(A/N: Silly readers, you think I'm going to let the kits have normal names? Nope. If you come up with a name, ask yourself 'Is it canon'? and if the answer is yes, it won't be a name for these kits. No names like Firekit, Spottedkit, Brackenkit, etc. They must be strange names.)

The Dinner Party

"Scurgy, bring me an iced tea!" Nightcloud whined loudly from her spot on the living room sofa. The she-cat had been sitting lazily in front of the television all morning, leaving her poor mate to do all the cleaning and catering to her every whim.

Scourge paused dusting the kitchen counters and sighed. "Yes, dear. Whatever you want, dear. It would be my pleasure, dear." Grumbling, the black tom opened the fridge and pulled out a gallon of tea. He poured the sweet liquid into a glass and carried it into the living room. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Nightcloud mewed, taking a long sip of the tea. "How much cleaning do you have left? Our dinner party starts at six!"

The tom twisted his dust-rag. "Why did you want to have a dinner party when you're too pregnant to be of any help preparing for it? I've been cleaning the den for four hours and I'm not even done! I still have to run to the store and by the spices for the chicken, the noodles, the green beans, the-"

"I want some yellow peppers," Nightcloud interrupted.

"Yellow peppers?" Scourge asked. "Why?"

The she-cat glared at her mate. "I want yellow peppers NOW!"

The black tom's eyes widened. "Oh. Pregnancy cravings. I guess I'll go to the store now, then."

"You'd better! And get me a bag of chocolate chips, too!" Nightcloud ordered.

Sighing, Scourge nodded and padded back to the kitchen to grab his wallet. "Why did she just have to get pregnant?" he muttered. "I never even wanted kits! We'll probably have ten and they'll all be like her! Ferncloud better still be running that babysitting service…"

"Did you really have to invite Brokenstar?" Nightcloud complained, crunching on a yellow pepper. "All he'll do is talk about his latest murder plans."

Scourge put the last of the groceries in the refrigerator. Closing its heavy white door, the tom glanced over at his mate. "Don't worry- he's bringing Hollyleaf. She'll keep him in check."

"I still can't believe they're dating," the she-cat went on. "That is one strange couple!"

"And we're not?" Scourge questioned. "Besides, you invited Tansy and Ashfur. Oh gosh…don't tell me Star and Mallow are coming too!"

Nightcloud shook her head, popping some chocolate chips into her mouth. "They're staying with Brindleface. Ever since Ashfur married Tansy she's been bugging them to see her new grandkits."

The tom nodded. "Good. And can we talk about names for our kits soon? I want some input."

The black she-cat raised her eyes. "Really? You want to name our kids? What names were you thinking?"

"Well, I like the names Destruction, Demolition, and Terror for toms and Pain, Misery, and Suffering for she-cats," Scourge mewed, folding plastic supermarket bags.

"I am not naming my children Destruction or Suffering!" Nightcloud cried. "Besides, we're giving them Clan names, like Snowkit or Lilykit."

The tom shook his head. "No we aren't. I'm not a Clan cat."

"But I am!" his mate retorted.

Scourge rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm not going to argue about this now. I've got a meal to cook."

Nightcloud sent her mate one last glare before turning back to the television screen. "What stupid names…"

"Nightcloud! Scourge! It's great to see you!" a ginger she-cat gushed as she pushed through the front door of the den, a pale gray tom following closely behind.

"Tansy!" Nightcloud mewed, rushing up to her old friend. "How are things? The family all good? I haven't seen you in ages!"

Ashfur nodded. "I'll say. How long has it been? Four moons? Did you know Tansy's pregnant again?"

The black she-cat's green eyes widened. "Really? How wonderful! So am I!"

Tansy leaned forward to hug Nightcloud. "That's great! How many are you having? Ashy and I are expecting four- two toms and two she-cats!"

Nightcloud shrugged. "Scurgy and I want to be surprised."

"I don't care," Scourge mumbled. "I don't want children."

Ashfur swatted the tiny black tom good-naturedly. "You'll change your mind once the kids come!"

The doorbell rang loudly, signaling the arrival of Brokenstar and Hollyleaf. Scourge opened the door to let the couple in. The ragged-brown tabby pushed through the doorway roughly. "Good, dinner smells ready. I'm starving!"

"Broken-baby, remember your manners!" a young black she-cat scolded as she hurried after the tom. She turned toward Nightcloud and Scourge. "Thank you so much for inviting us. We don't get invited to dinner parties very much."

Nightcloud smiled kindly. "We just felt Brokenstar should have the chance to…you know, be normal."

"I get that," Hollyleaf meowed. "He's a lot of work, though. He has no manners whatsoever! It takes me forever to get him to say please or thank you! Hopefully this will be a good experience for him.

The rough tabby jerked his head toward the kitchen. "So are we going to eat or what?"

"Brokenstar, would you please pass the noodles?" Ashfur asked, swirling mashed potatoes around his plate.

The tabby stopped stuffing chicken into his mouth long enough to grab the noodle bowl and toss it at the gray tom, sending noodles flying.

"Brokenstar!" Hollyleaf cried. "That is not how we pass food at the dinner table! Clean that up right now!"

Nightcloud shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Brokenstar's our guest." She turned to her mate. "Scourge, clean that up right now!"

"Yes, ma'am," the tiny tom grumbled, getting up from the table.

Tansy spooned another helping of green beans onto her plate. "This is a lovely meal, Nightcloud."

"It really is," Hollyleaf agreed.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," the black she-cat meowed. "Scourge did all the cleaning and cooking and shopping. I only had to order him around all day!"

The ginger guest laughed. "Does that sound familiar, Ashy?"

Ashfur nodded. "Yes, but I'm usually in trouble when you make me be your slave. What did Scourge do to deserve it?"

Nightcloud shrugged. "He wouldn't let his pregnant wife do all the work! He insisted I take it easy and watch TV while he does all the work."

"How sweet!" Hollyleaf mewed. "Broken-love, if we ever have a dinner party, you'd do all the work, right?"

The ragged tom narrowed his eyes. "Uh…yeah, of course." He turned to Ashfur and whispered, "Don't ever let her have a dinner party!"

Scourge scooped up the last of the noodles off of the floor. "Why is it the she-cats always have to order us around? Don't we toms ever get a say?"

All three she-cats laughed. "Yeah, sure!" Nightcloud meowed between giggles.

Tansy sent Scourge a sympathetic look. "It's only because we love you. If we didn't care, you toms could do whatever you wanted the then disaster would strike!"

Ashfur nodded. "Apparently my den was considered a 'danger zone' by Daisy's Department of Health and Safety. Tansy made me clean everything up, so now I can live and breathe safely in my home!"

"Toms would be lost without us," Hollyleaf meowed, eating one last bite of chicken.

Brokenstar finished cleaning his plate and grabbed the basket of rolls. "I'll just help get rid of left overs," he meowed.

"Broky!" his mate scolded. "You've had enough! You wouldn't want to get a bellyache, would you? Remember how bad your last one was when you over ate?"

The ragged tom held his roll tightly, staring at Hollyleaf. After a long hesitation, he sighed and put the bread back down. "I guess not."

Hollyleaf flashed Nightcloud and Tansy a proud glance. "See? They'd be lost without us!"