“Yeah, this is from her second to newest album. She had like five years between them though, so…,” Emil explained.
“Another thing I have to add to my list,” Makai said as he got to his feet and carefully walked to take the hammer and extra nails to the table.
“List?” Emil raised a brow at him.
“Yeah. You miss a lot of stuff in ten years,” he explained, making Emil’s expression fall.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“How is Mouse?” Joey piped up, coming to stand by the table but still not too close for comfort.
“She had the babies last night,” Makai said and fought the urge to cover his ears when Joey shrieked again. “There are four of them. They’re really little.”
“When can we see them?” Joey asked more quietly, having caught the side-eye Emil shot his way.
Makai thought for a moment. “Okay, you can see them today,” he said, but lifted a hand to calm Joey down again. “But there are rules, and you can’t see them for long at all, okay?”
Joey nodded vigorously.
“Joey, you got to listen to Makai. It’s his cat and kittens, and his home, buddy.” Emil spoke calmly, and Makai could see how it affected Joey, who also seemed to settle down a little.
“Okay!”
“They’re inside, we can go now if you want to.”
“Yay!”
They started the short trek to the cottage, and Joey bounced ahead of them.
“Sorry we interrupted your day,” Emil said when Joey was out of earshot.
“I need a drink anyway, so might as well let him see the babies if that’s fine by Mouse,” Makai murmured.
The shed doors were open, and Emil couldn’t seem to not peek as they passed it. “Wow, you keep it well organized,” he said in an awed tone. “Very nice.”
Something inside Makai preened a little at the innocent comment. “Thanks.” He smiled and gestured at the shed. “That’s my job. Or will be, I hope. Carpentry.”
“Oh, makes sense.” Emil nodded. “I mean, starting with the dock and making sure the shed’s in order.”
They got to the door and Joey was already there, waiting not-so-patiently.
“Okay, rules,” Makai said, and the boy snapped to attention. “First, I’ll go in alone to check out the cats so that Mouse doesn’t get startled. Next, when I come to let you in if she seems okay, you can’t run. At. All. You need to walk really carefully and be really, really quiet.” He looked at the boy seriously. “Sound okay so far?”
“Uh-huh,” Joey almost whispered, making them hide their smiles. “I promise.”
“Good. And while you’re walking and being quiet, you’re going to do exactly as I say so that we don’t scare Mouse or the babies, right?”
Joey nodded vigorously.
“Okay. I’ll go in and come back in a bit.” He went inside and moved quietly to the bedroom. Mouse was in her box, but she looked like she knew something was going on outside.
“We have visitors, mama. Do you think you’re up for some friends to come by?” She let out a tiny mewr sound, then purred loudly as he scratched her under the chin. “I’ll take that as a yes. How’s the babies?” He gently petted each of the kittens that were attached to their mother’s nipples and didn’t seem to care about being touched.
Makai got to his feet and looked around. He tossed the blanket over his bed and deemed it all suitable for visitors. He wasn’t the neatest, but he also wasn’t a slob. Even with having a place of his own and having gone on a bit of a shopping spree, he still didn’t have a lot of stuff.When you’re not allowed much for a decade, you learn to cherish the things you have.Makai huffed and went back to the front door.
“All right, remember what we agreed on?” he asked Joey, who was practically vibrating.
“Yes,” the boy whispered, and Makai let him in, then left the door open for Emil and smiled at him. “Same rules for you.”
