“Molly’s a good name. It’s probably easier if she already answers to it.”
“Joan said it helps them forget their previous owner if they are renamed,” he said. “So Molly was not her original name, but the one the shelter used.”
“Oh. So she’s probably not very attached to it.”
“Probably not,” he agreed. “Anyway, after the body was taken away, we stopped at Pizza Inn to get dinner before returning to the ship, and the server told us the local shelter was having an ‘Empty the Shelter’ event so it was open until nine that night local time. Lieutenant Commander Sachuu expressed interest in stopping by to adopt a cat or two, as did Klora, so I thought perhaps I could decide on a pet for us while there.”
“And you came home with three,” I snickered.
A plaintive mew and an orange paw poked out of the carrier. ”Yes, well, first this one cat chose me by jumping onto my shoulder and she was bonded to Molly, then I found your Morris,” he said, opening the carrier.
I gasped as out strode a perfect replica of Morris the cat. Not the most recent one, but the one from the original 1970’s commercials.
“I knew he had to come home to you,” Jolar said adorably.
I flew towards him, swooping up the orange tabby and smooshing him between us as I hugged the stuffing out of my mate.
“I love him!” I squealed. “And you! No one’s ever done such a thing for me in my life.”
I let him go as Morris began squirming angrily.
“Is his name already Morris?”
Jolar nodded.
“Well, he’s keeping it.” I bent down to peer into the other carrier, my heart melting at the sight of the petite calico cat as he let her out.
“They called her Tate.”
“That doesn’t fit. Neal can help us think of a name for her.” I suspected I already knew what he would choose. ”I bet he names her Lilo.”
“Hm, I believe you are right. Perhaps we should think of a name for Molly ourselves lest he decide to call her Stitch.”
I laughed. ”She keeps turning her head to look every time she hears Molly, so I think she knows it anyway. Let’s just tell him the girl kitty needs a name and the others already have them.”
He nodded his agreement. “I have things for them on a grav pallet outside. Ship’s stores had automatic cat boxes waiting for us when we arrived, as the L.T.C. let Xeranos know we needed them. We bought the rest from the shelter, including food and litter for the boxes.”
I watched as he opened the front door to bring in the small grav pallet, this one smaller than the one which delivered our furniture, but heavily laden.
“What on earth did you buy?” I asked.
“Two automatic cat boxes, two jumbo bags of The World’s Best Multicat Cat Litter, four cat trees, three water fountains, an automatic feeder, three scratching posts, and a cat hammock, as well as some harnesses and leashes for them so we can teach them to walk on them and take them to the park with Molly, and a video treat dispenser, plus a few toys. Oh, and a large cat bed they can share.”
“Good Lord. Okay, let’s get the litter boxes set up and one of the water fountains and the food thing. I can assemble the rest tomorrow and figure out where to put them all.”
That still took us nearly an hour, the assembly itself ridiculously easy, literally sticking two halves together in the case of the litter boxes, and finding a place to plug them in that was convenient. It was finding and deciding the placement that took the most time, but at last, we were done and I grabbed the now exposed cat bed off the grav pallet and placed it in our room.
“This is big enough for Molly, too,” I observed as she promptly climbed onto it and curled up. Morris soon joined her and the surely to be renamed Lilo jumped up onto the end of our bed. I decided to leave her there, eager to make our new fur babies feel at home.
“Come on,” I said, kissing Jolar’s jaw as I tugged him by the hand. “We need to get some sleep ourselves, you big marshmallow..”
He nodded. “I have tomorrow off, to help you get our home in order.”
“Good,” I said, letting go of his hand to slide under the covers. I knew he just had to be exhausted as he didn’t ask me why I called him a marshmallow. He stripped off his uniform and climbed in, both of us gravitating towards the middle of the bed. I felt him curl himself around my back, and tuck my head under his chin, his arm around my waist. I sighed in contentment.
“Xeranos, turn off the light, please,” he murmured, and in response, the room plunged into darkness. I’d never felt so safe and loved in my life.
CHAPTER25
