This time, Jade woke up in her own bed. She turned to see Cat sleeping next to her, ears twitching every few seconds. Jade still wasn't sure if sleeping in the same bed was okay, but she didn't feel like cleaning up blanket forts every morning. It was still early, so she let Cat lie-in as she snuck out to the other room. She really did have to work today, otherwise next months paycheck might never arrive. She opened her laptop and began to tap away. It was incredibly dull work, but at least she could listen to music whilst she wrote, zone out and type for hours on end. She got so caught up in the process that she nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt a tiny hand grip her thigh.

"Aaagh! God, you scared me."

Jade was not used to living with other people, having lived alone for the past 5 years. Cat looked just as startled as Jade was, but quickly calmed down. She knelt in front of Jade, hand still pressed into her thigh.

"Whatcha doin daddy?"

"Working."

Even though that was the most boring answer Jade could have possibly given, Cat was still excited. Her tail swept the floor happily.

"What do you do for work?"

"I'm a screenwriter. For horror films."

That was partially a lie. She *was* a screenwriter, and she *had* written horror films. But none of the horror films she'd written had been produced, at least not yet. The scripts she got paid to write weren't horror in the slightest. They were horrific, but not horror. She worked commission writing odd episode scripts for shitty soap operas; cheap and endlessly-running garbage that only clinically-bored housewives could stomach. These particular soaps didn't even run on TV; they were sent straight to Z-list streaming services that no-one had ever heard of. The job sucked, but at least Jade got to write for a living. She always fluffed up when talking to other people, and Cat was no exception. Though it might not have been necessary this time, as Cat would have been impressed no matter what.

"So cooooool…
Can I read some?"

There was no way Jade was letting Cat read the absolute dreck she put out for her job, but it might be nice to have someone read her *good* stuff. She'd give Cat one of her spec scripts and pass it off as something from her actual job. Although that would have to wait until tonight. She had to write 12 more pages of shitty hospital drama first.

"Maybe later. Right now I need to focus, okay?
You'll have to entertain yourself for a while."

"Okay!"

To her astonishment, Cat actually did as she was told. Jade was almost certain that she'd end up climbing all over her, begging for attention like a needy child, but that didn't happen at all. It seemed totally out-of-character at first, but Jade soon realised why. This girl had been at the mercy of cruel, uncaring men her entire life. Back in the pound, if she didn't do what she was told, she'd be… well, Jade didn't want to think about that. It made sense that she'd be well-behaved. At least Jade didn't have to worry about being distracted all day. Except, as it turns out, she did. Instead of Cat distracting Jade, Jade distracted herself by staring at Cat. She was happily sitting on the floor at the other side of the room, eating cereal and looking through Jade's dvd collection, reading the blurbs like they were novels. Jade tried to focus on writing but every few seconds she'd look up to see what Cat was doing. She'd lived up to her namesake and found the exact spot where the sun hit the carpet, bathing in the warm light and kicking her feet lazily into the air. Jade couldn't stop staring at the scene. In a weird way, it reminded her of her childhood. Sitting on the floor in her pajamas, eating cereal and watching cartoons. One of the few happy memories from that period.

*ffffflllp*

Jade heard the familiar sound of a letter being posted through the slot in the door. Then, an unfamiliar sound.

"Arf! Arf arf!"

Cat scampered across the room, barking as she went. Jade had never heard her bark before. She'd kinda assumed that Cat *couldn't* bark, but apparently she could. Some doggirls were rather frightening when they barked, their voices suddenly deep and bassy, but Cat's was the opposite; it was even higher pitch than her usual voice. Like everything else about her, it was frustratingly cute. After it was clear that the mailman was long gone, she brought back the letter and placed it in Jade's lap. Jade thanked her with headpats and then went back to typing, and Cat went back to her sunbeam. Jade wanted it to stay that way, but she happened to glance down at the envelope. [TO OCCUPANT] stamped in bold red letters. That only meant one thing.

"Oh fuck."

She didn't want to open it. She wanted to just put it out of her mind, pretend it never arrived. But she knew that wasn't possible. With great trepidation she slid a nail across the top and pulled out the contents.

