“Why not?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know.
I’d only had her two weeks, but I loved the furball already. Even if she liked Felix better than me. Even if she waited untiljustbefore I got up to pee and then sat in my lap and purred like she’d never been happier.
Even if she’d managed to trick me and Felix into feeding her four times a day by looking at her bowl with sad eyes and mewling like she’d never been fed in her life.
“That would be the good news,” Avery said. “Well, kinda. She’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Felix repeated beside me, like he was sure he’d heard wrong.
“Yeah. With, y’know. Kittens.” Avery gestured at Hemingway, who’d taken the opportunity to sprawl out on the examination table.
“Kittens,” I repeated.
“Well, she wouldn’t be pregnant with sea lions, would she?” Felix pointed out.
“Sea lions?” I asked. I was having enough trouble withkittens, where had the sea lions come from? How did you even take care of a sea lion?
“No sea lions,” Avery said. “Just kittens. So, uh, congratulations, I guess, on becoming grandparents.”
“Grandparents,” I said. “Grandparents.”
Felix laughed, wrapping both of his hands around my arm and making a happy, excited little noise. “Grandparents,” he said.
“Is there an echo in here?” Avery teased, grinning at the two of us. “We can confirm with an ultrasound, but trust me, she’s pregnant. Must’ve happened just before you brought her in.”
“How many?” I asked, the idea that there were going to bekittensfinally sinking in. I was suddenly imagining some101 Dalmatiansscenario, although I was pretty sure cats only had a handful at once.
“Can’t tell you yet,” Avery said. “We can find out in three weeks, or you can find out in about… five weeks.”
“Five weeks?”
“Give or take,” Avery said. “Hard to know with cats. Especially this one, since we don’t actuallyknowhow far along she is.”
“I’m gonna be a grandad in five weeks,” I murmured, a smile spreading across my face. “Agrandad. I gotta text Mom, she’s gonna be agreat grandma.”
Felix laughed beside me, reaching out to stroke Hemingway’s fur. “Guess I have to stay for a little while longer,” he said.
He hadn’t made plans to do that—we hadn’t madeanyplans yet, nothing concrete. We were just going with the flow, but I got the feeling Felix was starting to get used to the Slow Falls life.
I hoped so.
“Yeah?”
“Obviously.” Felix shrugged. “I can’t miss my little girl giving birth, can I?”
“She’ll need all the support she can get,” Avery agreed. Clearly, he was on my side.
“See? I’ll just have to stay. No other choice,” Felix said, picking Hemingway up to put her back in her carrier.
She burst into loud purrs as soon as he touched her, reminding me who her favorite was once again.
That was okay. Felix wasmyfavorite, too.
Besides, I owed her one for getting him to stay.
* * *
“You know,I could get you a new hoodie,” I said, passing Felix a sandwich.
