Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
I hope everyone had a good holiday? Things are going to start picking up soon. Marriages, kittens being born, as well as other good things are going to occur. It's going to be a wild ride, so hang on.
My Co-Author MisaRae had posted another chapter of Two Plus Two yesterday. Go and read it, after you read this chapter.
Jake and Lisa arrived at Callie's house while the rest were over touring his and Felina's new residence. Alice pulled the limo around to the back of the house and stopped. She got out of the limo, then went around the front of the car to the rear passenger-side door. She opened the door and reached inside to help the occupants exit the car.
Lisa was the first one out of the car, followed by Jake. He said as he looked around the property, "Thank you, Alice. The ride was delightful; would you care for a drink before you head back to the city?"
"Sure, I could use a cup of coffee before heading back, if you don't mind?" Alice asked.
"Not at all. We will have to get your drink at my place, though. My friends are over there touring the house, and I don't feel right going into Callie's without her being there," Jake replied.
They all went over to Jake and Felina's house, opened the front door, and followed Jake into the kitchen.
Lisa looked at the lavish furnishings as they walked through the house. She said, "It feels so warm and cozy in here. Felina is going to love this place! And if she doesn't, Mark and I will buy it from you."
"I had this place retrofitted with Felina in mind. I can almost guarantee she will love living here. Especially with her best friend right next door," Jake said.
They walked into the kitchen and found Tina, Katerina, Chance, and Sarah standing around the breakfast island. Jake said as he entered, "Hey guys, meet Alice. She is the driver who brought me and Lisa here."
Mark and Callie entered the kitchen, only to hear the tail end of Jake's introduction. At the sound of Lisa's name, Mark turned and sought out his fiancée. The moment he saw her, he took off, bounding right up to her and wrapping his arms around her. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, holding her tightly against him as his lips came down on hers in relief and desperation. Once they came up for air, Mark said, "Don't you ever do that again!", then gave her another squeeze before adding, "I don't know what I would do without you, Lisa. I can't wait until you are my wife."
"I missed you, too, you big lug. I promise, you are going to be stuck with me for the rest of your life," Lisa said.
Felina entered the kitchen from the dining room, and saw Lisa and Mark in a tight embrace. She dropped the towel she was holding and ran up to them. She joined them in their embrace and asked, "You wanted me to be your matron of honor, Lisa? Well I'm going to be the best matron of honor that has ever been. Your bachelorette party is going to be epic!"
"Hold the phone, Felina. I'm a simple she-cat. I don't need anything elaborate," Lisa said.
"Oh yes you do, Lisa. Just don't plan on going home that night. Callie and I might not be able to drink, but there is not a doctor out there that will tell us we can't play with the entertainment," Felina said.
Upon hearing Felina discussing the entertainment for Lisa's party, Tina covered Sarah's ears, knowing that the following conversation would definitely not be fit for a kitten to overhear.
"Trust me, Lisa, the gorgeous hunks I'm going to hire will make even Mark look wimpy in comparison!" Felina said.
"No way, Felina! I don't want my fiancée ogling male strippers. She doesn't need to!" Mark exclaimed.
"Dearest Mark, no she-cat needs to see strippers, but they want to see them. Don't worry, they stop at their G-Strings, and besides, won't you be having your own bachelor party?" Felina asked.
"My brother Kevin would not hire strippers for my party. My other brother Sean, on the other hand, I wouldn't put it past him," Mark replied.
Callie went over to Sarah and Tina, and said, "Why don't we go outside and let the grown-ups talk? I also have a little surprise for you, Sarah, once we are out there."
Tina let go of Sarah's ears, took Sarah's paw in hers, and then said, "Lead on, Callie." They left the rest of the adults alone in the kitchen.
Jake ignored the entire conversation and led Alice over to the coffeemaker on the counter by a large window. He asked her, "What type of coffee would you like, Alice? There is a stand next to the coffeemaker with all sorts of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate to choose from."