Dear Miss West,

It has recently come to our attention that you are in possession of a new doggirl. Whilst our building does allow pets, you have neglected to fill out the forms necessary when keeping an animal in your home. Please remedy this as soon as possible. We would also like to remind you that there is an extra fee for pet owners who wish to live here, a total of $75 a month. You must pay this extra sum in the next 3 days if you wish to keep your doggirl on the premises, or else you will have to find alternative accommodation for her to stay. It is also imperative that you keep your doggirl leashed at all times when you are in and around the premises.

Thank you for your understanding

- Sunset Heights Management Team

Jade tore up the paper and threw it across the wall, nearly launching her laptop with it. She dug her nails into her thighs and screamed obscenity after obscenity. Cat rushed over to see what was wrong, but got scared at all shouting. Jade kept swearing, yelling at the top of her lungs, until she turned to see Cat trembling in the corner. Jade suddenly felt terrible, even worse than before. She rushed forward to hug Cat but, just for a split second, Cat flinched backwards. Her arms held vertical in-front of her, like she was trying to protect her face. Jade immediately stopped.

"Cat, I'm sorry, I didnt-"

Cat, regaining her senses, dived towards her and wrapped herself tight around Jade's chest. For a moment they just sat there amongst the torn up paper, holding eachother. Cat's shaking eventually faded, and with a tiny voice she spoke:

"Wh-what's wrong?
What did the letter say?"

Jade was tempted to say "nothing", instruct Cat not to worry about it, but that wasn't fair. This letter concerned her as much as Jade.

"It was from the landlord. I have to start paying extra if I want you to stay here with me."

"What's a landlord?"

"Fuckin parasites is what they are..."

Cat looked around, scared. Jade worried that she'd assumed landlords were literal parasites that had infested the room, but Cat wasn't that stupid. She was scared of something else. It took a few seconds for Jade to figure out what it was. When it hit, she felt like she was the stupid one.

"Cat, I'm going to pay them.
I'm not about to kick you out."

That seemed to relieve her a little. But there was still worry on her face.

"I thought you didn't have any money?"

"I don't, but I'll find something.
I can maybe try asking online for donations, or-"

Just then, Jade knew exactly what she needed to. She hated the idea, but she knew it was her best option. She dragged a heavy palm down her face and groaned. This was gonna suck.

"Alright Cat, I'm gonna need you to be quiet again.
I have to call someone."

"Who?"

"My dad."

Cat was confused, unsure whether to start wagging her tail or not.

"You have your own daddy?"

Jade sighed. Cat's tail stopped in its place.

"I guess technically he is, yeah.
But he's not a good guy, trust me."

Cat stayed where she was, a worried look draped across her pretty face, as Jade moved to the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and dialed, taking a deep breath before hitting call. It rang seven times before anyone picked up. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Hey dad, I just wanted to-"

"Jade. What do you want?"

Already off to a bad start. It had been nearly half a year since their last phone call, and he couldn't even manage a "how are you?". Jade considered hanging up right then, but she kept her nerve.

"I just wanted to know how you're doing, cause it's been a while since we-"

"You want money, is that it?"

Jade's nails dug into her thighs once more, deepening the marks from before. She couldn't believe he thought so little of her. The worst part was, he was right. She would never ever think to call him just to chat. Chatting with him involved listening to long screeds about the latest outrage he saw on Fox News. Complaining about immigrants or antifa or pronouns or anything else mentioned on the Two Minute Hate. But he was also fucking loaded, and could absolutely afford to give her $75. He could probably give her $75,000 and not notice the difference. Jade gritted her teeth, trying to keep up her sweet "daughterly" voice.

"No, that's not why I was-"

"It'll make things a lot easier if you just come out and say it. I can give you money, if that's what you're after."

"Well, that's not the entire reason I was calling,
but I was going to-"

He sighed. Jade knew that sigh well. She must have heard it billions of times growing up. She hated it more than any other sound in the world. As a child she would actively fear it. It meant that he was about to shame her for something innocuous she'd done. Usually it was passive aggressive, sometimes it was just aggressive. But it always meant that same thing, that he was disappointed in her yet again. She'd developed a Pavlovian response to it; for years, whenever she heard *anyone* sigh, she'd get a brief pang of guilt in her chest. That didn't happen so often anymore, but right now it returned with a vengeance.

"How much do you need?"

"Just $75."

"And why do you need it?"

"The landlord raised the rent again."

"I keep telling you, Jade, you can't afford to live off those silly stories you write. You need to get a real job already."

