“Thanks, that’d be great. Just bring it along to the store.”
Full of Christmas spirit, I closed up after he left, did the balances and made my way home.
It was chilly, a clear night with the sky full of stars. If it hadn’t been for Aster teasing me about whatever his surprise was, I’d have been floating on air.
But the niggling fear kept at me. What if he’d broken his leg? Or had been beaten up by some bigoted thugs? What if he’d quit college and was actually moving home?
I let myself into the apartment and cleared my throat, bracing for the worst. “I’m home!”
“Welcome home!” Tane called from the living room.
“Dill!” Aster came crashing through the door. No broken legs.
He looked great, more himself than the last time I’d seen him. He’d cut his hair again and was wearing an oversized hoodie with his college name emblazoned across it.
He tackled me in a hug and I laughed, catching him, trying not to fall over from his sheer exuberance.
“Hey Aster.” I held him with one arm and ruffled his hair with the other. “How was the trip?”
“Complicated,” Aster said. “You’d better come and see.”
He grabbed my hand and led the way into the living room.
Heart in my mouth, I followed. What could it possibly be?
Tane was sitting on the couch, a blanket piled strangely on his lap. He gave me a sheepish smile.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Gingerly, Tane took hold of a corner of the blanket and tugged it back, revealing a tiny bundle of orange fur.
“What is that?”
“I um, I found a kitten on the way here,” Aster said, a little sheepish. “He was under a bench at this nowhere train station and he was shivering. He looked so sad, I couldn’t leave him. I smuggled him on the train in my hoodie. Um. Are you angry?”
I shook my head, partially relieved and partially wondering about new problems caused by a kitten. “No, not angry. You did the right thing, but... what if he’s full of fleas?”
“It’s winter, fleas are unlikely,” Tane said. “And I didn’t see any.”
“He’s pretty shy,” Aster said. “But when I picked him up he nuzzled right into my hoodie. He’s small, maybe quite young?”
I breathed out, this was unexpected but certainly not the worst outcome I’d been imagining.
“A kitten...”
Aster put on the ‘cute younger sibling’ act, which I was a hundred per cent aware of but somehow didn't make me immune to it.
It went like this: Aster made his eyes wide and took hold of my sleeve, looking up at me through his lashes.
“There's kitten food at the store, right? and maybe cat litter? You'll let me keep him, right?”
Tane had picked up the sleeping kitten. He stood up and brought it towards me, obviously smitten with the tiny creature as well. He held it up to me.
“He’s really cute, Dill. What d’you think?”
I hesitated, not because I was going to say no — I couldn’t refuse Aster or Tane — but I wanted to draw it out so they didn’t think they could just walk all over me any time.
I lifted a finger to rub in between the kitten’s ears. It made a soft, high pitched sound and opened its eyes to look at me.