Alice walked around Jake and examined the stand. Every single one of the pods had names that she was completely unfamiliar with. She eventually gave up and said, "I am clueless as to what these even are. Just pick a regular coffee, please."
Jake went over to the stand, picked out a pod, inserted it into the coffee maker, and pushed the brew button. The coffeemaker came to life and started brewing Alice's drink. After thirty seconds, her coffee started dripping out of the machine and into the waiting mug. After the machine finished its task, Jake grabbed the mug and handed it to Alice. He then said, "Here you go, Alice."
Alice took a sip of her coffee, and then said, "Thank you, Jake. You are so sweet," just before she kissed his cheek.
Felina turned her head just in time to see Alice kiss her fiancé. She went over to them, leaned on Jake's left shoulder, and said, "Jake, dear, you have exactly thirty seconds to tell me why another she-cat is kissing you before I remove something you are going to need if you plan on having another kitten!"
Alice giggled at Felina's comment, and then said, "Felina, I have a tom-friend of my own, Felina, and I'm not going to trade him in anytime soon. As sweet as Jake is, he is not my type. Michael is more like that big hunk of a tom over there, hugging Lisa, and he is completely devoted to me. So there's no need to worry about me worming my way into Jake's heart and stealing him from you."
Jake gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Honey, I am in love with you, and you alone. Alice may be cute, but you are the one I want to be with for the rest of my life."
"Oh, so you think she is cute?" Felina asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She wrapped her arm around Jake's neck and started dragging him out of the room as she said, "My dear, I am going to show you just how adorable I can be.. upstairs!"
Alice watched as Felina dragged Jake out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She then heard a door slam and she cringed. She turned to Katerina and asked, "Is Jake going to be alright?"
"Da, Jake will be fine. He might not be able to walk right when Felina gets done punishing him, but he will be fine," Katerina responded.
Callie and Sarah walked out onto the back porch, then Callie said, "Sarah, I have a little surprise for you."
"You and your grandmother have already given me so much today. What else could I want?" Sarah asked.
"Remember that little pet you had me hang onto?" Callie asked.
"How could I forget my dragon?" Sarah replied with a question of her own.
"Well, your little dragon has now sprouted wings and can breathe fire," Callie said.
"Cool!" Sarah cried, her eyes skimming over Callie's form to try and find her pet. When she didn't see it, she asked, "Um, Callie, where did it go?"
Callie had thought the dragon was still sitting on her shoulder, but when she turned her head to see what Sarah was talking about, she noticed it was gone. She then asked, "Now where did it get off to? I highly doubt it could have gone far. Speaking of not going too far, I haven't seen Persival or Isis in a while. Where did they go?"
Persival lay on the ground with a protective wing covering Isis. She had her head in the crook of his neck, purring ever so softly in contentment. She then said, "If everything goes right, you will be a father in about five months."
"My love, I can't wait for you to give birth to our cubs. I only hope they take after you," Persival said before he rubbed his head against hers.
"I can't wait to be a mother, especially to your cubs, Persival. You are going to be a great father," Isis said.
"And you are going to be an excellent mother, Isis, but now we should really get back to the others," Persival said.
"Alright, but I don't think I can walk yet. You were.. quite enthusiastic, my love," Isis said.
"My apologies, my love. I promise to be more gentle next time," Persival said.
Isis lifted her head, turned to Persival, and asked, "Next time? Exactly how many cubs are you planning on having?"
"My dear, I was part of a litter of four. All in all, I had ten siblings. Did you not come from a large family?" Persival asked.
"I have no idea who my parents were. I was separated from my family when I was very young, and sold to a circus. A few years later, once I had matured, I was sold once again to the zoo, where, where you found me. Now I have a family I can call my own, as well as a place I can call my home," Isis answered and snuggled into Persival's body again.
