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Not a Spare in Sight (1/1)

Pumpkin looked at Cammie, lounging on her living room bed but clearly not sleeping, then turned to Luna and said, "You ask her."

"Why me?" Luna noticed Cammie looking at them so immediately licked her paw, trying to appear nonchalant. "You've known her longer. You ask her."

Cammie, who had been listening to the back and forth between her feline siblings for at least 15 minutes, sighed and said. "Would one of you please just ask? I have to do a perimeter check in a few minutes and I can't be late."

"Fine." Pumpkin huffed. "I'll do it."

She took a few steps closer to Cammie then noticed a sunbeam reflecting off the floor and decided to go sit there instead.

"Me and Luna ..."

"Luna and I," Cammie corrected gently.

"Luna and I," Pumpkin continued with an indulgent sigh. "Have been trying to figure out which of our humans are the spare humans. We thought you might know since you've been here longer than both of us."

"Misty said that her dad is her spare human, but me and Pumpkin … sorry … I know … Pumpkin and I, don't think any of our humans are spare. Not the big ones or the little ones."

Cammie stood up and stretched languorously.

"Walk with me while I check the perimeter," she said and the cats dutifully followed behind her.

"I remember back when I first came to live here," Cammie said. "It was just me and Human mom and dad then. No little humans and no cats."

"That must have been really boring," Luna said.

"It wasn't," Cammie replied. "Up until I came here Most of the humans I met didn't treat me very well. But things were different here. I got plenty of food and water and comfortable beds. But even better than that, the new humans took me swimming and for runs, and they played with me on the beach. And they even took me to school."

Luna's eyes went wide. "You went to school? Like the little humans?"

Cammie shook her head. "No, it was a school for dogs."

"What did you do there?" Pumpkin asked, fascinated by the idea of going to school.

"Mostly I learned to listen to my humans and to do what they asked me to do," Cammie replied.

"Do they have a school for cats?" Luna asked.

Cmmie thought for a minute. "I'm not sure but I don't think so. At least I've never heard anyone talk about one."

"That's probably for the best," Pumpkin acknowledged. "Cats aren't very good at following orders."

"Tell us more about the old days," Luna urged.

"They weren't that long ago." Cammie chuffed. "Anyway, when human mom and dad had to be away they found someone to come over and help take care of me. That's when I met Esther."

"Esther!" Luna and Pumpkin squealed in unison. "We LOVE Esther, She's the best!"

"She sure is," Cammie agreed. "So when you add in all of the other human friends and family that would come over and give me scritches and treats and bring me toys and play with me I thought I had just about everything I could possibly ever need. But then one day, I noticed a change in my human mom and I knew she was going to have a puppy."

Luna and Pumpkin stopped and looked around. They were confused. They'd never met a puppy.

"Turns out it was actually a human baby," Cammie said sheepishly. "Give me a break. I was younger then. I didn't understand how all that worked."

"Completely understandable," Pumpkin said as Luna nodded in agreement.

"I knew immediately that I would add the baby to my pack and always protect it but to tell you the truth I was a little nervous. I'd never been around a tiny human. I had no idea what they were like. I thought they might take up all of human mom and dad's time. But from the first minute I met the tiniest human I knew we'd be best friends forever.

"And guess what? I still got all the love and attention I need, same as before. It's like the love just got bigger."

"That's amazing," Luna said as they continued their trek through the house, making sure all was well.

"I thought I knew what to expect when the second small human came along, but that was different," Cammie said.

Pumpkin stopped to pounce on an unsuspecting piece of string on the playroom floor. Once she was sure it was neutralized she trotted to catch up.

"The second little human wasn't a baby, but he was much more sad and scared when he got here," Cammie said. "The humans all talked about how they could best make him feel at home. They worried their ideas might not work. But I wasn't worried a bit. I knew they'd make him feel loved just like they'd done for me."

"Our human mom and dad are awesome," Pumpkin said "There's no way either one of them is a spare."

"Definitely not," Luna agreed.

"No way," Cammie said as they returned to the living room. "I've heard some of the humans talking about how human mom and dad are great alone but even stronger as a team. And if you ask me, everytime our team adds another member we get even stronger. No matter how many of us there are, there's always enough love and attention to go around."

"Tell us how you felt when we joined the family," Luna said eagerly.

"Sometimes I don't understand the things you do," Cammie admitted. "Like why do you run around the house like crazy at 3:00 in the morning. I have to get out of bed every time just to make sure everything is ok."

"Sorry," Pumpkin said.

"So, you'll stop?" Cammie asked hopefully.

"Probably not," Pumpkin said. "When I feel the zoomies come on I just gotta zoom."

Cammie sighed. "At least you're honest."

"We're still part of your pack though, right?" Luna asked.

Cammie walked back to her bed. "Of course."

"And you like having us here, right?" Pumpkin said, knowing the question might be pushing their luck."

"Yes." Cammie settled down in preparation for a nap. "But if you repeat that I'll deny it. I am a dog after all. And I have a reputation to uphold."

THE END

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