Of course he couldn't go one conversation without belittling her work. He'd never even read her scripts, he had no idea what kind of writer she was, he'd just assumed she was terrible out of hand.

"It is a real job, dad. And I can afford to live here, they just hit me with a sudden charge whilst I'm inbetween paychecks."

"That's strange, they usually wait until the first of the month to do that. Did you do something to piss them off?"

"No, of course I didn't, I've been-"

"I keep telling you, ya gotta work on your attitude around-"

"I've never even met them, dad. That's not why they raised it."

"Then why did they? Huh?"

"I don't know, it could be any number of reasons."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Oh my god, you didn't get one of those stupid dog things, did you?"

Jade flinched. She had no idea what to say. She didn't want to bring Cat into this anymore than she had to. She wracked her brain for any other excuse, but she couldn't come up with anything. She had to come clean. Her tone was almost apologetic, which was bullshit. She had nothing to apologize for, she'd done nothing wrong. In fact, she was doing something right! And yet she couldn't help but sound like a scolded child when she spoke, her voice low and wavering.

"Yes, I adopted a doggirl from the pound. Her name is-"

"Oh christ, not you too. I'll never understand the appeal of those mutts. Jacqueline keeps trying to buy me one, but I won't have one of those things in my house. I keep saying, it's a sex thing, right? It is, isn't it? Jade, you're not fucking her, are ya? Cause that's just-"

"Dad!"

"Alright alright! I'm just saying.
Since ya still don't have a boyfriend an all-"

Jade wanted to scream. It had been nearly a decade since she'd come out as gay and he still hadn't accepted it. She'd done everything she could to be the gayest teenager possible. She'd had posters of Marlene Dietrich on her bedroom walls, she'd listened to the dykiest riot grrl tapes she could find. She used to recite fucking Carmilla at the dinner table. None of it got through to him. No matter how many girls she brought back home, he would always insist that she was gonna meet some rich guy one day and her sexuality would magically flip on its head.

"Dad. I've told you before. I'm a lesbian.
I don't like boys! I'm not into men!"

"You used ta date that nice boy back in highschool."

He still hadn't let go of *that*, either.

"Yes and I hated every second of it.
Worst two years of my life."

"I'm still friends with his father, if ya ever change ya mind I can arrange a date-"

"No dad, I'm fi-"

"He's doing quite well for himself, up in Toronto, you know I could fly you out-"

"DAD! Are you gonna send the money or not?"

There was a slight pause on the other end. Jade was a little worried that he'd hung up, but there was a click and his awful drawl came back loud and clear.

"My god you're ungrateful. Ya know that?

"I'm sorry, I'm just really worried about this charge and-"

"You've always been ungrateful, ever since you were a child. Nothing I ever did was good enough for you. Ya know, I didn't raise you for 18 years just for you t-"

Jade gripped the phone so hard that she nearly shattered the screen. She could not BELIEVE he was going there. She couldn't keep the friendly daughter voice up any longer, practically screaming into the receiver.

"You're right dad, you *didn't* raise me! Mom did, whilst you fucked off to god-knows-where to cheat on her! You were with another woman at her goddamn funeral!"

For the first time in the call, her dad conveyed an emotion other than general distaste. There was anger in his tone, but with a subtle hint of embarrassment. Not that he regretted his actions, but they made him look bad. It wasn't good for his sanitized corporate image.

"Now Jade, let's not get into this now."

"Oh so when it's embarrassing to *you*, we need to move on. But it's totally fine to drag my dirty laundry out whenever we call? Is that it, dad?"

"I don't have to take this, from you of all people. I'll send you the goddamn money, but that's the last thing I ever do for you."

"Oh that's fiiiine with me, I'd be happy if I never see you again you disgusting creep. How old's your new girlfriend, dad? Is she at least older than me this time?"

"Right, that's it. I'm going. Money will be in your account by the end of the day. Don't call me ever again."

