch her."

"So you got volunteered," John grinned as he held one of the cups out to her. "What did he do to get Linda pissed at him this time?"

"Thanks," Shayera took the cup from him. "That's what I asked but he claims this was his own original idea."

"Does she even like cats?"

Shayera shrugged, "No idea and even he doesn't know." She took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. "Is this decaf with no sugar and hardly any creamer?"

John frowned, "Yes because in your condition you shouldn't-"

"Oh would you stop with this 'in my condition' bullshit? It's annoying. A little caffeine, sugar, and creamer never hurt anyone."

John raised an eyebrow, "A little? I know how many cups of coffee you drink in a day Shay. That's not a little caffeine. J'onn once told you that you shouldn't drink that much coffee and you weren't pregnant then."

Shayera rolled her eyes, "Oh please, coffee is healthy. Just be glad I'm not drinking soda anymore."

John sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument, "Why did Wally leave the kitten with you?"

Shayera rolled her eyes once more, "Apparently he thinks taking care of a kitten is like taking care of a baby and would be good practice for me."

John scoffed at that, "He does understand that they're completely different things, right?"

"I don't know," Shayera shrugged. "All I know is that he said it would only be for a few hours."

John shook his head, "He should have planned this better."

"Honestly I don't mind. At least it wasn't a puppy. I'd take a kitten any day over that."

"Wait hold on. You're a cat person?"

Shayera tilted her head slightly, "Yeah why?"

"Just with the wings and all…" John's voice trailed off before he continued, "Just you don't seem like the cat type."

"What is there not to like?" Shayera asked as Princess brushed her head against Shayera's chin, causing her to chuckle. "They are affectionate, require less maintenance than a dog, and they are obviously more intelligent."

"And you think you know someone. I honestly never would have pegged you as a cat person."

"I may prefer cats but honestly I'm not the type of person to have a pet myself. Knowing my luck I'd forget to feed it half the time. I'm too busy for a pet," Shayera then paused. "Pets are easier than a baby…shit. If I can't even take care of an animal how am I supposed to take care of a baby?"

John sighed as he stood behind her chair and began to lightly massage her shoulders, "Babe I keep telling you to not worry. Everything will be ok."

Shayera relaxed her shoulders as she tilted her head up to look at John, "I wish I could be as calm as you are about this."

John bent over and kissed her, "You need to learn how to relax. That's your main problem."

"Yeah I know. Relaxing doesn't seem to be my thing."

"Yo Wings!" The two turned to see Green Arrow approaching them. "You're released from your hellish duty. It's my turn now to do something just as entertaining as watching paint dry."

"Ollie you are a godsend. My back is killing me from sitting here for so long," Shayera stood, handed Princess over to John, and stretched out her body.

"Cute cat. When did you get it?" Ollie asked as Shayera took Princess back from John.

"Oh no this isn't mine. Wally brought it up here."

"What did he do to get Linda pissed at him this time?" Ollie immediately asked as he sat in front of the monitor station.

"That's what we said," both John and Shayera replied as Princess meowed.

"Whatever it was it had to be bad to warrant him to get her a kitten."

Shayera smirked, "Definitely." She then turned to John. "Let's go grab something to eat. I'm hungry."

John shrugged, "Sure I could go for lunch."

The two eventually made it to the Watchtower's cafeteria, after being stopped every two minutes by various female Leaguers over the kitten.

"You can't feed a cat that Shayera!" John scolded her as the Thanagarian held a small piece of chicken up to the kitten.

"Why not? Princess likes it."

"That's how you create bad habits. Pets that get used to eating people food get spoiled."

Shayera raised an eyebrow, "John, seriously, Wally is going to own this cat. It's going to get human food constantly. I'm getting it ready."

John paused, "True but let Wally be the cause of it. Spoiling a pet never ends well."

"Whatever," Shayera shrugged as she scratched behind the kitten's ear. "So you prefer dogs over cats?"

"Of course," John said as though the answer should have been obvious. "Dogs are so much better. They're loyal and give unconditional love. They're called man's best friend for a reason Shay. People don't call cat man's best friend after all."

Shayera rolled her eyes, "Yet cats are easier to take care of and they seem to give just as much love to their owners as dogs. Plus you don't have to give a cat a bath. Dogs end up smelling and you have to go through the whole ordeal of giving it a bath. That to me doesn't sound appealing."

"Yet having an angry ball of fur with claws is?"

"They aren't angry balls of fur. They're adorable versions of mini lions and tigers."

"Animals that would readily maul you Shayera."

Shayera held the kitten up to eye level, "This adorable little kitten couldn't even hurt a fly. Puppies on the other hand chew everything. And for the unfortunate pet owners that have a yard, they dig up their yard too."

John frowned, "Cats tear up furniture with their claws. They'll claw apart anything they can get their paws on."

"Cats don't bark and make a hell of a racket."

"Dogs don't have to use a litter box and step in their own waste."

"Both animals have ups and downs like any other pet," A third voice stated, causing the two to jump slightly.

"Dammit Bruce!" Shayera scowled.

A smirk appeared on Bruce face as he sat across from them, "The age old debate. Why did Wally even bring that thing up here?"

"It's Wally so who even knows," John rolled his eyes. "Probably wanted to show it off first before he got called on a mission."

"Bruce can be our tie breaker."

John sighed, "That's hardly fair Shayera."

Shayera smirked, "What? You nervous cause you know Bruce has a thing for cats?" She then pointedly looked at Bruce who glared at her.

Bruce remained silent for about a minute before speaking, "Cats are easier to take care of in the long term and cheaper for the most part. It takes a long time to gain a cat's trust but once you have you've gained a trusted companion that would do anything for you." Bruce then got up to leave as Shayera flashed John a triumphant smile. "Wally accidentally poured bleach in the washer when he was doing laundry and ruined Linda's clothes. The kitten is an apology gift and a desperate ploy so that he doesn't have to sleep on the couch anymore."

"Knew it," John and Shayera said in unison.