Jake
“Wake up. We’re going to be late for our daughter’s vet appointment.”
Griffin’s words shocked me out of my sleep and I bolted upright. In the haze of post-awakening, I was thoroughly confused. How could he possibly know the gender of our baby before we even knew if I was pregnant or not?
“Our daughter? But we don’t know - oh. You mean the cat,” I mumbled when it hit me. “You can’t be calling the cat ourdaughterwhen we might have an actual human baby on the way.”
Griffin laughed. “Sorry.”
He gave me an apology kiss then whisked me to the bathroom. After a quick wash together in Griffin’s massive shower, we got dressed and headed back to my apartment to pick up Lilith.
Skylar greeted us at the door looking sympathetic and haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. “Where have you two been?” he asked.
“What happened?” I demanded, instantly panicked by his appearance. “You look like you’ve been up all night!”
“I basically have been,” Skylar said with a sigh. “Lilith’s been acting restless. She was meowing all night and wandering around. I think she was looking for you two.”
My heart broke and I ran inside, calling for her. “Lilith! Daddy’s here! Come here, girl.”
Griffin joined me with a smirk. “I thought we weren’t calling her our daughter, remember?”
“I’m not. I’m callingmyselfdaddy,” I muttered and elbowed him. “Lilith!”
A desperate meow rang out and a fat calico cat trundled out a moment later. She waddled towards us as and rubbed her head on our legs, one by one.
“She’s gotten big,” Griffin commented. “I hope she still fits in that carrier.”
I lifted her into my arms as gently as possible, grunting beneath her weight. “She will. Probably.”
“You two heading off to the vet appointment?” Skylar asked. He brought the carrier with him, as if he was relieved to be free of Lilith for a few hours.
“Yes,” Griffin replied. “Just a check-up to see if she’s all good for delivery.”
Skylar nodded, then eyed me. There was a searching look in his gaze, and I thought he might be wondering if things between Griffin and I were truly all patched up. I smiled to reassure him.
“Yup,” I said. “Now let’s get her in this carrier before she realizes what we’re up to and murders us to feed to her kittens.”
* * *
The vet assistantSandra met us with a big smile. “Hello, you three!”
Griffin greeted her with some kind words and a matching smile. I was too busy holding a pissed-off Lilith to attempt a greeting.
“Let’s get miss Lilith weighed, shall we?” Sandra said, gesturing to the scale area. “You can place her right over here.”
I noticed a man sitting in the corner by the scale with a large dog laying at his feet. The dog made no attempt to lunge at Lilith, but I still watched it warily as I placed Lilith’s carrier down on the scale.
“That dog better not attack my cat,” I mumbled.
“Oh, no, that’s River. He’s Mr. Cortez’s service dog,” Sandra explained gently. “He’s not working right now, but he’s about as well trained as can be.”
My face turned red in deep embarrassment. Thankfully, the handler just chuckled and said, “It’s okay. Your cat is pregnant, isn’t she? You have all the right to be concerned.”
The man being understanding made me even more ashamed. I averted my eyes and mumbled, “Yeah, she is. Sorry.”
The dog rested his head on his paws and watched me calmly, as if to say,Yeah, move along, buddy.
“Dr. Kennedy has a room for you two now,” Sandra told us after recording Lilith’s weight. “Come on in.”