"I am sorry you had to endure that kind of life, Isis. My ancestors have been by Callista's side for generations, and my parents were no different. So when I was born, it was expected that I would follow in their footsteps. The day I met Callista, she had a very young girl kitten with her. I was so young when I was introduced to both of them, all I could do was mew. My father thought I was being disrespectful to them by not bowing, so he flicked me with his wing. I turned to him and mewed. He shot me a dirty look and motioned for me to bow. I did as I was told, and the kitten giggled. When my father and mother rose, I followed their lead and walked over to the kitten. I sat at her feet and mewed again. The kitten picked me up and cuddled me like a baby. That was when I realized I was truly meant to be a companion, and I have been with Callista and her family since," Persival said.
"But you knew your parents. I never knew mine, Persival," Isis said.
"And our cubs will know their parents, Isis. We will raise them to protect their families the best they can," Persival said. He got up, and then said, "Let's go and be with our extended family."
Isis got up, went to Persival's side, and said, "I love you, father to our cubs."
Persival put his left wing around her and said, "I love you, mother to our cubs."
They both walked back to the house as close together as possible.
Callista had made her way upstairs and back into her apartment. Since Persival was not there, the apartment was completely silent. She closed the door that led to the shop, walked over to the phone, took the plug out of the phone jack, and walked to her bedroom. She went into her bathroom and over to a pearl white tub with clawed feet. She turned on the water, adjusted the temperature to her liking, and blinked her eyes. Her clothes disappeared, and she stepped into the tub. As her body sank into the hot water, she let out a deep sigh and let the day's stress melt away.
Ulysses was not having the best of days. Almost everything he had tried to do turned out wrong. He sunk down into his easy chair, but instead of feeling comforted, he just felt drained. He wondered about the change until his gaze landed on the phone beside him. He shook his head ruefully. He really was in love with her if instead of silence and solitude, he desperately wanted to hear the sound of Callista's voice. He picked up the phone and started to dial. He put the phone to his ear and heard, 'You have reached a number that is temporarily out of service. Please try your call again later.' He pulled the phone away from his ear, looked at the device, and re-dialed her number, figuring that he must have dialed wrong the first time. He put the phone back to his ear and heard, 'You have reached a number that is temporarily out of service. Please try your call again later.' Ulysses slammed the phone down with enough force to break it before getting out of his chair, grabbing his keys, and leaving his apartment to go to his fiancée's and find out why her phone was not working.
Ulysses drove through the city like a madman, cutting off other drivers like a teenager who had just got his driver's license as he made his way to Callista's. He accidentally swerved in front of an Enforcer patrol car.
The two patrolmen could not believe that an older tom was driving so recklessly. They pulled Ulysses over a few blocks later. They both got out of the patrol car with their paws on the butts of their guns as they calmly walked over to Ulysses' car. The officer on the left side of the car tapped the driver-side window and said, "License, registration, and insurance card."
Ulysses started to remove the documents that the officer asked for from his wallet and thought, 'I can't believe I was pulled over, and does this officer not know the basics of respect for the general public? What the heck are they teaching these recruits over at the academy?' He handed the officer the paperwork he had asked for and waited for the officer's response.
The officer took a perfunctory glance at the paperwork, only noting the expiration dates, and completely ignoring the name printed on the documents. He then looked into the car through his mirrored sunglasses and sized Ulysses up. The officer asked, "Do you have any idea why we pulled you over?"
"Yes officer, I do," Ulysses replied.
"So you know that you shouldn't be driving like a maniac, Gramps," the officer said.
'Gramps?' Ulysses thought as he lifted his right eyebrow in question. 'Who does this officer think he is? None of my officers should be addressing the public in such a manner.'
"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time. Drive more carefully, and this won't happen again," the officer said, and handed the paperwork back to Ulysses.
Ulysses put his documents away in his wallet, removed one of his business cards, and handed it to the officer upside down.
"What is this? A coupon for a free coffee or something?" the officer asked.
