A Cat's Best Friend

"Hey, Maizie!" Grace beamed down from her place at the dining room table at her kitten, who was scurrying across the kitchen floor and towards the seven-year-old girl. Once Maizie reached Grace, she meowed with an expectant look on her furry face.

Neil swallowed his bite of mashed potatoes and frowned. "The cat can't be hungry again already. She had a bowl of food, like, five minutes ago."

"I think she just likes the smell of dinner," Grace said, picking up a piece of baked chicken from her plate and showing it to Maizie. "Want some? It's good!"

"Let's not feed Maizie people food, Grace," Eva told her before eating a green bean.

"Oh, don't worry, Mama," Grace assured her, turning her smiling face to her mother. "Chicken won't make her sick."

"Maybe not," Eva admitted, "but we don't want her getting into the habit of eating off our plates. That'll make her not want the food she's supposed to be eating."

Her smile fading, Grace put the chicken piece back down and returned her gaze to Maizie, who was now meowing plaintively, the tip of her tail twitching. "But if Maizie's really still hungry..."

Neil grinned, standing up from the table. "Never fear, kitten treats are here."

He headed to the kitchen, grabbed the plastic canister of chicken-flavored kitten treats that was set on the counter, and went back to his dining room chair and sat down again. Opening up the canister, he got out one small, star-shaped treat and waved it in Maizie's direction.

"Almost as good as the real thing," he said, as if narrating for a cat commercial. "Get it while it's fresh!"

But although Neil's antics got a giggle out of Grace, Maizie didn't even walk to him to sniff at the treat, let alone eat it. Instead, she ignored him completely, bounding over to Eva and standing up on her hind legs to place her front paws on Eva's thigh, meowing for the third time.

Eva chuckled. "Sorry, Maizie, but being cute won't make me share my food with you." Sobering, she added, "Neil, give me the treat."

"If I must," Neil said with a dramatic sigh, handing the treat over to his wife.

She lowered her open palm to Maizie, who scarfed down the treat in only a few bites, loudly purring as she did so. Petting the kitten on her head, Eva turned her attention to Neil, the corner of her mouth curving upward in amusement. "Guess that proves Maizie likes me best."

"Oh, gloat it up, Eva, but I see how it is," Neil quipped, smirking while the still-purring Maizie got back down on all fours and rubbed her head against Eva's leg. "Grace likes me more, so you decided the cat would be your favourite."

"Who said anything about me playing favorites between Maizie and Grace?" Eva asked rhetorically, the slight smile remaining on her face as she ate a piece of chicken. "If anything, I'm playing favorites between Maizie and you."

Neil gasped in mock dismay. "You wouldn't!"

Eva's smile grew. "Wouldn't I?"

"Why can't they be both?" Grace piped up, quite earnestly. "Maizie can be the favorite kitty, and Daddy can be the favorite daddy."

At that, Neil couldn't help the laugh that escaped his throat. A genuine smile crossed his face as he glanced at Eva, who had also laughed and was now taking a sip of her tea, smiling genuinely as well.

Grace looked at them in confusion. "Um, does that mean you're not fighting anymore?"

Not for the first time, Neil wondered how he and Eva managed to get such an adorable little girl.

"Yeah, princess," Neil said, turning his smile to Grace. "It does."