“I think Theo will bring in the pen they have for kittens and that would go really well against the corner by the windows for sure.” Seb put the carrier on the desk and flicked the desk lamp on. He then smoothly reached into the carrier and picked up one of the kittens.
“They’re solittle!”
Seb turned the kitten in his big hands and examined it with the kind of efficiency only a professional would have.
“This one is a boy, and he’s in need of a lot of food and a bath, and not necessarily in that order.” Seb handed the black ball of fur to Rey, who looked wide-eyed. “Be careful, he spits and hisses.”
As if on cue, the kitten spat at Rey and made the tiniest, angriest hissing sound. Rey startled, then laughed.
“The calico is a girl and she’s pretty much the same,” Sebastian announced and handed her over.
The final one was a boy, too, and just as grimy and hissy as his siblings.
“There’s no discharge from the nose or eyes, but keep an eye on that.”
The door opened and River came in with a giant bucket of stuff. Theo followed him with a collapsible playpen thingy and a bag of litter.
“We can wash them in the bathroom,” Seb added, taking a bottle of—
“Is that dish soap?” I blinked.
“Yeah, it should get off most of the grime and we only do it once anyway. Any future cleaning and we’ll use something milder,” Theo explained as he made sure the playpen was correctly set up in the corner where Rey pointed.
“I’ll go get the blankets,” River said and vanished again.
In short order, we worked as a team to make sure the kittens were clean, dry, and then eventually, fed.
River left before we were done to make pizza downstairs, and once we were ready, we joined him. We had to practically drag Rey away from the kittens, who were slowly curling up in their blanket nest.
I told Rey to wash his hands and change his shirt before dinner, and followed my own advice.
By the time I met everyone else downstairs, they were lounging on the couches and the scent of pizza was strong in the air.
“It smells so good in here!” The fact that food was clearly on the way made my body realize how hungry it was, and I whimpered a little.
Rey bounced downstairs, seemingly unaffected by the windows, but definitely affected by Seb, who was sprawling in the corner of the couch with a water bottle in his hand.
I grabbed myself a soda and went to sit on the end of the couch so I could see Sebastian.
“It’s so weird,” I started. “I keep meeting so many new people. It’s as if I’m meeting more people now than I did while we lived in New York.”
River nodded quickly. “I was thinking the same thing the other day.”
“Maybe it’s the fact that you’re meeting them for proper reasons instead of in passing?” Theo mused from his spot on Seb’s other side.
“I guess.” I thought for a moment. “I mean, back there, I would meet the customers at the bookstore or the corner store clerk. I rarely spoke to strangers outside of those instances.”
“Even when we went clubbing before we acquired Rey, I don’t think we were that social,” River added.
Seb raised his brows at the comment of teenager acquisition.
“It’s Rey’s story more than ours.” I smiled at Rey.
He cleared his throat. “I had to leave home and it wasn’t safe to go back, so I was literally going to freeze to death on the streets when these two found me.”
When Sebastian’s expression turned caring and compassionate, Rey blushed crimson and ducked his head where he was sitting on the floor next to River’s feet.
River reached over to tug at his hair. The oven timer pinged so Riv got to his feet and went to take the first pizza out.