"Not quite. Please turn it over," Ulysses said.
The officer turned the card over, and instantly noticed the gold-colored Enforcer's badge embossed into the card. He quickly read the name on the card, and his stomach churned. The officer snapped to attention and said, "I'm sorry, sir. I had no idea it was you I pulled over."
Ulysses got out of the car, stood in front of the officer, and said, "This is the second time one of my officers has used disrespectful language in my presence while wearing the uniform. I refuse to allow this to continue! You are to go back to Headquarters and tell the Desk Sergeant that I want every ranking officer in the Situation Room at 3PM today, and I don't care what they were doing or what their plans were." As he spoke, his tone went from deadly calm to red hot with fury as he yelled, "Something has gone wrong with the training of the new recruits, and I want it fixed NOW! I will not have my officers addressing the public as Gramps! Is that understood, officer?"
The officer was shaking in his shoes. He had never met the Commander before, and now that he had, he quickly realized why Ulysses had held the position of Commander for so long. The officer quickly replied, "Sir, yes sir," grabbed his partner, and ran back to his patrol car to carry out the Commander's orders, before he managed to get himself demoted or fired.
Ulysses watched as the two officers ran back to their car, got in, and drove off. Before he even had a chance to get back in his own car, the awful sound of the squad car hitting a stopped truck less than half a block away reached his ears. He stared at the wreckage for a moment before slapping his forehead and said, "Idiots. Felina and I are going to have a long talk about the caliber of the graduates leaving the academy." He then got back into his car and drove a little more carefully all the way to Callista's.
Callista was still in the tub, soaking away the day's stress. The sakura and lilac bath oil she used not only smelled heavenly, it also made her fur very soft. The water had started to cool off a little too much for her liking, so she twirled her left index finger and magically opened the hot water valve. Steaming water poured out of the faucet and warmed the contents of the tub back up to her liking. She twirled her finger again to turn off the valve, then let the scent of the oil lure her into a deep relaxation.
Ulysses stopped the car once he was just around the corner from Callista's building. He got out and ran the few steps between him and his destination, then went around to the door that led to Callista's apartment above the shop. He reached above the door jam and found the key that Callista had placed there in case someone needed to gain access to her apartment in an emergency. He inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and the door opened.
Ulysses entered the hallway and let the door close behind him. He bounded up the stairs, and to the door that led to the place his beloved called home. Ulysses turned the doorknob with his right paw, opened the door, and entered.
The first thing he did was search for Callista's phone. He found it. Right by the kitchen, the cord that was supposed to be plugged into the phone jack hanging loose. Seeing the phone's cord dangling from the counter's edge filled his heart with worry that something happened to the she-cat he desperately loved. He pulled his gun from his holster and started to search her apartment. As he made his way down the hall leading to the bedrooms, he smelled the faint aroma of feminine bath lotion coming from behind one of the doors. He lightly knocked on the closed door and hoped that Callista would respond. When she didn't, he grasped the doorknob, turned it slowly so it wouldn't make any noise, and then barged into the bathroom, his gun already drawn and his back flat against the side wall. It took a moment to see through the mist in the room, but once he did, his heart leapt into his throat at the sight before him.
Callista heard the bathroom door slam open. She immediately turned her head towards the sound, her instincts took over as she pointed her right paw at the intruder, and turned whoever it was into a tiny kitten. She got out of the tub, grabbed a large white towel, wrapped it around her body, her body, and walked over to see just exactly what had happened. Once she was close enough, she realized that she was looking at a perfectly harmless kitten, who mewed at her questioningly. She looked into its eyes and recognized them almost instantly as her fiancé's. She picked the kitten up, and said, "Oh great, I just turned my fiancé into a kitten," as she looked into kitten's eyes again and stroked his fur. She then said, "Ulysses, you make an adorable kitten. I hope the spell wears off soon, I can't be dating a kitten."
End of Chapter