"Same to you, assho-"

He'd already hung up. Jade's white-hot rage suddenly turned to fear. She shouldn't have done that. She didn't regret anything she'd said, she'd meant every word, but she should have held her tongue. He was her final safety net. The only person she could dependably rely on for financial help. She'd just set fire to that safety net, burning the whole thing to the ground. Now there was nothing left between her and the hard concrete floor. Her brain rapidly switched between anger and utter terror. She had to quickly toss her phone into a drawer so she wouldn't be tempted to throw it at the wall. She clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles hurt, punching the mattress until her arm got tired. Then, it felt like all the energy in her body evaporated, all at once, and she was empty. She went to scream but all that came out was a low, pathetic sob. She had no idea how long she'd been crying, but when she burried her face into a pillow it came back wet, stained with runny mascara. She couldn't keep crying like this. Cat would see, and then she'd-

"Daddy?"

Jade turned. She'd meant to close the door to the bedroom, but she must have forgot. Cat had heard every word. Jade was about to apologize when Cat ran forward and hugged her, climbing on the bed for better leverage. It was different than their previous hugs. She didn't nuzzle into Jade's chest this time, or sprawl out upon her lap. Instead, she took hold of Jade's head and cradled it in her arms. Jade tried to get up and dry her eyes, but Cat wouldn't let go. Jade was not used to being in this position at all.

"Dddon't wworry, Cat, he's gonna send the money, w-we'll be-"

"Shhhh…"

Cat began running tiny fingers through Jade's hair, gently rocking back and forth. Jade felt even more tears begin to flow, getting Cat's new clothes all wet. She had to get up and go back to work. She couldn't waste any more time. She again tried to get up but her limbs felt heavy and dense, like she was being weighed down by a great boulder on her back.

"Ccat, im sorry I should;t have done that, I'm…"

"Shhhhhh."

Jade's brain was a mess. It was leaking out of her eyelids; every tear another awful memory. She hadn't cried like this in a long time. Ugly, snotty, painful crying. She stopped trying to escape Cat's hug and embraced it, squeezing as tight as her weary arms could manage.

"I jusst… I just… I hate him so muchh… and I… he;s so horribble…. and i, i can't..."

"Shhhh… it's okay, daddy…"

When she heard that word, she squeezed just a little tighter and sobbed just a little louder. As much as she hated her dad, she wished beyond anything else that she didn't. She would sometimes trick herself into think she'd hated him from the moment she was born, but that wasn't true at all. Now, in her weeping haze, she could remember every blissful second of her childhood. All those naïve moments when she foolishly believed her daddy loved her just as much as she loved him. She wished she could go back. She didn't care if it was one-sided, she just wanted to pretend again. She pressed her face into Cat's chest and, just for a second, she let herself pretend.

"Shhh shhh shh… It's okay..."

"Iiim ssorry,.."

"No need to be sorry, daddy..."

Cat was warm. Her warmth and her tender hands were enough to eventually calm the storm. Jade sobbed for what felt like hours, but time was meaningless here. It would be better to count the "shhh"s and the "It's okay"s, of which there were hundreds. Once her body ran out of fluids, she was left trembling like a child in Cat's arms. Cat let go of her just for a second to go fetch a glass of water, lifting it up to Jade's mouth like she was the survivor of some great catastrophe. Jade sipped the entire glass before finally sitting up, but not before one last apology.

"Oh god I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have put you through that."

Cat vigorously shook her head.

"It's okay!
Ummm… can I make you foods? Another drink?"

Jade tried to stand up but her legs were still too wobbly. Regardless, she should be the one to cook food. It was the least she could do for Cat. Plus they still needed to limit their portions.

"No no, I'll sort something out."

"Okay!"

Cat got up to go back to the living room, but Jade weakly grabbed at her wrist.

"And Cat... um... thank you for that..."

"You're welcome!"

Cat bent down for one last hug, rubbing her face against Jade's and making a sound that was almost purring. Then, she whispered in Jade's ear.

"I'm so lucky."

"Why?"

Cat got up and made her way over to the other room, turning in the doorway. She wore that smile again, the same one from the changing room.

"Because I could have gotten any daddy in the world, but I got you~"

Cat skipped off to the kitchenette. Jade sat for a minute more, taking in the enormity of those words. She wondered if Cat had meant to make such a profound statement, or if had simply slipped out of her mouth like everything else. Either way, it meant a lot to Jade. She stood up with a newfound confidence, head held high. She could never make her dad love her, no matter how hard she tried. But she could absolutely be a better daddy than he could ever hope to be. In many ways, she already was.

- Thanks for reading chapter 3 of my fic. if you'd like to leave any comments or feedback, please do it on the ao3 version ( /works/49906456) as i'm unlikely to see it here. Peace!