When Daddy and I first started texting, he would tease me about my overuse of emojis and punctuation. I told him to join the list because everyone agreed with him, and I wasn’t going to stop using them now. He laughed and laughed.
I sent a voice message next, telling him I was going to be late because I had to find someplace for this little guy. There was no way I was leaving him in the garage, even if his mom were here. The odds of him getting hit instead of being kept safe were astronomical. The phone rang in response, and I put it on speaker.
“Sorry, I’m probably gonna miss dinner,” I said. I opened the car, sat down, and the kitten curled up on me. “I’m not sure who’s still taking strays this time of day, or really how to do it at all.”
“I wasn’t calling about you being late. I was calling to say just bring him over here. We’ll figure it out together.”
I liked the sound of “together” and agreed, driving carefully to avoid potholes, not needing another flat tire or to scare the poor little creature. I pulled into Daddy’s driveway just as a delivery driver arrived. Looked like Daddy ordered us dinner.
He rarely did that. He didn’t mind cooking, nor did I, although his was better than mine. If we wanted to eat food from somewhere else, we usually went there.
“Let’s go find Daddy,” I said to the kitten, and reached the door at the same time the delivery person did. It wasn’t food. The bags were from a pet store. Huh.
“I got to take a picture before I leave, okay?” he asked. He set them down, snapped a picture, and off he went. Did he think I was going to tell him no?
Daddy came out before the man reached his car. “Oh, good. I wasn’t sure if they would be here on time.”
“I feel like a lot more explanation is coming.”
“There is and the timing of you and the delivery arriving are kind of perfect.” He brought the supplies inside, set them down, and then grabbed his keys.
“I’m really confused right now.”
“I got us an appointment with the vet down the road. Let’s go.”
On the way there, he told me that he’d been waiting for the cat distribution system to work for us ever since I told him I wanted a pet.
“We weren’t even dating then,” I reminded him.
“I know,” he said, “but also that day, even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself then, I knew you were mine.”
I was not into that whole possessive language, except apparently I was, because it had me sitting up happy as could be that someone like August wanted me to be his.
“So you’re going to get a cat because, you know, I want one.”
“No, my sweet boy. We’re going to have a cat.”
He pulled into the vet’s, effectively ending the conversation that had my head going all kinds of places. The vet gave the cat a clean bill of health, some shots they weren’t too pleased to get, and told us they were old enough to be away from their mom but still needed kitten care. They sent us home with a bag ofso you’ve got a new kittensupplies and pamphlets. It was a lot.
Once we were home, we set everything up, following the directions to a T. As the cat slept on a pillow, we ate our dinner and had the discussion I hadn’t realized was already planned for the night.
“When I said it was perfect timing,” he said, “it’s because…” He got up, opened a cabinet, took out a box, and brought it over to me.
“Because you’re still spoiling me with other presents?”
“Not quite. Open it.”
When I did, there were two key chains, one with an A, one with an H, both of them sitting on a card from the same artisan who made our bracelets. And on each one was a key. It was the house key. I already had one. This wasn’t about giving me access; it was about making it official, something he had to have planned a while ago, given the custom key chains. The unicorn and the teddy bear inscribed on our initials were not stock items.
“What do you think? Stay here permanently?”
“You want me here every day?”
“I’ve wanted you here every day for a long time.” He took my hand. “I want this place to be ours, not mine. I want that cute little bundle of fur to be ours—not mine, not yours, but ours. I want that bedroom upstairs to be ours. In a nutshell, I want everything to be ours, except for you. I want you to be mine.” He kissed my cheek. “What do you say? Move in with me?”
I took the two key rings out of the box, handed the H to him, and kept the A for myself. I wasn’t sure if he planned it that way, but since I had the power of distribution, I decided that was who it was going to be.
“I’ve already been yours. And I say yes, Daddy, I’d love to live here with you. To wake up each morning in your arms, fall asleep with you by my side, to take out the garbage on Wednesday mornings while you make breakfast, or make dinner while you have a late meeting. To be here when I’m big, to be here when I’m little, and to be here when we’re old.”
