Chapter 6: Bouncing rubber ball
After jumping from Rocky's sudden loud outburst, Ivy and Mitzy, including Theo, all look over at the chess table to see what was going on. Rocky looks back at the concerned cats and immediately puts on an assuring apologetic smile.
"Hehe, I'm terribly sorry about that everyone. I just lost for the third time." Rocky said gesturing to the chess board in front of him which showed his king piece checkmated by Freckle confirming his cause for shouting
Even Freckle was blown away by Rocky's outburst after beating him in the game.
"Phew." Both Ivy and Mitzy breathed sighs of relief
"Well now then, If anyone needs me, I will be upstairs in my office to make contact with the newspaper company." Mitzi informed
"Good luck Mitzi!" Ivy smiled with a wave
With that, Mitzi makes her leave from the cafe and up to her office leaving everyone else alone. With Mitzi now gone, Rocky and Freckle decide to play one more round of their chess game while Theo gets down off his seat from the table. Ivy on the other hand gets a fun idea and kneels down to the young kitten boy.
"Hey Theo, waddya say you and I go out and play together!" Ivy suggested
"You and me play together?" Theo asked as he swished his tail
"Yes!" Ivy smiled before she reaches into the pocket of her jacket and takes a small bouncing black rubber ball and shows it to Theo
"Look what I have!" Ivy happily presented the ball which made Theo's eyes lighten up with excitement as part of his cat-like instincts
"Oooh a ball!" Theo said in his childish delightment
"*Giggles!* That's right, it is indeed a ball! Come on and let's go!" Ivy said as she grabbed Theo by his paw and ushered him to the front door to go outside
Once outside the cafe, Ivy takes Theo through an alleyway on the side of the building which lead to a large pavement area behind the cafe. The pavement area was surrounded by other large brick buildings and had a few dumpsters and trash cans sitting here and there, but it was large and clear enough for Ivy and Theo to play with their rubber ball together.
"Okay sweetheart, I'm gonna bounce the ball to you. Are you ready to catch it?" Ivy smiled as he held up the said ball
Theo eagerly nodded yes as he couldn't wait to play with his caretaker.
"Alrighty, CATCH!"
Ivy tosses the rubber ball bouncing it off the pavement towards Theo. Theo tries to dive for the ball but misses as he clumsily falls to the ground.
"OOF!"
"Woopsies! *Giggles!*" Ivy giggled before she went to help Theo back on his feet
"I didn't catch it." Theo said
"Yes I'm sorry about that. No worries kiddo, I'll try to be more easy." Ivy smiled as she dusted Theo off before running to retrive the ball
After getting the ball, Ivy gets back into position for another throw.
"Alright here I go again."
This time Ivy lightly tosses the ball boucing it towards Theo again. Theo goes for the ball again and manages to catch it this time with his little paws.
"GOT IT!" Theo shouted
"YES! Way to go sweetie! Now bounce it back to me!" Ivy said
Theo does so as best as he could and Ivy catches the ball before tossing it back and repeating the cycle over and over.
For the past hour as the daylight was getting brighter, Ivy Pepper and Theo Flakes happily played around the pavement area with their rubber ball together. They played with the ball in different ways such as bouncing it off a brick wall, kicking it up like a hacky sack, and performing trick shots with it into a metal bucket. The two cats were having great wholesome fun together like they were little brother and big sister as they exchanged some laughs and giggles with each other.
During the whole playtime, Theo was slowly starting to feel so much better and out of grief from the tragic night of the car crash with his parents. His attention was all purely focused on playing with the ball and having fun with his newfound caretaker as he had a big smile on his young little face.
Meanwhile, while Ivy and Theo were playing outside, Mitzi was up in her office sitting at her desk talking with the Chicago newspaper company on her desk telephone.
"Yes that's all I will need in my ad... ... ...You'll have it done in the morning?... ... ...Oh no I'm totally alright with it... ... ...Sounds perfect... ... ...Alright then, thank you very much for your service. Goodbye." Mitzi said before hanging up the desk phone
"*Sigh* Now we just wait." Mitzi said to herself as she twittled with her blonde hair a little
With her word now successfully put out to the Chicago newspaper, Mitzi remained at her desk with a rather nervous expression on her face. She really hoped that Theo's aunt, Natasha Flakes, would see her message Ad in the paper as quick as possible the second it gets released. Mitzi really wanted Theo to be in safe hands with his close aunt even though he was already temporarily safe with the Lackadaisy crew.
"... ...Ugh! I need to stop worrying too much. My Ad will be out and Theo's aunt will definitely see it. Surely she reads the papers like everyone else does...Maybe I better go check on Theo, that should clear my head." Mitzi said to herself as she got up from her desk and made her way back downstairs
Mitzi strutted all the way back down to the cafe where Rocky and Freckle were still playing chess but Ivy and Theo were nowhere to be seen.
"Ummm...Have you boys seen where Ivy and Theo went?" Mitzi asked Rocky and Freckle
"I think they went outside to play." Rocky said as he moved his chess piece not taking his eyes off the board
"Thank you." Mitzi said before proceeding to go outside the cafe to look for the two cats.
Meanwhile
Ivy and Theo were now sitting down together on a random piece of concrete block to take a break from playtime and catch their breath.
"Phew! That was pretty intense, wasn't it kiddo." Ivy said as she used her hat to fan herself even though the weather was still a little chilly
"Yes, I had so much fun playing with you Miss Pepper, you're the best." Theo smiled as he played with the rubber ball on his lap
That's when Mitzi came walking up out of nowhere to greet the two.
"You two look like you're enjoying yourselves." Mitzi smiled warmly
"Hello again Mitzi! We most certainly are enjoying ourselves!" Ivy waved
"Hi Mrs. May!" Theo smiled while also waving
Mitzi looks down at Theo and sees how happy he currently was. That's when an idea came to her head.
"Say Miss Pepper, I might have a wonderful idea to make our little guest feel even more welcome with us." Mitzi said
"You mean for Theo? What is it?" Ivy asked
With that, Mitzi goes up to Ivy and whispers the idea into her ear.
"...Uh huh...Say that does sound like a great idea." Ivy smiled
"Hey umm what is going on? What are you talking about?" Theo asked out of curiosity
Ivy looks back at Theo.
"We're planning something special for you sweetheart." Ivy said with a wink
End of chapter 6