Olive pauses.
Blinks.
Then trots right toward her.
“Whoa,” Chloe whispers.
I just smile.
Because of course Finn can wrangle cats too.
She scoops Olive up, cradling her against her chest, and Pear follows, climbing into her lap and purring like she’s known Finn her entire life.
“Traitor,” I mutter.
Finn winks. “You just have to know how to ask nicely.”
Chloe nods sagely then yawns widely.
“I think it’s bedtime,” Finn murmurs, climbing carefully to her feet, both kittens in her arms.
“But—”
“The kitties are tired, pumpkin. They’re little and need a lot of rest.”
She does too, but I leave that part out of it.
We head upstairs and Chloe goes into the bathroom to change into her pajamas while I veer off to close the door I should have shut earlier.
I’m moving back across the bedroom just as Finn is bending to set the kittens down onto bed. But at the last minute, Pear decides to throw an audible, leaping free and…knocking over a framed photo of Anna on the nightstand.
My heart stutters and I lurch forward?—
But Finn catches the frame just before it hits the floor.
“It’s okay,” she whispers.
I nod once. It’s jerky and I know she doesn’t miss it, but she doesn’t say anything.
Probably because Olive chooses that moment to launch herself free too.
This time straight at me.
Instinct has me reaching out and catching the wriggling handful of fur and claws against my chest. “Troublemaker,” I accuse softly.
Finn chuckles, but I don’t miss the careful way she replaces the picture frame, how she nudges it back from the edge so it’s not at risk of falling.
I notice…and maybe it means too much, the care she takes.
Before I can really process that, Chloe’s coming out of the bathroom, and Finn is making sure the kittens have what they need before slipping away. Then I’m reading books and tucking Chloe in and turning on her nightlight.
“Best day ever,” Chloe murmurs sleepily.
“Yeah?” I lean down and kiss her forehead.
“Yeah.” She smiles, rolls onto her side, and barely two heartbeats later, she’s asleep. I tiptoe out, close the door and turn, intending to head downstairs and clean up the mess the little demons made?—
And run directly into Finn.
